GOVERNMENT

SANTA CLARA, CA -- Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) has announced that customers around the world and in every industry, such as Virgin Atlantic Airways, Ocwen Technology Xchange (``Ocwen''), Hughes Network Systems, and Alticast are choosing Sun over IBM for their mission critical network architectures. These wins, in addition to an existing client portfolio of companies ranging from eBay to Ross Corporation, prove that Sun continues to drive the networked economy, providing the foundation for some of the world's largest e-business networks. Sun has maintained a leadership position in UNIX® server shipments for the past 18 quarters and in UNIX revenue for 11 consecutive quarters. With 42 percent marketshare, Sun's UNIX shipments are three times that of both IBM and HP. ``IDC believes that Unix servers will remain the backbone of the midrange server market, and a strong platform for Web-enabled applications and mission-critical applications for years to come,'' said Jean S. Bozman, research director for IDC's Global Enterprise Server Solutions group. ``This is based on years of successful deployment of Unix servers for demanding mission-critical applications that continue to reliably power the world's largest enterprises and government IT systems in many countries. Importantly, the Internet itself was built on Unix servers and Unix networking technology. As the economy recovers, and the total IT spend for large corporations increases, we expect Unix server sales to rebound in 2002 and 2003.'' ``Companies large and small continue to select Sun, and the strong ramp up of our new UltraSPARC III based Sun Fire systems is evidence of great market acceptance,'' said John Shoemaker, executive vice president and general manager, Computer Systems, Sun Microsystems, Inc. ``Sun's best of breed iForce strategy represents a refreshingly empowering solution model for customers compared to the closed, costly, and complex world of IBM's incompatible technologies and Global Services.'' Sun Earns High Marks in High Performance Computing Leading financial services corporations around the world such as Ocwen in the USA, have chosen Sun's Sun Fire(TM) 15K high-end servers over IBM's mainframe and server technology to run mission-critical business operations and to lower total cost of ownership (TCO). According to IDC, Sun's server technology beat competitors HP and IBM and has emerged as the leader in the data intensive High Performance Computing market. Sun moved up from third to first place for the first time for the first three quarters of 2001. Compaq holds the number two position, HP holds position number 3, and IBM comes in at number 4. From Hughes Network Systems to the Ohio Supercomputer Center, Sun's High Performance Computing technology is the preferred choice for everything from powering satellite networks to finding cures for medical researchers' greatest challenges. Sun's Midframes Take Off with Sun Fire Growth and USIII Companies such as Virgin Atlantic Airways in the travel industry value the flexibility, expandability and reliability of Sun's midrange server line over IBM's eServer technology. The Sun Fire 3800-6800 Midframe server family brings mainframe-class availability, superior performance and investment protection to the midrange server market. And, according to IDC's marketshare data, the new Sun Fire server line has increased in sequential revenue by 10 percent in the third quarter while the latest IBM pSeries saw a 15 percent decline. Sun Raises the Bar in the Low-End and Workstation Markets Sun offers companies in every industry an entry-level UNIX alternative to the closed and proprietary world of Wintel. Sun's Netra(TM) and Sun Fire V-Series product families gives customers a ruggedized, reliable, rack-optimized server solutions based on common system architecture, in many cases below Wintel pricing. These are the features Alticast relies on to power their open-standards based Interactive TV solutions. Additionally, Sun's powerful 64-bit workstations and SPARC/Solaris platform have long been the world's top choice in the UNIX market, providing the architecture and reliability necessary in demanding technical computing environments. With Sun workstations, customers including Sony Semiconductor and Devices Europe, the University of Tokyo, and Unocal, are gaining benefits such as, reduced total cost of ownership, reliability, massive scalability and a fully compatible product portfolio, from the entry level to the high-end. Sun remains the leader in the UNIX workstation market in both shipments and revenue in 3QCY'01. In shipments, at 6o percent market share, Sun maintains a 43 point lead over the nearest competitor, HP, with only 17 percent market share. With 51,501 units sold, Sun shipments still outpace HP, IBM and SGI combined. For more information visit www.sun.com