imported>Deltaspace42: –{{Compu-soft-stub}}, +{{Programming-software-stub}} using StubSorter

2023-12-27T19:04:34Z

–{{Compu-soft-stub}}, +{{Programming-software-stub}} using StubSorter

New page

'''WinPlus''', originally '''Plus''', was a cross-platform clone of the [[HyperCard]] application that enabled users to run HyperCard stacks on [[Apple Macintosh]], [[Microsoft Windows]] and [[OS/2]] [[Presentation Manager]].

Originally the application was developed 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]].<ref>Don Crabb, [https://books.google.com/books?id=qjAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT66 "Plus Extends and Improves Hypercard Interface"], ''InfoWorld'', 6 November 1989, pp. S9-S10</ref>

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.<ref>Scott Mace, [https://books.google.com/books?id=czgEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA29 "ObjectPlus comes through with beefed-up WinPlus"], ''InfoWorld'', 28 November 1994, p. 29</ref> 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.

WinPlus was also licensed by [[Oracle Corporation|Oracle]] as the basis for '''Oracle Card''', later known as [[Oracle Media Objects]] when the "card" terminology came to be frowned upon. It was first introduced in 1991 as part of "Oracle for Windows", which included a full suite of client/server software and a variety of their existing database client-side interface programs (text based). Version 1.1 followed at the Oracle Developers and Integrators conference in 1992, followed shortly thereafter by the Mac version.<ref>Yvonne Lee, [https://books.google.com/books?id=5D0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA8 "Oracle Card 1.1 slated for Windows and Pens"], ''InfoWorld'', 27 April 1992, p. 8</ref> The system was later re-purposed as the front-end for a database-hosted media system for interactive TV, changing the name to Oracle Media Objects.<ref>Kim Nash, [https://books.google.com/books?id=W2eGcZ3Q0FYC&pg=PA8 "Oracle to build interactive TV systems"], ''ComputerWorld'', 17 January 1994, p. 8</ref> This project went nowhere, and Media Objects disappeared in the late 1990s.

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Hypertext]]
[[Category:HyperCard products]]

{{Programming-software-stub}}

WinPlus - Revision history

imported>Deltaspace42: –{{Compu-soft-stub}}, +{{Programming-software-stub}} using StubSorter