Recognizing that NetObjects Fusion will make it much easier for a broader base of users to create and update compelling Web sites, Internet industry leaders IBM, UUNET, Netscape, and JavaSoft today announced partnership agreements and their strong endorsement of the product. (see four separate press releases for details). With agreements ranging from co-marketing and product bundling to long-term strategic alliances, the four companies will help promote NetObjects Fusion as a key component of their Internet and intranet solutions.

NetObjects Fusion is aimed at people who design, develop, and produce Internet and intranet Web sites. NetObjects Fusion is the first smart Web site building application that combines automated site-building, professional-quality design, and data publishing. NetObjects Fusion's revolutionary site-oriented approach treats the whole site as an integrated entity, rather than as a collection of dissimilar pages hooked together by links. NetObjects Fusion's visual metaphor of the entire site-building process is similar to the quantum leap of the Macintosh over text-based operating systems in the 1980's.

NetObjects Fusion provides users with SiteStructureTM, the first visual site structure editor that allows users to conceive and edit the hierarchical map of the entire site. PageDrawTM, the first draw-based Web page layout editor, gives users unprecedented drag-and-drop, pixel-level control over virtually any content, with no knowledge of HTML required. Content can include text, graphics, tables, forms, and rich media such as Java, Active/X, and Shockwave. The SiteStylesTM Manager provides the first centralized way to apply overall graphical elements to a site. Sophisticated data publishing capabilities let users visually integrate existing content from ODBC data sources such as spreadsheets and databases into Web sites. A gallery of over 50 professionally-designed SiteStyles and prebuilt AutoSites gives users a jumpstart toward creating high-quality sites. Automated site-wide navigation, link management, and one-button publishing of multiple site versions eliminates the drudgery of making changes as sites grow. NetObjects Fusion runs without proprietary extensions and is compatible with all standard browsers and servers.

A pre-release version of NetObjects Fusion is immediately available for download, at no charge, from the NetObjects Web site (http://www.netobjects.com). Over 150 site builders are using pre-release versions of the product to design and build Web sites. These early users represent a broad spectrum of Web site designers, developers, Intranet power users, and webmasters who have built leading-edge sites and completed Web projects for organizations and corporations. Examples include: @home, Sony Pictures Television, The 3DO Company, Sun Microsystems, Earth Island Institute, and BeHome, Inc. "As individuals and enterprises use the World Wide Web to increase their reach, the next revolution will be in the creation and production of content," said Samir Arora, CEO of NetObjects, Inc. "NetObjects was founded to address Web site builders' needs for sophisticated, yet intuitive, applications that help them easily design, author, publish, and maintain Web sites. Today, we deliver on that promise with NetObjects Fusion, a product that allows users to focus on the content, rather than the process, of building Web sites."

Building Information Age Structures with Stone Age Tools
A recent Forrester Research report on the Web authoring tool market with a focus on "Which Web Tools?," confirms the widespread opinion that the plethora of current tool offerings inadequately fulfills Web site builders' needs. An excerpt from the report states, "Webmasters let us in on a dirty secret they find most site development tools useless." Based on interviews with over 50 Web designers and Webmasters, the report concludes that current tools fall far short of developers' needs and expectations; site managers see today's tools as solving limited, specific problems; and Web developers find vendors out of touch with real Web trends, processes, and platforms. "Using current site building tools is like constructing the Eiffel Tower with a hammer and chisel," said Emily Davidow, principal of Digital Elements, New York-based Web designer of the award-winning BeHome commerce Web site. "NetObjects Fusion is the first tool that understands Web site builders' pain and lets us build sites, not pages."

Pricing and Availability
A pre-release version and information on NetObjects Fusion is available from NetObjects' Web site (http: //www.netobjects.com) or by calling 1-888-449-6400. NetObjects Fusion 1.0 is expected for general availability in September at a suggested retail price of $695. Users can purchase the product directly from NetObjects before September 25,1996 for an introductory price of $495. Other distribution plans will be announced at the time of general availability.

System Requirements
NetObjects Fusion is available on Microsoft Windows 95 or Windows NT operating systems and is com-patible with all major browsers, servers, and databases. Recommended system requirements include an Intel PC with a Pentium or higher microprocessor with 25 MB of hard disk space, 16 MB of RAM, SVGA or higher resolution monitor, mouse or compatible pointing device, TCP/IP compliant with Winsock version 1.1 or later, and standard 32-bit ODBC drivers for external database connectivity.

About NetObjects
NetObjects, Inc. develops products that enable Web site builders to dramatically improve the design, authoring, publishing and updating of Web sites. NetObjects Fusion provides the first visual, site-oriented approach to building Web sites, unlike first generation, text-based, page-oriented tools. NetObjects Fusion is the first smart Web site building application that integrates automated site building, professional-quality design and data publishing, thereby lowering the cost, time and tedium of building high-quality Web sites. Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Redwood City, CA, NetObjects is privately-held and funded by Norwest Venture Capital, Venrock Associates and private investors. Information about NetObjects and its products can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.netobjects.com or by calling 1-888-449-6400.

For press inquiries, contact:
Kamini Ramani
Director of Corporate Communications
(415) 482-3238
kamini@netobjects.com