SmartSuite is a discontinued

office suite Productivity software (also called personal productivity software or office productivity software) is application software used for producing information (such as documents, presentations, worksheets, databases, charts, graphs, digital paintin ...

from

Lotus Software Lotus Software (called Lotus Development Corporation before its acquisition by IBM) was an American software company based in Massachusetts; it was sold to India's HCL Technologies in 2018. Lotus is most commonly known for the Lotus 1-2-3 sprea ...

. The company made versions of its office suite for IBM

OS/2 OS/2 is a Proprietary software, proprietary computer operating system for x86 and PowerPC based personal computers. It was created and initially developed jointly by IBM and Microsoft, under the leadership of IBM software designer Ed Iacobucci, ...

and

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

Status

SmartSuite is no longer supported or maintained. SmartSuite used to be in maintenance mode, and supported with fixes and fixpacks on

Windows 2000 Windows 2000 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft, targeting the server and business markets. It is the direct successor to Windows NT 4.0, and was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RT ...

and

Windows XP Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct successor to Windows 2000 for high-end and business users a ...

. SmartSuite is not officially supported by IBM on versions of Windows after XP, but it does work very well on both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of

Windows Vista Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, released five years earlier, which was then the longest time span between successive releases of Microsoft W ...

Windows 7 Windows 7 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and became generally available on October 22, ...

, Windows 8.1,

Windows 10 Windows 10 is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. The successor to Windows 8.1, it was Software release cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on July 15, 2015, and later to retail on July 2 ...

and

Windows 11 Windows 11 is a version of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system, released on October 5, 2021, as the successor to Windows 10 (2015). It is available as a free upgrade for devices running Windows 10 that meet the #System requirements, Windo ...

. eComStation 1.0 included the OS/2 version of Smartsuite. It was an optional extra in later versions of eComStation.

ArcaOS ArcaOS is a Proprietary software, proprietary operating system based on OS/2, developed and marketed by Arca Noae, LLC under license from IBM. It was first released in 2017 and builds on OS/2 Warp 4.52 by adding support for new hardware, fixing ...

does not include Smartsuite, but is able to run it. In 2007, IBM introduced a new office suite called

IBM Lotus Symphony IBM Lotus Symphony is a discontinued software suite, suite of applications for creating, editing, and sharing text, spreadsheet, presentations, and other documents and Web browser, browsing the World Wide Web. It was first distributed as commer ...

, unrelated to the Lotus Symphony integrated application suite that Lotus previously released. In July 2012 the price for a user licence of Lotus SmartSuite 9.8 was US-$342.00 when purchased directly through the IBM website. In May 2013, IBM announced the withdrawal of SmartSuite. Marketing of the product ended in June 2013, followed by all support ceasing in September 2014. IBM has also announced that there will be no replacement for SmartSuite.

Components

The following applications are included in SmartSuite for

: * Lotus Word Pro —

word processor A word processor (WP) is a device or computer program that provides for input, editing, formatting, and output of text, often with some additional features. Early word processors were stand-alone devices dedicated to the function, but current word ...

; previously called Ami Pro; .lwp files *

Lotus 1-2-3 Lotus 1-2-3 is a discontinued spreadsheet program from Lotus Software (later part of IBM). It was the first killer application of the IBM PC, was hugely popular in the 1980s, and significantly contributed to the success of IBM PC-compatibles ...

—

spreadsheet A spreadsheet is a computer application for computation, organization, analysis and storage of data in tabular form. Spreadsheets were developed as computerized analogs of paper accounting worksheets. The program operates on data entered in c ...

; .123, .wk1, .wk3, .wk4 files * Lotus Freelance Graphics —

presentation software In computing, a presentation program (also called presentation software) is a software package used to display information in the form of a slide show. It has three major functions: * an editor that allows text to be inserted and formatted * ...

; .prz files *

Lotus Approach Lotus Approach is a relational database management system included in IBM's Lotus SmartSuite for Microsoft Windows. As a start-up company, Approach was formed in 1991 and won over 30 awards the first year, including "best of show" at Comdex. T ...

—

relational database A relational database (RDB) is a database based on the relational model of data, as proposed by E. F. Codd in 1970. A Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) is a type of database management system that stores data in a structured for ...

; .apr (data entry and reports), .dbf (database) files * Lotus Organizer —

personal information manager A personal information manager (often referred to as a PIM tool or, more simply, a PIM) is a type of application software that functions as a personal organizer. The acronym PIM is now, more commonly, used in reference to personal information mana ...

