CommSuite 95

Last updated January 14, 2024

CommSuite 95 is a communications software suite launched in 1995 by Canadian software company Delrina.

History

Beta testing started in August 1995. CommSuite 95 was a collection of 32-bit programs created specifically for use with Windows 95. It included WinFax PRO 7.0 (computer fax software), along with WinComm PRO 7.0 (online communications), TalkWorks (a voice mail application), and the Cyberjack suite of Internet components.^[1] A beta of Cyberjack 7.0 web browser was available early October 1995 for a free trial download.^[2]

It was the last official release issued under the Delrina brand. The company was bought out by Symantec the month before the suite's release in November 1995.

Features

CommSuite offered features such as 32-bit components compatible with Windows 95 and MS Office, support for OLE 2.0, messaging API and Telephony Application Programming Interface. WinComm Pro provided virus protection. CommBar module offered status reporting and easy access to all components.^[1]

Reception

The software was well received,^[3]^[4] with PC/Computing preview highlighting CommSuite 95 as the first package to integrate fax, e-mail, voice mail and web browsing seamlessly under Windows 95.^[5] However, some deficiencies were noted. A PC Magazine "first look article reported performance problems on systems with less than 16 MB RAM and issues with Cyberjack, which was displayed many pages incorrectly.^[4] InfoWorld review lauded features like 32 bit access, multitasking, multithreading and OLE 2.0 support, but criticized high disk space requirements and installation problems; (the reviewer was forced to install applications separately).^[3] The target market was thought to be unclear, as many people would likely be content with Windows services.^[1]

Related Research Articles

DataFlex is an object-oriented high-level programming language and a fourth generation visual tool for developing Windows, web and mobile software applications on one framework-based platform. It was introduced and developed by Data Access Corporation beginning in 1982.

After Dark is a series of computer screensaver software introduced by Berkeley Systems in 1989 for the Apple Macintosh, and in 1991 for Microsoft Windows.

Merge is a software system which allows a user to run DOS/Windows 3.1 on SCO UNIX, in an 8086 virtual machine.

Delrina Corporation was a Canadian software company active from 1988 to 1995. The company was best known for WinFax, a software package which enabled computers equipped with fax modems to transmit copies of documents to standalone fax machines or other similarly equipped computers. It also sold PerForm and FormFlow, electronic form software. Delrina was acquired by the American software firm Symantec in 1995.

WinFax is a discontinued Microsoft Windows-based software product developed and published by Delrina designed to let computers equipped with fax-modems communicate directly to stand-alone fax machines, or other similarly equipped computers.

FormFlow was the name of a line of electronic forms products initially created and sold by Delrina in the early- to mid-1990s.

Cyberjack was a Web browser application created by Delrina in 1995. It was sold as a stand-alone product, and was also bundled as part of Delrina's CommSuite 95 offering.

WinComm was a terminal emulator program for Windows that was offered by Delrina in the mid-1990s.

Meeting Maker is a cross-platform personal calendar and group scheduling software application from PeopleCube. First released in 1991 for Macintosh by ON Technology, support for other platforms followed in 1993 with Meeting Maker XP. Alongside Windows and Mac, native clients were released for OS/2 and Solaris, and later also for other platforms. Some support was also introduced for mobile platforms like Apple Newton, PalmPilot and Windows CE. Although powerful, its user interface - aiming at uniformity across multiple platforms — was criticized as weak and not supporting all features of target platforms.

Aldus PhotoStyler was a graphics software program developed by the Taiwanese company Ulead. Released in June 1991 as the first 24 bit image editor for Windows, it was bought the same year by the Aldus Prepress group. Its main competition was Adobe Photoshop. Version 2.0 introduced a new user interface and improved color calibration. PhotoStyler SE - lacking some features of the version 2.0 - was bundled with scanners like HP ScanJet. The product disappeared from the Adobe product line after Adobe acquired Aldus in 1994.

Courier was an email client for Microsoft Windows. The software was originally released in 1996 as Calypso by Micro Computer Systems (MCS).

Windows 2.1 is a major release of Microsoft Windows. It was released to manufacturing on May 27, 1988, as a successor to Windows 2.0.

