ClarisWorks file extensions

The modern incarnation of AppleWorks started life as ClarisWorks, written by Bob Hearn and Scott Holdaway and published by Claris (a spin-off from Apple, today known as File Maker Inc). The file extension of AppleWorks and ClarisWorks documents is .cwk. ClarisWorks combined

• a word processor,
• a drawing program,
• a painting program,
• a spreadsheet,
• a database program,
• and a terminal program for communications.

All the components were integrated to provide a seamless suite that worked in concert; for example, spreadsheet frames could be embedded in a word processing document, or formatted text into drawings, etc. A common misconception is that the components were derived from the existing Claris programs MacWrite and MacDraw. In fact, ClarisWorks was written from scratch and then redesigned to match other Claris programs after the purchase by Claris.

ClarisWorks 1.0 shipped for the Macintosh in 1991 and subsequently ported to the Windows platform, shipping as ClarisWorks 1.0 for Windows in 1993. When the Claris company was disbanded and absorbed back into Apple, the product was renamed AppleWorks. In fact, version 5 of the software was first called ClarisWorks 5, before being renamed AppleWorks 5 following the company's return to Apple.

The last version, AppleWorks 6, replaced the communications feature with a presentation feature (in prior versions there was only rudimentary support for presentations through the other features). It was also ported to the Carbon API to work on Mac OS X, but it did not take advantage of many of the newer features of Mac OS X.

AppleWorks could create, open, and save files in a number of file formats. For example, word processor documents could be saved in Microsoft Word format, and spreadsheet files could be saved in Microsoft Excel format.

The software received good reviews during the course of its lifespan for its interface and the tight integration of its modules. For example, a drawing "frame" could be placed in a spreadsheet document, a paint frame could be placed in a drawing document, etc. This allowed for very elaborate and data-rich layouts. However, the limitations of the product (such as its confusing and cumbersome stylesheet feature) became more apparent as the product aged. In August, 2007, Apple declared AppleWorks "end of life" and stated that they will no longer sell the package. The iWork package, which includes a word processing program, a spreadsheet, and a presentation graphics program, is intended to be its replacement. While much more feature-rich, iWork still lacks some of the modules and the tight integration of AppleWorks.

There is a "known issue" with Appleworks 6 when typing long documents. When typing somewhere into page 42, all the text disappears. This may be an easter egg which references that the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything in Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series is "42". There is a remedy to this.

"Do not panic. The text has only changed to the color white. Simply 'Select All' (Command-A) then change the text color to black. Save immediately, then immediately past [sic] in enough text to get beyond page 42. Save again."