Stylus Studio Wins SQL Server Magazine's Readers' Choice Award for Best XML Development Tool

Bedford, MA, August 30, 2005 --(PR.com)-- Stylus Studio (http://www.stylusstudio.com), the industry-leading provider of development tools for advanced XML data integration, today announced that Stylus Studio® 6 XML Professional Edition has won SQL Server Magazine's 2005 Readers Choice Award for best XML development tool. Stylus Studio 6 XML Professional Edition has surged in popularity in recent months in the XML community; quickly earning a reputation among the most widely recognized and praised XML development tools for innovation and excellence. XML developers everywhere have shown great excitement for the comprehensive and time-saving features Stylus Studio 6 offers, and this latest product award further validates the opinion of many leading XML developers -- that Stylus Studio is the number one tool for serious XML development work.

Dominating the Development Space

In the September issue SQL Server Magazine, Senior Associate Editor Dawn Cyr writes, "This year, heavy [hitter] ... DataDirect Technologies rose above the competition to dominate the development space ... DataDirect Stylus Studio 6 XML Professional Edition is an advanced XML IDE that provides a comprehensive set of XML tools and features for working with XML, XQuery, SQL/XML, Web services, and many other XML technologies. The product's feature set includes synchronized, visual XML editing views; comprehensive XSLT development support; support for visual XQuery editing, XQuery mapping, and XQuery debugging; and support for visual XML Schema editing."

Users cited in Cyr's article were enthusiastic in their praise of Stylus Studio 6: "This is the best IDE I've ever used." Another said that Stylus Studio 6 XML Professional Edition is "the best value for the money, and butt-kicking features like integrated mappers and debugger make it a great time saver!" The full text of the article is available at http://www.windowsitpro.com/SQLServer/ (registration required)

"Stylus Studio is on a mission to be the XML developer's best friend, by delivering all the tools and utilities needed for serious XML application development, including innovative new tools for XQuery, XSLT 2.0, and legacy data integration, all in one comprehensive XML IDE," said Carlo Innocenti, Stylus Studio's Sr. Program Manager. "We're thrilled that so many SQL Server professionals have found in Stylus Studio an alternative to the same old overpriced and under-featured XML tools offered by other vendors. We encourage SQL Server users to give Stylus Studio a try for free today."

XML Productivity Through Innovation 

Stylus Studio 6 XML Professional Edition leads the industry in delivering innovative new XML productivity tools for SQL Server developers and DBAs, including powerful tools for editing, debugging, and mapping XQuery and related technologies that will be supported in SQL Server 2005 (Yukon). Stylus Studio 6 XML Professional Edition's comprehensive development tools, in combination with DataDirect XQuery™, a high-performance XQuery processing component, serve to greatly simplify XML and relational data integration challenges.

About Stylus Studio

Stylus Studio, a product from DataDirect Technologies, an operating company of Progress Software Corporation, is the industry's most innovative XML IDE providing advanced support for XML and its related technologies: XSL, XSLT, XML Schema, DTD, SOAP, WSDL, SQL/XML, XML mapping and XQuery. Used by leading software developers world-wide, Stylus Studio simplifies XML programming and enhances developer productivity through innovation. For more information, visit: http://www.stylusstudio.com.  

Safe Harbor Statement Except for the historical information and discussions contained herein, statements contained in this release may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, including but not limited to the following: the receipt and shipment of new orders, the timely release of enhancements to the company's products, the growth rates of certain market segments, the positioning of the company's products in those market segments, variations in the demand for customer service and technical support, pricing pressures and the competitive environment in the software industry, business and consumer use of the Internet, and the company's ability to penetrate international markets and manage its international operations. The company undertakes no obligation to update information contained in this release. For further information regarding risks and uncertainties associated with the company's business, please refer to the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Stylus Studio and DataDirect XQuery are trademarks or registered trademarks of Progress Software Corporation or one of its affiliates or subsidiaries in the U.S. Any other trademarks or service marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

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