Hint at the future of AppleWorks?

Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
This is interesting. Posted at MacNN this is <a href="http://www.swiss.ai.mit.edu/~bob/clarisworks.php#whither"; target="_blank">A Brief History of ClarisWorks </a>. The end sums up and hints that Apple may/must be up to something. Maybe Keynote was it? Maybe something more for AW? Or maybe something else?



[quote]...

At times over the past few years, there have been rumors and speculation that Apple was working with / had reacquired Gobe and / or the original ClarisWorks team, to produce a new Mac version of AppleWorks based on Gobe Productive. Apple and Gobe did indeed discuss possibilities at various points in Gobe's history; however, I am not at liberty to go into details. Apple did not in the end acquire Gobe as such, but three of its founders, Scott Holdaway, Scott Lindsey, and Carl Grice, did rejoin Apple as employees when Gobe failed. They won't tell me what they are up to (even off the record!), but whatever it is, it does not involve the Gobe Productive codebase. Nor, I am reasonably sure, does it involve the ClarisWorks / AppleWorks codebase.

...<hr></blockquote>



Not much to go on at all.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 15
    jmoneyjmoney Posts: 133member
    IMO Appleworks 6 kinda sucks.. I'd rather Apple discontinue the Appleworks franchise and focus their efforts on other programs or even just beef up the hardware a little more. Maybe focus on revamping the 15" Powerbooks to make them a REAL middle between the 12 and 17" notebooks?
  • Reply 2 of 15
    akacakac Posts: 512member
    You do know that Apple can't take PROGRAMMERS working on xxxx and put them on a HARDWARE project???



    Why do people always think that Apple can move x people from project x to project y in totally separate fields?



    Even with software, somebody working on AppleWorks is probably not a good person to put to work on the kernel or Darwin, etc...
  • Reply 3 of 15
    outsideroutsider Posts: 6,008member
    [quote]Originally posted by Akac:

    <strong>You do know that Apple can't take PROGRAMMERS working on xxxx and put them on a HARDWARE project???



    Why do people always think that Apple can move x people from project x to project y in totally separate fields?



    Even with software, somebody working on AppleWorks is probably not a good person to put to work on the kernel or Darwin, etc...</strong><hr></blockquote>

    Duh, Apple employees are Borg. They just adapt to the task required of them.
  • Reply 4 of 15
    buonrottobuonrotto Posts: 6,368member
    Well, at least it confirms a few things. Since Apple did not acquire GoBe, it explains why it would take this long to work on another suite of productivity apps. Apple has shown that it likes to target-hire people in the past, so the confirmation that these folks were hired is a good sign.
  • Reply 5 of 15
    I for one would love to see AppleWorks be part of the core OS apps ( like it used to be ) and make people pay for the iToys.
  • Reply 6 of 15
    jmoneyjmoney Posts: 133member
    [quote]Originally posted by Akac:

    <strong>You do know that Apple can't take PROGRAMMERS working on xxxx and put them on a HARDWARE project???



    Why do people always think that Apple can move x people from project x to project y in totally separate fields?



    Even with software, somebody working on AppleWorks is probably not a good person to put to work on the kernel or Darwin, etc...</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Why do people on this board whine so much? Cut the Appleworks team entirely and hire hardware engineers or see if you can move anyone over.. There are some people who are proficient in more then one area.. so

  • Reply 7 of 15
    jdbonjdbon Posts: 109member
    Appleworks is the productivity suite included with every mac (well most). Appleworks 6 was released in mid 2000, and was the first carbon application from Apple. it is inconsistent with the OS X interface. It doesn't save to word or excel format. It needs an update.
  • Reply 8 of 15
    amorphamorph Posts: 7,112member
    If Keynote and iLife are any indication, AppleWorks won't get an update. It'll get replaced with separate, robust applications that work closely together.



    IMO, this works well. The AppleWorks codebase is weird and filled with legacy. Best to start fresh. Especially when you're getting serious about putting out Office killers.



    [ 01-20-2003: Message edited by: Amorph ]</p>
  • Reply 9 of 15
    scottscott Posts: 7,431member
    I like Amorph's thinking. AW6 was a step back in many more ways than one. Maybe Apple learned the hard way and I staring with a clean slate.
  • Reply 10 of 15
    bungebunge Posts: 7,329member
    I hope Apple keeps AppleWorks forever...I used to use it on my Apple ][c and I'd hate to see it go.



    That said, I expect them to "keynote" some big apps and integrate them like iLife. I just hope they keep the name AppleWorks.
  • Reply 10 of 15
    outsideroutsider Posts: 6,008member
    Could explain the delays and lack of info on any future Appleworks update.
  • Reply 12 of 15
    amorphamorph Posts: 7,112member
    [quote]Originally posted by bunge:

    <strong>I hope Apple keeps AppleWorks forever...I used to use it on my Apple ][c and I'd hate to see it go.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Wow. So did I. AppleWorks on my //c got me through college.



    [quote]<strong>That said, I expect them to "keynote" some big apps and integrate them like iLife. I just hope they keep the name AppleWorks.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Unfortunately, Keynote is an indication that they won't. They might also want to get away from the "Works" name just because MS uses it for their downmarket office product. Yes, even though Apple was there first. :/



    One never knows. They might bundle all the apps together and offer them as AppleWorks, but I think it's more likely that they'll be new apps with new names, so that people look at them with fresh eyes instead of thinking that they're just the old "lite" suite freshened up for OS X.
  • Reply 13 of 15
    frank777frank777 Posts: 5,839member
    iLife raises an interesting point.



    Jobs said at the MWSF keynote that Apple's two year experience with the iApps taught them that consumers wanted an integrated suite, hence iLife.



    This allows us to easily use iTunes music in iMovie, burn iMovies to DVD, use Photos in iMovies, yada, yada yada...



    Now we all know that MS Office is heavily integrated. Click on a URL in Word and Explorer's your new best friend, etc.



    So the question is will Apple's new productivity suite be integrated right out of the starting gate, or will they be intertwined later on?



    It's one of those areas where I feel sorry for Jobs. If he integrates them heavily, a bunch of people will take to AI saying he's locking out small developers from the Mac. If he releases them separately, they'll post about how the suite isn't good enough to beat MS Office.



    <img src="graemlins/bugeye.gif" border="0" alt="[Skeptical]" />
  • Reply 14 of 15
    scottscott Posts: 7,431member
    Anyone think Apple might pull another Safari wrt office apps. Take something open source and make it into a great Mac OS app?



    Of course even though the AW code base is old and in need of overhaul starting with that has got to be better than starting with some of the open source projects out there.
  • Reply 15 of 15
    outsideroutsider Posts: 6,008member
    How about Office Extreme?



    What ever they name it, I am hoping for a Pro version of Mail that can connect to Exchange servers and support PST files.
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