Stac to Ship OS/2 Version of Stacker

Contact Information
 * Stac Electronics
 * Lisa Gunderson
 * (619) 431-7474


 * Jennings & Company
 * Greg Spector
 * (415) 349-8400

Award-Winning Technology Makes Doubling Storage Capacity Safe and Easy

ATLANTA, May 24, 1993 Stac Electronics (NASDAQ:STAC), the leading supplier of data compression products for personal computers, today announced the availability of Stacker® for OS/2® & DOS, a new software product that automatically and transparently doubles the storage capacity of systems running OS/2 2.0 and later, and DOS 5.0 and later. Now users can compress OS/2, Windows and DOS files.

"Stacker for OS/2 & DOS is a true lifesaver for those of us using the FAT file system," said Ron Kiyomura of McDonnell-Douglas Inc. "With the demands the OS/2 operating system puts on disk storage, Stac Electronics has provided a way to relieve disk storage problems at a fraction of the cost of new hardware."

Like its sister product for Windows and DOS, Stacker for OS/2 & DOS is based on the company's patented Stacker LZS™ compression technology that is relied upon daily by more than 4 million computer users worldwide. It is 100 percent compatible with OS/2, its applications and all hard disk FAT drives. Stacker for OS/2 & DOS contains device drivers for both OS/2 and DOS giving users access to compressed disks from either operating system. Furthermore, it is easy to install and operates continuously, without any perceptible degradation to system performance.

"Stacker for OS/2 & DOS is a means of making OS/2 accessible to more users," said Gary Clow, Stac's president. "Stacker for OS/2 & DOS makes it possible to run OS/2 and its applications, as well as Windows and DOS and their applications, on a large number of computers that have sufficient CPU horsepower but come up short on storage capacity."

"Before the user even begins creating a word processing document, spreadsheet or database, the average OS/2 system and applications require nearly 80 megabytes of storage," added Clow. For example, on a 100-megabyte OS/2 boot drive, OS/2 and a typical collection of applications including word processor, spreadsheet, graphics and databases, occupy 76 megabytes of space, leaving just 24 megabytes free. Add Stacker for OS/2 & DOS to the system and the amount of free space grows to 112 megabytes.

Easy Installation

Users are given a choice of Express or Custom Setup with Stacker for OS/2 & DOS. Express Setup assesses the system and automatically installs Stacker on all of the system hard drives that use the FAT file system. Stacker's Custom Setup offers the user a variety of configuration options for maximum control of the system.

For those who need more disk space in order to install OS/2, users simply compress the data on the drive first and then OS/2 will be compressed on-the-fly as it is being installed.

Transparent Operation

Once installed, Stacker for OS/2 & DOS operates instantaneously, continuously and transparently to the user. Stacker for OS/2 & DOS works with systems with only an OS/2 boot partition as well as also Dual Boot and Boot Manager systems.

Other Stacker for OS/2 & DOS features include:
 * Stacker AutoProtect™ - detects disk errors at boot time and immediately protects your Stacker volume.
 * Stacker AutoRecovery™ - automatically repairs errors on the disk.
 * Stacker Optimizer™ defragments a Stacker drive for optimal performance.
 * Compression Reporting - provides the compression ratio for files in a Stacker drive.
 * Extended attributes support - fully supports OS/2's ability to attach additional information to files.
 * Support for 2 GB Stacker drives - creates Stacker drives up to two gigabytes in total capacity.
 * Unstack - restores a drive to its uncompressed condition and deactivates the Stacker software.
 * Online help - includes context-sensitive help throughout setup

Pricing and Availability

Stacker for OS/2 & DOS has a suggested retail price of $199. It will be available in volume during the first week of June to end-users through dealers or can be ordered directly from Stac, and comes with 90 days free telephone support and unlimited electronic support.

The Company

Stac Electronics is the leading supplier of high performance data compression products for personal computers. Implemented in software and silicon, Stac's products are sold direct from the company and through retail and OEM sales distribution channels worldwide.