<s>
Ability	B-Application
Plus	I-Application
is	O
an	O
integrated	O
software	O
package	O
written	O
for	O
DOS	O
in	O
the	O
early	O
1980s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
succeeded	O
by	O
Ability	B-Application
Office	I-Application
on	O
Windows	O
,	O
described	O
below	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Despite	O
lack	O
of	O
development	O
for	O
over	O
a	O
decade	O
,	O
Ability	B-Application
Plus	I-Application
3.0	O
,	O
the	O
last	O
version	O
,	O
will	O
still	O
run	O
quite	O
happily	O
under	O
a	O
Windows	B-Device
7	I-Device
command	O
prompt	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
new	O
version	O
called	O
Ability	B-Application
Plus	I-Application
was	O
released	O
in	O
1987	O
by	O
Migent	O
,	O
that	O
saw	O
the	O
product	O
translated	O
into	O
a	O
French	O
,	O
German	O
,	O
Spanish	O
,	O
Italian	O
,	O
Dutch	O
and	O
other	O
European	O
languages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Around	O
this	O
time	O
in	O
Europe	O
,	O
Ability	O
1.2	O
and	O
Ability	B-Application
Plus	I-Application
1.0	O
were	O
widely	O
bundled	O
with	O
the	O
Amstrad	O
PC1512	O
and	O
PC1640	O
personal	O
computers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1987	O
Ability	B-Application
Plus	I-Application
won	O
the	O
Barclays	O
Bank	O
British	O
Micro	O
Computing	O
Award	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Later	O
on	O
in	O
1991	O
,	O
a	O
new	O
company	O
was	O
set	O
up	O
in	O
the	O
UK	O
,	O
Ability	B-Application
Plus	I-Application
Software	O
(	O
UK	O
)	O
Ltd	O
,	O
and	O
it	O
joined	O
forces	O
with	O
LANware	O
,	O
with	O
new	O
funding	O
,	O
to	O
develop	O
and	O
market	O
a	O
new	O
version	O
of	O
Ability	B-Application
Plus	I-Application
(	O
version	O
2.0	O
)	O
which	O
was	O
released	O
in	O
1992	O
and	O
then	O
version	O
3.0	O
in	O
1995	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
this	O
time	O
,	O
the	O
popularity	O
of	O
DOS	O
based	O
programs	O
was	O
in	O
decline	O
and	O
in	O
addition	O
,	O
Ability	B-Application
Plus	I-Application
suffered	O
from	O
the	O
lack	O
of	O
development	O
investment	O
in	O
the	O
period	O
following	O
the	O
launch	O
of	O
version	O
1.0	O
(	O
almost	O
no	O
development	O
took	O
place	O
from	O
1988	O
to	O
1991	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
the	O
time	O
of	O
Ability	B-Application
Plus	I-Application
,	O
the	O
majority	O
of	O
the	O
code	O
was	O
in	O
C	O
with	O
a	O
small	O
amount	O
of	O
assembly	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
following	O
list	O
of	O
contributors	O
is	O
lifted	O
directly	O
from	O
the	O
Ability	B-Application
Plus	I-Application
line	O
of	O
source	O
code	O
,	O
in	O
approximately	O
chronological	O
order	O
,	O
with	O
given	O
year	O
showing	O
an	O
earliest	O
date	O
for	O
"	O
first	O
appearance	O
"	O
:	O
(	O
1984	O
)	O
Ashok	O
Patel	O
,	O
Tracey	O
Allen	O
,	O
Andrew	O
Forber	O
,	O
Richard	O
B	O
.	O
McMurray	O
,	O
Tom	O
Keith	O
,	O
Mike	O
Gore	O
,	O
Drew	O
Sullivan	O
,	O
Tom	O
Dressing	O
,	O
David	O
(	O
Collier	O
-	O
)	O
Brown	O
,	O
Karen	O
Banks	O
,	O
(	O
1986	O
)	O
Michael	O
Smith	O
,	O
Rita	O
Khan	O
,	O
Pete	O
Sketch	O
,	O
(	O
1991	O
)	O
Phil	O
Roach	O
,	O
Mike	O
King	O
,	O
Mike	O
Young	O
,	O
J	O
Raymond	O
,	O
Vassil	O
Stoilov	O
,	O
George	O
Georiev	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
early	O
1990s	O
,	O
some	O
thought	O
was	O
given	O
to	O
making	O
a	O
Windows	O
version	O
of	O
Ability	B-Application
Plus	I-Application
,	O
but	O
the	O
difficulties	O
in	O
fashioning	O
a	O
Windows	O
program	O
from	O
DOS	O
code	O
led	O
to	O
the	O
decision	O
to	O
start	O
from	O
scratch	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
outcome	O
of	O
this	O
line	O
of	O
development	O
was	O
Ability	B-Application
Office	I-Application
,	O
and	O
although	O
it	O
shares	O
no	O
source	O
code	O
with	O
the	O
Ability	B-Application
Plus	I-Application
,	O
an	O
attempt	O
was	O
made	O
to	O
follow	O
some	O
of	O
the	O
design	O
principles	O
of	O
the	O
original	O
such	O
as	O
shared	O
code	O
and	O
a	O
common	O
recalculation	O
engine	O
.	O
</s>
