Developed by Rupert Lissner,[4] the original AppleWorks is one of the first integrated office suites for personal computers, featuring a word processor, spreadsheet, and database merged into a single program.

[6] Previous Apple II application programs had mainly been designed with the older II/II+ line in mind, having only 48K of RAM and 40-column text (in the absence of an add-on card), thus limiting the software's capabilities.

[citation needed] AppleWorks debuted at #2 on Softalk's monthly bestseller list and quickly became the best-selling software package on any computer, ousting even Lotus 1-2-3 from the top of the industry-wide sales charts.

[8] Apple and Lissner provided limited technical information on modifying AppleWorks, helping to create a substantial market for third-party accessories and support.

Thanks to the UltraMacros programming language they included, many other third-party developers innovated new products that used AppleWorks as a foundation and virtual operating system.

[12] By 1989, Claris turned its attention to producing Macintosh and Windows software, letting AppleWorks languish.

Observers had expected AppleWorks 2.0 to have a Macintosh-like mouse-driven graphical user interface, but inCider reported before its release that such a revision had been delayed because of "problems between Apple and [Lissner]".

In addition to the word processing, database, and spreadsheet functions, AppleWorks GS also includes telecommunications, page layout and graphics modules.

Only one major version of AppleWorks GS exists, progressing as far as 1.1; a vaporware 2.0 update was rumored to be "just short of completion" for a long time.

ClarisWorks combines these applications:[17] All the components are integrated to provide a seamless suite that works in concert; for example, spreadsheet frames can be embedded in a word processing document, or formatted text into drawings, etc.

The software received good reviews[citation needed] during the course of its lifespan for its interface and the tight integration of its modules.

AppleWorks will not run on any versions of Mac OS X later than Snow Leopard because it is compiled for the PowerPC CPU architecture.

[24] AppleWorks word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation files can be opened in earlier versions of iWork applications Pages, Numbers, and Keynote respectively, but not since 2013.

Collabora Online, LibreOffice or Apache OpenOffice can open AppleWorks word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation files.

A script exists for batch converting Appleworks (.cwk) files to MS Word (.docx) format (usable by Pages) using the command-line interface for LibreOffice.

[25] There is no Apple-supplied application to open AppleWorks database, painting, or drawing files without converting them to a different format.

While approving of the shared clipboard and user interface, the magazine stated that Appleworks' limitations—such as the limit of eight pages in the word processor with 64K RAM—made it "not good enough as a business product to warrant much consideration".

in 1989 stated that "Though not a speed demon" like the original 8-bit AppleWorks, the GS version "isn't as slow as many had feared"; although a fast typist could still outrun the computer's display, it performed better than other Apple IIGS software.

[8] Although many original users bought the IIGS version, with reportedly 35,000 copies sold in the first three weeks, the magazine warned that they "must forget virtually everything they've learned ... What a pain".