Several other officers are also on the call with me this morning to assist in answering any questions you may have. To the extent that I touch upon any forward-looking information during this call or at any other time, I hope you will understand that anything I might say represents only management's best estimate at the present time and actual results could differ materially from our present assumptions. Our 10Qs and other SEC reports contain cautionary statements identifying various factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from management's present projections . Financial Results MathSoft continued its string of profitable quarters in its fiscal fourth quarter of 1996. Moreover, 4Q96 earnings remained at the prior quarter levels, although up from analysts' expectations.
Kudos go to all of our employees for a good year.
Mathcad sales to new users ticked up from third quarter levels, reflecting both the improved channel inventory position in North America and a few university site licenses for Mathcad in preparation for the next school year. In conjunction with the shipment of StudyWorks we also opened the Collaboratory, MathSoft's own free on-line service on the Web. Secondly, Allen Razdow announced his resignation from the company effective August 5. He is taking a new position as the CEO of an exciting startup called Applied Parallel Technologies based here in Cambridge. We wish him well and thank him for the many, many years and thousands of innovative ideas he contributed to MathSoft.