Beagle Bros was an American software company that specialized in creating personal computing products. Their primary focus was on the Apple II family of computers. Although they ceased business in 1991, owner Mark Simonsen permitted the Beagle Bros name and logo to be included on the 30th anniversary reboot of I. O. Silver, released on December 12, 2014, by former Beagle programmer Randy Brandt.
History Beagle Bros was founded in 1980 by Bert Kersey and expanded over the years to include a wide variety of staff members, programmers, and designers. Whereas most software companies focused on professional users and business systems, Kersey founded the company with the intention of capitalizing on the "hobbyist" market that had formed when affordable personal computers became more readily available. Apple Mechanic allowed users to create their own shape tables (an early form of sprites) to create their own games, DOS Boss let users patch the disk operating system, and Beagle Bag had a number of games written in BASIC that people could utilize. Beagle Bros' catalog and print advertisements featured many playful programming tips about the Apple II system, many in the form of short Applesoft BASIC programs that took advantage of undocumented or unexpected behavior. Beagle Bros used woodcut and other 19th century artwork in its printed designs.
Beagle Bros released content for the Apple IIGS platform. Platinum Paint and BeagleWrite GS (acquired and repackaged) are commercial IIGS software.
Beagle Bros began producing add-ons for AppleWorks, its first being the MacroWorks keyboard shortcut utility by Randy Brandt. Beagle Bros programmer Alan Bird later devised an API for creating AppleWorks add-ons, which they dubbed TimeOut. TimeOut programmers Alan Bird, Randy Brandt and Rob Renstrom were tapped by Claris to develop AppleWorks 3.0, and the TimeOut API itself became a part of AppleWorks with version 4.0. Eventually the TimeOut API was made public and a number of non-Beagle TimeOut applications were released.
In 1991, Mark Simonsen licensed the Beagle Bros Apple II line to Quality Computers. Quality Computers subsequently went through several acquisitions and no longer exists. Multiple Beagle Bros products were released as freeware in the mid-1990s, including most of the company's early utilities and games. Today, their programs are available on the Internet.
BeagleWorks, the company's main Macintosh product, was licensed to WordPerfect Corporation in 1992, where it became WordPerfect Works. This product was later discontinued after WordPerfect was acquired by Novell. The company also produced a few small Macintosh and PC utilities.
Many former employees have continued to be involved in the software industry, such as Joe Holt who co-authored iMovie, and Alan Bird who worked on Eudora and the OneClick shortcut utility for Macintosh. Randy Brandt created Online Army Knife, an award-winning Macintosh spell checker, and continued publishing AppleWorks products through his JEM Software spin-off. Mark Munz created Deja ][, which allows AppleWorks to run under Mac OS X. The company's founder, Bert Kersey, started a model train company after selling Beagle Bros, and is now retired.
Software TitleAuthor(s)PublishedDescriptionApple Printer Lo-res graphics and titling programAlpha PlotBert Kersey and Jack Cassidy1980Hi-res graphics programApple Mechanic/Shape MechanicBert Kersey1982Hi-res shape/font editor; multiple other utilitiesApple Mechanic TypefacesBert Kersey Twenty-six fonts for use with Apple MechanicAppleWorks 3.0 Companion Patches for various AppleWorks 3.0 modulesBeagle BagBert Kersey and the Beagle Bros staff A collection of games including Buzzword!, Elevators, Hang Person, Magic Pack, Oink!, Pick-A-Pair, Quick-Draw!, Slippery Digits, Sub Search, TextTrain, Triple Digits and Wowzo, plus the Beagle Menu utilityBeagle BASICMark Simonsen1983An expanded version of Applesoft BASIC with various new commandsThe Beagle CompilerAlan Bird1986AppleSoft BASIC program compilerBeagleDrawRobert A. Hearn and Jeff G. Erickson1989Apple IIGS graphic application, formerly TopDrawBeagle GraphicsMark Simonsen Graphics editor in 16-color double hi-resBeagle ScreensFred & Sara Crone, Matt Reimer, Bert Kersey and Robert Renstrom 1986Full-screen captionable clip artBeagleWorks 1992Later renamed WordPerfect Works, then PerfectWorksBeagleWrite, BeagleWrite GSKevin Harvey, Alex Perelberg and Mark Munz1989ProDOS-based GUI word processor, acquired from Styleware where it had been named MultiScribeBeagleWrite Desk Accessories Adds a clock, calendar and calculatorBeagleWrite Picture Manager Allows import of Print Shop (8-bit) and Newsroom