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SmartOutline Milestones

Just a little history...and some humor
See how we went from point A to point Z. It was a long ride, but we are here now. A special thank you to everyone who contributed to this application's success.
10/2000 Created the old-school 'SmartOut' not SmartOutline application. Drag in icons and write notes in the workspace, save to an .out document. We used it basically to collect client requirements and keep the information organized for our in-house purposes. (It was not very attractive.)
6/2001 New Orleans on vacation, Light bulb!  Ideas erupted to advance 'SmartOut' to what is SmartOutline today! Basically saw that notes are just the beginning of what the application could be. Can we dynamically call other applications and integrate its functionality seamlessly? If so, good-bye 92 Honda Accord.
6/2001 New Orleans on vacation, Light bulb!  Tested theory, it worked!
7/2001 Re-introduced the SmartOutline theory and business application to development team.
8/2001 Created initial plan for application.
12/2001 Designed the add-in and extensibility model. Created an 'Eight Track' tape to 'Eight Track' player type scheme. Perfect!
2/2002 Atlanta Ga, Began designing extensibility model and application. We saw that the application has more value if it is adaptable for any industry.
8/2002 Restarted development after other priorities were complete!
1/2003 Created our team's most popular add-in, Webpage markup! Wow, I really like this feature. Place notes over any website and even use images from other websites.
1/2003 Concept the SmartOutline Knowledgebase Server and how it would become a part of the SmartOutline Edition Family. Basically settled on the Knowledgebase server application to be developed with Microsoft .Net as a desktop application that would run on demand server and as a background Windows Service. This would give the administrator the ability to decide how they wish to process the knowledgebase items.
4/2003 Released SmartOutline Standard, Professional, Enterprise for Beta testing.
5/2003 Collected feedback...
6/2003 Set release expectations and release date 9/30/2003.
7/2003 Removed overzealous features.
8/2003 Eureka...(8/28/03) SmartOutline Knowledgebase Transport - .Net Windows Service Complete! This application runs as a windows service on Microsoft Windows 2000, 2003 Server in the background. It performs the duties of picking up the Knowledgebase items and updating the Microsoft SQL 2000 database. Next, we build the SmartOutline Knowledgebase Server. This will allow the database to be searched, reported and exported.
10/2003 We have totally missed our release date and are proud of it. We have decided to re-engineer SmartOutline with .Net technology. Why? The reasons are too compelling. Developers can create add-ins for SmartOutline in minutes! Users can get add-ins via an internal download and install them quietly without interruption. Solutions may be built on top of SmartOutline easier. There are many more reasons, I must get back to work now. Remember, patience is a virtue.
9/2004 Focus Group - Today, we held a focus group with various types of professionals, technical and non-technical alike. Feedback form the attendees stated that SmartOutline indeed is a cutting edge product, yet needed more features to lead in the new or basic user. This feedback will translate into templates and sample outlines. Thank you focus group attendees!
1/15/2005 SmartOutline Professional, Standard and Enterprise are ready for operation. We are open for business!

It took a while, but we are done. The Web Stickies application exhausted our resources, but building this add-in was well worth the time invested. As my grandfather would say, "Buggy" just take your time, you'll get there. Get your copy today!

What's next? We are building the partner API for bulk and on-demand purchases. We are re-engineering the Knowledge Base Server. It will support users contributing knowledge base items from any location and not limiting them to be within the same network.
1/24/2005 We got our first sell!

We have worked very hard for this day and we will continue to innovate solutions, educate and inspire our customers to demand the best from us.

We will deliver the best products!
1/25/2005 Sell #2!

Ok we are not going to post every sell. We are excited about not just the sells but the feedback from potential customers as well. We are hearing chatter like...There is nothing like SmartOutline... I can't believe the flexibility...Features are plenty without drowning the application.

Fuel to the fire!

2/11/2005 Developer Center Open!

We have received many request on how to build add-ins for SmartOutline. Now the center for developers is open. Today the developers center provides basic instructions and downloads for developers. In the future it will be the hub for developer community, ecommerce and learning.
2/17/2005 SmartOutline Info Portal is complete!

Yes, we pulled the rabbit out of the hat with this add-in. We've just completed a new add-in for converting SmartOutline document information instantly into a web portal. It's not just very cool, it's practical. This is a must see. We'll be posting samples online tomorrow.
2/25/2005 SmartOutline Info Portal 1.0 Released!

