Multimate International
| Industry | Software |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1982 |
| Founder | W. H. Jones |
| Fate | Acquired by Ashton-Tate in December 1985 |
Area served | Corporate users (insurance, legal, government, military) |
| Products | MultiMate word processor |
Number of employees | 5 (initial development team) |
MultiMate was a word processor created by Multimate International specifically for IBM PC machines running MS-DOS during the early 1980s.
History
Among the earliest substantial IBM PC clients was Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance, which operated around 1,000 computers. The company commissioned W. H. Jones & Associates to produce word-processing software that would eliminate the need for retraining staff already proficient with Wang word processors. Under the leadership of Will Jones and a team of five developers, the initial product—originally called WordMate—was released in December 1982. The firm subsequently changed its name first to SoftWord Systems and then to Multimate International, renaming WordMate as MultiMate. Marketing highlighted MultiMate’s ability to "replicate the features and functions of a dedicated system," emphasizing its design "modeled after the Wang word processor." This Wang-like interface attracted a significant customer base.
Focusing primarily on corporate users rather than individual consumers, MultiMate quickly gained traction among sectors such as insurance firms, legal offices, government entities, and military organizations. To accommodate keyboard layout differences from Wang devices, MultiMate included a plastic overlay and adhesive labels that color-coded key combinations involving SHIFT, ALT, and CTRL across all ten function keys on the PC keyboard. Mirroring Wang’s approach, each function key supported four distinct operations, and the software featured a "document summary" screen that improved document management beyond the standard MS-DOS file naming system. As drop-down menus became more widespread, MultiMate integrated them into its interface.
Although initial sales in early 1983 were modest, revenue increased dramatically—by approximately 25 times—after receiving positive reviews. By fiscal year 1984, sales had surpassed $15 million, and by early 1985, MultiMate’s installed user base was comparable to that of former market leader WordStar. In December 1985, Will Jones sold the company to Ashton-Tate for roughly $20 million; Ashton-Tate described this transaction as "the largest ever in the microcomputer software industry."
Additional offerings from MultiMate included versions tailored for foreign languages (such as "MultiTexto" for Spanish speakers), a hardware interface card enabling file transfers from Wang systems, keyboards equipped with extra function keys, and variants compatible with numerous PC clone MS-DOS machines and networks from providers like Novell, 3COM, and IBM’s Token Ring. Although attempts were made to develop proprietary data and list management applications internally, these products never reached commercial release.
While Multimate International developed its main word processing software along with utility programs, it acquired third-party solutions for spelling and grammar checking, list management, outlining, and graphics integration (known as MultiMate GraphLink). These external tools were rebranded and adapted with customized interfaces and documentation to maintain consistency with MultiMate’s user experience. The final package bundled these components under the name "MultiMate Advantage," positioning itself primarily against IBM DisplayWrite for DOS and secondarily competing with WordPerfect, Microsoft Word’s DOS edition, and Samna.
Early clones of MultiMate were distributed bundled with portable PCs such as Corona; other versions targeted platforms including systems from Radio Shack, Texas Instruments, Toshiba, the early Grid laptop, and the IBM PC Junior.
MultiMate was supported by extensive documentation—produced in three volumes using premium materials—to reinforce its image as a professional office solution. According to company lore, an experienced Wang word processor manager authored the user manual before development started to ensure alignment between documentation and software capabilities.
Initial product releases featured unlimited toll-free technical support and affordable upgrade pricing, which helped cultivate a dedicated customer following; later support policies were adjusted to conform with Ashton-Tate’s standards.
The software accommodated a wide range of PC clones and hundreds of printer models through dedicated drivers. It performed particularly well with daisy-wheel and dot-matrix printer devices but was less effective when used with printers based on PostScript fonts or laser printer technology.
Ashton-Tate never produced a version of MultiMate compatible with Windows, ceased development efforts on VMS and Unix platforms, shuttered its Dublin development office, and ultimately discontinued the product following its acquisition by Borland.
Reception
In its February 1983 issue, PC Magazine remarked that MultiMate effectively transformed a computer into a dedicated word processor reminiscent of Wang machines, highlighting its speed, user-friendly nature, and robust feature set. Although the review mentioned the limitation of 128K RAM, it commended the thorough documentation, integrated help system, and command efficiency that required only half the keystrokes compared to WordStar. The article concluded that MultiMate "stands head and shoulders above many if not most [IBM PC word processors]" and described it as "an impressive entrant." The magazine later reported in March 1984 that version 3.2 exhibited slower performance than 3.11, attributing this to enhanced data protection measures.
Conversely, BYTE magazine’s November 1984 review was more critical. When assessing MultiMate 3.11 alongside Leading Edge Word Processor, it pointed out "irritating inconsistencies" within the user interface and documentation, identified a bug that could lead to file loss, and noted other shortcomings. The reviewer—experienced with both MultiMate and WordStar—found these programs accessible for beginners and equipped with features to prevent data loss but deemed them ill-suited for complex tasks due to "awkward, sometimes dangerous" operational procedures. A subsequent BYTE evaluation of version 3.20 praised its safety mechanisms, formatting capabilities, customization options, and responsive toll-free support line but labeled MultiMate "the klunkiest package" among five word processors tested, citing an excessive focus on safety, sluggish speed, inadequate built-in help, and an ineffective spell checker. At the time of publication, version 3.30 had just been released.
In July 1987, InfoWorld observed that "Multimate Advantage II has finally caught up with mainstream microprocessor word processing programs." The review applauded its mail merge functionality, broad printer compatibility, and comprehensive documentation but criticized pagination issues, absence of indexing features, and the continued 128K document size restriction. Ultimately, InfoWorld regarded MultiMate as "a very good product," noting improvements over previous releases; while it lagged behind WordPerfect in terms of features, it was considered comparable to Samna IV and superior to Officewriter 5.
According to Computer Intelligence’s 1987 analysis, Ashton-Tate commanded approximately 17% of the PC word processor market among Fortune 1000 companies, ranking second behind IBM and MicroPro, which each held about 25%. A survey conducted by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants in 1990 revealed that MultiMate was used by 5% of respondents as their preferred word processing software.