196:
GraphLink). In addition to rebranding such externally developed programs, Multimate rewrote the documentation for each program and adapted the program interfaces to more closely resemble the word processor. The last version of MultiMate was packaged with many of these add-on programs under the product name "MultiMate
Advantage" to compete with other word processor software of the day, especially
246:. MultiMate eventually sold a hardware keyboard with dedicated function keys and issued versions of its software for networked PCs. It adapted list-management, graphics and outlining software from other vendors to the look-and-feel of MultiMate, shipping the expanded version as MultiMate Advantage, with additional volumes of MultiMate-style documentation for the add-on programs.
321:
in 1984 was less positive. It described version 3.20 as being "very safe" because of many backups and safeguards and praised the formatting features, customization ability, and quality of the (very busy) toll-free help line. The review, however, called MultiMate "the klunkiest package" of five tested
312:
in
February 1983 stated that MultiMate "virtually remakes your computer into a Wang-like dedicated word processor", and that it was "very fast, easy to learn, and capable" with many features. The review noted the application's inability to use more than 128K of RAM, but praised the documentation and
195:
Multimate
International developed the core word processing software and utilities (file conversion, printer drivers), but purchased and adapted sub-programs for spelling and grammar checking, list management, outlining and print-time incorporation of graphics in word processing documents (MultiMate
131:
MultiMate was not marketed heavily to end-users, but was quickly popular with insurance companies, law firms, other business computer users and US government agencies and the military. While the Wang WP keyboard was different from the original PC keyboard, MultiMate compensated by providing a large
322:
word processors because of the overemphasis on safety, criticized the built-in help and slow performance, and reported being unable to use the spell checker because of its poor quality. However, the reviewer mentioned that MultiMate version 3.30 was already shipping when the article went to press.
238:
The detailed MultiMate word processor documentation, which quickly grew to three volumes, gave the product a solid "office product" feel, using high-quality paper with its main reference section presented in a padded binder with fold-out easel. (A company legend was that the MultiMate user manual
127:
word processing systems. W. H. Jones' head Will Jones and five other developers created the software. W. H. Jones retained the right to sell the program elsewhere, and WordMate appeared in
December 1982. The company renamed itself to SoftWord Systems, then Multimate International, while renaming
156:
MultiMate's popularity rapidly grew. In
January 1983 some employees were paid late because of slow sales, but two months later revenue grew 25-fold after good reviews appeared in magazines. The company's fiscal 1984 sales were $ 15 million or more, and by early 1985 MultiMate's
128:
WordMate to MultiMate. Advertisements stated that MultiMate "mimic the features and functions of a dedicated system", and that it was "modeled after the Wang word processor". Like
Connecticut Mutual, many customers purchased it because of the similarity with the Wang.
249:
Early releases of MultiMate also gave users unlimited access to a toll-free support number and a promise of low-cost upgrades, which contributed to its dedicated user population. Support policies later were brought in line with Ashton-Tate's standard practices.
140:
initially located at the left side of the keyboard in two vertical rows. It also included a "document summary" screen for each document, another Wang feature, which allowed more sophisticated document-management than the brief file names allowed by
132:
plastic template that clipped on the PC keyboard, and stick-on labels for the fronts of the PC keys. The template and labels color-coded the combination keystrokes using the SHIFT, ALT and CTRL keys with all 10 of the PC's
313:
built-in help, and stated that many commands required half the keystrokes of the WordStar equivalent. The review concluded "MultiMate stands head and shoulders above many if not most ... an impressive entrant".
253:
MultiMate was especially good at supporting a variety of PC clones and hundreds of computer printers, each of which required its own printer driver. The company's printer support was very strong with
136:
and many of the character keys. Like Wang systems, MultiMate controlled most editing operations with function keys, assigning four functions to each of the 10 function keys, which
242:
Early versions of the program came with both color-coded key stickers and a plastic full-keyboard template to make Wang operators more comfortable with the smaller
123:. It hired W. H. Jones & Associates to write word-processing software for the computer that would not require retraining its employees, already familiar with
239:
was written first, by an experienced Wang WP manager, then the programmers were told to write software to match it, which is how the Wang WP was created.)
