3 July 1996 PRESS RELEASE III -- updated 9 September 1996
Diwan Software Limited has acquired the Rights, Title and Interest in the well known DTP product, Ready,Set,Go! (also know as DesignStudio) and its related products from Esselte Limited. The deal was signed today at Esselte's London offices. The deal includes the rights to Ready,Set,Go! GX, the first DTP product based on Apple Computer's QuickDraw GX technology.
First released in 1985 by Manhattan Graphics Corporation, Ready,Set,Go! started the DTP revolution. Ready,Set,Go! has kept up since with all the major developments in the DTP market. Its latest versions match all the features and productivity expected by today's publishing professionals.
This deal has made it possible for Diwan to develop the products further in many languages and market them in Western Europe, Eastern Europe , East Asia, India and the Middle East. Work has already started on new versions of RSG which will include a new utility for saving RSG pages as HTML files for publishing on the Web, a new tool for creating and editing sophisticated tables, and OpenDoc support. Diwan is preparing to launch the following products:
Ready,Set,Go! for English and European Languages
A stable and well tested English version of Ready,Set,Go! GX is ready for shipment. It has been marketed in the USA for more than a year now. Diwan is currently studying the reorganization of the marketing of Ready,Set,Go! GX and Ready,Set,Go! 7 for the Power Macintosh in the UK and Europe. New features will be added to version 7 of Ready,Set,Go!. These include:
1. Saving RSG documents as HTML for Internet publishing.
2. Support LightningDraw and Electrifier graphics. In addition Electrifier pictures can be embedded in exported HTML files.
3. Sophisticated table and list creation and editing.
4. Improved Picture Support, including: JPEG, TIFF, PMB, CGM, JEM IMG, GIF, PBM, PCX, PGM, PhotoShop 2.0 & 2.5, PICT, Pixelpaint, PPM, RAW, RIFF, Targa, WMF, XPM.
GX version for all International Languages
As an extension to the English language version of Ready,Set,Go! GX, Diwan will add support for all international languages currently supported by the Apple system. This will include the ability to seamlessly integrate multilingual text and individual styling for each language in the text. The Internet Web export tool will fully support international text and RSG will support new multilingual extensions to future versions of HTML.
GX versions for East Asian and Indian markets
Diwan will release soon a Japanese version of Ready,Set,Go! GX. It is finalizing agreements with several dealers in Japan. Diwan has taken steps to produce Ready,Set,Go! GX for both the Chinese and Indian markets. Both versions will be ready for shipping soon.
al-Nashir al-Sahafi and GX versions for the Arab Markets
Diwan's al-Nashir al-Sahafi and al-Nashir al-Maktabi are based on Ready,Set,Go!. This has made it easier to upgrade these products to the latest versions of the technology.
The Arab markets are most successful for Ready,Set,Go! where it is the number one DTP package and used by almost all the major daily newspapers.
Diwan has completed a Beta version of al-Nashir al-Sahafi Native for the Power Macintosh platform. Under special conditions the Beta version will be shipped with new purchases of version 6.0.1 of al Nashir al Sahafi.
In addition Diwan is preparing a GX version of al-Nashir al-Sahafi which would be an important advance for publishing in the Arabic language. It will support more advance Fonts, OpenDoc support, Internet access, graphic capabilities and better and faster printing facilities, in addition to some original features to be announced in the proper time.
With the purchase of the international rights for Ready,Set,Go! Diwan takes a significant step into the future. Diwan takes this opportunity to thank its customers and dealers for their loyalty and support.