Dr. Eric Schmidt Appointed Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Novell, Inc.

The Internet Pioneer and Chief Technology Officer of Sun Microsystems describes the move as, "The opportunity of a lifetime."

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIF--March 18, 1997--Novell, Inc., and Sun Microsystems, Inc, today announced that Dr. Eric Schmidt will join Novell on April 7, 1997 as chairman of the board and chief executive officer.

Widely recognized as an Internet pioneer and instrumental in the widespread acceptance of Java™ technology (the platform independent programming language that Sun developed), Dr. Schmidt brings to Novell 20 years of leadership in software and systems research, marketing and business management.

"We are grateful for the many contributions Eric has made to Sun's success." said Scott McNealy, chairman, president and chief executive officer, Sun Microsystems. "He is an awesome technologist, committed to advancing network computing. We wish him every success in his new position."

Novell Chairman, John Young will become vice chairman of the company with this announcement. He commented, "Clearly, having an executive of Eric Schmidt's stature and business experience as the Novell CEO will contribute significantly to the next chapter of growth for the company. More importantly, as a recognized leader in the move to network computing, Eric shares Novell's view and the view of thousands of enterprises that the future of networks relies on the value of open standards and software that enable people to securely share information and conduct business on the Internet."

"When the opportunity came up to lead one of the most exciting companies in the networking space, my immediate reaction was 'This is an opportunity of a lifetime,'" said Dr. Schmidt. "Of course, I will miss deeply all of the wonderful people at Sun from whom I have learned a great deal, and to whom I owe a great debt.

"Over the last few years I've watched hundreds of enterprises make the move to networkbased information systems. The pace of this change has accelerated considerably over the last few months for Novell's customers since Joe Marengi took over as President and COO. Novell offers these enterprises and thousands of others a powerful way to prosper in a world defined by open standardsbased software and the Internet."

Dr. Schmidt joined Sun Microsystems in 1983 as manager of software and has held numerous positions in his nearly 14 years of service, including: director of software engineering, vice president and general manager of the software products division, vice president of the general systems group, and president of Sun Technology Enterprises.

Prior to joining Sun, Dr. Schmidt was a member of the research staff at the Computer Science Lab at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) and held positions at Bell Laboratories and Zilog. Dr. Schmidt has a BS in electrical engineering from Princeton University and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of California at Berkeley.

Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision, "The Network Is The Computer™" has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc., (NASDAQ"SUNW"), to its position as a leading provider of hardware, software and services for establishing enterprise-wide intranets and expanding the power of the Internet. With more than $7 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than 150 countries and on the worldwide web at http://www.sun.com.

Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Java, and The Network Is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc., in the United States and other countries.

Founded in 1983, Novell (NASDAQ: NOVL) is the world's leading provider of network software. The company offers a wide range of network solutions for distributed network, Internet, intranet and small-business markets. Novell education and technical support programs are the most comprehensive in the network computing industry. Information about Novell's complete range of products and services can be accessed on the World Wide Web at http://www.novell.com.