West Palm Beach, FL, April 22, 2002 -- GrafXSoft (GrafX Software Development Tools) Announced today that they have reached a Development, Licensing, and Marketing Agreement with the previous owner of Visual Objects for two of their software development languages -- Clipper and Visual Objects.

Brian Feldman, President of GrafXSoft, stated "This arrangement will continue Visual Objects (VO) as a viable and robust 32 bit development environment and allow us to improve VO for many years to come." GrafXSoft is enlisting the services and products of many well known VO third-party developers to continue VO’s evolution. The following features are targeted for inclusion in the new 2.6 version of VO:

Following the 2.6 release, GrafXSoft will begin the design and testing of new features to be included in the next major release of VO based on the VO community’s feedback. Mr. Feldman believes that this product now belongs primarily to the VO community and intends to guide its development toward many more successful releases.

Quotes from Visual Objects users:

"This contract is the best move that could possibly be done for and with VO. We at VOCA are very excited about the opportunities this deal opens to VO and the VO community. We are very confident that Brian will steer VO into a successful future. VOCA will continue its support for VO and closely work together with GrafXSoft." As quoted by Oskar Schneider, editor of SDT magazine and VOCA spokesman.

Ginny Caughey (main author of Using Visual Objects by Que and international speaker on VO) says: "I am delighted to learn that Brian Feldman and Grafx Software will be taking over development of Visual Objects and Clipper. Through the years, these products have become powerful mainstays for developers of business software. Brian continues this tradition and adds special insights of his own. As a longtime Clipper and VO developer, he understands what application developers need today in a way that a large corporation never could. As one of the developers of the data drivers inside both products, he is imminently qualified to take over maintenance and technical direction of the products. And as a reseller of developers’ tools to programmers all over the world, he knows what programmers want in the products they buy and how to market to them."

"This plan basically puts the future of Visual Objects in to the hands of the VO user community now." said Tom Walden (co-author, speaker, and lead developer for Auditron Electronics). "We have always contended that Visual Objects was one of [the previous owner's] best kept secrets, but in this unprecedented move on their part, [the previous owner] is opening the window wide open for future enhancements and marketing potential of Visual Objects. We couldn’t be more pleased with this decision!"

Robert van der Hulst (aka Mr. Data, with Solution Application Software in the Netherlands) has this to say: "I am very happy that Brian managed to convince [the previous owner] that the development of Visual Objects should continue. Visual Objects is a very productive development environment with tremendous potential. Adding 3rd party solutions, such as the VO Productivity Pack to the product, is a very smart move on Brian’s part. I hope that Brian manages to turn VO into the success story it deserves, and is also able to develop the product into the Dot.Net environment. I wish Brian and his team lots of success."

From Gary Stark (co-author of Visual Objects Developers Guide by SAMS) has this to say about the decision: "[The previous owner] has done a wonderful job in bringing Visual Objects to where it is today, where it remains the most elegant of solutions for the development of robust business applications. In addition to allowing VO to be more directly marketed within the small to medium development software industry, this intiative will also permit the language to extend well beyond where it is today, and fully embrace the technologies that are emerging for the future."

"The Software Developers Group Netherlands has great confidence in this initiative. Brian Feldman has always been there for the VO community, and we are convinced the future of both Clipper and Visual Objects is in capable hands. One of the strong points of the products has always been the support from third parties. Brian will be able to channel that support, and certainly enhance and develop Visual Objects as a result." As quoted from Ed Richard, President of the Visual Objects section of SDGN (www.sdgn.nl)

About GrafXSoft

GrafXSoft, a world leader in the distribution of specialized database application development tools, was founded by Brian Feldman in 1989, as a company that contracted with 3rd party Clipper developers, providing sales and technical support for them. After negotiating a contract for inclusion in Clipper and Visual Objects for Ganahl's FlexFile, and Loadstone's Comix and ClipMore, GrafXSoft's role changed considerably to become an international re-seller of database development tools, thereby guaranteeing a channel of distribution for products that we develop in the future. For more information, visit www.grafxsoft.com.