Altium announces industry first with new TASKING 8051/XA bundle

November 26, 2001        

Altium Local Media Contact

Janice Hughes
Hughes Communications, Inc.
15 Oak Tree Lane
Lyme, CT 06371
USA
Telephone: +1 860 434 3782
Fax: +1 860 434 3781
Email: janice@hughescom.net
        
Corporate Media Contact

Jessica Maxwell
ALTIUM LIMITED
Level 3, 12a Rodborough Road Frenchs Forest, NSW 2086
Australia
http://www.altium.com
Telephone: +61 2 99757710
Fax: +61 2 99757720
Email: jessica.maxwell@altium.com.au
                
For Immediate Release                


Altium announces industry first with new
TASKING 8051/XA bundle

Altium offers two complete toolsets for under $1000 offer ends December 2001

SYDNEY, Australia - November 26, 2001 - Altium Limited (ASX: ALU), a leading developer of Windows-based electronic design and development software, is pleased to announce its first major special offer for the TASKING product line Altium’s industry-leading brand of tools for embedded software development. Altium has broken new ground in the embedded industry with its new special offer of two complete software development toolsets including C and C++ compilers for under $1000.

For US$995, Altium has bundled together two of its most popular embedded software development toolsets the 8 bit 8051 and the 16 bit XA plus 12 months of free TASKING support. This special offer is available until December 31, 2001, and represents a saving of over US$2950 on the regular retail prices. This offer emphasises Altium’s commitment to providing every electronic designer and developer with access to the best possible tools at an affordable price.

TASKING’s toolsets cover a broad range of microprocessors and microcontrollers, and this new bundle begins to explore the benefits of integration between software development toolsets for different architectures, utilizing a common Embedded Development Environment (EDE).

“The bundling of these two widely used toolsets demonstrates Altium’s commitment to providing more value to our customers,” says Bruce Edwards, Executive Director, Altium. “By selling these complementary toolsets together, we allow our customers access to the benefits of integration and migration between an 8-bit and a 16-bit architecture, and the benefits of two toolsets on a single EDE.”


Altium’s new offer benefits embedded software developers by providing great value, ease of use, and access to the two of the most widely used toolsets on the market. The new 8051/XA bundle offers embedded software developers unprecedented value for money as they are getting two complete industry-leading software toolsets - including TASKING’s C Compiler, Linker, Debugger and Simulator for each platform - as well as 12 months free support for under US$1000.

The bundle offers superior ease of use by having two toolsets using a common, fully integrated EDE; and through the cross-development possible between the two toolsets with Altium’s unique 8051 to XA code translator. This feature allows existing applications that have been developed for an 8051 platform to be easily and seamlessly migrated to the XA. The benefit of having a common EDE for the two different toolsets is that embedded developers will save time as they only need to become familiar with one EDE for two different architectures. Both toolsets are easily accessed though TASKING’s award winning, fully integrated embedded EDE, with highly optimized compilers producing the tightest, fastest code in the industry. The TASKING 8051 toolset supports more 8051 variants than any other toolset in the market; and the TASKING XA toolset for the Philips XA 16-bit microcontroller opens up even more design possibilities with Altium’s unique 8051 to XA code translator which offers seamless integration with, and easy migration from the 8051.

Another key customer benefit of Altium’s 8051/XA bundle is the elimination of the FlexLM node-locking protection system, and its replacement with the Altium “soft” licensing code. The absence of a key increases installation flexibility and portability for customers, and reduces system downtime commonly attributable to hardware failure or compatibility. With the removal of the burden and complication of managing FlexLM node-locking protection for multiple licenses and the risk of delay due to faulty hardware, design teams will find this bundle a significantly more productive toolset. The removal of the FlexLM node-locking also enables more efficient sales and support processes, streamlining the licensing process and eliminating FlexLM-based technical support complaints. All customers who purchase the 8051/XA Bundle will get the new Altium “soft” licensing code version automatically as soon as it is released.

With this special offer, Altium continues to break down the barriers to innovation and technological advancement by giving embedded designers access to the best value and the best technology in the industry.




Availability

The TASKING 8051 and XA software development bundle which is valued at US$3290 is available for just US$995 until the 31st December, 2001 and comes with 12 months free TASKING support. Go to www.tasking.com/products/ for more information on TASKING and the 8051 and XA software development toolsets. Alternatively, go to the contacts page on www.tasking.com for the details of your nearest Altium Sales & Support Center.



About Altium Limited

Altium Limited (ASX: ALU), trading as Protel International Limited (ASX: PRI) prior to August 6, 2001, is a leading global developer and supplier of desktop electronic design automation (EDA) and embedded software design tools for the Microsoft Windows environment.

Since the Company’s foundation in 1985 and its release of the world’s first Microsoft Windows�based EDA tool in 1991, Altium has continued to apply the most advanced software design methods to provide powerful, easy-to-use and affordable design software to engineers and electronics designers worldwide.

Altium’s current product brands include Protel, P-CAD, TASKING, Accolade, CircuitMaker and CAMtastic!. These products offer tailored solutions covering a range of hardware and software design processes.

Altium is headquartered in Sydney, Australia, and operates a number of sales and support offices in Australia, the United States, Japan and Europe � as well as maintaining a large reseller network in all other major markets. More information about the Company and its products and services may be obtained from our new website at http://www.altium.com.








Altium, Altium Total Support, Protel, P-CAD, TASKING, Accolade, CircuitMaker, and CAMtastic! and their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Altium Limited. All other registered or unregistered trademarks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners and no trademark rights to the same is claimed.