Now Software, then based in Portland, Oregon, was acquired by Qualcomm in 1997.[4][5][6] At the time of acquisition, Qualcomm reported (based on data from the company and from industry research firm Softletter) that Now Software was the "71st-largest software company in the U.S. with close to two million users" of its products.[4] Qualcomm also noted that Now Software's products had won high praise, "including Product of the Year, multiple Editor's and Reader's Choice honors and seven World Class Awards".[4] In 1999, the intellectual properties of the original company, including the name, were acquired by Power On Software, which relaunched the company and name.[7][2][8]
On August 27, 2009, the company released Now X, the successor to Now Up-to-Date & Contact.[9][10][11] Now X was rated poorly by Macworld, which called it "a program that doesn't rise anywhere near the level of its predecessor".[10]
In March 2010, the company suspended its day-to-day operations.[1][2][12]
Two of the original programmers of Now Up-to-Date, Dave Riggle and John Chaffee, moved on to found the software company BusyMac,[14] which produces the software applications BusyCal and BusyContacts, filling a similar niche market to the one filled by Now Up-to-Date & Contact.[15][16][17]
Now Utilitiesedit
Now Utilities was a file utility product for Mac System 7.[18][19] The first version, in 1990,[20] was named one of MacUser's "Top 100 Products for 1990".[21]
As of Version 4 (released in 1993), Now Utilities includes NowSave, an automatic document saving facility (save after a configurable number of keystrokes or mouse-clicks); Super Boomerang (puts most recently used files into a menu); Now Profile (a system information collector); NowMenus (adds subfolders to the Apple menu); WYSIWYG Menus (Font, Size, Style menus render text as they would appear in a document); and Now Scrapbook (a replacement for the Scrapbook desk accessory).[22] Earlier versions contained AlarmsClock, DeskPicture and ScreenLocker utilities, but these were removed in version 4.[22]
^ abcMichaels, Philip (June 2010). "Now Software out of time". Macworld. 27 (6): 15.[dead link]
^"Business Registry Number 180722-80". egov.sos.state.or.us. Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved 2018-04-17. Registry date: 11-28-1989
^ abc"Qualcomm incorporated announces acquisition of Now Software" (Press release). Qualcomm. 10 November 1997. Retrieved 2008-04-22.
^Gardner, Dana (17 November 1997). "Qualcomm purchases Now Software". InfoWorld. 19 (46): 21. Archived from the original on 18 April 2018.
^Cortinas, Marty (2 March 1998). "Qualcomm unifies Now acquisitions". MacWeek. 12 (9): 21.[dead link]
^Sellers, Dennis (28 January 2003). "Now (Software) is Power On's future". macworld.com. Macworld. Retrieved 2017-04-17.
^"Power On Software acquires rights to contact management and enterprise scheduling products from Qualcomm" (Press release). Power On Software, Inc. 12 July 1999. Retrieved 2015-11-16.
^Cohen, Peter (28 August 2009). "Now X debuts, successor to Now Up-to-Date and Contact". macworld.com. Macworld. Retrieved 2017-04-17.
^ abBattersby, Jeffery (16 February 2010). "Capsule review: Now X". macworld.com. Macworld. Retrieved 2017-04-17.
^"Reviews: Now X". Macworld. 27 (5): 58–59. May 2010.[dead link]
^Wallace, John (22 March 2010). "Farewell". sites.google.com. Retrieved 2018-04-17. Farewell letter from John Wallace, president of Now Software.
^Widman, Jake (22 February 2011). "Great lost software: 16 gone but not forgotten". informationweek.com. InformationWeek. Retrieved 2017-04-17.
^"BusyMac". busymac.com. BusyMac. 18 April 2007. Retrieved 2022-09-05.
^Mello Jr., John P. (20 April 2009). "Now Software and the Mac/PC office: diversity in the workplace". technewsworld.com. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
^Sparks, David (13 February 2015). "BusyContacts ships and interview". macsparky.com. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
^Kissell, Joe (26 October 2009). "BusyMac BusyCal 1.0". macworld.com. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
^Colby, Clifford; Aker, Sharon Zardetto; Cortinas, Marty, eds. (2002). The Macintosh bible (8th ed.). Berkeley, CA: Peachpit Press. p. 508. ISBN 020170899X. OCLC 47636600. In the heady days of Mac System 7, the most powerful set of system-enhancement utilities around was Now Software's Now Utilities, a bunch of clever modules that took the Mac Finder to new frontiers. However, it fell on hard times, and promised updates for Mac OS 8 and later never seemed to happen. Some of the folks who founded Now Software went off to create a new utility maker, Extensis...
^Lee, Lisa (1995). MacWeek upgrading and repairing your Mac. The Don Crabb Macintosh library. Indianapolis, IN: Hayden Books. p. 513. ISBN 1568302495. OCLC 36178387. Now Software's Now Utilities has a reputation not only for cramming the maximum number of features into a reasonably priced package, but also for implementing those features well and thoroughly.
^"Computer Age Software Report, Volumes 23-25". books.google.com. 1991. Retrieved 2017-04-17.
^ abEckhardt, Robert C. (August 1993). "System utility collection". Macworld. 10 (8): 138.