; .org, .or2, .or3, or4, or5 and or6 files * Lotus SmartCenter — a toolbar that let users quickly access programs, calendar, Internet bookmarks, and other resources * Lotus FastSite — web design software; .htm files * Lotus ScreenCam — screen recording software for demos and tutorials; .scm, .exe, .wav files *Lotus vCard & vCalendar Viewer — instant vCard and vCalendar viewer

Version history

Microsoft Windows

* (1994) - SmartSuite 2.1 (Ami Pro 3.0, 1-2-3 4.0, Freelance Graphics 2.0, Approach 2.0 and Organizer 1.1) * (1995) - SmartSuite 3.1 (Windows 3.11) — (Lotus 1-2-3 ver. 5, Approach 3.0, Ami Pro 3.1, Freelance Graphics 2.1, Organizer 2.1, ScreenCam 1.1). * (1995) - SmartSuite 4.0 (Windows 3.11) - * (1996) - SmartSuite 97 — Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 (1-2-3 97, Word Pro 97, Approach 97, Freelance Graphics 97, Organizer 97, ScreenCam 4.0 and SmartCenter) * (1997) - SmartSuite 4.5 (Windows 3.11) - (Word Pro 97 Edition for Windows 3.1.) * (1999) - SmartSuite Millennium Edition (9.5) — (Organizer 5.0, Fastsite release 2, WordPro Millennium Edition, 1-2-3 Millennium Edition, Freelance Graphics Millennium Edition, Approach Millennium Edition, SmartCenter and ScreenCam). * (2002) October 2002: Latest version: SmartSuite Millennium Edition 9.8. ** Fixpack 2 was the last version provided to the general public. All subsequent releases were only available to IBM Passport Advantage subscribers. Fixpack 3 was released in October 2005 and Fixpack 4 in October 2006. A subsequent Fixpack 5 was released in October 2007 followed by Fixpack 6 in December 2008, although these Fixpacks only contained changes to the Lotus Approach database software.

Compatibility

Most SmartSuite programs are capable of reading and writing the corresponding

Microsoft Office Microsoft Office, MS Office, or simply Office, is an office suite and family of client software, server software, and services developed by Microsoft. The first version of the Office suite, announced by Bill Gates on August 1, 1988, at CO ...

files. The Microsoft programs, however, are no longer capable of reading formats of the Lotus programs (the latest version that could was 2003). Furthermore, several of the SmartSuite components provide functionality not found in the Microsoft Office suite, for example Lotus FastSite and Lotus SmartCenter.

IBM vs Microsoft

In his finding of facts in '' United States v. Microsoft'',

Judge Jackson A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, as ...

determined that because of IBM's marketing of Lotus SmartSuite, and other alternatives to Microsoft products (like World Book electronic encyclopedia instead of Microsoft's

Encarta Microsoft ''Encarta'' is a discontinued Digital data, digital multimedia encyclopedia and search engine published by Microsoft from 1993 to 2009. Originally sold on CD-ROM or DVD, it was also available online via annual subscription, although ...

), Microsoft "punished the IBM PC Company with higher prices, a late license for Windows 95, and the withholding of technical and marketing support." Microsoft did not grant IBM OEM rights for Windows 95 until 15 minutes prior to the release of Windows 95, August 24, 1995. Because of this uncertainty, IBM machines were sold without Windows 95, while

Compaq Compaq Computer Corporation was an American information technology, information technology company founded in 1982 that developed, sold, and supported computers and related products and services. Compaq produced some of the first IBM PC compati ...

, HP, and other indulgent companies sold machines with Windows 95 from day one., Sec. 125. January 2007

References

External links

Lotus SmartSuite pageSmartSuite technical forumThe XpertSS - Support for Users of the Lotus SmartSuite
* tp://ftp.lotus.com/pub/lotusweb/product/smartsuite/Kvlotus.exe Free viewer for Lotus SmartSuite products (EXE)br>Fix list for SmartSuite for Windows 9.8 and fix packs

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ibm Lotus Smartsuite SmartSuite SmartSuite

Lotus SmartSuite SmartSuite is a discontinued office suite from Lotus Software. The company made versions of its office suite for IBM OS/2 and Microsoft Windows. Status SmartSuite is no longer supported or maintained. SmartSuite used to be in maintenance mode, ...

Office suites for Windows Office suites Discontinued software