WinPlus, originally Plus, was a cross-platform clone of the

HyperCard HyperCard is a software application and development kit for Apple Macintosh and Apple IIGS computers. It is among the first successful hypermedia systems predating the World Wide Web. HyperCard combines a flat-file database with a graphical, fl ...

application that enabled users to run HyperCard stacks on

Apple Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and software en ...

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

and

OS/2 OS/2 (Operating System/2) is a series of computer operating systems, initially created by Microsoft and IBM under the leadership of IBM software designer Ed Iacobucci. As a result of a feud between the two companies over how to position OS/2 ...

Presentation Manager Presentation Manager (PM) is the graphical user interface (GUI) that IBM and Microsoft introduced in version 1.1 of their operating system OS/2 in late 1988. History Microsoft began developing a graphic user interface (GUI) in 1981. After it per ...

. Originally the application was developed by Format Software GmbH (Cologne, Germany) to overcome deficits of

Hypercard HyperCard is a software application and development kit for Apple Macintosh and Apple IIGS computers. It is among the first successful hypermedia systems predating the World Wide Web. HyperCard combines a flat-file database with a graphical, fl ...

. It was released for the Mac in 1989, distributed by Olduvai, aimed at HyperCard power-users. Plus could run HyperCard stacks directly, and did so slightly faster than HyperCard itself. However, it also added many new features. Among the many "wish list" features were document-like resizable and scrollable windows, 8-bit color support, and the ability to display and work with graphics files stored externally. Plus did not, however, provide for pull-down menu support or allow stacks to be compiled into stand-alone applications, features of the competing

Supercard In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

. Plus was purchased by

Spinnaker Software Spinnaker Software was a software company founded in 1982John Case. ''Digital Future'', William Morrow : New York, N.Y. 1985. p. 122. known primarily for its line of non-curriculum based educational software, which was a major seller during the ...

and began the process of porting the system to

(OS/2) and

. These versions used the same file format as the original, meaning it was the only HyperCard clone of the era that allowed a single stack to be used on all supported platforms. The system was later purchased by the newly formed ObjectPlus in early 1994, dropping the Mac and OS/2 versions and releasing the greatly updated WinPlus 3.0 in 1994, and 3.1 in 1995. By this time, the product was being referred to as a

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradition ...

system, a niche market that most of the HyperCard-like systems had targeted. WinPlus was also licensed by

Oracle An oracle is a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. As such, it is a form of divination. Description The word '' ...

as the basis for Oracle Card, later known as

Oracle Media Objects {{Infobox Software , name = Oracle Media Objects (OMO) , screenshot = Oracle media objects.png , screenshot size = 250px , caption = OMO Screenshot , developer = Oracle , latest_release_version = 1.1.2 , latest_release_date = 1998 (last dat ...

when the "card" terminology came to be frowned upon. It was first introduced in 1991 as part of "Oracle for Windows", which included a full suite of client/server software and a variety of their existing database client-side interface programs (text based). Version 1.1 followed at the Oracle Developers and Integrators conference in 1992, followed shortly thereafter by the Mac version. The system was later re-purposed as the front-end for a database-hosted media system for interactive TV, changing the name to Oracle Media Objects.Kim Nash
"Oracle to build interactive TV systems"
''ComputerWorld'', 17 January 1994, p. 8 This project went nowhere, and Media Objects disappeared in the late 1990s.

References

Hypertext HyperCard products {{compu-soft-stub