Beagle Bros

Beagle Bros was an American software company that specialized in creating personal computing products. Their primary focus was on the Apple II family of computers. Although they ceased business in 1991, owner Mark Simonsen permitted the Beagle Bros name and logo to be included on the 30th anniversary reboot of I. O. Silver, released on December 12, 2014 by former Beagle programmer Randy Brandt.

Beagle Bros Micro Software, Inc.
TypePrivate
IndustrySoftware
FoundedOctober 1, 1980 (1980-10-01)
FounderBert Kersey
Defunct1991 (1991)
Headquarters,
Key people
Bert Kersey, Alan Bird, Jack Cassidy, Mark Simonsen, Rob Renstrom, Randy Brandt, Dan Verkade, Matt Reimer, Mark Munz

History

Beagle Bros was founded in 1980 by Bert Kersey and expanded over the years to include a wide variety of staff members, programmers, and designers. Whereas most software companies focused on professional users and business systems, Kersey founded the company with the intention of capitalizing on the "hobbyist" market that had formed when affordable personal computers became more readily available. Apple Mechanic allowed users to create their own shape tables (an early form of sprites) to create their own games, DOS Boss let users patch the disk operating system, and Beagle Bag had a number of games written in BASIC that people could utilize. Beagle Bros' catalog and print advertisements featured many playful programming tips about the Apple II system, many in the form of short Applesoft BASIC programs that took advantage of undocumented or unexpected behavior. Beagle Bros used woodcut and other 19th century artwork in its printed designs.

When the Apple IIgs was released, Beagle Bros was among the first companies to release content for the platform. Both Platinum Paint and BeagleWrite GS (acquired and repackaged) are still regarded as being among the high points of commercial IIgs software.

Beagle Bros began producing add-ons for the AppleWorks, its first being the MacroWorks keyboard shortcut utility by Randy Brandt.[1] Beagle Bros programmer Alan Bird later devised an API for creating AppleWorks add-ons, which they dubbed TimeOut. TimeOut programmers Alan Bird, Randy Brandt and Rob Renstrom were tapped by Claris to develop AppleWorks 3.0, and the TimeOut API itself became a part of AppleWorks with version 4.0. Eventually the TimeOut API was made public and a number of non-Beagle TimeOut applications were released.

In 1991, Mark Simonsen licensed the Beagle Bros Apple II line to Quality Computers. Quality Computers subsequently went through several acquisitions and no longer exists. Multiple Beagle Bros products were released as freeware in the mid-1990s, including most of the company's early utilities and games.[2] Today, their programs are available on the Internet.[3]

BeagleWorks, the company's main Macintosh product, was licensed to WordPerfect Corporation in 1992, where it became WordPerfect Works. This product was later discontinued after WordPerfect was acquired by Novell. The company also produced a few small Macintosh and PC utilities.

Many former employees have continued to be involved in the software industry, such as Joe Holt who co-authored iMovie, and Alan Bird who worked on Eudora and the OneClick shortcut utility for Macintosh. Randy Brandt created Online Army Knife, an award-winning Macintosh spell checker, and continued publishing AppleWorks products through his JEM Software spin-off. Mark Munz created Deja ][, which allows AppleWorks to run under Mac OS X. The company's founder, Bert Kersey, started a model train company after selling Beagle Bros, and is now retired.

Beagle Bros used woodcut art in its print material and 19th century artwork in its designs.

