<s>
Wingz	B-Application
was	O
a	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
program	I-Application
sold	O
by	O
Informix	O
in	O
the	O
late	O
1980s	O
and	O
early	O
1990s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Originally	O
developed	O
for	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
,	O
it	O
was	O
later	O
ported	O
to	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
,	O
OS/2	B-Application
,	O
NeXTSTEP	B-Application
and	O
several	O
other	O
commercial	O
flavors	O
of	O
Unix	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
spite	O
of	O
many	O
positive	O
reviews	O
,	O
including	O
one	O
calling	O
it	O
"	O
clearly	O
the	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
of	O
the	O
future	O
"	O
,	O
the	O
market	O
was	O
rapidly	O
entrenching	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Excel	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Claris	O
licensed	O
and	O
sold	O
an	O
extensively	O
cleaned	O
up	O
version	O
as	O
Claris	B-Application
Resolve	I-Application
in	O
1991	O
,	O
but	O
it	O
was	O
far	O
too	O
late	O
to	O
market	O
to	O
have	O
any	O
effect	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Wingz	B-Application
was	O
originally	O
written	O
solely	O
for	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
by	O
Innovative	O
Software	O
(	O
publishers	O
of	O
the	O
SmartWare	B-Application
Suite	O
on	O
the	O
PC	O
)	O
based	O
in	O
Lenexa	O
within	O
Johnson	O
County	O
,	O
Kansas	O
;	O
and	O
was	O
ready	O
for	O
release	O
in	O
late	O
1988	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Informix	O
wanted	O
to	O
enter	O
the	O
desktop	O
software	O
market	O
with	O
products	O
that	O
could	O
link	O
to	O
their	O
back-end	O
databases	O
,	O
and	O
Wingz	B-Application
seemed	O
like	O
a	O
good	O
fit	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
release	O
was	O
built	O
up	O
by	O
extensive	O
promotion	O
on	O
the	O
part	O
of	O
Informix	O
,	O
including	O
giving	O
away	O
a	O
then-unprecedented	O
array	O
of	O
"	O
convention	O
swag	O
,	O
"	O
including	O
high	O
quality	O
Wingz	B-Application
red	O
canvas	O
tradeshow	O
bags	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
nearly	O
a	O
year	O
,	O
the	O
buildup	O
was	O
focused	O
around	O
the	O
"	O
Wingz	B-Application
Time	O
Shuttle	O
,	O
"	O
an	O
enclosed	O
theatre	O
which	O
traveled	O
MacWorlds	O
in	O
1988	O
and	O
1989	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
video	O
took	O
attendees	O
into	O
"	O
the	O
future	O
of	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
design	O
,	O
past	O
the	O
legacy	O
of	O
failed	O
old	O
products	O
[	O
like	O
Excel ]	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
most	O
obvious	O
feature	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
easiest	O
to	O
"	O
checkbox	O
review	O
"	O
,	O
was	O
the	O
size	O
of	O
the	O
spreadsheets	B-Application
Wingz	B-Application
could	O
process	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Excel	B-Application
's	O
maximum	O
size	O
was	O
256	O
columns	O
by	O
16384	O
rows	O
,	O
while	O
Wingz	B-Application
could	O
handle	O
spreadsheets	B-Application
up	O
to	O
32768	O
in	O
both	O
directions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
time	O
spreadsheets	B-Application
were	O
still	O
being	O
compared	O
primarily	O
on	O
this	O
feature	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
less-obvious	O
feature	O
was	O
that	O
Wingz	B-Application
allowed	O
simple	O
in-cell	O
editing	O
,	O
whereas	O
contemporary	O
versions	O
of	O
Excel	B-Application
forced	O
you	O
to	O
use	O
a	O
separate	O
data-entry	O
bar	O
,	O
a	O
feature	O
also	O
found	O
on	O
Lotus	B-Application
1-2-3	I-Application
for	O
Macintosh	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
clear	O
difference	O
between	O
Wingz	B-Application
and	O
Excel	B-Application
was	O
Wingz	B-Application
 '	O
powerful	O
graphing	O
system	O
,	O
once	O
regarded	O
as	O
the	O
most	O
powerful	O
available	O
in	O
any	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Wingz	B-Application
 '	O
graphing	O
system	O
allowed	O
the	O
resulting	O
graphs	O
to	O
be	O
placed	O
directly	O
in	O
the	O
spreadsheets	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
time	O
Excel	B-Application
offered	O
an	O
anemic	O
variety	O
of	O
2D	O
graphs	O
,	O
and	O
they	O
could	O
only	O
be	O
displayed	O
in	O
a	O
separate	O
view	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
the	O
competitors	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
,	O
Wingz	B-Application
also	O
offered	O
3D	O
graphs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Additionally	O
Wingz	B-Application
made	O
it	O
easy	O
to	O
make	O
the	O
graphs	O
and	O
modify	O
them	O
,	O
allowing	O
you	O
to	O
see	O
your	O
changes	O
in	O
real-time	O
directly	O
in	O
the	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
where	O
the	O
changes	O
were	O
being	O
made	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
more	O
hidden	O
feature	O
was	O
HyperScript	B-Application
,	O
a	O
macro-programming	O
language	O
deliberately	O
modelled	O
on	O
HyperCard	B-Application
's	O
HyperTalk	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
HyperScript	B-Application
allowed	O
even	O
new	O
users	O
to	O
write	O
fairly	O