Windows 3.1 is a major release of Microsoft Windows. It was released to manufacturing on April 6, 1992, as a successor to Windows 3.0.

Windows 2.0 is a major release of Microsoft Windows, a family of graphical operating systems for personal computers developed by Microsoft. It was released to manufacturing on December 9, 1987, as a successor to Windows 1.0.

The Zinc Application Framework is an application framework, intended for the development of cross-platform software applications with graphical user interface (GUI), using a widget toolkit. Zinc targets both embedded and desktop platforms.

Emissary was a popular early commercial internet suite from Attachmate for Windows. It featured a web browser, FTP support, e-mail program, a newsreader program, and an HTML editor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dr. Halo</span> Raster graphics editor developed by Media Cybernetics

Dr. Halo is a raster graphics editor developed by Media Cybernetics and released for computers running MS-DOS. It was among the first graphics editors available for MS-DOS with its initial release in 1984. Media Cybernetics boasted about three million users of Dr. Halo between 1984 and 1993.

PerfectDisk is a defragmentation software product for Windows developed by Raxco.

The IBM ThinkPad 365 is a notebook computer series developed by IBM and manufactured by ASE Group. It was released in North America in November 1995, and was the successor of the ThinkPad 360 series. The series had 8 models that were released before being discontinued, and was succeeded in 1997 by the ThinkPad 380 series.

OCR Systems, Inc., was an American computer hardware manufacturer and software publisher dedicated to optical character recognition technologies. The company's first product, the System 1000 in 1970, was used by numerous large corporations for bill processing and mail sorting. Following a series of pitfalls in the 1970s and early 1980s, founder Theodor Herzl Levine put the company in the hands of Gregory Boleslavsky and Vadim Brikman, the company's vice presidents and recent immigrants from the Soviet Ukraine, who were able to turn OCR System's fortunes around and expand its employee base. The company released the software-based OCR application ReadRight for DOS, later ported to Windows, in the late 1980s. Adobe Inc. bought the company in 1992.

References

1 2 3 De Voe, Deborah (14 August 1995). "Delrina assembles apps for CommSuite 95". InfoWorld. Vol. 17, no. 33. IDG. p. 12. ISSN 0199-6649.
↑ "Product Spotlight Delrina adds internet to suite". InfoWorld. Vol. 17, no. 42. IDG. 16 October 1995. p. 64. ISSN 0199-6649.
1 2 Millman, Howard (5 February 1996). "CommSuite 95: One size fits all". InfoWorld. Vol. 18, no. 6. IDG. p. 96. ISSN 0199-6649.
1 2 Olsen, J. W. (12 March 1996). "Delrina CommSuite 95: The First All-in-One Windows 95 Telecommunications Solution". PC Magazine. Vol. 15, no. 5. Ziff Davis. p. 56. ISSN 0888-8507.
↑ Schwerin, Rich (November 1995). "CommSuite 95 One-Click Internet, E-mail, and Fax". PC/Computing. Vol. 8, no. 11. Ziff Davis. p. 83. ISSN 0899-1847.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[IW17-33-1] 1 2 3 De Voe, Deborah (14 August 1995). "Delrina assembles apps for CommSuite 95". InfoWorld. Vol. 17, no. 33. IDG. p. 12. ISSN 0199-6649.

[IW17-42-2] "Product Spotlight Delrina adds internet to suite". InfoWorld. Vol. 17, no. 42. IDG. 16 October 1995. p. 64. ISSN 0199-6649.

[IW18-6-3] 1 2 Millman, Howard (5 February 1996). "CommSuite 95: One size fits all". InfoWorld. Vol. 18, no. 6. IDG. p. 96. ISSN 0199-6649.

[PCMag-4] 1 2 Olsen, J. W. (12 March 1996). "Delrina CommSuite 95: The First All-in-One Windows 95 Telecommunications Solution". PC Magazine. Vol. 15, no. 5. Ziff Davis. p. 56. ISSN 0888-8507.

[5] Schwerin, Rich (November 1995). "CommSuite 95 One-Click Internet, E-mail, and Fax". PC/Computing. Vol. 8, no. 11. Ziff Davis. p. 83. ISSN 0899-1847.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]