Allume Systems was a

software developer Software development is the process of designing and Implementation, implementing a software solution to Computer user satisfaction, satisfy a User (computing), user. The process is more encompassing than Computer programming, programming, wri ...

, founded in 1988 by David Schargel and Jonathan Kahn in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

as Aladdin Systems to develop, publish and distribute

software Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...

for

personal computer A personal computer, commonly referred to as PC or computer, is a computer designed for individual use. It is typically used for tasks such as Word processor, word processing, web browser, internet browsing, email, multimedia playback, and PC ...

s. Aladdin Systems was incorporated in January 1989. In April 2004, the company was acquired by PC software publisher International Microcomputer Software Inc. (IMSI). A few months later in July, the company was forced to change its name from Aladdin Systems as part of a settlement of a

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a form of intellectual property that consists of a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination that identifies a Good (economics and accounting), product or Service (economics), service f ...

lawsuit A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today ...

with

Aladdin Knowledge Systems Aladdin Knowledge Systems Ltd. was a company that produced software for digital rights management and Internet security. The company was acquired by Safenet Inc, in 2009. Its corporate headquarters are located in Belcamp, Maryland, Belcamp, Maryl ...

. In 2005, Allume Systems was acquired by Smith Micro Software from IMSI.

Products

As Aladdin Systems, they originally developed exclusively for

Macintosh Mac is a brand of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 1984. The name is short for Macintosh (its official name until 1999), a reference to the McIntosh (apple), McIntosh apple. The current product lineup inclu ...

, focusing on data compression and management utilities, such as the

StuffIt StuffIt is a discontinued family of computer software utilities for archiving and compressing files. Originally produced for Macintosh, versions for Microsoft Windows, Linux (x86), and Sun Solaris were later created. The proprietary compression ...

family of compression utilities and the ''StuffIt InstallerMaker'' delivery suite, the ''ShrinkWrap'' disk image utility, and its ''Spring Cleaning'' system optimization utility. As Aladdin Systems, the company purchased the ''ShrinkWrap'' disk image utility from Macintosh shareware developer Chad Magendanz in 1996. As early as 1995, Allume began to release some elements of

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

while not releasing the full ''StuffIt for Windows'' until 2000. StuffIt was later ported to both

Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...

and

Solaris Solaris is the Latin word for sun. It may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature, television and film * ''Solaris'' (novel), a 1961 science fiction novel by Stanisław Lem ** ''Solaris'' (1968 film), directed by Boris Nirenburg ** ''Sol ...

in 2001. Under Smith Micro, both Unix products have since been discontinued. By this time, Allume began to publish or distribute a full line of

graphics Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of the data, as in design and manufa ...

imaging Imaging is the representation or reproduction of an object's form; especially a visual representation (i.e., the formation of an image). Imaging technology is the application of materials and methods to create, preserve, or duplicate images. ...

internet security Internet security is a branch of computer security. It encompasses the Internet, browser security, web site security, and network security as it applies to other applications or operating systems as a whole. Its objective is to establish rules ...

, and utility software. In response to the success of the popular

marine aquarium A marine aquarium is an aquarium that keeps marine plants and animals in a contained environment. Marine aquaria are further subdivided by hobbyists into fish only (FO), fish only with live rock (FOWLR), and reef aquaria. Fish only tanks ofte ...

fishtank simulator, they have also released their own line of fish sims known as Aquazone.

References

External links

Smith Micro Software
Watsonville, California Companies based in Santa Cruz County, California Software companies established in 1988 2005 mergers and acquisitions Defunct software companies of the United States {{US-software-company-stub