# Net-Works II

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{{Short description|Apple II bulletin board system software}}
{{Infobox software
| title = Net-Works II
| name = Net-Works II
| logo = Net-Works II logo.svg
| logo_size = 200px
| screenshot = 
| caption = 
| author = Nick Naimo
| released = {{circa}} {{Start date and age|1980}}
| discontinued = yes
| latest release version = 
| latest release date = 
| operating system = {{ubl|[Apple DOS](/source/Apple_DOS)|[ProDOS](/source/Apple_ProDOS)}}
| platform = [Apple II](/source/Apple_II)
| genre = [Bulletin board system](/source/Bulletin_board_system)
| license = Proprietary
}}

'''Net-Works II''' is a [bulletin board system](/source/bulletin_board_system) software package written by Nick Naimo for the [Apple II](/source/Apple_II). It was originally published in the early 1980s. For a time it was the most popular bulletin board system software for the Apple II, out of the dozen or so released.<ref name=Brand>{{cite book | authorlink=Stewart Brand | last=Brand | first=Stewart | date=1986 | title=[Whole Earth Software Catalog](/source/Whole_Earth_Software_Catalog) | publisher=Doubleday and Company | isbn=0385233019 | via=the Internet Archive}}</ref>{{rp|149}}

==Development and history==
Nick Naimo (born {{circa}} 1945 in [New York City](/source/New_York_City)<ref name=Staff_writer1982a>{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=October 14, 1982 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117665990/maplewood-councilman-resigning/ | title=Maplewood Councilman Resigning | journal=St. Louis Post-Dispatch | page=2S | via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>) developed Net-Works II independently in the early 1980s as a member of Computer Station, a [BBS provider](/source/bulletin_board_system) based in Missouri.<ref name=Prather1982 />{{rp|61}}<ref name=commodore>{{cite book | last=Hildon | first=Karl J.&nbsp;H. | date=1985 | url= | title=The Complete Commodore Inner Space Anthology | publisher=Transactor Publishing | isbn=0-9692086-0-X | via=the Internet Archive}}</ref>{{rp|87}} He split amicably from Computer Station to work full-time for Advanced Data Systems,<ref name=Prather1982 />{{rp|61}} a start-up software developer in [St. Louis](/source/St._Louis), Missouri, who developed exclusively for the [Apple II](/source/Apple_II).<ref name=Michels1983>{{cite journal | last=Michels | first=James | date=March 26, 1983 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117665830/tri-staters-find-wide-range-of-tasks-for/ | title=Tri-Staters find wide range of tasks for their computers | journal=Evansville Press | page=3 | via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last=Needle | first=Dave | date=June 7, 1982 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XDAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA6 | title=Applefest draws 20,000 | journal=InfoWorld | publisher=CW Communications | volume=4 | issue=22 | pages=1, 6 | via=Google Books}}</ref>{{rp|6}} Version 2.2 of Net-Works was released by the company in June 1982.<ref name=Prather1982 />{{rp|56}} While working at Advanced Data Systems, Naimo also served as city councilman for the suburb of [Maplewood, Missouri](/source/Maplewood%2C_Missouri). Naimo quit Advanced Data Systems sometime in 1982 to work for the IT department of a printing press in St. Louis before relocating in [Newburgh, Indiana](/source/Newburgh%2C_Indiana),<ref name=Staff_writer1982a /> to work for Better Business Computers & Systems, a computer store and software publisher based in nearby [Vincennes](/source/Vincennes%2C_Indiana). Net-Works II was one of several applications Naimo wrote for Advanced Data Systems;<ref name=Staff_writer1982b>{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=December 26, 1982 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117665871/business-computer-store-open/ | title=Business computer store open | journal=Evansville Courier and Press | page=2-E | via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> others included an accounting program for small businesses and an inventory program for retailers.<ref name=Michels1983 />

