News release

Compaq Awards $40,000 Prize to UNIX Games Winner

Compaq Computer Corporation (NYSE: CPQ) today awarded a grand prize of $40,000 to the winner of UNIX Games, a Web-based contest aimed at increasing awareness of Compaq's Tru64 UNIX-based AlphaServer systems.

The winner, Elaine Chen of Redwood City, Calif., a quality assurance engineer, was awarded the grand prize, after scoring the highest cumulative points among more than 8,000 participants from 94 different countries in a question and answer challenge targeted toward IT professionals spanning the globe. Contestants competed for prizes totaling $100,000.

The idea behind the contest was to educate customers about the business advantages of Compaq's Tru64 UNIX on AlphaServer systems and show just how many different enterprises rely on this platform to gain a competitive edge. From mapping the human genome through providing support for 65 percent of the world's electric power supply, Tru64 UNIX-based AlphaServer systems are helping customers run their most critical business applications.

"Tru64 UNIX leads the industry in providing superior reliability, availability and scalability for the most demanding applications," said Howard Elias, senior vice president and general manager of Compaq's Business Critical Solutions Group.

"Through the UNIX Games, Compaq was looking to educate potential UNIX customers about how they could take advantage of the unique capabilities that Compaq offers, using the Web in a fun and exciting way," Elias said.

In a recent GIGA Information Group report, it was noted that "Compaq's Tru64 UNIX business is experiencing strong results and market momentum and delivering better products and services in targeting unique customers in key markets." The report also said for the year 2000, Compaq Tru64 UNIX revenue was up by 36 percent, year over year.

Compaq's Web-based contest had its origins in the idea of creating an educational tool with buzz—the appearance, incentives and rewards that would get contest challengers interested, keep them coming back, and make them tell someone else. With that in mind, UNIX Games came to life as a series of five games spanning five months.

The UNIX Games produced 67,000 unique and in-depth visits to the Web site and winners at more than 200 companies, creating numerous opportunities for Compaq sales representatives to make personal visits to deliver prizes and, in several instances, develop new UNIX business.

"Contestants came for the prizes and stayed for the content," said Jackie Kahle, vice president of Compaq's High Performance Systems Product Marketing. "There are lots of ways to lose your audience, but with UNIX Games, there was a compelling set of prizes and useful information that kept people coming back and learning more about Compaq's UNIX offerings."

Prizes for each game ranged from skis, snowboards and sunglasses to a single prize of $10,000 awarded in game two. The contestant earning the most points over the course of the contest had a choice of grand prizes that included a dream vacation, a flashy SUV, or $40,000 cash. As the overall winner, Chen selected the cash prize.

For additional information on Compaq's UNIX Games, and a complete list of winners and their prizes, please visit http://www.compaq.com/unixgames/community.