Apple kills Claris, saves FileMaker

Apple Computer Corporation announced on Tuesday that it was stripping itsClaris Corporation subsidiary of its name and all of its products save one.Now known as FileMaker Inc., the new company will only sell and supportFileMaker Pro, the popular database package. Retails versions of Mac OS 8and ClarisWorks, a popular Macintosh productivity suite, will continue tobe sold under the Apple name from now on. Other Claris products will bediscontinued or sold.

According to sources, Apple had attempted to sell FileMaker Pro to Oracle,Microsoft, and other companies, but found no bidders. Oddly enough, Clariswas one of the few money-making entities at Apple Computer for the pastfew years. In 1997, the company reported record yearly revenues, includinga $9.1 million quarter