Further readingedit
Littman, Dan (March 1992). "Now's new calendar". Macworld. 9 (3): 125.[dead link]
Schorr, Joseph (October 1992). "Now Up-to-Date 1.0.1". Macworld. 9 (10): 210. Archived from the original on 2018-04-18.
Littman, Dan; Moran, Tom (December 1992). "Up-to-date again". Macworld. 9 (12): 177. Archived from the original on 2018-04-18. Reviews Now Up-to-Date 2.0.
Baran, Nicholas (May 1993). "Personable PIMs". Byte. 18 (6): 194–198.[dead link] Reviews Now Up-to-Date 2.0, among other personal information managers (PIMs).
Littman, Dan (November 1993). "In Contact with Up-to-Date". Macworld. 10 (11): 139.[dead link] Announces release of Now Contact.
Taylor, Dave (27 December 1993). "Now Up-to-Date, Now Contact need to improve integration". InfoWorld. 15 (52/1): 81. Archived from the original on 18 April 2018.
Tessler, Franklin N. (March 1994). "Contact manager". Macworld. 11 (3): 63–64. Archived from the original on 2018-04-18. Reviews Now Contact 1.0.
Cryan, Shelley (January 1995). "Electric assistants". MacUser. 11 (1): 82–90.[dead link] Reviews Now-Up-To-Date 2.1.1 and Now Contact 1.1 and other PIMs.
Littman, Dan (January 1995). "Now Contact goes multiuser". Macworld. 12 (1): 132. Archived from the original on 2018-04-18. Reviews Now Contact 3.0.
Ohlson, Karen J.; Snell, Jason (January 1995). "The personal goes public". MacUser. 11 (1): 36.[dead link] Reports on upgrades to Now Up-to-Date and Now Contact.
Schorr, Joseph (April 1995). "Personal information managers". Macworld. 12 (4): 61.[dead link] Reviews Now-Up-To-Date and Now Contact 3.0.
Janus, Susan (May 1995). "Now Contact and Up-to-Date". MacUser. 11 (5): 41–42.[dead link]
"New Now is noteworthy". MacUser. 11 (8): 28. August 1995.[dead link] Reviews Now-Up-To-Date and Now Contact 3.5.
King, Nelson (12 September 1995). "PIMs & contact managers". PC Magazine. 14 (15): 235–237.[dead link] Cover story reviews Now Up-to-Date and other PIMs.
Scisco, Peter (October 1995). "Personal information managers: making a date". PC World. 13: 154.[dead link] Reviews Now Up-to-Date for Windows 95 and other PIMs.
Swenson, John (16 October 1995). "Sharing scheduling data across platforms". InformationWeek (549): 90.[dead link] Reviews Now Up-to-Date for Windows 95.
"Two 'personal information managers'". Architectural Record. 184: 48. March 1996.[dead link] Reviews Ascend 5.0 and Now Up-to-Date 1.0 for Windows.
"Multiuser manager". InformationWeek (573): 85. 1 April 1996.[dead link] Reviews Now Up-to-Date 1.02 for Windows.
Wilkerson, Robert (20 May 1996). "Finding a date on the Internet". PC Week. 13 (20): N1. Archived from the original on 18 April 2018. Reviews Now-Up-To-Date Web Publisher and other group scheduling and calendaring software.
"Hot disks". Entrepreneur. 24 (11): 56. November 1996. Reviews Now Up-to-Date Web Publisher and other software.
Topolos, Nick A. (December 1996). "Now Up-to-Date Web Publisher". Macworld. 13 (12): 78.[dead link]
Poultney, John (20 January 1997). "Now package to boost e-mail". MacWeek. 11 (3): 4–5.[dead link] Reviews Now Up-to-Date and Now Contact 3.6.5.
"What's new in small business software". Fortune. 137 (1): 205–208. Winter 1998. Archived from the original on 2018-04-18. Mentions Now Software.
Wier, Benson; Hunton, James E. (August 1998). "Software to get you organized". Journal of Accountancy. 186 (2): 50–52.[dead link] Now Up-to-Date 3.6.5.
Furchgott, Roy (8 November 1999). "Using the net to soup up your palm top computer". BusinessWeek (3654): 165–166.[dead link] Mentions using a software program called Consultant to sync data from Now Up-to-Date and Now Contact to a Palm Pilot.
Negrino, Tom (October 2001). "Now Up-to-Date and Contact 4.0". Macworld. 18 (10): 30. Archived from the original on 2018-04-18.
Mainelli, Tom (February 2004). "Now's mixed office PIM". PC World. 22 (2): 58.[dead link]
Garcia, Chana; Donaldson, Sonya A. (May 2004). "Get it together". Black Enterprise. 34 (10): 54. Archived from the original on 2018-04-18. Reviews Now Up-to-Date and Now Contact.
Battersby, Jeffery (28 November 2005). "Capsule review: Now Up-to-Date & Contact 5.0". macworld.com. Macworld. Retrieved 2017-04-17.
"Calendars and organizers compared". Macworld. 25 (9): 40. September 2008.[dead link] Mentions Now Up-to-Date and Now Contact 5.3.2.