<s>
Lotus	B-Operating_System
Freelance	I-Operating_System
Graphics	I-Operating_System
is	O
an	O
information	O
graphics	O
and	O
presentation	B-Application
program	I-Application
developed	O
by	O
Lotus	O
Software	O
(	O
formerly	O
Lotus	O
Development	O
Corp	O
.	O
)	O
following	O
its	O
acquisition	O
of	O
Graphic	O
Communications	O
Inc	O
in	O
1986	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
first	O
released	O
for	O
DOS	B-Device
and	O
OS/2	B-Application
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
,	O
then	O
later	O
released	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
Lotus	B-Operating_System
SmartSuite	I-Operating_System
for	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Pre-Windows	O
versions	O
of	O
Lotus	B-Operating_System
Freelance	I-Operating_System
Graphics	I-Operating_System
included	O
mouse	O
support	O
(	O
provided	O
a	O
mouse	O
driver	O
for	O
the	O
OS	B-General_Concept
had	O
also	O
been	O
installed	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Windows-compatible	O
version	O
allowed	O
users	O
to	O
create	O
and	O
compile	O
text	O
,	O
digital	B-Algorithm
images	I-Algorithm
,	O
diagrams	O
,	O
basic	O
drawings	O
and	O
charts	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
bar	B-Application
charts	I-Application
and	O
pie	B-Application
charts	I-Application
)	O
into	O
a	O
digital	O
slide	O
show	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
originally	O
a	O
drawing	O
tool	O
,	O
but	O
was	O
enhanced	O
to	O
include	O
charting	O
by	O
either	O
manually	O
inputting	O
data	O
or	O
importing	O
data	O
from	O
the	O
Lotus	B-Application
1-2-3	I-Application
spreadsheet	O
program	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Freelance	O
worked	O
within	O
DOS	B-Device
to	O
produce	O
slides	O
comparable	O
to	O
those	O
of	O
Microsoft	O
PowerPoint	O
,	O
a	O
program	O
originally	O
created	O
for	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
Lotus	O
opted	O
to	O
develop	O
Freelance	O
for	O
OS/2	B-Application
,	O
Microsoft	O
got	O
a	O
head	O
start	O
developing	O
and	O
promoting	O
the	O
Windows	O
version	O
of	O
its	O
application	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
IBM	O
then	O
acquired	O
Lotus	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
used	O
a	O
licensing	O
issue	O
to	O
delay	O
IBM	O
's	O
access	O
to	O
the	O
Windows	O
95	O
code	O
base	O
,	O
allowing	O
Microsoft	O
Office	O
to	O
be	O
released	O
six	O
months	O
ahead	O
of	O
Lotus	B-Operating_System
SmartSuite	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
a	O
result	O
,	O
when	O
OS/2	B-Application
failed	O
to	O
gain	O
widespread	O
adoption	O
,	O
Freelance	O
became	O
a	O
little-used	O
application	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
the	O
quality	O
of	O
the	O
Freelance	O
product	O
eventually	O
deteriorated	O
as	O
IBM	O
's	O
support	O
of	O
SmartSuite	B-Operating_System
dwindled	O
.	O
</s>
