DEFENSE

MILPITAS, CA –Maxtor Corporation (NYSE: MXO) announced support for the industry's next generation ATA interface standard that breaks the 137GB barrier for ATA hard drives. This breakthrough allows the creation of ATA hard drives that can access more than 100,000 times more data than the current 137GB interface standard. "By leading the industry effort to move to capacities up to 144 petabytes (PB), Maxtor has helped lay the foundation for future storage technologies," said Ted Deffenbaugh, vice president of product strategy for Maxtor. "By supporting the standard, which we have submitted to the ANSI T13 committee, Compaq, Microsoft, VIA Technologies, and other companies have increased the ability of hard drives and other supporting technologies to access greater amounts of information." "Surpassing the 137GB limit is another notch in the evolution of storage capacity. We are very pleased to be working with Maxtor to enable increased capacity for our mutual customers," said Rob Short, vice president of Windows based operating system development at Microsoft Corporation. "Customers are participating in an increasing number of storage intensive scenarios such as data warehousing, application servicing, multimedia, video and music. Increasing the drive limit allows them to easily meet their needs with fewer drives and, in the case of enterprises, in far less physical space." "On average, we hit a capacity barrier every six years," said Dave Reinsel, senior research analyst, IDC. "At the current rate of storage, reaching 144PB will take care of the industry's capacity issues for the next 20 years." The "Big Drive" interface initiative succeeds in breaking through the barrier with an upgraded ATA interface allowing for up to 48 bits of address space on a single drive, and therefore the maximum capacity of an ATA device up to 144PB. In addition to Maxtor, notable industry players such as Compaq Computer Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, CMD/Silicon Image, ONTRACK Data International, Inc., Phoenix, Promise Technology, StorageSoft, and VIA Technologies are all committed to delivering solutions to the 137GB capacity barrier. End users who want to break the 137GB barrier can get further information at Maxtor's "Big Drive" Initiative Web site (http://www.maxtor.com/bigdrive) about technology requirements and participating vendors. Suppliers who want to participate in "Big Drive" should inquire via bigdrive@maxtor.com. "Big Drive" is a non-copyrighted and freely licensed logo and artwork. Partners and manufacturers that support the new standard will have free access to the"Big Drive" logo to inform their customers that they can use "Big Drives" in their system or peripherals. Maxtor has submitted the new proposal to the National Committee on Information Technology Standards (NCITS). NCITS is accredited by and operates under rules approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). For further information visit www.maxtor.com