Editing Lotus Improv (section)

===Windows release===
After release on NeXT (a version known as "Black Marlin"), attempts were made to port to Windows ("Blue Marlin") and Macintosh ("Red Marlin"). The APIs and programming language for NeXTSTEP were so different from [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] and [[Mac (computer)|Macintosh]] [[system software]] that porting was very difficult. '''Lotus Improv for Windows v2.0''' (there was no 1.0) shipped in May 1993, running on Windows 3.1. Like the NeXT release, the Windows version also garnered critical praise,<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=vypUfjzMwlAC&pg=PA42 "New Dimensions in Number Crunching"], ''Popular Science'', August 1993, p. 42</ref><ref>Christie Williams, [https://books.google.com/books?id=_DoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA70 "Improv for Windows 2.0; Viewing, pruning, structuring options make it truly dynamic"], ''InfoWorld'', 24 January 1994, p. 70</ref> with ''[[Byte (magazine)|Byte]]'' magazine noting its "usability is outstanding".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=rhgQAQAAMAAJ "Improv for Windows"], ''Byte'', 1993, from "Software reviews on file"</ref>

In spite of the positive reviews, sales on Windows were slow. In March 1994, Lotus decided to attack this problem by re-positioning Improv as an add-in for 1-2-3, although the programs had nothing in common other than Improv's ability to read data in 1-2-3 files.<ref>Doug Barney, [https://books.google.com/books?id=BjsEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA10 "Lotus' Improv to get new role, lower price"], ''InfoWorld'', 14 March 1994, p. 10</ref> This had no effect on the sales, and after the release of the minor 2.1 upgrade, development ended in August 1994.<ref>Bob Congdon, [http://bobcongdon.net/blog/2004/09/lotus-improv/ "Lotus Improv"], 21 September 2004</ref> The project was left in limbo until April 1996 when the product was officially killed, shortly after [[IBM]] purchased Lotus.<ref>Simsom Garfinkel, [http://simson.net/clips/99.Globe.02-18.Copyrights_and_wrongs+.shtml "Copyrights and wrongs"], ''The Boston Globe'', 18 February 1999</ref>