ClarisWorks
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AppleWorks 6 for Mac OS X
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| Developer(s) | Bob Hearn and Scott Holdaway |
|---|---|
| Initial release | 1985 |
| Stable release |
6.2.9 (Mac OS X)/6.2.8 (Mac OS 8.1-9.2.2)/6.2.2 (Windows) / January 14, 2004
|
| Development status | Historic (August 15, 2007) |
| Operating system | Classic Mac OS, Mac OS X, Windows 2000 or later |
| Type | Office Suite |
| License | Proprietary |
| Website |
www |
AppleWorks refers to two different office suite products, both of which are now discontinued. The first program known as AppleWorks is an integrated software package for the Apple II platform, released in 1984 by Apple Computer.
The second program known as AppleWorks is a renamed version of ClarisWorks, a Mac and Windows office suite program originally created by the former Apple subsidiary Claris. It was bundled with all consumer-level Macs sold by Apple. On August 15, 2007, this version of AppleWorks reached end-of-life status, and was no longer sold.
Word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation applications with capabilities similar to AppleWorks are currently part of the iWork suite.
Developed by Rupert Lissner, the original AppleWorks was one of the first integrated office suites for personal computers, featuring a word processor, spreadsheet, and database merged into a single program. It was released in 1984 as a demonstration product for the new 128k models of the Apple II line. Apple had previously published Lissner's QuickFile, a database program that closely resembled what became the AppleWorks database module. An Apple III version of AppleWorks, which used the same file formats, was dubbed III E-Z Pieces and marketed by Haba Systems.
All three AppleWorks programs have the same user interface and exchange data through a common clipboard. Previous Apple II applications programs had mainly been designed with the older II/II+ line in mind, which only had 48k of RAM and 40-column text without an add-on card, thus resulting in them having limited capabilities. Appleworks was for comparison designed for the IIe/IIc models which had more RAM, standard 80-column text, an optional numeric keypad, cursor keys, and the new ProDOS operating system in place of DOS 3.3 which had been standard on 48k machines.
Because it was generally considered unethical for OS developers to also sell application software (something for which Digital Research founder Gary Kildall had criticized Microsoft), Apple avoided any advertisement of the program. AppleWorks nevertheless debuted at #2 on Softalk's monthly bestseller list and quickly became the best-selling software package on any computer, ousting even Lotus 1-2-3 from the top of the industry-wide sales charts. Apple's software subsidiary Claris sold the one millionth copy of AppleWorks in December 1988.
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