AUTODESK SHIPS AUTOCAD RELEASE 13 INTERNET PUBLISHING KIT

AUTODESK AND NETSCAPE JOIN TO MAKE ONLINE DESIGN A REALITY

SAN RAFAEL, CA. (October 31, 1996) -- Autodesk today shipped the AutoCAD Release 13 Internet Publishing Kit, the industry's first turn-key publishing solution, extending the Internet into a virtual engineering environment where designers, architects and engineers can communicate and collaborate online. The new software bundle includes Autodesk's WHIP! plug-in release 1, Netscape Navigator Gold 3.0 Internet software, AutoCAD R13 Internet Utilities release 1 and Quick-Start Web page templates that address the needs of the professional design community.

"Our goal is to provide software tools that help streamline the design process. Autodesk customers work under intense deadlines and require a high degree of interaction with others. It's not enough for an AutoCAD user to surf the Net, they need to be able to publish their drawings so others can access their work in real-time." said Eric Herr, President of Autodesk. "Through our joint efforts, Netscape is helping Autodesk to Web-enable designers, and we are helping Netscape to design-enable the Web."

Part of Autodesk's Design Your World On-line initiative, the AutoCAD Release 13 Internet Publishing Kit provides designers and drafters with the necessary software to share drawings over the Internet and in Intranet environments. The kit components allow AutoCAD users to author HTML web pages and generate engineering content in the new DWF web-friendly file format. The new WHIP! plug-in supports Netscape's Live Connect so web developers can use Java to automate the navigation controls of the WHIP! plug-in. In beta form, AutoCAD's Internet software won technology leadership awards from Cadence and Cadalyst. With AutoCAD Internet Publishing Kit shipping, users will reap even greater benefits.

"Autodesk is providing next-generation tools for the design community to leverage the dynamic capabilities of the Internet," said Mike Homer, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Netscape. "The new Internet publishing kit works easily with the tools the design community uses daily, allowing designers to extend their talents to the Internet and the World Wide Web."

The immediacy of the Internet and the graphical nature of the World Wide Web can help the design community more clearly and quickly convey design intent, thus compressing schedules and reducing costly mistakes that result from out-of-date information. This is particularly important in today's design environment, where time-to-market and cost containment are such critical factors.

The AutoCAD Release 13 Internet Publishing Kit software bundle includes:

• AutoCAD R13 Internet Utilities Release 1: Adds new functionality to AutoCAD Release 13c4 that adds features for embedding URLs within drawings and saving DWG files in the web compressed DWF format. The Internet Utilities also allow AutoCAD to load and save DWG files posted anywhere on the Internet.
• Netscape Navigator Gold 3.0: The premier version of Netscape Navigator includes its easy-to-use HTML publishing software.
• WHIP! Plug-In Release 1: Supports advanced features of Netscape Navigator 3.0 and allows design professionals to pan, zoom and maneuver through complex detailed drawings. New features include LiveConnect support and drag-and-drop functionality.
• Quick-Start Web pages: Specialized templates created for the business-to-business needs of the Design Community. Developed jointly by Autodesk and Netscape.

The AutoCAD Release 13 Internet Publishing Kit lets users of the latest version of AutoCAD Release 13 (c4), publish their drawings in a new compressed file format, drawing web format (DWF), designed specifically for the Internet. Designed for detailed graphical data, such as professional design drawings, the DWF file format is a highly compressed vector format for 2D graphics. In contrast to the static nature of bitmap images, DWF files let users dynamically pan and zoom the drawing without accessing the server, reloading the file, or losing visual detail.

Autodesk is the world's leading supplier of PC design software and PC multimedia tools. The company's 2D and 3D products, geographic information systems, and data management tools are used in many industries for mapping, architectural design, mechanical design, film and video production, video/game development and Web content development. Its Kinetix division is the leader in PC-based 3D modeling and animation software, providing a full range of products for digital media and design professionals. The fourth largest PC software company in the world, Autodesk has three million customers in nearly 130 countries. Autodesk products are sold through Autodesk Systems Centers, Dealers and Distributors worldwide. For more information on Autodesk, please call 415/507-5000, type GO ADESK on CompuServe, or visit its World Wide Web site at http://www.autodesk.com. Kinetix can be reached by calling 800/879-4233 or through its World Wide Web site at http://www.ktx.com.

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this news release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. These include the timely development and acceptance of new products, the impact of competitive products and pricing, and the other risks detailed from time to time in the company's SEC reports, including the report on Form 10-K filed in June 1996.

Autodesk, the Autodesk logo and AutoCAD are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc. Whip! is a trademark of Autodesk, Inc. Netscape, Netscape Navigator, Netscape Navigator Gold and LiveConnect are trademarks of Netscape Communications Corporation. All other product names are trademarks of their respective companies.