Introducing NOOK® for Windows 8

Free Reading App Offers Seamless Access to Vast Selection of Digital Books, Magazines, Newspapers and Comics on Windows 8

First Digital Product from Barnes & Noble’s New NOOK Media Subsidiary, Free App Now Available for Download

New York, New York – – NOOK Media LLC, a subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), a leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products, today announced the highly anticipated NOOK for Windows 8 app, available to Windows 8 PC and tablet customers through the Windows Store. The free app combines NOOK’s award-winning reading experience with shopping directly from the app, so customers can discover, explore and read a massive selection of books, magazines, newspapers and comics from any Windows 8 tablet or PC. With live tiles, NOOK for Windows 8 customers can easily get right back to their last read title, be alerted to the arrival of new issues of their magazines and newspapers, or even pin a favorite book or magazine to the Windows 8 Start screen. NOOK for Windows 8 includes NOOK’s signature new “paper” user interface and all-new shopping experiences including innovative NOOK Channels™.

“This new NOOK for Windows 8 reading app is the first digital product launch under the recently announced strategic partnership between Microsoft and Barnes & Noble,” says Jamie Iannone, President of Digital Products at NOOK Media LLC. “Our intent was to create a great digital reading and content buying experience for millions of users on Windows 8, and by working closely with Microsoft on the app we’ve accomplished that.”

“NOOK delivers a comprehensive digital reading experience in a Windows Store app. Barnes & Noble took advantage of the new Windows user interface to combine an immersive reading experience with the ability to easily browse, search and purchase from their extensive content catalog. As consumers continue to embrace digital reading, the NOOK app is a strong addition to the Windows 8 experience,” says John Richards, senior director of Windows App Marketing for Microsoft Corp.

A Growing and Diverse Digital Catalog: The fully integrated NOOK Store™ offers NOOK for Windows 8 customers access to one of the world’s largest digital content collections featuring:

-More than 3 million books including bestsellers, new releases, classics and more
-The largest digital collection of the top 100 bestselling magazines available for both digital subscriptions and single copy sale, plus a large selection of leading daily and weekly newspapers
-A vast and growing collection of full-color comics, graphic novels and kids’ comics

Avid readers can sample NOOK Books™ for free and download content virtually instantly without ever leaving the NOOK for Windows 8 app.

Award-Winning Digital Reading Experience: Consistent with the excellent digital reading experience found on NOOK tablets and Readers, NOOK for Windows 8 customers will enjoy a multitude of tools for both reading and finding their next great read. Customers can easily personalize the reading experience by choosing from a selection of crystal-clear and razor-sharp fonts available in various styles and sizes, quickly navigate to different pages or chapters, add bookmarks, and more.

Easy to Use Interface: Offering intuitive digital reading and content discovery, NOOK for Windows 8 is NOOK’s first free Reading app to be designed with a “paper” interface created to minimize distractions and encourage deep content interaction and enjoyment. Reflecting a set of books and magazines laid out on the coffee table at home, the core layout of each customer’s “Daily Shelf” lets them easily find their latest read or a new issue of their favorite magazine or newspaper. Customers can easily navigate through this interface on a wide range of Windows 8 tablets using the fast and fluid Windows 8 touch experience.

Seamless Shopping and Reading: Elevating the shopping experience to new digital heights, NOOK for Windows 8 customers can browse over 3 million books, magazines, and newspapers through NOOK’s expansive digital content catalog, learn more about the book (including details and reviews) right from within the app, and tap to purchase and begin reading in seconds. And because the shopping experience is integrated into the app, there’s no need to launch an external browser or visit a Web page to download or complete a purchase.

Unparalleled, Curated Recommendations: NOOK for Windows 8 also delivers a new level of personal shopping to the browsing and reading experience through new NOOK Channels™, a pioneering recommendation system that combines the knowledge of Barnes & Noble’s booksellers with advanced algorithmic technology to create a curated discovery experience targeted specifically to each individual’s interests and sensibilities. Generating a rich stream of content that includes everything from the latest bestsellers as well as backlist gems and offbeat treasures, customers can browse and shop Channels that will expand their passions for the authors, characters and subjects they love, from Paranormal Romance, War Stories, and Books to Talk About to Jane Austen & Heirs, The New Classics, History by Plot and Books Every Kid Should Know.

Updates Streamed Instantly to the Start Screen: NOOK for Windows 8 features live tile image integration that delivers real-time updates right on the device’s Start screen, including the customer’s current read, specific progress within a book or magazine, latest periodicals or pre-ordered titles recently delivered to customers’ Library, and more.

Access Reading Content Anywhere: Like all free NOOK Reading apps, purchased content is safely stored through NOOK® Cloud, making it easy for customers to access digital books, magazines and more wherever they go. Using NOOK Sync™ technology, NOOK for Windows 8 automatically syncs a customer’s last page read across all of their devices. Start reading a magazine on a Windows 8 PC or tablet and seamlessly dive back in on a NOOK device or smartphone to keep reading virtually anytime, anywhere – all without losing the page.

