Sun Microsystems Computer Corporation 
     David Bailey (415)786-4007
     dbailey@Corp.Sun.com
     
     Burson Marsteller for Sun 
     Jane Rauckhorst (212)614-4880
     jane_rauckhorst@bm.com
     
     
     Open Society Institute 
     H. Juergen Hess (212)887-0602
     jhess@sorosny.org
     
     
     SUN SIGNS SERVER DEAL WITH SOROS FOUNDATIONS NETWORK TO HELP WIRE 
     UNIVERSITIES AND OTHER ENTITIES IN RUSSIA AND 29 ADDITIONAL COUNTRIES 
     
     
     Mountain View, CA -- February 18, 1997 -- Sun Microsystems today 
     announced it has signed a three-year contract with George Soros' Open 
     Society Institute (OSI) to provide Ultra(TM) Enterprise(TM) servers to 
     help connect 32 Russian universities to the Internet.  The 
     universities, located in the provinces of the country, are all part of 
     the Russian University Internet Center (UIC) initiative begun by OSI 
     in 1996.  
     
     In addition, Sun (TM) servers may also be purchased by foundations and 
     other entities of the Soros network in 29 other countries, including 
     the Czech Republic, Haiti, Hungary, South Africa, and F.R.Yugoslavia, 
     as part of OSI's Regional Internet Program.  
     
     Within the Russian UIC, three centers, located at Yaroslavl State 
     University, Novosibirsk State University and Dalnevostochny State 
     University (Vladivostok) have already opened with an additional 10 
     planned to open in 1997.  
     
     "The overall mission of the Open Society Institute and the network of 
     foundations is to support the development of open societies.  A 
     central element to creating and preserving open societies is the 
     ability to communicate and access information.  The Internet provides 
     a powerful and efficient method of communication and idea sharing 
     without the restrictions imposed by geographic boundaries. It 
     equalizes the information access playing field between the developed 
     and developing world."
     
     "We are very pleased to be working with Sun and other partners to 
     bring these new tools of information sharing to areas of the world 
     that previously did not have easy access to them." said Jonathan 
     Peizer, Chief Information Officer of the Open Society Institute in New 
     York.
     
     "Sun is thrilled to be working with the Soros foundations network to 
     help bring the power of the Internet to millions of students in all 
     areas of Russia and other emerging nations around the world,"  said 
     Barbara Gordon, vice president, research and academic computing, Sun 
     Microsystems Computer Corporation.  "This initiative is particularly 
     valuable because it targets universities that are in regions where 
     being connected to the Internet can translate into a much richer, more 
     meaningful educational environment for students." 
     
     Sun's education unit is already working with universities in countries 
     around the world and operates the Sun(TM)SITE(TM) (Sun Software 
     Information Technology Exchange) at Moscow State University.
     
     The numerous nonprofit foundations and organizations created and 
     funded by the philanthropist George Soros are linked together in an 
     informal network, the Soros foundations network. At the heart of this 
     network are 25 autonomous organizations located in Albania, Belarus, 
     Bulgaria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, 
     Georgia, Haiti, Hungary, Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, 
     Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South 
     Africa, Ukraine, Yugoslavia, and the United States. 
     
     These foundations share the common mission of supporting the 
     development of open society. To this end, they operate and support an 
     array of programs and initiatives in education, civil society, 
     independent media, Internet and e-mail communications, publishing, 
     human rights, arts and culture, and social, legal, and economic 
     reform. The Soros foundations network can be found on the World Wide 
     Web at http://www.soros.org.
     
     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 revenue, Sun can be 
     found in more than 150 countries and on the World Wide Web at 
     http://www.sun.com.
     
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