FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Neil Ticktin
Publisher, MacTech Magazine
Xplain Corporation
Phone: 805-494-9797
Fax: 805-494-9798
publisher@mactech.com

Shinji Kobayashi
Editor-in-Chief, MacTech Japan
ASCII Corporation
Phone: +81-3-5351-8165
Fax: +81-3-5351-8166
shinji-k@ascii.co.jp

XPLAIN AND ASCII LAUNCH MACTECH JAPAN

Westlake Village, CA and Tokyo, Japan -- February 17, 1997 -- Xplain
Corporation, the publisher of MacTech Magazine, today announced that it is
launching MacTech Japan with noted Japanese publisher, ASCII Corporation.

Until today, Japanese MacOS developers have had to work twice as hard by using
English based documentation. Not only did they have to battle the technical
issues, but a language barrier as well. Now, MacTech Japan, a fully localized
version of MacTech Magazine in the United States (MacTech US), solves that.

Starting initially as a bi-monthly publication, MacTech Japan will not only
include translated articles from MacTech US, but will also include translated
information from Apple Japan and the Japanese developer community.

As its first major advertiser, MacTech Japan will include a full color
DevDepot catalog to make tools more broadly available to the Japanese
market. Launched initially in the U.S., DevDepot is focused on the
MacOS developer community providing easy access to tools, books and utilities.

"The Macintosh has around double the market share in Japan that it does in the
U.S. Apple sells about half as many machines in Japan as they do in the U.S.,
so it was an obvious extension to the MacTech family." said Neil Ticktin,
Publisher of MacTech Magazine. "MacTech US already has some 25,000 readers in
50+ countries, but there's nothing like reading it in one's native language.
And, with ASCII's significant experience in both the Mac market and technical
publications, they were a natural partner."

"MacTech Japan will provide all needed information for Japanese developers to
create superior applications." said Kunio Toshima, General Manager of ASCII
Corporation. "Now Apple passes a turning point, and is beginning its efforts to
take command of next-generation operating systems. This is also a very
significant time for Japanese developers, so we are providing good, useful and
timely information through MacTech Japan. As we help the developer
community with this information, our goal is to watch the entire Japanese
Macintosh market grow, succeed, and become more powerful."

The first issue is slated to go on sale in Japan in early April, 1997.
Subscription information will be available in early March on the MacTech web
site at (http://www.mactech.com).

Corporate Backgrounds:

Xplain Corporation publishes MacTech(tm) Magazine (http://www.mactech.com), the
MacTech CD-ROM(tm) series, THINK Reference(tm), operates DevDepot(tm)
(http://www.devdepot.com), and provides custom publishing services. Founded in
1984, the company has its offices in Westlake Village, California. MacTech
Magazine was formerly called MacTutor and began publishing in November, 1984.
For more information on Xplain Corporation or any of its products/services,
call the main offices at 805-494-9797, fax at 805-494-9798, send an e-mail to
info@xplain.com, or send snail mail to PO Box 5200, Westlake Village, CA
91359-5200, USA.

ASCII Corporation (http://www.ascii.co.jp) is the first computer magazine
publisher in Japan. Since 1977, the company has continued to publish a broad
range of magazines and books, now ASCII is the publisher of 27 magazines
ranging from advanced computer user journals to games and entertainment. ASCII
also publishes around 300 volumes of CD-ROM products annually. For more
information on ASCII Corporation, call the main offices at +81-3-5351-8111, fax
at +81-3-5351-8085, or mail to 4-33-10, Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo, 15124 JAPAN

****

All contents are Copyright 1984-1997 by Xplain Corporation. All
rights reserved. MacTech NOW, MacDev-1, MacTech, MacTech Magazine, MacTech
CD-ROM, MacTech Japan, THINK Reference, DevDepot, Sprocket, JavaTech,
WebTech, BeTech, and the MacTutorMan are trademarks of Xplain Corporation.
Other trademarks and copyrights appearing in this printing remain the property
of their respective holders and are hereby recognized.