NOOK for Windows 8 is now available to download for free in the Windows Store on all Windows 8 PCs and tablets. Customers can learn more about NOOK for Windows 8 at www.nook.com/nookforwindows8.

About Barnes & Noble, Inc.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS) is a Fortune 500 company and the leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products. The company operates 689 Barnes & Noble bookstores in 50 states, and one of the Web’s largest e-commerce sites, BN.com (www.bn.com). Its NOOK Media LLC subsidiary is a leader in the emerging digital reading and digital education markets. The NOOK digital business offers award-winning NOOK® products and an expansive collection of digital reading and entertainment content through the NOOK Store™ (www.nook.com), while Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, LLC operates 667 bookstores serving over 4.6 million students and faculty members at colleges and universities across the United States. Barnes & Noble is proud to be named a J.D. Power and Associated 2012 Customer Service Champion and is only one of 50 U.S. companies so named. Barnes & Noble.com is ranked the number one online retailer in customer satisfaction in the book, music and video category and a Top 10 online retailer overall in customer satisfaction according to ForeSee E-Retail Satisfaction Index (Spring Top 100 Edition).

General information on Barnes & Noble, Inc. can be obtained via the Internet by visiting the company’s corporate website: www.barnesandnobleinc.com.

NOOK®, NOOK Store™, NOOK Book™, NOOK Magazine™, NOOK Newspaper™, NOOK Reading Apps™, NOOK Channels™, NOOK® for Windows 8, NOOK Sync™, and Read What You Love. Anywhere You Like™ are trademarks of Barnes & Noble, Inc. Other trademarks referenced in this release are the property of their respective owners.

Follow Barnes & Noble on Twitter (www.bn.com/twitter), Facebook (www.facebook.com/barnesandnoble) and YouTube (www.youtube.com/user/bnstudio).

About NOOK Media LLC
NOOK reading and entertainment products make it easy to read what you love, anywhere you like™ with a fun, easy-to-use and immersive digital reading experience. With NOOK, customers gain access to the expansive NOOK Store™ of more than 3 million digital books, plus periodicals, comics, apps, movies and TV shows, and the ability to enjoy content across a wide array of popular devices through free NOOK Reading Apps™ and NOOK Video apps, available at www.nook.com/freenookapps. NOOK owners receive Always Free NOOK Support in any of Barnes & Noble’s nearly 700 bookstores. Find NOOK devices in Barnes & Noble stores and online at www.nook.com, as well as leading retailers including Best Buy, Walmart, Target and many others. NOOK products will also soon be available in the United Kingdom through www.nook.co.uk and leading retailers.

For more information on NOOK, follow us on www.twitter.com/nookBN or www.twitter.com/nook_UK and www.facebook.com/nook.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements (within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) and information that are based on the beliefs of the management of Microsoft or Barnes & Noble, as applicable, as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to such management. When used in this press release, the words “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “will” and similar expressions, as they relate to Barnes & Noble, NOOK Media Inc. or Microsoft or the management of Barnes & Noble or Microsoft, identify forward-looking statements.

Such statements reflect the current views of the relevant entities with respect to future events, the outcome of which is subject to certain risks, including, among others, the risk that any spin-off, split-off or other disposition by Barnes & Noble of its interest in NOOK Media LLC is not implemented, the risk that the transactions contemplated by this press release do not achieve the expected benefits for the parties including the risk that NOOK Media LLC’s applications are not commercially successful or that the expected distribution of those applications is not achieved, the risk that the separation of the digital and college businesses or any subsequent spin-off, split-off or other disposition by Barnes & Noble of its interest in NOOK Media LLC results in adverse impacts on Barnes & Noble or NOOK Media, Inc. (including as a result of termination of agreements and other adverse impacts), the potential impact on Barnes & Noble’s retail business of the separation, the risk that the international expansion contemplated by the relationship is not successful, the potential tax consequences for Barnes & Noble and its shareholders of a subsequent spin-off, split-off or other disposition by Barnes & Noble of its interest in NOOK Media LLC and the risk that NOOK Media LLC is not able to perform its obligations under the commercial agreement, including with respect to the development of applications and international expansion, and the consequences thereof and general risks related to the businesses that will become part of NOOK Media, Inc., including those risks discussed in detail in Item 1A, “Risk Factors,” in Barnes & Noble’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, and in Barnes & Noble’s other filings made hereafter from time to time with the SEC.

Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results or outcomes may vary materially from those described as anticipated, believed, estimated, expected, intended or planned. Subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to Barnes & Noble or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements in this paragraph. The parties undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise after the date of this communication.