<s>
Q&A	B-Application
was	O
a	O
database	O
and	O
word	B-General_Concept
processing	I-General_Concept
software	O
program	O
for	O
IBM	O
PCcompatible	O
computers	O
published	O
by	O
Symantec	O
and	O
partners	O
from	O
1985	O
to	O
1998	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Released	O
by	O
Symantec	O
in	O
1985	O
for	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
computers	O
,	O
A	O
's	O
flat-file	B-Application
database	I-Application
and	O
integrated	O
word	B-General_Concept
processing	I-General_Concept
application	O
is	O
cited	O
as	O
a	O
significant	O
step	O
towards	O
making	O
computers	O
less	O
intimidating	O
and	O
more	O
user	O
friendly	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Among	O
its	O
features	O
was	O
a	O
natural	O
language	O
search	B-Application
function	O
based	O
on	O
a	O
600-word	O
internal	O
vocabulary	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Q&A	B-Application
Software	O
was	O
originally	O
a	O
natural	O
language	O
research	O
project	O
,	O
involving	O
a	O
group	O
of	O
former	O
SRI	O
International	O
researchers	O
led	O
by	O
Dr.	O
Earl	O
Sacerdoti	O
and	O
Dr.	O
Gary	O
Hendrix	O
,	O
funded	O
first	O
by	O
the	O
National	O
Science	O
Foundation	O
Small	O
Business	O
Innovation	O
Research	O
Program	O
,	O
and	O
later	O
by	O
venture	O
capital	O
investors	O
including	O
Kleiner	O
Perkins	O
,	O
Q&A	B-Application
evolved	O
into	O
both	O
a	O
useful	O
business	O
productivity	O
tool	O
and	O
the	O
foundation	O
of	O
Symantec	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
now-famous	O
professional	O
poker	O
player	O
Barry	O
Greenstein	O
worked	O
on	O
the	O
Q&A	B-Application
word	B-General_Concept
processor	I-General_Concept
during	O
his	O
employment	O
at	O
Symantec	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Dr.	O
Hendrix	O
mused	O
that	O
only	O
time	O
would	O
tell	O
whether	O
A	O
's	O
integrated	O
natural	O
language	O
ability	O
would	O
be	O
merely	O
a	O
passing	O
fad	O
or	O
perceived	O
as	O
a	O
valuable	O
feature	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
fiscal	O
1989	O
,	O
after	O
Version	O
3	O
's	O
release	O
,	O
Q&A	B-Application
accounted	O
for	O
nearly	O
a	O
third	O
of	O
Symantec	O
's	O
$50	O
million	O
revenues	O
,	O
occupying	O
the	O
top	O
spot	O
in	O
the	O
flat-file	B-Application
database	I-Application
market	O
in	O
1991	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
designed	O
to	O
look	O
and	O
work	O
like	O
pfs:File	O
and	O
pfs:Write	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
included	O
a	O
"	O
Recover	O
"	O
function	O
to	O
make	O
damaged	O
databases	O
usable	O
again	O
and	O
expanded	O
capabilities	O
to	O
import	O
data	O
from	O
dBase	B-Application
II	I-Application
and	O
III	O
and	O
Lotus	B-Application
1-2-3	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Data	O
records	O
were	O
locked	B-Operating_System
so	O
that	O
users	O
could	O
be	O
editing	O
different	O
records	O
at	O
the	O
same	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
user	O
A	O
were	O
editing	O
a	O
record	O
it	O
was	O
locked	B-Operating_System
from	O
other	O
users	O
who	O
would	O
see	O
a	O
message	O
saying	O
user	O
A	O
was	O
editing	O
it	O
and	O
would	O
not	O
be	O
able	O
to	O
edit	O
it	O
themselves	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
a	O
function	O
called	O
XLOOKUP	O
,	O
Q&A	B-Application
3.0	O
could	O
be	O
programmed	O
to	O
bring	O
values	O
from	O
an	O
external	O
database	O
into	O
the	O
currently	O
open	O
one	O
—	O
a	O
step	O
toward	O
relational	B-Application
database	I-Application
functionality	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Released	O
for	O
Windows	O
in	O
1993	O
,	O
Version	O
4.0	O
boasted	O
a	O
plethora	O
of	O
new	O
features	O
,	O
including	O
both	O
Form	O
View	O
and	O
Spreadsheet	B-Application
View	O
,	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
choose	O
file	O
names	O
from	O
a	O
dialog	O
box	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
simple	O
control	O
panel	O
(	O
favorably	O
compared	O
to	O
the	O
controls	O
of	O
a	O
VCR	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Symantec	O
attempted	O
to	O
develop	O
a	O
Macintosh	O
version	O
of	O
Q&A	B-Application
at	O
the	O
same	O
time	O
as	O
their	O
Windows	O
effort	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Perhaps	O
more	O
anticipated	O
was	O
an	O
improvement	O
on	O
A	O
's	O
original	O
natural	O
language	O
technology	O
which	O
appeared	O
in	O
the	O
Windows	O
version	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Called	O
DAVE	O
—	O
Do	O
Anything	O
Very	O
Easily	O
—	O
in	O
4.0	O
,	O
the	O
natural	O
language	O
query	O
feature	O
was	O
possessed	O
of	O
two	O
aspects	O
:	O
Intelligent	O
Assistant	O
,	O
which	O
allowed	O
users	O
to	O
navigate	O
easily	O
amongst	O
records	O
using	O
basic	O
English	O
queries	O
created	O
by	O
clicking	O
entries	O
in	O
the	O
