History
Microsoft Works started life as Mouseworks, an integrated spreadsheet, word processor and database program, designed for the Macintosh by ex-Apple alumni Don Williams and Rupert Lissner. Williams was planning to emulate the success of Appleworks, a similar product for Apple II computers. However, Bill Gates and his Head of Acquisitions, Alan M. Boyd, convinced Williams to license the product to Microsoft instead. Initially it was to be a scaled-down version of Office for the (then) small laptops such as the Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 100 which Microsoft was developing. As laptops grew in power, however, Microsoft Works, as it was to be called, evolved as a popular product in its own right.
On September 14, 1987, Microsoft unveiled Works for DOS.
Through version 4.5a, Works used a monolithic program architecture whereby the Works Word Processor and Spreadsheet/Database documents ran in windows of the same program interface. This resulted in a small memory and disk footprint, which enabled it to run on slower computers with requirements as low as 6 MB of RAM and 12 MB free disk space.
Works 2000 (Version 5.0) switched to a modular architecture which opens each document as a separate instance and uses the print engine from Internet Explorer. "Works Suite" versions bundled personal productivity and entertainment software such as Microsoft Money, Encarta, Streets & Trips and Digital Image. These "Works Suite" versions also bundled a copy of Microsoft Word, although there was never a newer version bundled than Word 2002. A possible reason for this might be that Word 2003 or later does not run on Windows 9x or Windows Me operating systems. A competing theory is that the release of Openoffice caused Microsoft to become more aggressive about protecting their Microsoft Office franchise and focus on providing limited versions Microsoft Office that consumers would find logical to upgrade to a version of Microsoft Office with more programs included.
As of 2008, "Works Suite" versions have been discontinued, only the standalone Works software is available at retail; while system builders and OEMs can choose between it and Works Suite 2008 (which includes only Works and Word 2003).
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