Lycoris Licenses btX2 Font Engine from Bitstream

MAPLE VALLEY, Wash. & CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--June 10, 2004--Lycoris and Bitstream Inc. (Nasdaq: BITS) announced today that Lycoris will license the btX2 font rendering engine and a core set of 13 delta-hinted screen fonts from Bitstream for its entire product line, including Desktop/LX Personal, Desktop/LX InterConnect, and Desktop/LX Tablet Edition.

"Lycoris' commitment to desktop usability extends even to the font rendering system," said Joseph Cheek, CEO of Lycoris. "The inclusion of the additional set of core fonts, as well as the btX2 font engine, gives our users enhanced viewing capabilities. We are excited to partner with industry powerhouse Bitstream to ensure that our users' experiences with our products are not just enjoyable, but exceptional."

"btX2 gives Linux developers a complete solution in one license agreement from one vendor," said Anna Chagnon, President and CEO of Bitstream. "We're trying to make it easier for developers to bring a great look-and-feel to the Linux desktop. Users have been spoiled by what they've seen on other desktop systems, and are demanding smooth, clear text that is easy to read. Now they can get this solution from Lycoris. It's a pleasure working with the leader in the Linux desktop consumer market."

"The engineering team at Lycoris has been outstanding," stated Shawn Flynn, Senior Software Engineer of Bitstream. "We were able to work together on issues surrounding btX2, and solve them immediately. Our engineering team made certain that Lycoris was able to take advantage of btX2's support for native TrueType hinting and anti-aliasing, as these were critical factors in bringing readability to Desktop/LX."

About btX2

Key Features -- Provides high-quality text rendering, fine-tuned for the output device -- Scales characters on the fly -- Renders native hints, which retain distinguishing character features -- Smooths jagged character edges using anti-aliasing technology -- Supports multilingual fonts, including two-byte character sets -- Supports Unicode and native encodings

Core Set of 13 Delta-Hinted Screen Fonts -- Courier 10 roman, italic, bold, and bold italic -- Dutch(TM) 801 roman, italic, bold, and bold italic -- Swiss(TM) 721 roman, italic, bold, and bold italic -- Symbol Set

Devices Supported -- Color LCD displays -- Grayscale displays -- Handheld and wireless devices -- Information appliances -- TV and HDTV -- Set-top boxes -- Embedded systems -- Bitmap devices

Operating Systems & Applications Supported -- Linux & UNIX

Font Formats Supported -- CFF (compact font format) / Type 2 -- OpenType -- PostScript Type 1 -- TrueType -- TrueType collections -- TrueDoc PFRs, portable font resources -- T2K -- Speedo(TM) -- Stroke-based font format -- Embedded bitmaps (TrueType, TrueDoc, and T2K formats)

Unsurpassed Speed btX2 uses the fastest font engine on the market, Font Fusion(R), to render characters:

Monochrome (black-and-white) characters: (a) Unhinted: 37,714 bitmaps per second Native TrueType hinted: 13,713 bitmaps per second

Anti-aliased (grayscale) characters: (a) Unhinted: 25,453 bitmaps per second Native TrueType hinted: 11,573 bitmaps per second

(a) Tested using a 450MHz Pentium II processor, rendering a TrueType font at 25 lines per em

About Bitstream

Bitstream Inc. (Nasdaq: BITS) is a software development company that focuses on the presentation of data. Bitstream enables customers worldwide to render high-quality text, browse the Web on wireless devices, select from the largest collection of fonts online, and customize documents over the Internet. Its core competencies include font technology, browsing technology, e-commerce technology, and publishing technology. Visit Bitstream on the Web at [HYPERLINK@www.bitstream.com.]

About Lycoris

Lycoris was founded in 2000 with a vision of making Linux simple enough for everyone. Lycoris packages Open Source applications for the consumer market and integrates them into Desktop/LX, its simple, robust operating system. Lycoris is positioning itself as the leading provider of the best Linux based operating system specifically targeted for the desktop market, whether purchased separately or pre-installed on Desktop/LX PCs. The company is also the leader in the Linux Tablet arena, pioneering the first and so far only Linux-based Tablet PC operating system, Desktop/LX Tablet Edition. Lycoris sets the standard that all others follow. Visit Lycoris on the Web at [HYPERLINK@www.lycoris.com.]

Bitstream and Font Fusion are registered trademarks and the Bitstream logo, Dutch, Speedo, Swiss, and Vera are trademarks of Bitstream Inc. Lycoris, Desktop/LX, and their associated logos are trademarks of Lycoris in the U.S. and in other countries. Other technologies and brand names are used for information only and remain trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Contacts Bitstream Inc. Anna Chagnon, 617-520-8619 [e-mail:achagnon@bitstream.com] or Lycoris Rus Bayne, 425-738-6604 [e-mail:Rus@Lycoris.com]