When the acquisition closes in the first quarter, Rational will be the fifth division within IBM software, along with Websphere, DB2 database, Tivoli management products and Lotus collaborative software.
Software got more robust, so Microsoft and Lotus sold more software and became successful.
Once-great software houses like Lotus, WordPerfect and Borland are mere shadows of their former selves.
Many firms are working to use Linux behind software, such as Lotus Notes, that has traditionally run on Microsoft's Windows operating system.
One of the first to benefit is expected to be Lotus Sametime, an instant-messaging add-on for firms that already license Lotus Notes and its related networking software.
According to the letter from UCITA's Ring, the following software industry organizations are supporting the draft -- industry antipiracy body the Business Software Alliance (14 members, among those Microsoft Corp, Lotus Development Corp. and Adobe Systems Inc.), the Software Information Industry Association, Silicon Valley Software Industry Coalition and the Computer Software Industry Association.
The stakes on this tour were high, raised by the surprising success of SmartSuite from rival Lotus and by cutthroat pricing throughout the software industry.
Carl Tyler, a veteran of Lotus and IBM who now runs Instant Technologies, an enterprise IM software group, thinks one of the biggest etiquette breaches by Gen Y recruits involves newbies typing paragraph upon paragraph of chat.
Examples of assembly language software you may be familiar with are IBM PC DOS and the spreadsheet program Lotus 1-2-3.
The programs, an addition to the company's "Lotus" group of applications, also represent one of IBM's most ambitious forays yet into enterprise software-as-a-service, the browser-based model of applications pioneered by companies like Salesforce.com.
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