Claris
Claris logo
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| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Software |
| Predecessor | Apple Computer Inc. |
| Successor | FileMaker Inc. |
| Founded | 1987 |
| Defunct | 1998 |
| Headquarters | Santa Clara, California |
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Key people
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Bill Campbell, CEO and President; Yogen Dalal, VP R&D; John Zeisler, VP Marketing; Bruce Chizen VP Sales; Donna Dubinsky, VP International; Randy Komisar, VP, Corporate Counsel; Dan McCammon, CFO; Bill Joos, first VP Sales; Melissa Dyrdahl, first Director, Channel Marketing |
| Products | Claris Emailer, ClarisWorks, Claris CAD, ClarisDraw, Claris Resolve, Claris Impact, FileMaker, Claris Home Page, MacWrite, MacPaint, MacDraw, MacProject |
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Number of employees
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300 |
| Parent | Apple Computer |
| Website | www.claris.com (Wayback Machine archive) |
Claris was a computer software developer formed as a spin-off from Apple Computer (now Apple Inc.) in 1987. It was given the source code and copyrights to several programs that were owned by Apple, notably MacWrite and MacPaint, in order to separate Apple's application software activities from its hardware and operating systems activities.
In 1998 the company divested itself of all but its flagship product, and reformed as FileMaker Inc.
During the early days of the Macintosh computer, Apple shipped the machines with two basic programs, MacWrite and MacPaint, so that users would have a working machine "out of the box". However, this resulted in complaints from third-party developers, who felt that these programs were good enough for so many users that there was little reason to buy something better.
Apple decided to allow the programs to "wither", so that the third-party developers would have time to write suitable replacements. Unfortunately the developers didn't seem to hold up their end of the bargain, and it was some time before truly capable replacements like WriteNow came along. In the meantime users complained about the lack of upgrades, while the third-party developers continued to complain about the possibility of upgrades.
Eventually Apple decided the only solution was to spin off the products to a third party of its own creation, forming Claris in 1987. Claris was also given the rights to several lesser-known Apple products such as MacProject, MacDraw, and the hit Apple II product AppleWorks. Claris' second corporate headquarters (nicknamed "The Wedge") was in Santa Clara, about six miles from the main Apple campus.
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