| Developer(s) | IBM |
|---|---|
| Stable release | 6.1 / 2003 |
| Operating system | Microsoft Windows |
| Type | Personal information manager |
| License | Proprietary |
| Website | www.ibm.com |
Lotus Organizer is a personal information manager. It was initially developed by Threadz, a small British software house, reaching version 3.0. Organizer was subsequently acquired by Lotus Development Corporation, for whom the package was a Windows-based replacement for Lotus Agenda. For several years it was the unquestioned market leader before it was gradually overtaken by Microsoft Outlook. It is also the only PIM package recommended by the British Philosophical Association.
Organizer is notable for using the ″leather-bound personal organizer″ graphical metaphor for its user interface. It is often bundled within Lotus SmartSuite.
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IBM continues to support and ship Lotus Organizer. Version 6.1 is the most recent version, with support for Windows 2000 and Windows XP. It is officially supported on 32-bit versions of Windows 7 but IBM recommends you do not install it on 64-bit versions.
When used as part of Lotus SmartSuite, Organizer can be totally integrated with SmartCenter, allowing its databases to be quickly accessed without the need to open the application.
Organizer is a part of Lotus SmartSuite, but is also sold as a single application. The latest releases of SmartSuite do not include the current version of Organizer; it is sold separately only.
Versions up to 2 were 16-bit programs. Later versions are 32-bit programs.
| Version | File format | Year | Included in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | .org | 1992 | |
| 1.1 | .org | ||
| 2 | .or2 | ||
| 97 (3.1) | .or3 | 1997 | SmartSuite 97 |
| 97 GS (4.0) | .or4 | 1997 | |
| 4.1 | .or4 | 1998 | SmartSuite Millennium Edition Release 9 |
| 5 | .or5 | 1999 | SmartSuite Millennium Edition Release 9.5–9.8.x |
| 6.0 | .or6 | 1999 | |
| 6.1 | .or6 | 2003 |
The first OS/2 version was released in 1998. Until then, the Windows 16-bit version had been used. The last version is 1.7 from 2001. Later revisions of SmartSuite did not upgrade Organizer, although some fixes have been made.
Organizer for OS/2 uses the .or4 file format. This means that it cannot exchange data files with the later Windows versions, other than by importing and exporting data.
The features and user interface for Organizer for OS/2 are similar to that of Organizer 97 for Windows. It lacks later improvements, such as importing and exporting vCard and iCalendar files, and synchronisation with PDAs.
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