1993 • Ecco Version 1

KIRKLAND, Wash., May 17, 1993 • Arabesque Software, Inc. today announced Arabesque ECCO Professional, the first Windows information management software that provides capabilities beyond those associated with today's personal information manager (PIM) category.

Arabesque calls ECCO a "SuperPIM" because it provides a superset of features offered by current PIM products. Through the use of its proprietary data base technology, ECCO gives users the ability to not only record information, but to also organize it in ways that are personally meaningful to individual users.

ECCO starts with the features familiar to PIMs, including phone book, calendar and to-do list. It adds the ability to access any information from any of a variety of views, including ECCO's universal outliner. This allows users to gather information and Dynamic Notes from the calendar, phone book and outliner and view it in one place. Users not only see their information, but they see it in the context that is most meaningful to their task.

ECCO's data base allows information items to be stored only once even though they may be viewed from different perspectives including calendar view, phone book view and any number of named outline views. Relationships among the information items of data become clear, facilitating the ability to make quick and often better decisions from the information.

"ECCO simplifies the tasks that people spend 70 percent of their day doing," said Pete Polash, Arabesque co-founder and president.

ECCO Professional will be available in June through resellers for a 90-day introductory price of $99. The suggested retail price is $395 after the first 90 days. A workgroup version of ECCO will be available in the third quarter of this year. Both Ingram Micro and Merisel will distribute ECCO.

ECCO Works the Way People Work

ECCO works the way people work with their random information. Information items can be entered on-the-fly, a task that is greatly facilitated by ECCO's extensive use of outlining. It can later be organized, cross-referenced and categorized in ways that are most meaningful to the individual user or project.

"We believe that ECCO represents the next wave in information management," said Polash. "Until now, personal computers have been used to collect and store information. ECCO is a new metaphor for dynamic context-based information management."

In addition to its PIM and SuperPIM features, ECCO includes Arabesque's proprietary Shooter feature. Shooter makes it easy to move information from other applications directly into an ECCO view. Detailed appointments can be set using information imported from other applications. Shooter even allows users to move information among applications quicker than cutting and pasting.

"ECCO's power, flexibility and simplicity make ECCO the ideal solution for any information management need. I switched to ECCO," said Lauren Flast, president of Eyeon Associates and editor and publisher of 'Come to Order', the newsletter for Lotus Agenda users. "Because it's clear that Arabesque Software will dominate the personal information marketplace, I am announcing today that I am ceasing publication of the Agenda newsletter and will start publishing for ECCO users."

ECCO Tools Support Dynamic Context Information Management

ECCO uses a number of tools to facilitate its dynamic context approach to information management, including drag- and-drop folders, sophisticated named filters, a customizable tool bar, auto save, auto backup, full OLE client support and support for leading e-mail protocols, including VIM and MAPI. ECCO also has complete import and export capabilities, allowing users with information in other applications to import it into ECCO. ECCO supports a number of printing options and formats, including popular organizers and Avery label forms.

ECCO Professional users on major network platforms, including Novell, Microsoft LAN Manager and Windows for Workgroups, can make outlines and folders available to other network users. The workgroup version of ECCO, available in the third quarter, will include group scheduling and shared calendars, in addition to shared outlines.

RAM Execution Boosts Notebook Performance

For users of laptop and notebook computers, ECCO is extremely efficient. Because it is RAM-based, it accesses the hard disk less often, conserving precious battery power.

To help users with specific tasks, ECCO will include several vertical market templates, including time management, legal, project management, sales and research. ECCO makes it easy for first-time users with its short menus option. The short menus can be turned on and off at the users' discretion.

Arabesque Software is a privately held company with headquarters in Kirkland, Wash. The company is developing information management software. For more information on ECCO Professional, write to Arabesque Software, Inc., 2340 130th Avenue N.E., Bellevue, WA. 98005-4244, or call (206) 869-9600.

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