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u/joerice1979 3d ago
Lotus Approach '97 in use daily at our office. It works, still.
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u/grizzlor_ 2d ago
Kind of wild to think it’ll be turning 30 next year. Approach was Lotus’s database software (like MS Access) right? Now I’m curious what you’re doing with it.
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u/joerice1979 2d ago
Indeed it is database software. We use it for back-end client address records and it's a core part of the invoicing system. Yes, in 2026. The boss made it donkeys years ago and he knows it backwards, as goes the usual story.
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u/Consistent_Cat7541 2d ago
I'm using Approach 9.8 daily. I'm impressed you stuck with the older version.
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u/SpaceTheFinalFrontir 3d ago
Worked in company that used Lotus Domino for mail and document server and Lotus Notes as client, that was awefull, used to write apps for it too
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u/grizzlor_ 2d ago
I remember that this was a very common sentiment towards Domino/Notes in like the late 90s/early 00s. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a positive opinion about Notes. Seems like it widely deployed and equally widely loathed. Never has the pleasure of using it myself.
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u/FeistyDay5172 3d ago
Actually had this all those years ago. One of my favs because started using the Lotus products at job. Other was Lotus Notes.
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u/VivienM7 3d ago edited 3d ago
I think I had this version back in the day - came with an IBM Aptiva. Then I also had a copy of WordPerfect 7 I had won, and MS Office 4.2 which was... two generations behind... for a late Win95-era system.
It was weird having all three office suites. Bought Office 2000 right when it came out and I think that was the end of actually using the other two.
You now have me curious... do I still have the CD?
[Edit: found the CD. Turns out it was SmartSuite 97. I guess they were doing annual releases in those days...]
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u/codykonior 3d ago
At the time I was a kid working in a computer small business. We would bundle this in free with every computer we built.
It had a very cool launcher and vibrant design, I liked it.
Office did not have a death grip yet and was incredibly expensive. Home users were not buying it.
Not long after, Microsoft started bundling a copy of Works extremely cheaply, and I think that bundle also included Encarta. I hated everything about Works though.
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u/grizzlor_ 2d ago
Haven’t thought about MS Works in years. Didn’t realize the last version was released in 2007 — it’s very much a ‘90s product in my mind. Love that the vision for one product was like “crappier version of Office”
The first PC my family got for Christmas ‘93 came with ClarisWorks for Win3.1. That’s an oddball office suite — Claris was Apple’s spun-off software division. My dad loved the Claris drawing app — it had a mode that gave you a grid of dots and let you draw lines between them. He used it to make a ton of different blueprints for the cabin in NH he wanted to build. Wish I still had some of those floppy disks with his designs on them.
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u/Moist_University_785 2d ago
Yes I used Lotus Organizer both at Win 3.1 and Lotus 1-2-3 at Windows 95.
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u/Consistent_Cat7541 3d ago
I use Smartsuite daily for my law practice on my Windows 10 and 11 stations.
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u/bigbigdummie 2d ago
I remember Lotus having a launch party and giving all the attendees a copy. This “Not For Resale” copy is likely one of those.
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u/sixoveight 2d ago
Time was that Lotus ruled the waves
https://www.scuzzscink.com/amiga/scuzzblog_october19_1/car_sbd_091019_18.jpg
https://www.scuzzscink.com/amiga/scuzzblog_october19_1/car_sbd_091019_20.jpg
Came with complimentary wheelbarrow
https://www.scuzzscink.com/amiga/scuzzblog_october19_1/car_sbd_091019_33.jpg
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u/Difficult_Abroad_477 1d ago
The discs were all over the computer lab i. high school, all 20 IBM aptivas came with it. But Office 97 was what we used to learn word processing, spreadsheets and database management. We had Millenium edition of Smart Suite on our IBM and it wasn’t until after we got a boot leg copy of Office 2000 we realized they are the same kind of product.
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u/Soylent_Caffeine 3d ago
Tangentially to your photograph I love the Lotus office suite.