AppWare
| Company type | Software |
|---|---|
| Industry | Software development |
| Predecessor | Serius Corporation |
| Founded | 1989 |
| Founder | Joe Firmage, Ed Firmage |
| Defunct | 1997 |
| Fate | Development ceased; product renamed MicroBrew before discontinuation |
| Headquarters | Salt Lake City , United States |
Area served | Microsoft Windows, classic Mac OS |
Key people | Joe Firmage, Ed Firmage, Ray Noorda |
| Products | AppWare Visual AppBuilder (VAB), AppWare Foundation, MicroBrew |
Number of employees | 21 (1991) |
AppWare was a rapid application development platform designed for Microsoft Windows and classic Mac OS, utilizing a visual programming language. Applications were created by linking icons that represented various program elements and commands. The underlying logic could be compiled across both operating systems, typically needing only slight modifications to the graphical user interface for successful porting.
Originally launched in 1989 under the name Serius89 by Serius Corporation, it was later renamed Serius Developer. The product gained wider attention as AppWare after its acquisition and promotion by Novell in 1993. Novell divested the product in 1996, after which it was rebranded as MicroBrew, with development ceasing by 1997.
Serius
The initial development of what became AppWare began around June 1987 when Joe Firmage sought to build an accounting system for his parents’ greeting card business. In 1989, at the age of 18, Joe and his brother Ed established Serius Corp. in Salt Lake City, Utah to commercialize the software under the name Serius89.
The first version, 1.0, was released for Mac in August 1989 and offered two variants: Serius Programmer, which enabled application creation from pre-existing objects, and Serius Developer, which allowed users to develop new objects through external programming languages. Later that year, versions 1.1 and 1.2 introduced enhancements such as a Database object. Priced at $295 and $495 respectively, Serius89 competed with visual programming environments like TGS Systems' Prograph. Critics acknowledged its innovative desktop programming model despite some shortcomings.
In April 1990, version 2.0 debuted with a broader object library that included support for the Communications ToolBox and multimedia components tailored for interactive kiosks. Further updates enhanced stability and speed, with version 2.2 released in October 1991 representing a significant improvement. By this time, Serius Corp. had attracted external funding and expanded its workforce to 21 employees.
January 1992 saw the introduction of version 3.0 featuring major revisions, culminating in November 1992 with added Windows compatibility and a rebranding to Serius Workshop and Serius Developer Pro, corresponding to the earlier Programmer and Developer editions.
AppWare
In June 1993, Novell acquired Serius during CEO Ray Noorda's strategic expansion phase, simultaneously purchasing Software Transformations Inc., recognized for its cross-platform object code library that facilitated porting applications across Mac, Windows, SunOS, UnixWare, and HP-UX. Although unrelated products, these technologies were merged under the unified AppWare brand. Positioned alongside NetWare and UnixWare as one of Novell’s "three pillars," AppWare aimed to streamline the creation of network-aware software.
Following acquisition, Serius was rebranded as AppWare Visual AppBuilder (VAB), with internal modules renamed "AppWare Loadable Modules" (ALMs) to align with Novell’s NetWare Loadable Modules (NLMs). The initial AppWare version 1.0 launched in October 1993. Meanwhile, Software Transformations’ technology was marketed as the AppWare Foundation.
By early 1994, Novell reduced its commitment to AppWare Foundation; in September that year, it announced intentions to sell this component while continuing development of Visual AppBuilder and releasing additional ALMs. The anticipated Unix versions never appeared; instead, updated Mac and Windows releases were rolled out under the simplified name AppWare in version 1.1 during 1994.
MicroBrew
After Noorda exited Novell in April 1994, the company divested several acquired products. Joe Firmage departed from Novell in 1995 following the company's choice to sell UnixWare and discontinue the "SuperNOS" initiative, which aimed to combine UnixWare with NetWare. By November 1995, Novell had announced its intention to find a purchaser for AppWare.
In March 1996, Novell transferred all rights to AppWare to Network Multimedia Inc. (NMI), a firm led by Ed Firmage, who had previously served as Novell's AppWare marketing director. NMI intended to develop AppWare further across various platforms and planned its integration with multiple object and document technologies. Joe Firmage did not join NMI; instead, he co-founded USWeb.
By July 1996, NMI reintroduced AppWare under the new name MicroBrew, positioning it as a visual development environment tailored for Internet applications. The company actively promoted MicroBrew into early 1997. Despite these efforts, NMI ceased its operations later that same year.
In early 2000, an initiative known as The Serious Project on SourceForge sought to release MicroBrew's source code as open source software. However, this attempt did not result in any code becoming publicly available.
Description
AppWare applications were built by placing icons symbolizing pre-designed objects onto a worksheet and linking them to establish message flows. These communications operated via the Object Interaction Protocol. Some objects embodied fundamental logic constructs, while others functioned as GUI components such as text editors. Application behavior was designed through chains of interconnected objects activated by specific events. This approach bore resemblance to HyperCard or Visual Basic, where program logic was associated with the triggering object.
AppWare generated genuine "double-clickable" native applications compatible with both Windows and Mac platforms. Unlike comparable tools like HyperCard, its applications maintained a native appearance and operated as fully integrated elements within the host operating system. Nonetheless, similar to HyperCard, AppWare applications generally lacked support for multiple windows and dynamic document creation due to the absence of a runtime NEW-style operator. Consequently, applications consisted of a predetermined number of forms and windows.
Bibliography
Further reading
- Joe Firmage, "Visual AppBuilder Architectural Overview", Novell AppNotes, May 1994
- Mark Gibbs, "Novell's AppWare shows early promise", Network World, 27 June 1994, pp. 55–57
- Ronald Nutter, "AppWare decodes program development", Network World, 27 February 1995, pp. 51–51