Lotus Freelance Graphics is an information graphics and presentation program developed by Lotus Software (formerly Lotus Development Corp.) following its acquisition of Graphic Communications Inc in 1986.[1] It was first released for DOS and OS/2 operating systems, then later released as part of the Lotus SmartSuite for Microsoft Windows. (In a reference to its original developer, Graphic Communications Inc., Freelance's executable file was named GCIFL.)
Pre-Windows versions of Lotus Freelance Graphics included mouse support (provided a mouse driver for the OS had also been installed). However, many users considered the 'points and vector' graphics application easier and faster from the keyboard, as it utilized many keyboard shortcuts.
The Windows-compatible version allowed users to create and compile text, digital images, diagrams, basic drawings and charts (such as bar charts and pie charts) into a digital slide show. It was originally a drawing tool, but was enhanced to include charting by either manually inputting data or importing data from the Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet program.
Freelance worked within DOS to produce slides comparable to those of Microsoft PowerPoint, a program originally created for the Macintosh. Because Lotus opted to develop Freelance for OS/2, Microsoft got a head start developing and promoting the Windows version of its application. When IBM then acquired Lotus, Microsoft used a licensing issue to delay IBM's access to the Windows 95 code base, allowing Microsoft Office to be released six months ahead of Lotus SmartSuite. As a result, when OS/2 failed to gain widespread adoption, Freelance became a little-used application.
Freelance was eventually grafted into a new version of 1-2-3 for Windows (Smart Suite), but by then PowerPoint and Excel had become dominant. Freelance's files were much smaller (typically 50 KB for a full presentation) compared to the competition's, allowing 20 or more presentations to be stored on a single floppy disc. However, the quality of the Freelance product eventually deteriorated as IBM's support of SmartSuite dwindled.
lotus, freelance, graphics, lotus, freelance, graphics, information, graphics, presentation, program, developed, lotus, software, formerly, lotus, development, corp, following, acquisition, graphic, communications, 1986, first, released, operating, systems, th. Lotus Freelance Graphics is an information graphics and presentation program developed by Lotus Software formerly Lotus Development Corp following its acquisition of Graphic Communications Inc in 1986 1 It was first released for DOS and OS 2 operating systems then later released as part of the Lotus SmartSuite for Microsoft Windows In a reference to its original developer Graphic Communications Inc Freelance s executable file was named GCIFL IBM Lotus Freelance GraphicsDeveloper s IBMStable release9 8 Fixpack 6 2002Operating systemMicrosoft WindowsTypePresentation programLicenseProprietaryWebsiteFreelance GraphicsThis article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources IBM Lotus Freelance Graphics news newspapers books scholar JSTOR September 2023 Learn how and when to remove this template message Pre Windows versions of Lotus Freelance Graphics included mouse support provided a mouse driver for the OS had also been installed However many users considered the points and vector graphics application easier and faster from the keyboard as it utilized many keyboard shortcuts The Windows compatible version allowed users to create and compile text digital images diagrams basic drawings and charts such as bar charts and pie charts into a digital slide show It was originally a drawing tool but was enhanced to include charting by either manually inputting data or importing data from the Lotus 1 2 3 spreadsheet program Freelance worked within DOS to produce slides comparable to those of Microsoft PowerPoint a program originally created for the Macintosh Because Lotus opted to develop Freelance for OS 2 Microsoft got a head start developing and promoting the Windows version of its application When IBM then acquired Lotus Microsoft used a licensing issue to delay IBM s access to the Windows 95 code base allowing Microsoft Office to be released six months ahead of Lotus SmartSuite As a result when OS 2 failed to gain widespread adoption Freelance became a little used application Freelance was eventually grafted into a new version of 1 2 3 for Windows Smart Suite but by then PowerPoint and Excel had become dominant Freelance s files were much smaller typically 50 KB for a full presentation compared to the competition s allowing 20 or more presentations to be stored on a single floppy disc However the quality of the Freelance product eventually deteriorated as IBM s support of SmartSuite dwindled References edit Lotus Freelance Graphics InfoWorld 15 26 174 28 June 1993 ISSN 0199 6649 External links editInfoworld article 28 Sep 1987 Freelance Mobile Screen Show Player permanent dead link to view prz files 1 5MB IBM Fix list for SmartSuite for Windows 9 8 and fix packs nbsp This business software article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title IBM Lotus Freelance Graphics amp oldid 1181198495, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