imagesBig URandy Brandt1986ProDOS utilities including CRT.WRITER, FILE.MOVER and KEYCAT.80D CodeAlan Bird AppleSoft program optimizer and debuggerDiskQuikHarry Bruce and Gene Hite Creates a virtual disk in RAMDOS BossBert Kersey and Jack Cassidy DOS 3.3 enhancer and command editorDouble-TakeMark Simonsen Various small utilities including two-way text scrollingExtra KAlan Bird and Mark Simonsen1985An extended memory utility allowing AppleSoft to use a second 64K bank of memory in an upgraded IIe or IIcFatCatAlan Bird Disk library cataloguerFlashJoe Holt1989Tool to copy files over AppleTalk, integrated into the Finder. Beagle's first Macintosh programFlex TextMark Simonsen1982Variable-width hi-res text utilityFont MechanicMark & Jon Simonsen1985Thirty fonts for use with Shape MechanicFrame-UpTom Weishaar1982Apple presentation programGPLENeil Konzen1983Global Program Line Editor for AppleSoft BASIC programs. Originally published by Synergistic Software, 1982.GS Font Editor Font editor for AppleWorksI.O. SilverBrad Wilhelmsen1984Popular strategy/action game rebooted in 2014 as a 30th anniversary mobile appMacroWorksRandy Brandt1986Macros (keyboard shortcuts)for AppleWorks 1.3Master Find Master Mind-style gameMinipixFred & Sara Crone A three-disk series of clipart collectionsOutlinerRandy Brandt1990AppleWorks 3.0 Word Processor outliningPlatinum PaintMatt Reimer Apple IIGS paint programPoint-to-PointGary Little1988Telecommunications programPower PrintRobert Renstrom Dot matrix printer utilityPro-Byter 1985Disk editor and ProDOS utilitiesProgram WriterAlan Bird1987AppleSoft program editorProntoDOSTom Weishaar Accelerated version of DOS 3.3 with other additional featuresResource Disk Sample file disk for SuperFonts Activity GuideShape MechanicBert Kersey and Mark Simonsen Shape animation and screen fontsSilicon SaladBert Kersey and Mark Simonsen Various tips, tricks and utilities from Beagle Bros Tip Books 5, 6 and 7Super MacroWorksRandy Brandt1986Macros (keyboard shortcuts) for AppleWorks 2.0TimeOut series Various add-ons for AppleWorks 2.0 and newer built on the TimeOut core technology created by Alan Bird. Includes products detailed below, plus MacroEase, MacroTools, Paint, TeleComm and UtilitiesTimeOut DeskToolsHoward Bangerter, Alan Bird, Glenn Clawson, Mark de Jong & Dan Verkade1987Calculator, Calendar, Case Converter, Clock, Data Converter, Dialer, Envelope Addresser, File Encrypter, Note Pad, Page Preview, Puzzle, Word CountTimeOut DeskTools IIDan Verkade, Glenn Clawson & Randy Brandt1988Area Codes, Calculator+, Clipboard Viewer, DirecTree, Disk Tester, File Search, Measurements, Printer Manager, Screen Out, Screen Printer, Stop WatchesTimeOut FileMasterRandy Brandt1987File and disk utilitiesTimeOut GrammarDan VerkadeGrammar checking for the AppleWorks Word ProcessorTimeOut GraphRobert Renstrom1987Graphing for the AppleWorks SpreadsheetTimeOut MacroEaseRandy Brandt & Mark Munz1990Macro-related Timeout apps and sample macrosTimeOut MacroToolsRandy Brandt1988Macro-related Timeout apps and sample macrosTimeOut MacroTools IIRandy Brandt1988Macro-related Timeout apps and sample macrosTimeOut PowerPackRandy Brandt1988ASCII Values, AWP to TXT, Category Search, Desktop Sorter, File Librarian, Help Screens, Line Sorter, Program Selector, Triple Clipboard, Triple DesktopTimeOut QuickSpellAlan Bird1987Spell checking for the AppleWorks Word ProcessorTimeOut ReportWriterDan Verkade1989Relational reports for the Data Base and SpreadsheetTimeOut SpreadToolsAlan Bird, Randy Brandt and Dan Verkade1988CelLink, Block Copy, Error Analyzer, Bird's Eye View, AutoZoom, Data Converter, Cross Reference, Formula/Value Switcher, Quick Widths, Row Column ConverterTimeOut SideSpreadMark Simonsen1987Wide paper printing for the AppleWorks SpreadsheetTimeOut SuperFontsMark Simonsen1987Graphical fonts for the AppleWorks Word ProcessorTimeOut SuperFormsDan VerkadeForm generationTimeOut TextToolsMark Munz, Randy Brandt and Howard Bangerterassorted toolsTimeOut ThesaurusAlan BirdSynonyms in the AppleWorks Word ProcessorTimeOut UltraMacrosRandy Brandt1987Keystroke recorder and macro programming languageTip Disk#1Bert Kersey One hundred tips from the Beagle Bros Tip BooksTriple-DumpMark Simonsen and Robert Renstrom "Print anything" utility for dot matrix printersUtility CityBert Kersey1982Twenty-one separate Apple utilitiesZoom Graphix Sends hi-res images to any graphics-compatible printer
References
External links The Beagle Bros Online Museum The Beagle Brothers Software repository Beagle Bros' software at the Lost Classics Project Backyard Barn Owls — Beagle Bros' founder's current Web site about barn owls (includes contact link)