toolbar	O
,	O
and	O
Scripting	O
Assistant	O
,	O
which	O
permitted	O
the	O
creation	O
of	O
scripts	B-Language
within	O
the	O
application	O
to	O
automate	O
commonly	O
used	O
,	O
repetitive	O
tasks	O
,	O
as	O
opposed	O
to	O
the	O
keystroke	O
recorded	O
macros	O
used	O
by	O
the	O
DOS	B-Device
version	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Version	O
4.0	O
included	O
a	O
fully	O
functional	O
word	B-General_Concept
processor	I-General_Concept
—	O
Q&A	B-Application
Write	O
—	O
that	O
could	O
be	O
launched	O
from	O
Q&A	B-Application
or	O
used	O
as	O
a	O
stand-alone	O
application	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Q&A	B-Application
Write	O
featured	O
a	O
100,000	O
word	O
spell	O
check	O
,	O
a	O
660,000	O
word	O
thesaurus	O
,	O
a	O
dictionary	B-Operating_System
,	O
formatting	O
options	O
such	O
as	O
page	O
layout	O
,	O
columnar	O
formatting	O
,	O
automatic	O
page	O
numbering	O
and	O
headers	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
support	O
for	O
the	O
addition	O
of	O
graphics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Additionally	O
,	O
it	O
offered	O
multifont	O
printing	O
support	O
and	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
hot-link	O
elements	O
of	O
a	O
Lotus	B-Application
1-2-3	I-Application
document	O
,	O
Symphony	B-Application
spreadsheet	B-Application
or	O
Lotus	O
PIC	O
graphs	O
,	O
to	O
Q&A	B-Application
Write	O
documents	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Macros	O
could	O
be	O
stored	O
in	O
an	O
ASCII	O
text	O
file	O
created	O
with	O
a	O
text	O
editor	O
,	O
Q&A	B-Application
Write	O
or	O
by	O
recording	O
keys	O
;	O
the	O
Macro	O
Menu	O
could	O
be	O
accessed	O
from	O
many	O
locations	O
by	O
pressing	O
Shift-F2	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
keeping	O
with	O
previous	O
versions	O
,	O
Q&A	B-Application
4.0	O
was	O
fully	O
backward	B-General_Concept
compatible	I-General_Concept
,	O
allowing	O
users	O
to	O
easily	O
access	O
data	O
created	O
in	O
prior	O
versions	O
of	O
the	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
4.0	O
is	O
largely	O
considered	O
“	O
classic	O
”	O
Q&A	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
(	O
customer	O
)	O
contact	O
management	O
software	O
ACT	O
!,	O
another	O
earlier	O
Symantec	O
product	O
now	O
being	O
continued	O
by	O
the	O
SAGE	O
group	O
,	O
also	O
had	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
read	O
Q&A	B-Application
datafiles	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1994	O
,	O
Symantec	O
announced	O
that	O
it	O
would	O
no	O
longer	O
continue	O
to	O
develop	O
Q&A	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Amid	O
public	O
outcry	O
,	O
particularly	O
from	O
the	O
Q&A	B-Application
User	O
Group	O
,	O
Symantec	O
was	O
forced	O
to	O
reconsider	O
and	O
commissioned	O
PFP	O
Software	O
GmbH	O
of	O
Düsseldorf	O
to	O
develop	O
an	O
upgrade	O
to	O
the	O
DOS	B-Device
version	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
Symantec	O
continued	O
to	O
sell	O
both	O
Versions	O
4.0	O
and	O
5.0	O
,	O
neither	O
was	O
actively	O
marketed	O
,	O
and	O
in	O
September	O
,	O
1998	O
,	O
all	O
sales	O
and	O
support	O
of	O
Q&A	B-Application
were	O
halted	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Shortly	O
before	O
the	O
cessation	O
of	O
Q&A	B-Application
sales	O
,	O
a	O
joint	O
venture	O
between	O
Professional	O
Computer	O
Technology	O
Associates	O
(	O
PCTA	O
)	O
and	O
Marble	O
Publications	O
led	O
by	O
longtime	O
Q&A	B-Application
users	O
William	O
Halpern	O
and	O
Tom	O
Marcellus	O
began	O
negotiating	O
with	O
Symantec	O
to	O
address	O
the	O
issues	O
facing	O
long-term	O
Q&A	B-Application
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
the	O
time	O
Q&A	B-Application
sales	O
and	O
support	O
had	O
been	O
halted	O
,	O
Symantec	O
was	O
actively	O
referring	O
users	O
with	O
questions	O
to	O
the	O
venture	O
—	O
sales	O
inquiries	O
to	O
PCTA	O
,	O
support	O
inquiries	O
to	O
both	O
PCTA	O
and	O
Marble	O
Publications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Recognizing	O
that	O
Q&A	B-Application
would	O
lapse	O
into	O
obsolescence	O
as	O
advances	O
in	O
hardware	O
and	O
software	O
moved	O
forward	O
,	O
Halpern	O
and	O
a	O
group	O
of	O
Q&A	B-Application
"	O
power	O
users	O
"	O
began	O
meeting	O
in	O
1999	O
to	O
address	O
the	O
possibility	O
of	O
developing	O
a	O
new	O
product	O
—	O
compatible	O
with	O
Q&A	B-Application
databases	O
—	O
to	O
allow	O
users	O
to	O
migrate	O
seamlessly	O
without	O
losing	O
their	O
important	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Noted	O
SF	O
author	O
,	O
Chaos	O
Manor	O
creator	O
and	O
Byte	O
magazine	O
columnist	O
Jerry	O
Pournelle	O
wrote	O
fondly	O
of	O
Q&A	B-Application
;	O
Write	O
,	O
claiming	O
it	O
as	O
his	O
sole	O
word	B-General_Concept
processor	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