Software

Title Author(s) Published Description
Apple PrinterLo-res graphics and titling program
Alpha PlotBert Kersey and Jack Cassidy1980Hi-res graphics program
Apple Mechanic/Shape MechanicBert Kersey1982Hi-res shape/font editor; multiple other utilities
Apple Mechanic TypefacesBert KerseyTwenty-six fonts for use with Apple Mechanic
AppleWorks 3.0 CompanionPatches for various AppleWorks 3.0 modules
Bag of TricksDon Worth and Pieter LechnerExamine, edit, reformat and repair disk data (published by Quality Software)
Beagle BagBert Kersey and the Beagle Bros staffA collection of games including Buzzword!, Elevators, Hang Person, Magic Pack, Oink!, Pick-A-Pair, Quick-Draw!, Slippery Digits, Sub Search, TextTrain, Triple Digits and Wowzo, plus the Beagle Menu utility
Beagle BASICMark Simonsen1983An expanded version of Applesoft BASIC with various new commands
The Beagle CompilerAlan Bird1986AppleSoft BASIC program compiler
BeagleDrawRobert A. Hearn and Jeff G. Erickson1989Apple IIGS graphic application, formerly TopDraw
Beagle GraphicsMark SimonsenGraphics editor in 16-color double hi-res
Beagle ScreensFred & Sara Crone, Matt Reimer, Bert Kersey and Robert Renstrom1986Full-screen captionable clip art
BeagleWorks1992Later renamed WordPerfect Works, then PerfectWorks
BeagleWrite, BeagleWrite GSProDOS-based GUI word processor, acquired from Styleware where it had been named MultiScribe
BeagleWrite Desk AccessoriesAdds a clock, calendar and calculator
BeagleWrite Picture ManagerAllows import of Print Shop (8-bit) and Newsroom images
Big URandy Brandt1986ProDOS utilities including CRT.WRITER, FILE.MOVER and KEYCAT.80
D CodeAlan BirdAppleSoft program optimizer and debugger
DiskQuikHarry Bruce and Gene HiteCreates a virtual disk in RAM
DOS BossBert Kersey and Jack CassidyDOS 3.3 enhancer and command editor
Double-TakeMark SimonsenVarious small utilities including two-way text scrolling
Extra KAlan Bird and Mark Simonsen1985An extended memory utility allowing AppleSoft to use a second 64K bank of memory in an upgraded IIe or IIc
FatCatAlan BirdDisk library cataloguer
FlashJoe Holt1989Tool to copy files over AppleTalk, integrated into the Finder. Beagle's first Macintosh program
Flex TextMark Simonsen1982Variable-width hi-res text utility
Font MechanicMark & Jon Simonsen1985Thirty fonts for use with Shape Mechanic
Frame-UpTom Weishaar1982Apple presentation program
GPLENeil Konzen1983Global Program Line Editor for AppleSoft BASIC programs. Originally published by Synergistic Software, 1982.
GS Font EditorFont editor for AppleWorks
I.O. SilverBrad Wilhelmsen1984Popular strategy/action game rebooted in 2014 as a 30th anniversary mobile app: I. O. Silver
MacroWorksRandy Brandt1986Macros (keyboard shortcuts)for AppleWorks 1.3
Master FindMaster Mind-style game
MinipixFred & Sara CroneA three-disk series of clipart collections
OutlinerRandy Brandt1990AppleWorks 3.0 Word Processor outlining
Platinum PaintMatt ReimerApple IIGS paint program
Point-to-PointGary Little1988Telecommunications program
Power PrintRobert RenstromDot matrix printer utility
Pro-Byter1985Disk editor and ProDOS utilities
Program WriterAlan Bird1987AppleSoft program editor
ProntoDOSTom WeishaarAccelerated version of DOS 3.3 with other additional features
Resource DiskSample file disk for SuperFonts Activity Guide
Shape MechanicBert Kersey and Mark SimonsenShape animation and screen fonts
Silicon SaladBert Kersey and Mark SimonsenVarious tips, tricks and utilities from Beagle Bros Tip Books 5, 6 and 7
Super MacroWorksRandy Brandt1986Macros (keyboard shortcuts) for AppleWorks 2.0
TimeOut seriesVarious add-ons for AppleWorks 2.0 and newer built on the TimeOut core technology created by Alan Bird. Includes products detailed below, plus MacroEase, MacroTools, Paint, TeleComm and Utilities
TimeOut DeskToolsHoward Bangerter, Alan Bird, Glenn Clawson, Mark de Jong & Dan Verkade1987Calculator, Calendar, Case Converter, Clock, Data Converter, Dialer, Envelope Addresser, File Encrypter, Note Pad, Page Preview, Puzzle, Word Count
TimeOut DeskTools IIDan Verkade, Glenn Clawson & Randy Brandt1988Area Codes, Calculator+, Clipboard Viewer, DirecTree, Disk Tester, File Search, Measurements, Printer Manager, Screen Out, Screen Printer, Stop Watches
TimeOut FileMasterRandy Brandt1987File and disk utilities
TimeOut GrammarDan VerkadeGrammar checking for the AppleWorks Word Processor
TimeOut GraphRobert Renstrom1987Graphing for the AppleWorks Spreadsheet
TimeOut MacroEaseRandy Brandt & Mark Munz1990Macro-related Timeout apps and sample macros
TimeOut MacroToolsRandy Brandt1988Macro-related Timeout apps and sample macros
TimeOut MacroTools IIRandy Brandt1988Macro-related Timeout apps and sample macros
TimeOut PowerPackRandy Brandt1988ASCII Values, AWP to TXT, Category Search, Desktop Sorter, File Librarian, Help Screens, Line Sorter, Program Selector, Triple Clipboard, Triple Desktop
TimeOut QuickSpellAlan Bird1987Spell checking for the AppleWorks Word Processor
TimeOut ReportWriterDan Verkade1989Relational reports for the Data Base and Spreadsheet
TimeOut SpreadToolsAlan Bird, Randy Brandt and Dan Verkade1988CelLink, Block Copy, Error Analyzer, Bird's Eye View, AutoZoom, Data Converter, Cross Reference, Formula/Value Switcher, Quick Widths, Row Column Converter
TimeOut SideSpreadMark Simonsen1987Wide paper printing for the AppleWorks Spreadsheet
TimeOut SuperFontsMark Simonsen1987Graphical fonts for the AppleWorks Word Processor
TimeOut SuperFormsDan VerkadeForm generation
TimeOut TextToolsMark Munz, Randy Brandt and Howard Bangerterassorted tools
TimeOut ThesaurusAlan BirdSynonyms in the AppleWorks Word Processor
TimeOut UltraMacrosRandy Brandt1987Keystroke recorder and macro programming language
Tip Disk#1Bert KerseyOne hundred tips from the Beagle Bros Tip Books
Triple-DumpMark Simonsen and Robert Renstrom"Print anything" utility for dot matrix printers
Utility CityBert Kersey1982Twenty-one separate Apple utilities
Zoom GraphixSends hi-res images to any graphics-compatible printer

References

  1. "Randy Brandt and AppleWorks". Apple II History. 2012-07-19. Retrieved 2018-02-17.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on January 16, 2003. Retrieved January 28, 2005.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on June 17, 2002. Retrieved January 28, 2005.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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