Absoft and Visual Numerics Announce First IMSL Numerical Library Qualified for Microsoft's HPC Platform

ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich., July 15, 2008 -- Absoft(r) and Visual Numerics(r) today announced the first implementation of the IMSL Fortran Numerical Library qualified for Microsoft Windows(r) Compute Cluster Server (WCCS) 2003. Built with Absoft's Pro Fortran compiler, the newly qualified IMSL Library build includes MPI multi-threaded support and significantly improves performance and scalability of numerically intensive HPC applications running on WCCS 2003 based clusters. Future support for Windows HPC Server 2008, the successor to WCCS, is planned.

The IMSL Library for WCCS includes 1000+ mathematical and statistical subroutines that have been optimized for AMD and Intel processors using Absoft's latest Pro Fortran Compiler for x64 Windows environments.

Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003 with Microsoft-MPI is designed for easy application deployment across multiple x64 HPC cluster nodes. The Absoft Fortran, WCCS, IMSL Library combination provides a complete, high performance solution for development of computationally intense applications on cluster systems. The Absoft/IMSL Library build expands the computational and numerical capabilities of Windows systems previously targeted primarily at workstation environments. Prices start at $400. www.absoft.com/Absoft_IMSL.htm

"Absoft is pleased to continue its leadership in the Fortran community by introducing the first IMSL Numerical Library qualified for Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003 platforms," said Wood Lotz, president of Absoft. "The IMSL Libraries are the gold standard of numerical libraries and are available on over 60 different platforms worldwide.

Using the IMSL Libraries' pre-built functions as application building blocks means Absoft customers save both time and money. Microsoft's robust WCCS environment and Absoft Fortran's advanced optimizers assure maximum performance and reliability for the applications," continued Lotz.

"For over 15 years, Visual Numerics and Absoft have collaborated to advance computational solutions for the Windows platform. Adding qualified WCCS support means a higher level of performance, and large cluster scalability is now available to distributed application developers on Windows through the combination of the Absoft Pro Fortran compiler and the IMSL Fortran Library," states Dr. Ed Stewart, product manager for the IMSL Libraries.

"Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003 brings together the power of commodity x64 computers with the ease of use and Security of Windows.

We are pleased that Absoft and Visual Numerics have announced the first implementation of the IMSL numerical libraries certified for WCCS 2003," said Shawn Hansen, director of HPC marketing at Microsoft.

Effective July 15, 2008, all IMSL Fortran Libraries shipped for Windows by Absoft Corporation will be qualified for Windows 2000 through Vista and Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003, all at no additional charge.

Further details on IMSL Libraries and Absoft products are available at:

www.absoft.com.

About Absoft Corporation

Absoft Corporation is a leading provider of software development solutions including Fortran and C/C++ compilers, debuggers and IDEs for desktop and high performance computing systems. Absoft products are distributed worldwide.

About Visual Numerics(r)

Visual Numerics has provided technical software solutions for numerical analysis and visualization for more than three decades. The company's software products help users understand complex data from a variety of sources and build business-critical applications. www.vni.com.