Now this is productive. The SmartOutline.com developers have exercised their option to create an add-in to convert SmartOutline documents to web portals. It instantly creates a fully functional website in seconds based on your outline document. Click, save and publish.

Easy to use and very useful!
4/22/2005 Hey, we are still working!

Many have asked where are the new milestones? Well we are making improvements to the existing version before moving on to the server. We have many ideas from our customers and employees as well. This next add-in will blow your socks off if you are into business metrics. Also graph folks, we have not forgot about you.

We are working hard to be the true flagship in the free-form information management industry.
4/25/2005 * New Package Pricing

We've added package pricing for large account customers to take advantage of bulk purchases online.

Save big!
4/26/2005 * New Feature :  Inner Relate Outline Items

Many customers have asked about having the ability to relate items on the outline. We have gladly added this capability and will further enhance this feature to its fullest potential.

Got more suggestions, use our feedback form at http://feedback.SmartOutline.com
5/16/2005 * New Interactive Learning Center - Now Open

Learn more, faster with our online learning center.
It's easy, just click, view and learn!
 
5/23/2005 * New Workspace Add-in :  Interactive Charts

Business users have asked about charting. We have responded. Our interactive charts is exactly what they asked for and more. Interactive 3D-rotation, change series values by selecting the actual chart. Dynamically adjust chart with grid. Over 40 customizable display settings.

Get much more with SmartOutline!
5/31/2005 * New Workspace Add-in :  Interactive Charts : Part 2

Import Excel, save as multiple Image types, drag-n-drop columns and rows to adjust chart order.
 
6/13/2005 * More Productive Features

Auto-Save, Auto-Backup and Auto-Update options
 

Plus new Upgrade products

automation is beautiful!

6/20/2005 * Title Change

We recently changed SmartOutline Business Edition to SmartOutline Professional. This new title more closely reflects the target user and their needs.
 
10/8/2005 * More Exports

Export your entire outline to Microsoft Word!

automation is still beautiful!
2/5/2006 * New SmartOutline 2007a is here

We will be releasing our best version ever this week. With more that 200 upgrades, performance enhancements and two new add-ins, you bet we are excited and you will be too.
 
4/23/2006 * SmartOutline loses weight?

We reduced SmartOutline's over all memory consumption by 95%!

Users will realize about 1 -3 mb memory consumption while idle or low application usage and 10-13 mb memory while is high usage.
6/4/2006 * Developers get a gift

You probably realize by now that SmartOutline is very flexible. To date SmartOutline has promoted its add-in API as the easiest add-in interface to integrate with SmartOutline. Now the engineers of SmartOutline have taken the concept of open-architecture to a new level. We have released an add-in builder wizard. This application uses existing usercontrols and allows anyone with limited to no knowledge SmartOutline's API to quickly generate SmartOutline compatible add-in in minutes. This is done with absolutely no programming for integration.

Huge, very huge!
 

visit http://sdk.SmartOutline.com for details
 

7/21/2006 * SmartOutline to CHM... hum what a powerful concept?

Placed first BETA download of our new HTML Help Builder. Export any SmartOutline document to a Microsoft HTML Help Workshop format. Then edit and or compile the project instantly.

The next release will be within a week. This release will include more options and control over output.

 

7/21/2006 * Bye-Bye Flash Player

We have removed the dependency on Macromedia's Flash Player, yet we still are using flash on our start page. This is an important milestone as users had issues with the flash player versions. Some user also voiced that they didn't want to installed another player. This caused problems. So we removed the player from SmartOutline, but left in the rich Flash Intro experience.

Way to go team!
1/30/2007 * SmartOutline Windows Vista Tested and approved

SmartOutline 2007 passes all Windows Vista stability and usability tests!
 
6/8/2007 SmartOutline achieves outstanding sales volume for the month of May!
 
2/8/2008 Are you ready for SmartOutline 2010?

We are preparing to release our next version. This release is scheduled for mid March.
 

3/5/2008 SmartOutline 2010 pre-release available!

Includes Webstickies Add-in -
Highlight content, place notes, and shapes over web pages.
 
5/3/2008 SmartOutline 2010 - Tested and running smoothly on Windows Vista (32 and 64 bit) editions!

Finally after some weeks of research, lots of hard work and our new friends in Germany - SmartOutline is now ready of for the new operating systems.

 

Super thanks - Gregor B.
 

12/15/2009 SmartOutline 2010 - Tested and running very fast on Windows 7 ( 32 and 64 ) bit editions!

Wow!
 


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