| WinFax PRO | |
|---|---|
| Original author | Tony Davis |
| Developer | Delrina |
| Initial release | 1990; 36 years ago (1990) |
| Stable release | 10.0 PRO / 2006 |
| Operating system | Windows,MS-DOS,Classic Mac OS |
| Type | fax software |
| License | Proprietary |
WinFax[1] (also known asWinFax PRO) is a discontinuedMicrosoft Windows-based software product developed and published byDelrina designed to letcomputers equipped withfax-modems communicate directly to stand-alonefax machines, or other similarly equipped computers.
The product was created by developer Tony Davis atToronto-basedDelrina[2] in 1990, and soon became the company'sflagship product. Delrina started out by producing a set of electronic form products known asPerForm and later,FormFlow.
In 1990 Delrina devoted a relatively small space to WinFax at that year'sCOMDEX, where it easily garnered the most attention of any Delrina product being demonstrated at that show.[3] This interest convinced Delrina of the commercial viability of the product. The rapid acceptance of this program, in the market soon overtook that of the initial forms product in terms of revenues, and within a few years of its launch, WinFax would account for 80% of the company's revenues.
Several versions of WinFax were released over the next few years, initially forWindows 3.x and then aWindows 95-based version. Versions were also created for theApple Macintosh ("Delrina Fax Pro") andDOS ("DosFax"). The Windows versions were also localized to majorEuropean andAsian languages. The company made further inroads by establishing tie-ins with modem manufacturers such asU.S. Robotics andSupra that bundled simple versions of the product (called "WinFax LITE") that offered basic functionality. Those wanting more robust features were encouraged to upgrade to the "PRO" version,[4] and were offered significant discounts over the standalone retail version. All of this rapidly established WinFax as the de facto fax software. By 1994, almost 100 companies were bundling versions of WinFax, includingIBM,Compaq,AST Research,Gateway 2000,Intel andHewlett-Packard[1].
WinFax was frequently used by business travelers as anad hoc printer.[5][6] By connecting to a regular phone line, or to an office/hotel room phone via an adapter, a user could send a document to a fax machine (in an era when nearly all business class hotels had a fax machine at the front desk, but very few offered printers for guest use). While the 200dpi was not as smooth as the (max) 300 dpi offered by high-endlaser printers, it was generally superior todot matrix.
WinFax PRO 3.0 was launched in November 1993 for Windows 3.x machines. This was followed by a version for Macintosh systems. This version of this product saw long life as a "non-PRO" version that was bundled with various fax modems by the end of its product cycle.
The release of WinFax PRO 4.0 in March 1994 brought together a number of key features and technologies. It introduced an improvedOCR engine, introduced improvements aimed specifically at mobile fax users, better on-screen fax viewing capabilities and a focus on consistency and usability of the interface. It also included for the first time the ability to integrate directly with popular newemail products such ascc:Mail andMicrosoft Mail. It was soon followed by a networked version of the same product, which allowed a number of users to share a single fax modem on a networked system. This version of the product was also bundled with agrayscale scanner manufactured byFujitsu, and sold as WinFax Scanner.
In 1994 the firm acquiredAudioFile, a company that specialized in computer-based voice technology. The company created a product called TalkWorks, which enabled users to use certain fax/modems as avoice mail client. This program would later be bundled with subsequent versions of WinFax and theCommSuite 95 product.
In January 1995The New York Times called WinFax "the leader in fax software with two-thirds of the market."[7] By mid-1995, "more than 10 million copies of WinFax" were sold (worldwide).[1]
The final Delrina-made version of WinFax was WinFax PRO 7.0, which shipped in November 1995. There was no intervening version 5.0 or 6.0, and the jump to version 7.0 was purely a marketing decision, based on keeping up with Microsoft's suite ofOffice products which were then at the same number. It was the first Delrina product designed to work with theWindows 95 operating system, and was a full32-bit application, setting it apart from its competition at the time.[8]
By the time WinFax PRO 7.0 was being sold from retail shelves, Delrina had been acquired bySymantec in 1995. Symantec continued to market, develop and release four additional major versions of the WinFax PRO software product under the Symantec WinFax PRO banner.
WinFax PRO 10, released in February 2000, was the last major version of WinFax PRO to be developed. In 1999,John W. Thompson, a former IBM executive in sales, marketing and development, replacedGordon Eubanks as Symantec's CEO. Thompson decided to focus on one technology category: security. Symantec's business model changed from the retail channel software company, to an enterprise security software based company with a retail channel. In aBlack Enterprise September 2004 article, Thompson is quoted "We (Symantec) hadJava development tools, we had personal contact management systems. We had a whole range of things that didn't relate to anything in common, except they could be moved through the same distribution channel. And my answer is: Who cares about that?".[9]
By the end of 2001, the remaining WinFax PRO developers and support personnel were terminated from their positions. Technical support for WinFax PRO from 2002 through 2006 was outsourced to third-partycall centers based out of Oregon, Texas and later India. Symantec discontinued sales and support[10] of WinFax PRO on June 30, 2006. Aweb based community support forum exists for users of WinFax PRO.
BVRP (Bruno Vanryb and Roger Politis), a French startup, partnered withHayes Microcomputer Products, and used their boosted sales of their "database program called Directory" to "change to software that runs facsimile machines" since they were concerned that they "would be crushed" in the database market.[11] In France they chose to use the nameWinFax, whereas elsewhere their productis sold as "FaxTools."
WinFax Pro .. makes the fax line look just like another printer.
WinFax is no longer supported by Symantec