It is often used to create forms, reports, documentation, desktop publishing, and in office environments.

When released, it already had the present name, which was chosen following the then-available software package Lotus Jazz.

Despite repeated attempts, the program could not gain acceptance in the North American market due to its high cost ($395 in 1990[4]).

The North American sales office closed in 1991,[5] shortly after Claris Corporation released ClarisWorks which duplicated much of the functionality of RagTime for a lower price.

After the manufacturer – first Brüning & Everth, followed by B&E Software and today RagTime.de Development – had focused on the Macintosh only for a very long time, it also released a Windows version, RagTime 5.0, in 1999.

RagTime Solo included the same features and performance (except for spelling and Syllabification) dictionaries), but was not allowed for use in commercial environments.

The last level of development is the extensively revamped version RagTime 6.6 of 8 October 2015, which also includes new OS X features (e.g. high-resolution “Retina” displays) and supports Windows 10.