Format PLUS
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Format Software GmbH |
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Olduvai |
formatplus.sit (550.29 KB)
MD5: d333735a9c807ddf31f9f4d0fffdd002 For System 6.x - System 7.0 - 7.6
Guides on emulating older applications
CompatibilityDeveloped by Format Software GmbH (Cologne, Germany) to overcome deficits of HyperCard. It was released for the Mac in 1989, distributed by Olduvai, aimed at HyperCard power-users. Plus could run HyperCard stacks directly, and did so slightly faster than HyperCard itself. However, it also added many new features. Among the many "wish list" features were document-like resizable and scrollable windows, 8-bit color support, and the ability to display and work with graphics files stored externally. Plus did not, however, provide for pull-down menu support or allow stacks to be compiled into stand-alone applications, features of the competing SuperCard.
Plus was purchased by Spinnaker Software and began the process of porting the system to Presentation Manager (OS/2) and Microsoft Windows. These versions used the same file format as the original, meaning it was the only HyperCard clone of the era that allowed a single stack to be used on all supported platforms. The system was later purchased by the newly formed ObjectPlus in early 1994, dropping the Mac and OS/2 versions and releasing the greatly updated WinPlus 3.0 in 1994, and 3.1 in 1995. By this time, the product was being referred to as a multimedia system, a niche market that most of the HyperCard-like systems had targeted.
-Wikipedia Entry
Architecture: 68k
Comments
What little information I could find were in business magazines from the late 80's and even then there was little information about the product itself, other than that there seems to be very little known about this particular item at all.
It's an interesting tiny piece of history, though.
Thanks for this gem. I wish I'd known about it back in the olden days, pre OS X, pre PPC Macs even
Was this well known outside of Germany or Europe? I find it curious that I hadn't come across it before now.