SideKick
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
SideKick was an early Personal Information Manager (PIM) software application by Borland launched in 1983 under Philippe Kahn's leadership. It was notable for being a Terminate and Stay Resident (TSR) program, which enabled it to load into memory then return the computer to the DOS command prompt, allowing the user to load another application, but still activate SideKick using a hot key combination (by default: Ctrl-Alt). This approach allowed instantaneous task switching in the otherwise-single-tasking DOS operating system, and its window-based interface echoed (in text format) that of the Apple Macintosh, and anticipated the eventual look of Microsoft Windows 2.0. It featured a personal calendar, text editor (with WordStar-like command interface), calculator, ASCII chart, and address book/phone dialer. According to the Borland IPO prospectus, SideKick sold more than one million copies in its first three years.
Contents |
[edit] DOS version
[edit] 1.0
It includes Includes Calculator, Notepad, Appointment Calendar, Auto Dialer, ASCII Table, and other tools.
[edit] Plus 1.0
It includes 9-file Notepad text editor, 9-file Outliner, terminal communication tool, Calendar, Appointment Book, and Scheduler, file and directory manager, calculators (Business, Scientific, Programmer, Formula), Clipboard_(software)Clipboard, ASCII Table.
It supports Expanded Memory and RAM disk.
[edit] 1.5
[edit] 2.0
Was the last DOS version.
[edit] Traveling Sidekick
The product includes a 3-ring binder notebook with solar powered pocket calculator, and Sidekick software.[1]
[edit] Sidekick for Windows
When Philippe Kahn left Borland in 1994 to found Starfish Software, he acquired all rights to Sidekick from Borland. Starfish's co-founder Sonia Lee Kahn designed the look and feel of Sidekick 95, which was launched simultaneously with Windows 95 with great success. In 1998 Philippe Kahn and Sonia Lee Kahn sold Starfish to Motorola for $325 Million in a private transaction. Software and trademark were sold to become a division of Motorola. Motorola licensed to T-Mobile the rights to use the Sidekick trademark on the Danger Organizer. Starfish was later bought by Nokia who discontinued the product, with SideKick 99 being the last version.
Later versions of the program were made available for Windows, and were more along the lines of Microsoft Outlook, with the last versions of it supporting such features as a phone dialer, and support for syncing with Palm, Windows CE, and EPOC devices. These versions were less popular than the DOS versions, largely because the Windows environment itself provided most of the original version's key features: task switching and a collection of small utilities. It did however, include a monthly/yearly calendar and a world time map showing which parts of the world are currently in daylight or darkness. Up to eight different world cities (which could be edited) were displayed above and below the map.
[edit] 1.0
It was designed for Windows 3.1.
It includes calendar, Virtual Contact Files, communication tool, Calculator.
[edit] 2.0
This is the first version published by Starfish Software.
Scheduler tool added overlapping appointments.
Address tool supports multiple contact files.
New tools include Back up & restore, password protection.
Sidekick Deluxe adds more than 40 content files for access to online information, Dashboard 3.0 for Windows, and the "Organized for Success" video. It was distributed in CD format.
[edit] Sidekick 95
It is a Windows 95 version. Sidekick 95 Deluxe was announced in 1995-10-17.[2] 10-user version was announced in 1996-02-06. [3]
It includes Write (word processor), EarthTime (clock), Expense (record keeping tools), Reminder (scheduler), Phone Dialer (communication), Contact Manager, Calendar.
Calendar added daily Almanac.
Write added spell check feature.
EarthTime added local time finder.
95 Deluxe added Dashboard 95, America Online software, 2 interactive organizational videos, over 40 useful content files called Sidekick Companions, and electronic versions of the product manuals in Adobe Acrobat format.
[edit] Starfish Internet Sidekick
Calendar tools added Activity view, daylight savings time support, web link support for contact files, Contact file synchronization over Sidekick 95.
Communications tool adds caller ID, phone dialer, integration with mail software. Spell check adds auto spell check option.
Calculator supports unit conversion.
New tools include Internet Scheduler, Expense reporter. Expense reporter includes date reporting, tax calculation, drag and drop receipts between folders.
[edit] Sidekick 97
Calendar tools added ability to create web pages from Sidekick Calendar (via WP add-on).
Address tools added drag and drop, ability to create web pages from Sidekick Cardfiles (via WP add-on).
PDA sync is supported for Palm Pilot, via separate add-on.
World Clock supports European Daylight Savings time.
Sidekick Web Publisher compatibility is added via separate add-on.
[edit] Sidekick 98
Calendar supports vCalendar, Outlook calendars.
Address tools support Outlook calendars.
Additional supported PDA sync include Franklin REX. Sync tool can now synchronize To do, Calls, Special Days, Appointments, and Contacts.
World clock added world map, Analog or Digital clock format.
In addition, features requiring separate add-ons in Sidekick 97 are now standard.
[edit] Sidekick 99 (9.x)
Various tools found in Sidekick 98 are removed in this release, including dialer, back up & restore, calculator (including conversion tools, expense reporter), spell checker, web page generator, Internet scheduler. Address and calendar file format support were reduced, with Outlook support is now import-only.
Synchronization tools now support multi-point synchronization, Franklin REX PRO, PALM III PDAs.
[edit] OS/2 version
Borland SideKick 2.0 for Presentation Manager was based on Sidekick 2.0 for Windows[citation needed].
[edit] Mac version
A version was also available for the early models of the Apple Macintosh.[citation needed]
[edit] References
- ^ Traveling Sidekick: A notebook that's easy to update
- ^ Starfish Software Announces Sidekick 95 Deluxe; The first Windows 95 product offering direct access to America Online!
- ^ Starfish Software Announces Corporate 10-User Value Paks for Sidekick 95 and Sidekick 2.0; Top-rated, best-selling organizers for Windows 95/NT and Windows 3.x users now available in new money-saving 10-packs
