Adobe PageMaker

Adobe PageMaker

PageMaker 7.0 running on Mac OS 9
Original author(s)	Aldus Corporation
Developer(s)	Adobe Systems
Final release	7.0.2 / 30 March 2004 (2004-03-30)
Operating system	Windows XP and earlier Mac OS 9 OS/2 v3.01
Successor	Adobe InDesign
Type	Desktop publishing
License	Trialware
Website	www.adobe.com/products/pagemaker/

Adobe PageMaker (formerly Aldus PageMaker) is a desktop publishing computer program introduced in 1985 by the Aldus Corporation on the Apple Macintosh.^[1] The combination of the Macintosh's graphical user interface, PageMaker publishing software, and the Apple LaserWriter laser printer marked the beginning of the desktop publishing revolution. Ported to PCs running Windows 1.0 in 1987,^[2] PageMaker helped to popularize both the Macintosh platform and the Windows environment.^[3][4]

A key component that led to PageMaker's success was its native support for Adobe Systems' PostScript page description language. After Adobe purchased the majority of Aldus's assets (including FreeHand, PressWise, PageMaker, etc.) in 1994 and subsequently phased out the Aldus name, version 6 was released. The program remained a major force in the high-end DTP market through the early 1990s, but new features were slow in coming. By the mid-1990s, it faced increasing competition from QuarkXPress on the Mac, and to a lesser degree, Ventura on the PC, and by the end of the decade it was no longer a major force. Quark proposed buying the product and canceling it, but instead, in 1999 Adobe released their "Quark Killer", Adobe InDesign. The last major release of PageMaker came in 2001, and customers were offered InDesign licenses at a lower cost.