powerful	O
macros	O
,	O
which	O
could	O
include	O
user-interface	O
features	O
such	O
as	O
buttons	O
and	O
dialog	O
boxes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
HyperScript	B-Application
1.0	O
was	O
missing	O
some	O
rather	O
obvious	O
features	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
instance	O
it	O
could	O
not	O
open	O
another	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
,	O
although	O
it	O
could	O
refer	O
to	O
one	O
if	O
the	O
user	O
opened	O
that	O
for	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
also	O
lacked	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
mathematical	O
functions	O
that	O
Excel	B-Application
handled	O
internally	O
,	O
and	O
had	O
no	O
direct	O
importer/exporter	O
for	O
Excel	B-Application
files	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
responded	O
to	O
the	O
release	O
of	O
Wingz	B-Application
,	O
and	O
others	O
such	O
as	O
Ashton-Tate	O
'	O
s	O
Full	B-Language
Impact	I-Language
and	O
the	O
Mac	B-Device
version	O
of	O
Lotus	B-Application
1-2-3	I-Application
that	O
came	O
out	O
about	O
the	O
same	O
time	O
,	O
by	O
starting	O
an	O
extensive	O
upgrade	O
to	O
Excel	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
were	O
soon	O
showing	O
it	O
around	O
claiming	O
it	O
would	O
have	O
all	O
the	O
features	O
of	O
Wingz	B-Application
in-sheet	O
graphics	O
,	O
large	O
spreadsheets	B-Application
,	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
only	O
a	O
short	O
period	O
of	O
time	O
before	O
a	O
Wingz	B-Application
1.1	O
release	O
fixed	O
many	O
of	O
these	O
issues	O
,	O
but	O
it	O
was	O
long	O
enough	O
that	O
the	O
product	O
was	O
never	O
able	O
to	O
regain	O
its	O
momentum	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
also	O
seemed	O
that	O
Informix	O
never	O
really	O
understood	O
how	O
to	O
market	O
the	O
product	O
,	O
and	O
it	O
is	O
likely	O
'	O
Not	O
Invented	O
Here	O
 '	O
played	O
a	O
major	O
part	O
in	O
the	O
problems	O
as	O
well	O
the	O
purchase	O
of	O
Wingz	B-Application
and	O
Smartware	B-Application
prompted	O
Roger	O
Sippl	O
,	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
founders	O
of	O
Informix	O
,	O
to	O
leave	O
the	O
company	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Joe	O
Erickson	O
,	O
the	O
lead	O
developer	O
of	O
the	O
Smart	O
Spreadsheet	B-Application
,	O
Wingz	B-Application
,	O
Formula	O
One	O
VBX	O
,	O
Formula	O
One	O
ActiveX	O
,	O
Formula	O
One	O
for	O
Java	O
and	O
SpreadsheetGear	O
for	O
.NET	O
,	O
left	O
shortly	O
after	O
that	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Future	O
releases	O
focused	O
on	O
bringing	O
the	O
product	O
to	O
new	O
platforms	O
as	O
their	O
GUI	O
's	O
matured	O
,	O
and	O
adding	O
functionality	O
to	O
HyperScript	B-Application
to	O
allow	O
it	O
to	O
directly	O
interact	O
with	O
databases	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Soon	O
it	O
was	O
being	O
marketed	O
primarily	O
as	O
a	O
data	O
access	O
tool	O
,	O
and	O
eventually	O
the	O
name	O
Wingz	B-Application
was	O
dropped	O
and	O
the	O
product	O
became	O
HyperScript	B-Application
Tools	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
some	O
unknown	O
point	O
Wingz	B-Application
was	O
bought	O
by	O
a	O
company	O
in	O
San	O
Jose	O
,	O
CA	O
called	O
PDF	O
Solutions	O
which	O
now	O
uses	O
Wingz	B-Application
as	O
a	O
private	O
base	O
for	O
their	O
DataPOWER	O
Semiconductor	O
yield	O
management	O
software	O
packages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Claris	O
,	O
Apple	O
Computer	O
's	O
onetime	O
software	O
arm	O
,	O
licensed	O
Wingz	B-Application
in	O
the	O
early	O
1990s	O
after	O
Informix	O
lost	O
interest	O
in	O
the	O
Mac	B-Device
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
and	O
released	O
it	O
as	O
Resolve	B-Application
in	O
1991	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
this	O
time	O
Excel	B-Application
was	O
entrenched	O
,	O
and	O
sales	O
of	O
Resolve	B-Application
were	O
tiny	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Claris	O
never	O
released	O
a	O
Resolve-MacWrite-Claris	O
Impact	O
bundle	O
,	O
and	O
so	O
were	O
unable	O
to	O
gain	O
a	O
foothold	O
in	O
the	O
high-end	O
market	O
now	O
dominated	O
by	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Office	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Claris	O
did	O
offer	O
an	O
"	O
Office	O
suite	O
"	O
,	O
composed	O
of	O
MacWrite	B-Operating_System
Pro	I-Operating_System
,	O
Claris	B-Application
Resolve	I-Application
,	O
and	O
MacDraw	O
Pro	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
this	O
suite	O
did	O
n't	O
include	O
a	O
database	O
(	O
e.g.	O
,	O
Filemaker	O
Pro	O
)	O
or	O
a	O
dedicated	O
Desktop	O
Presentations	O
application	O
,	O
although	O
MacDraw	O
Pro	O
did	O
provide	O
some	O
such	O
features	O
,	O
they	O
positioned	O
it	O
to	O
compete	O
against	O
MS	B-Application
Office	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
MacUser	O
in	O
June	O
1989	O
gave	O
Wingz	B-Application
1.0	O
for	O
Macintosh	B-Device
a	O
5	O
mice	O
(	O
out	O
of	O
5	O
)	O
rating	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
InfoWorld	O
in	O
December	O
1989	O
gave	O
Wingz	B-Application
1.1	O
a	O
7.8	O
(	O
out	O
of	O
10	O
)	O
score	O
.	O
</s>
