Source: Steve MainCAMBRIDGE, Mass. (BUSINESS WIRE) March 17, 1997
Introduces office suite targeting older computers New Deal Inc., a software company founded to meet the needs of the installed base and entry level PC markets, today announced a worldwide agreement for Geoworks' award-winning GEOS desktop operating environment and applications.
Under the terms of the agreement, New Deal, founded by Geoworks former vice president corporate development, Clive Smith, will have access to Geoworks' GEOS technology and development tools, and will publish new versions of Geoworks' desktop applications under its own brand.
"There are 30 million computers in North America alone that cannot run any version of today's bloated software," said Smith, CEO of New Deal. "There is enormous demand worldwide for graphical applications and Internet access on older and entry level computers, especially in schools, non-profits and home offices. This agreement uniquely enables us to make older computers new again, using advanced technology and products already acclaimed as the best in their class."
"Geoworks has always believed its GEOS technology is ideally suited to the mass computer market," said Gordon Mayer, president and CEO of Geoworks.
New Deal also announced that Brian Dougherty, founder and chairman of Geoworks, has joined New Deal as vice chairman, board of directors. "New Deal has the right technical solution for the market, and is strongly positioned to bring graphical computing to the tens of millions of users left behind by the constantly escalating demands of the latest desktop software," said Dougherty.
The first set of products to be introduced by New Deal consists of a graphical DOS productivity suite, New Deal Office 97 and associated accessories. New Deal Office 97 applications include "WYSIWYG" word processing, spreadsheet, database, drawing, personal organizer and communications, including America Online.
"A working computer, no matter how old, is a terrible thing to waste, because every computer could be someone's key to computer literacy and participation in the information economy," said Smith. Unlike other graphical suites, New Deal Office 97 runs well on computers with as little as a 286 processor, 640K of RAM and 8 MB of free hard disk space.
Earlier versions won numerous industry awards, including a Byte Best of Comdex award; a PC/Computing MVP award; an InfoWorld Product of the Year award; and four Excellence in Software awards by the Software Publishers Association, including Critic's Choice for Best Consumer Program; Best Personal Productivity/Creativity Program; Best New Use of a Computer; and Best Consumer Program.
New Deal Office 97 will be sold through retail distribution as well as through direct mail, OEMs and VARs targeting the educational and non-profit markets. Localized versions for the French, Spanish, Dutch and German markets are planned to be introduced in Q2, 1997.
About New Deal
New Deal Inc. was founded to provide state of the art graphical productivity and Internet solutions for the massive numbers of older and entry level computers worldwide. These computers are fully functional, yet are unable to meet the excessive memory, processor and storage requirements of the latest software used in major corporations. New Deal is initially focused on the educational, religious, non-profit and home office markets in North America and Western Europe, where it believes that recycling hardware through smarter software can have the greatest immediate impact.New Deal and New Deal Office 97 are trademarks of New Deal Inc. All other products and service names mentioned in this news release are trademarks and/or service marks of their respective owners.