169:
in
December 1985 for about $ 20 million. An Ashton-Tate press release called the acquisition "the largest ever in the microcomputer software industry".
629:
548:"Ashton-Tate Plans to Acquire Multimate In Bid to Strengthen Software Position" By JOHN MARCOM JR., The Wall Street Journal; Jul 30, 1985; pg. 4
215:
One of the first "clone" versions of MultiMate was bundled with an early portable PC made by Corona. Other versions were written to match PCs by
574:
339:
176:), a hardware interface card for file-transfer with Wang systems, a keyboard with extra function keys, versions of MultiMate for different
659:
116:
428:
200:
for DOS, which
Multimate International developers saw as their main competition in the business market, and to a lesser extent
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192:). Early attempts to create a MultiMate Data Manager and List Manager in-house never reached the market.
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Other MultiMate products included foreign language versions of the software (i.e., "MultiTexto" in
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word processor, which had its roots in another office word processing computer.
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295:. The product was dropped after the Ashton-Tate itself was purchased by
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version. It discontinued MultiMate's development efforts on
153:
was popularized by other programs, MultiMate added menus.
402:"MultiMate Word Processor Slows Down in New Version 3.20"
261:, but did not take much advantage of the development of
455:"MultiMate: The Word Processor You've Been Dreaming Of"
119:
was one of the first large-volume customers for the
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980:
904:
873:
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798:
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63:
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35:
180:MS-DOS computers, and for use on PC networks from
161:in companies was as large as former market leader
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149:. As function selection through key-controlled
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8:
287:platforms and closed a development group in
30:
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29:
487:(advertisement). 1984-09-04. p. 108
461:(advertisement). 1984-01-24. p. 51
330:
7:
507:"Micropro Fights for Office Market"
25:
117:Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance
660:of early word processor programs
560:"Complete Multimate Acquisition"
368:Sandler, Corey (February 1983).
481:"Exploding The Big Wang Theory"
427:Puotinen, C J (November 1984).
1033:The First XLEnt Word Processor
338:Strothman, Jim (August 1982).
165:'s. Jones sold the company to
107:computers in the early 1980s.
1:
370:"The Dedication of Multimate"
275:Ashton-Tate never released a
538:. Ashton-Tate. 1 April 1986.
513:. 1985-04-15. pp. 20–21
429:"Leading Edge and MultiMate"
575:"Word Processing Revisited"
51:; 41 years ago
1199:
400:Garvey, Ian (1984-03-06).
340:"The More PCs the Merrier"
151:screen-top drop-down menus
1147:
645:
204:, the DOS incarnation of
1152:Category:Word processors
1129:IBM Displaywriter System
27:Word processing software
948:MobiSystems OfficeSuite
912:Atlantis Word Processor
639:Word processor programs
603:List of word processors
573:Cameron, Janet (1984).
98:Multimate International
41:Multimate International
558:Block, Norman (1985).
