Lotus itself was founded by Mitchell Kapor, who was a friend of the developers of VisiCalc, the number-one spreadsheet program at the time. Its design was very similar to that of VisiCalc, including the A1 notation for cells and the slash-menu structure, but made some improvements, particularly in performance since it was cleanly programmed in x86 assembly language and mostly bug-free.
It wrote directly to the video memory rather than resorting to using slow DOS and BIOS output functions like other spreadsheets at the time. This remained true until version 3. This spreadsheet software was the most popular one until Windows became popular in the early '90s, when many of Lotus' customers started switching to MS Excel, which was released in for the Macintosh and later in with the release of Windows 2.
After more than three decades in service and countless versions later, it was discontinued in , being pulled from the market on June 11, , and support officially ending on September 30, By: Justin Stoltzfus Contributor, Reviewer. By: Satish Balakrishnan. Dictionary Dictionary Term of the Day.
Gorilla Glass. Techopedia Terms. Unfortunately, Lotus's well-being was tied closely to , and the firm had little success matching 's sales with other products. Trying several different strategies to help it obtain a wider selection of programs, the company invested both in software start-ups begun by former employees and in the creation of completely new programs. One such product was Symphony, an integrated software package that added word processing, a more sophisticated data management system, and the ability to network with other computers, to 's features.
Although the company put enormous effort into promoting Symphony, sales were disappointing because some users felt the program was difficult to learn, while others preferred the greater power found in single-function applications. The acquisition of programs through buyouts was also an option that Lotus pursued in diversifying its product base.
Software Arts had introduced the first popular spreadsheet, VisiCalc, which had lost its market share to In addition to VisiCalc, the acquisition brought Lotus a number of other software programs. When the Macintosh--an Apple computer with a graphic interface--was created, Lotus decided to move into that market with an integrated program of its own called Jazz. Combining a spreadsheet, database, graphics, and word processor into a single program, Jazz was intended to attract the introductory level users at whom Lotus believed the Macintosh was aimed.
The company invested in a large-scale advertising campaign introducing Jazz and got Apple to endorse the package. Although Apple executives spoke glowingly of the new software, Lotus's programmers had trouble writing Macintosh-compatible codes, and Jazz's initial introduction date of March was delayed two months because of programming bugs.
Resolving these problems did not spell success for Jazz, however. Once on the market, the program was criticized both for being slow and for being difficult to learn, the same complaint that had been leveled at Symphony. By this time, Kapor was becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the responsibilities of running a large company.
Convinced that he was more of a developer than a manager, he left Lotus in July of to pursue new projects, with Manzi remaining in charge of the firm. Under Manzi's direction, Lotus continued to build on 's success, selling , copies in , approximately three times as many copies as its nearest competitor, Microsoft's Multiplan. Lotus had sold more than two million copies since its release, accounting for Manzi, however, recognized the need for the company to break into the market for larger computers and computer networks.
In the meantime, Microsoft was rushing a spreadsheet for the Macintosh to market. Called Excel, the program was more like the powerful than the slow Jazz package. Excel captured the Macintosh spreadsheet market in much the same way that had captured the IBM market, becoming a major embarrassment for Lotus. A few industry analysts felt that Microsoft had outmaneuvered Lotus, but had inspired high brand-loyalty, allowing Lotus to hold on to its market share.
To compete better with Excel, Lotus announced improved versions of that would include some of the advances Microsoft had incorporated into Excel, and it signed an agreement with IBM to develop for mainframe computers. Lotus also launched a multimillion dollar advertising campaign in late , pushing for a slice of the surging Japanese software market for These efforts proved successful, and by mid was outselling Microsoft's Multiplan five to one in Japan.
Success for was hampered when the upgrade of the program was repeatedly delayed, angering many customers. To keep other, less loyal spreadsheet customers from defecting, Lotus offered to give away a program designed by Funk Software Inc. The repeated delays hurt company morale, however, and the firm took a beating in the press, with much of the criticism focusing on Manzi.
Former IBM manager W. Frank King III was brought on board, therefore, to get the development department back into shape. Lotus Version 3 was shipped finally in June , relieving the pressure that had depressed employee morale and Lotus's stock price. Within a year Lotus had released 26 other programs, including the long-promised spreadsheets for mainframes, minicomputers, and workstations.
Lotus also invested in smaller companies like Sybase Inc. But the move that would have the greatest impact on Lotus in the long run occurred in December , when Lotus shipped the first version of Notes. This was a new category of software called "groupware," designed to allow several computer users to collaborate on documents and other projects from distant locations across a network.
Manzi was the exclusive marketer of the new software, developed by Iris Associates, Inc. Because of the firms' bitter rivalry, Lotus refused for years to develop products for Microsoft's Windows graphic interface program, keeping itself out of a rapidly growing market until early , when it relented and announced Windows programs. Lotus filed suit against Borland in , claiming Quattro Pro violated Lotus's copyright.
But in a federal judge rejected both firms' call for a summary judgment, clearing the way for a trial. Lotus Notes is enterprise email software by IBM. The software has been rebranded and is now sold as IBM Notes. While Lotus Notes is the client part of the software platform, Lotus Domino is the server.
IBM Notes is essentially a desktop workflow application providing instant messaging, email, calendars, blogs, personnel directory and forums to organisations. White papers from our partners VMware U.
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