Contact: Karen Schiff/Toni Mattucci Peter A. Cohen
McGlinchey & Paul Lotus Development Corporation
(617) 862-4514 (617) 693-1283
For Immediate Release
Lotus Ships 1-2-3 for OS/2 Release 2.0 and
Freelance Graphics for OS/2 Release 2.0
Lotus Applications Work Together to Exploit
the OS/2 2.0 Operating System
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 8, 1992 -- Lotus Development Corporation today announced immediate availability of 1-2-3 for OS/2 Release 2.0, a new version of the world's best selling spreadsheet, and Freelance Graphics for OS/2 Release 2.0, a new version of the company's award-winning presentation graphics software. These two new products exploit OS/2's Workplace Shell graphical environment and 32-bit technology, providing users with significant usability and productivity gains through features such as drag-a
nd-drop, faster navigation, quicker screen refresh and multi-threading.
"These new versions enable Lotus to meet the needs of the fast-growing OS/2 user base, which now exceeds 2 million users," said Jeffrey Beir, vice president of spreadsheet development. "At the same time, these products demonstrate our commitment to cross-platform development, with the goal of providing organizations with the broadest suite of leadership applications." Lotus is the only vendor to have committed to providing a full suite of desktop applications for OS/2. In addition to 1-2-3 and Freelance Graphics, Lotus expects to ship new versions of cc:Mail for OS/2 and Ami Pro for OS/2 later in 1993.
OS/2 users looking to exploit the productivity gains available within an advanced operating environment will benefit from how 1-2-3 for OS/2 Release 2.0 and Freelance Graphics for OS/2 Release 2.0 exploit OS/2's multi-threading capability. For example, Print and Solver functions are carried out on separate threads; the user continues working within the spreadsheet or the presentation while these other operations are completed. The products also take advantage of the OS/2 Workplace Shell, allowing users to simply drag and drop a file object to the printer or shredder, and double click on a worksheet or presentation file icon in order to load the program and file simultaneously.
"These new applications from Lotus, one of the industry's leading software developers, is an important addition to the growing number of OS/2 applications," said Lee Reiswig, president of IBM's Personal Software Products division. "These leading desktop products, including the industry's most popular spreadsheet, 1-2-3, take advantage of the easy-to-use and powerful Workplace Shell and deliver the benefits of full 32-bit desktop computing to OS/2 users."
"Lotus is in the forefront of developing desktop applications for advanced graphical environments and 32-bit operating systems," said Beir. "The multi-threading features of these two new applications are examples of our commitment to build innovative products that make users more productive."
"Sears is building many mission-critical applications on OS/2, and we are pleased with Lotus' demonstrated long-term commitment to this advanced platform," said Robert Ferkenhoff, Vice President for Information Systems at Sears Merchandise Group. "We expect our users to see clear benefits from the way Lotus' new applications fully exploit the functionality of OS/2 2.0."
"This new release of Freelance Graphics continues our commitment to usability in presentation graphics," said Tim Davenport, vice president of presentation graphics and multimedia groups. "Our research shows that ease of use and ease of learning are the most important features for users of graphics presentation software."
Close Integration between 1-2-3 and Freelance Graphics
Users who purchase both 1-2-3 for OS/2 Release 2.0 and Freelance Graphics for OS/2 Release 2.0 will benefit from the unique integration between these products. While either product can be purchased and used separately, the close integration between 1-2-3 for OS/2 Release 2.0 and Freelance Graphics for OS/2 Release 2.0 provides significant usability benefits, as well as saving disk and memory space through the use of shared code modules such as charting. Because the two products share the same workspace and a similar, context-sensitive, "look and feel," users will find it easier to move between applications and to share data between them. For example, 1-2-3 and Freelance Graphics files are automatically linked so that updates in a 1-2-3 worksheet are reflected in the corresponding graph in a Freelance Graphics presentation. The user does not need to manually establish this "hot link." Additionally, as the user switches between applications, the menus and icons automatically switch as well, providing
the user with appropriate choices for the current tasks.