115:With 1,000 computers,
581:(review). p. 171
435:(review). p. 287
1003:Atari Word Processor
958:Scientific WorkPlace
891:Nisus Writer Express
533:"MultiMate Products"
259:dot-matrix printers
32:
1124:Friden Flexowriter
1038:IBM Lotus Symphony
1013:Bank Street Writer
925:IBM Lotus Word Pro
49:December 1982
1160:
1159:
976:
975:
917:Corel WordPerfect
811:Corel WordPerfect
221:Texas Instruments
125:Wang Laboratories
87:
86:
16:(Redirected from
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934:
921:
896:Nisus Writer Pro
815:
796:
784:
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726:Collabora Online
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632:
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198:IBM DisplayWrite
59:
57:
52:
33:
21:
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1193:
1192:
1191:
1189:
1188:
1187:
1183:Word processors
1163:
1162:
1161:
1156:
1143:
1119:CPT Corporation
1102:
1028:Electric Pencil
1018:Cut & Paste
972:
938:Microsoft Works
932:
920:(since v. 10.0)
919:
900:
869:
853:
834:Kingsoft Writer
813:
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46:Initial release
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839:Microsoft Word
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814:(up to v. 9.0)
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799:Cross-platform
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767:(since v. 3.x)
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754:Adobe Buzzword
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748:
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743:
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728:
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691:Calligra Words
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686:(up to v. 2.x)
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329:
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270:laser printers
206:Microsoft Word
159:installed base
112:
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94:word processor
85:
84:
82:Word processor
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61:
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858:Classic MacOS
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759:Atlantis Nova
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376:. p. 233
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233:IBM PC Junior
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96:developed by
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48:
44:
40:
38:
34:
19:
1178:DOS software
1023:davka writer
993:Apple Writer
981:Discontinued
865:Nisus Writer
806:Adobe InCopy
583:. Retrieved
578:
568:
553:
544:
527:
515:. Retrieved
510:
501:
489:. Retrieved
484:
475:
463:. Retrieved
458:
449:
437:. Retrieved
432:
422:
410:. Retrieved
408:. p. 59
405:
378:. Retrieved
373:
348:. Retrieved
346:. p. 44
343:
333:
316:
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307:
306:
274:
252:
248:
241:
237:
227:, the early
214:
194:
171:
155:
130:
114:
89:
88:
37:Developer(s)
1063:SpeedScript
1008:AtariWriter
881:Apple Pages
819:Google Docs
731:LibreOffice
696:GNU TeXmacs
671:Open-source
485:PC Magazine
459:PC Magazine
406:PC Magazine
374:PC Magazine
344:PC Magazine
309:PC Magazine
255:daisy-wheel
229:Grid laptop
217:Radio Shack
202:WordPerfect
167:Ashton-Tate
1167:Categories
1114:AlphaSmart
1081:StarOffice
1048:Magic Desk
998:AppleWorks
933:(enhanced)
792:Commercial
775:(standard)
736:OpenOffice
655:Comparison
585:23 October
517:4 February
491:25 October
465:23 October
439:23 October
412:24 October
380:21 October
350:21 October
326:References
263:PostScript
190:Token Ring
1134:IBM MT/ST
1096:NeoOffice
1053:PaperClip
943:Nota Bene
849:TextMaker
844:Scrivener
780:TextMaker
511:InfoWorld
303:Reception
188:and IBM (
90:MultiMate
31:MultiMate
18:Multimate
1107:Hardware
1073:WordStar
1043:MacWrite
988:1st Word
953:PolyEdit
829:Ichitaro
747:Freeware
716:TextEdit
597:See also
231:and the
208:and the
178:PC clone
163:WordStar
65:Platform
1077:Writer
968:XyWrite
963:WordPad
905:Windows
678:AbiWord
297:Borland
293:Ireland
277:Windows
225:Toshiba
174:Spanish
111:History
56:1982-12
54: (
1068:Sprint
886:Mellel
824:Hangul
783:(2008)
721:Writer
289:Dublin
182:Novell
147:PC DOS
143:MS-DOS
121:IBM PC
105:MS-DOS
102:IBM PC
92:was a
70:MS-DOS
1091:Go-oo
930:Jarte
874:macOS
772:Jarte
701:KWord
536:(PDF)
266:fonts
210:Samna
1139:Wang
764:Bean
683:Bean
650:List
587:2013
579:BYTE
519:2015
493:2013
467:2013
441:2013
433:BYTE
414:2013
382:2013
352:2013
318:BYTE
285:Unix
283:and
268:and
257:and
186:3COM
145:and
100:for
77:Type
711:Ted
706:LyX
281:VMS
138:IBM
1169::
577:.
509:.
483:.
457:.
431:.
404:.
390:^
372:.
360:^
342:.
299:.
291:,
272:.
235:.
223:,
219:,
184:,
631:e
624:t
617:v
589:.
562:.
521:.
495:.
469:.
443:.
416:.
384:.
354:.
58:)
20:)
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