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Central Point Software

From Alfawiki
Central Point Software, Inc.
Company typePrivate
IndustrySoftware
Founded1980
FounderMichael Burmeister-Brown
Defunct1994
FateAcquired by Symantec
Headquarters
Beaverton, Oregon
,
United States
Key people
Corey Smith (president, 1990)
ProductsPC Tools, Central Point Anti-Virus, Copy II Plus, Copy II PC, MacTools, Deluxe Option Board, Laser 128 (distributed)
ParentSymantec (from 1994)

Central Point Software, Inc. (CP, CPS) was a prominent developer of utility software tailored for the PC market, specializing in MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows environments. The firm also created disk copying software for the Apple II platform. After undergoing multiple mergers, it was ultimately purchased by Symantec in 1994.

History

Established in 1980 by Michael Burmeister-Brown (commonly known as Mike Brown) in Central Point, Oregon, CPS initially achieved notable success with its Copy II PC backup tool before moving its operations to Beaverton, Oregon. Corey Smith held the position of president in 1990. In 1993, CPS expanded by acquiring the XTree Company and was subsequently acquired by Symantec the following year for approximately $60 million.

Products

CPS’s initial standout offerings were a collection of utilities designed to replicate copy-protected disks precisely, beginning with Copy II Plus version 1.0 for the Apple II in 1981 and followed by Copy II PC for IBM-compatible systems in 1983. By 1985, Copy II PC asserted compatibility with 90% of software protection schemes and sold thousands of Deluxe Boards monthly—hardware that enhanced copying functionality across Apple II and Macintosh platforms. Its primary rival in this domain was Quaid Software’s CopyWrite.

The company also marketed the Option Board hardware alongside TransCopy software, facilitating the duplication of copy-protected floppy disks.

In 1985, CPS introduced PC Tools, an integrated graphical shell and utility suite for DOS that became its signature product, positioning the company as a formidable competitor against Peter Norton Computing’s Norton Utilities and Norton Commander. A counterpart called Mac Tools was developed for Macintosh users. CPS licensed critical components such as Mirror, Undelete, and Unformat to Microsoft for inclusion in MS-DOS versions 5.x and 6.x. The CPS File Manager offered advanced features including ZIP archive navigation and multimedia file viewing.

In 1993, CPS launched PC Tools for Windows 2.0, compatible with Windows 3.1. Following the acquisition by Symantec, the original development team created Norton Navigator for Windows 95, while Symantec separately released the PCTW File Manager as PC-Tools File Manager 3.0 for Windows 3.1. CPS’s relatively late entry into the Windows software arena contributed to its acquisition during a period when Novell NetWare maintained market dominance.

Another key product was Central Point Anti-Virus (CPAV), which CPS licensed from Carmel Software’s Turbo Anti-Virus technology. CPS also licensed CPAV to Microsoft for their MSAV and MWAV antivirus solutions and introduced CPAV versions tailored for NetWare servers in 1993.

In addition to software products, Central Point distributed the Laser 128, an Apple II-compatible clone computer, through mail order channels.

List of CPS products

  • PC Tools
  • PC Tools for Windows
  • Central Point Anti-Virus
  • Central Point Anti-Virus for NetWare
  • Central Point Backup
  • Central Point Desktop
  • Central Point Commute
  • Copy II Plus (Apple II)
  • Copy II 64 (Commodore 64/128)
  • Copy II PC
  • Copy II Mac
  • Copy II ST (Atari ST/TT)
  • MacTools and MacTools Pro
  • More PC Tools
  • LANlord
  • Deluxe Option Board

See also

External links

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