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Avid to Synchronize Product Development on the Mac (9/11/2005)

Avid Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVID) today announced its plans to synchronize development for its Mac product line in preparation for Apple's introduction of Intel-based Macs next year. By synchronizing development for both Apple platforms, Avid's initial Mac HD release is now targeted for mid-2006 for Avid Xpress(R) Pro and Media Composer(R) Adrenaline(TM) systems running on PowerPC Macs. Following the arrival of Apple's Intel-based systems, Avid plans to deliver the same HD capabilities offered on PowerPC-based systems to Avid(R) products running on the new Mac-Intel architecture. This development coincides with the company's plans to achieve overall synchronization between Mac and Windows platforms by mid-2006.

"When Apple announced its plan to move to Intel processors this past June, we were as surprised as the rest of the industry," said Dana Ruzicka, vice president of Post Solutions for Avid. "The new Intel architecture shows great promise for improving Mac performance, but it also requires third-party developers to rework their roadmaps in order to support two Apple platforms. While this kind of wholesale change is good for the industry overall, we share our customers' frustrations with the disruption it can cause in the short-term. Given how important the Mac is to our customer base, we're embracing Apple's Xcode development environment, which enables us to simultaneously develop for both PowerPC- and Intel-based Mac systems. Although our timeframe for delivering HD on the Mac is now mid-2006, our support of both the new Intel architecture and the existing PowerPC platform offers a path for all of our loyal Mac customers - and helps us to better serve their needs in the long run."

Avid editing systems running on PowerPC- and Intel-based Macs are expected to provide the following HD capabilities:

-- HD editing support - allowing users to edit major HD formats, including HDCAM, HDV and DVCPRO HD.

-- Avid DNxHD(TM) support and encoding - enabling high-definition workflows at standard-definition data rates, but with the image quality of working at uncompressed HD resolutions.

-- Real-time HD Multicam - allowing simultaneous playback of all multicam views for on-the-fly editing in real-time.

www.avid.com

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