1-2-3 for OS/2 Release 2.0 Highlights
1-2-3 for OS/2 Release 2.0 offers customizable, context sensitive SmartIcons. For enhanced programmability, 1-2-3 for OS/2 offers fully customizable menu and dialog boxes through the C programming language to build spreadsheet applications incorporating scroll bars, radio buttons, and check boxes. Additional features include: adjust-to-page printing for automatically resizing worksheets to fit within a page, and the ability to select "collections" of discontiguous cell ranges.
Other highlights of 1-2-3 for OS/2 Release 2.0 include true 3-D worksheets, the "/" key access to familiar 1-2-3 keyboard commands, Solver and BackSolver technology to perform optimization analysis, presentation quality output, database management, Datalens data access technology, and application development support. The Draw Layer allows the user to cut, paste, and position bit-maps and graphs directly on to the spreadsheet, making it simpler for users to create presentation-quality output.
Freelance Graphics for OS/2 Highlights
Freelance Graphics remains the only presentation graphics product built to take advantage of the OS/2 platform. Freelance Graphics is easier and more enjoyable to use, with extensive visual guides, including a Smart Start tutorial and more than 40 SmartMasters, Freelance's professionally designed, intelligent presentation templates. SmartMasters feature nine ready-made page layouts with a unique fill-in-the-blanks approach, featuring on screen prompts that guide users in a fun, visual manner through the
process of building a presentation. Users now have the ability to directly edit text on the page, optimize placement and sizing of graphics and text on the page, as well as automatic selection of the most effective color combinations and typeface selections. Enhanced charting capabilities include a chart gallery with more than 70 ready-made chart styles, including Area, 3-D Bar and Radar. Also included is an updated library of more than 500 clip art images, with an easy to use on-screen browser for image selection; global editing capabilities; direct file linking; automatic chart composition; DDE; and 13 Adobe Type Manager Type 1 fonts.
System Requirements, Availability and Pricing
1-2-3 for OS/2 Release 2.0 and Freelance Graphics for OS/2 Release 2.0 both require an IBM PS/2 (386 or higher) or 100% compatibles with 4MB of RAM, 8MB recommended, running OS/2 2.0 and the IBM OS/2 Service Pack or higher.
1-2-3 for OS/2 Release 2.0 is available immediately through Lotus or through Lotus Authorized Resellers. The suggested retail price is $495, server edition is $595, and a license pack (without disk and documentation) is available for $395. The upgrade is available to all licensed 1-2-3 users for a suggested retail price of $150. Fully translated French, German and Spanish versions will ship later this quarter, with Dutch, Italian and Swedish versions to follow.
Freelance Graphics for OS/2 Release 2.0 requires a VGA, Super VGA, XGA, 8514/a or 8515 display. Freelance Graphics for OS/2 Release 2.0 is available immediately through Lotus or through Lotus Authorized Resellers. The suggested retail price is $495, server edition is $595, and a license pack (without disk and documentation) is available for $395. The upgrade is available to all licensed Freelance Graphics users for a suggested retail price of $150. Fully translated French, German, and Italian versi
ons will be shipping later this quarter.
Lotus Development Corp. (NASDAQ:LOTS), founded in 1982, provides software products and support services that meet the business needs of individuals, workgroups and enterprises. Lotus' extensive range of products form the foundation for the company's Working Together strategy, which focuses on integrating applications, platforms and people. The company's first product, 1-2-3, is the most popular personal computer software application in the world, with more than 20 million users. Lotus markets its products in more than 80 countries worldwide and provides numerous support services, both from its consulting division and its award-winning 24-hour support center.
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All prices and terms are for the U.S. only.Lotus, 1-2-3, Freelance, Freelance Graphics, and SmartMasters are registered trademarks and SmartIcons and Working Together are trademarks of Lotus Development Corporation. IBM PC and OS/2are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corpo
ration. Adobe is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems, Inc.
