IBM Lotus SmartSuite

IBM Lotus SmartSuite: Office Suite with Word Processing, Spreadsheets, and Presentations

IBM Lotus SmartSuite is an office suite that includes word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, and other productivity applications. It was released by IBM in the 1990s as an alternative to Microsoft Office.

What is IBM Lotus SmartSuite?

IBM Lotus SmartSuite is an discontinued office suite that was developed and sold by IBM Lotus Software. First released in 1995, SmartSuite included a word processor (Word Pro), spreadsheet (Lotus 1-2-3), presentation program (Freelance Graphics), database software (Approach), organizer, and other tools.

SmartSuite was designed to provide an integrated suite of productivity applications that offered similar functionality to Microsoft Office. Key highlights and features included:

• Word Pro for word processing, similar to Microsoft Word
• Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet software with robust formulas and financial modeling features
• Freelance Graphics for creating visual presentations
• Integrated suite with shared data between applications
• SmartIcons for easier workflow between apps
• Support for importing/exporting Microsoft file formats

Although SmartSuite had a loyal user base, it struggled to match the dominance and market share of Microsoft Office over time. The last major release was in 2002, after which IBM discontinued active development. Existing SmartSuite customers continued to receive support and maintenance releases until 2008 when it was officially retired.

IBM Lotus SmartSuite Features

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