Editor Contacts:
Bruce Fienberg		Laura Margolis				
Altera Corporation		PR21				
(408) 544-6866		(312) 396-0526		
bfienber@altera.com	  	laura.margolis@pr21.com	

Altera Announces Linux Support for the Quartus® II Development Software

San Jose, Calif., May 7, 2001* Altera Corporation (Nasdaq: ALTR) today
announced plans to port the Quartus® II design software to Linux-based
environments by offering support for the Red Hat v.6.2 operating system.
This initiative bolsters Altera's leadership position in design software for
system-on-a-programmable-chip (SOPC) development. 
Complex designs require engineering teams to rely on large networks of
high-performance workstations and servers.  Low-cost, reliable PCs running
Linux provide an ideal design and development platform because of their
ability to fit easily into an existing UNIX environment. Altera's Quartus II
development software complements leading synthesis and simulation products
that are also rolling out on Linux.  Together, these products will provide a
complete Linux-based PLD development environment.
"Linux environments can provide the many advantages of a UNIX network at a
greatly reduced cost per compute cycle," said Tim Colleran, Altera vice
president of product marketing.  "The porting of Quartus II software to a
Linux operating system amplifies Altera's commitment to UNIX customers
needs."
"As programmable logic devices increase in size and complexity, the need for
high-performance, cost-effective platforms will follow," said Anne Sanquini,
vice president and general manager of Mentor Graphics HDL Design Division.
"We applaud Altera's strategy to address this emerging need, and look
forward to supporting them in this endeavor."
Linux has enjoyed dramatic success over the last several years as a platform
for a variety of EDA point tools, such as simulation, because of the low
cost per compute cycle. The broader availability of a Linux-based EDA tools,
including Quartus II software, will provide designers of complex SOPC
solutions with a high-throughput, low-cost design and verification
environment. To meet this end, Altera is partnering with Red Hat to develop
a port of Quartus II software to the Red Hat Linux OS which is firmly
embedded in today's computing infrastructure."We are excited that Altera has
selected the Red Hat operating system as a platform for its high-performance
Quartus II design software," said Bob Cymbalski, vice president of product
management at Red Hat.  "Combining the stability of the Red Hat v6.2
operating system with Altera's comprehensive SOPC design methodology
provides a robust development environment to the PLD design community."
About Quartus II Development Software
Altera's Quartus II software delivers superior designer productivity and
supports system-level designs with features including the PowerFit(tm)
fitter technology, support for multi-million gate devices, and integration
with third-party tools.  Also, with support for the Excalibur(tm) embedded
processor family, it extends the user scope beyond hardware by including a
software workflow that offers C/C++ compilers and debuggers in a fully
integrated development environment.  The Quartus II software supports major
operating systems, including Windows 2000, Windows NT, Windows 98, Sun
Solaris, and HP-UX.
Pricing and Availability
The Quartus II version 1.0 software is available today, and is a part of the
Altera development tools subscription package.  Altera's software
subscription program simplifies the process of obtaining Altera development
tools by consolidating all software products and maintenance charges into
one annual subscription payment.  The annual subscription for the Altera
development tools is $2,000 for a node-locked PC license, which includes
full-featured Quartus II and MAX+PLUS® II development software, OEM
synthesis tools from Synopsys and Exemplar, OEM simulation tools from
ModelTechnology, and 12 months of software upgrades.  New or existing
customers may obtain a software subscription at the Programmable eStore on
the Altera web site, http://www.altera.com, or from Altera distributors
worldwide.
About Altera
Altera Corporation, The Programmable Solutions Company®, was founded in 1983
and is a leading supplier of programmable logic devices (PLDs).  Altera's
CMOS-based PLDs are user-programmable semiconductor chips that enhance
flexibility and reduce time-to-market for companies in the communications,
computer peripheral, and industrial markets.  By using high performance
devices, software development tools, and sophisticated intellectual property
cores, system-on-a-programmable-chip (SOPC) solutions can be created with
embedded processors, memory, and other complex logic together on a single
PLD.  Altera common stock is traded on The Nasdaq Stock Market under the
symbol ALTR.  More information on Altera is available on the Internet at
http://www.altera.com.
Safe Harbor
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" that are made
pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995.  Forward-looking statements are generally preceded by
words that imply a future state such as "expected" or that imply that a
particular future event or events will occur such as "will".  Investors are
cautioned that all forward-looking statements in this release involve risks
and uncertainty, including without limitation the risk that future
performance is dependent on product development schedules, the design
performance of software and other tools, as well as the company's and third
parties' development technology and manufacture capabilities.  Please refer
to the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, copies of which
are available from the company without charge.
###
Altera, The Programmable Solutions Company, Quartus, PowerFit, Excalibur,
MAX+PLUS, and specific device designations, are trademarks and/or service
marks of Altera Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.  All other
trademarks are property of their respective holder.