                                                                    Exhibit 99.1

       MicroStrategy Fails Again in Unfounded Litigation Against Actuate;
           Actuate's June 2003 Trial Court Victory Affirmed on Appeal

    SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 20,
2004--Actuate Corporation (Nasdaq:ACTU), the world leader in
Enterprise Reporting Applications, today announced that the Virginia
State Supreme Court has rejected MicroStrategy's appeal of the June
2003 decision in the case of MicroStrategy, Incorporated v. Li, Xue
and Actuate Corporation. The court decision completely closes all
avenues for appeal by MicroStrategy in this case and reaffirms the
trial court's ruling in favor of Actuate.
    "Since the start of these legal proceedings in 2001, we have known
that MicroStrategy's accusations were totally without merit," said
Bill Garvey, Actuate's vice-president and general counsel. "We are
extremely pleased, but not surprised, with the court's ruling.
Unfortunately, MicroStrategy has established a notorious track record
of using unfounded litigation for what I believe to be
anti-competitive reasons against numerous companies within the
business intelligence space. Actuate believes that true competition
needs to occur in the marketplace, not in the courtroom."
    "In my view, MicroStrategy's legal antics during the past few
years have been desperate attempts to disrupt the normal course of
business," said Pete Cittadini, CEO and president of Actuate
Corporation. "These attempts have now ultimately failed and I believe
that they represent a misguided abuse of the legal system and a total
waste of resources that would have been better spent in competing the
right way, in the marketplace."
    The court's opinion can be viewed at
http://www.courts.state.va.us/opinions/opnscvwp/1032239.pdf.
    Actuate Corporation was represented in these proceedings by the
Washington, D.C. office of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal.

    About Actuate Corporation

    Actuate Corporation is the world leader in Enterprise Reporting
Applications that ensure 100% adoption by users. Actuate's Enterprise
Reporting Application Platform is the foundation on which Global 9000
organizations (companies with annual revenues greater than $1 billion)
and packaged application software vendors develop intuitive, Web
portal-like reporting and analytic applications that empower 100% of
users with decision-making information. These applications are
deployed inside and outside the firewall to improve corporate
performance across a range of business functions including financial
management, sales, human resource management, and customer
self-service. When tested against other business intelligence
products, Actuate's Enterprise Reporting Application Platform has been
proven to offer industry-leading scalability and the lowest Total Cost
of Ownership. Actuate has 2,900 customers globally in a range of
industries including financial services, pharmaceuticals, insurance,
and distribution services, as well as the government sector.
    Founded in 1993, Actuate has headquarters in South San Francisco,
Calif., and has offices worldwide. Actuate is listed on the NASDAQ
exchange under the symbol ACTU. For more information on Actuate, visit
the company's Web site at www.actuate.com.

    The statements contained in this release that are not purely
historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of
Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including
statements regarding Actuate's expectations, beliefs, hopes,
intentions or strategies regarding the future. All forward-looking
statements in this release are based upon information available to
Actuate as of the date hereof, and Actuate assumes no obligation to
update any such forward-looking statements. Actual results could
differ materially from Actuate's current expectations.

    Copyright(C) 2004 Actuate Corporation. All rights reserved.
Actuate and the Actuate logo are registered trademarks of Actuate
Corporation and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and certain other
countries. All other brands, names or trademarks mentioned may be
trademarks of their respective owners.


    CONTACT: Actuate Corporation
             Leena Bengani, 650-837-4837
             lbengani@actuate.com