A year after its introduction, Advanced Data Systems transferred the publishing rights for Net-Works II to High Technology Software Products of [Oklahoma City](/source/Oklahoma_City), Oklahoma.<ref name=cw>{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=October 10, 1983 | url=https://archive.org/details/sim_computerworld_1983-10-10_17_41/page/63/ | title=Micro notes | journal=Computerworld | publisher=CW Communications | volume=17 | issue=41 | page=63 | via=the Internet Archive}}</ref><ref name=aplus>{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=November 1983 | url=https://archive.org/details/aplus-v1-no1/page/n199/ | title=Product News: Net-Works II | journal=A+ | publisher=Ziff-Davis | volume=1 | issue=1 | page=198 | via=the Internet Archive}}</ref> High Technology Software continued selling Net-Works II into the late 1980s.<ref name=Musgrave1987>{{cite journal | last=Musgrave | first=Bill | date=January 16, 1987 | url=https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_Datamation70115_56941607/page/61/ | title=Bulletin Boards and Business | journal=Datamation | publisher=Reed Business Information | volume=33 | issue=2 | pages=61–63 | via=the Internet Archive}}</ref>

==Features==
Features of Net-Works II include:<ref name=Prather1982>{{cite journal | last=Prather | first=John | date=November 22, 1982 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DzAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA55 | title=Net-Works: bulletin-board system for Apple II | journal=InfoWorld | publisher=CW Communication | volume=4 | issue=46 | pages=55–56, 61 | via=}}</ref><ref name=Dewey>{{cite book | last=Dewey | first=Patrick R. | date=1987 | url=https://archive.org/details/essential-guide-to-bulletin-board-systems/page/n73/ | title=Essential Guide to Bulletin Board Systems | publisher=Meckler | page=1987 | isbn=9780887360664 | via=the Internet Archive}}</ref><ref name=Yuen1984 />

* [Text-based user interface](/source/Text-based_user_interface)
* Individual usernames and passwords
* Message boards, called ''forums''
* Support for the [Thunderware ThunderClock](/source/Thunderware_ThunderClock) and compatible cards
* Chat mode between the [sysop](/source/Network_administrator) and user
* Administrative tools
* [Applesoft BASIC](/source/Applesoft_BASIC), [Integer BASIC](/source/Integer_BASIC), and binary program downloading

==Reception and popularity==
Net-Works II received a rave review in ''[InfoWorld](/source/InfoWorld)'', with John Prather writing that the "combination of the personal computer and software such as Net-Works II may well be responsible for a phenomenon that will be the 80s equivalent of the [CB radio](/source/Citizens_band_radio) of the 70s".<ref name=Prather1982 />{{rp|55}} He gave top marks to the software's performance, error handling, and ease of use, calling it "an extremely easy-to-use program, both from the standpoint of the sysop and of system users".<ref name=Prather1982 />{{rp|56}} Author Dean Gengle in his book ''The Netweaver's Sourcebook'' (1984) called Net-Works II "the best general-purpose bulletin board system" for the Apple II family.<ref name=Gengle1984>{{cite book | last=Gengle | first=Dean | date=1984 | url=https://archive.org/details/netweaverssource00geng/page/274/ | title=The Netweaver's Sourcebook : A Guide to Micro Networking and Communications | publisher=Addison-Wesley | isbn=0201052083 | via=Google Books}}</ref>{{rp|274}} The software package by the mid-1980s was a massive success, with the 1986 edition of [Stewart Brand](/source/Stewart_Brand)'s ''[Whole Earth Software Catalog](/source/Whole_Earth_Software_Catalog_and_Review)'' calling it "the most popular of nearly a dozen Apple II bulletin board programs".<ref name=Brand /> In July 1984, roughly sixty BBSes were running Net-Works II, according to ''[Softalk](/source/Softalk)''.<ref name=Yuen1984 />{{rp|97}} Writer Matt Yuen wrote that the quality of the Net-Works-based BBSes varied greatly.<ref name=Yuen1984>{{cite journal | last=Yuen | first=Matt | date=July 1984 | url=https://archive.org/details/softalkv4n11jul1984/page/n98/ | title=Keys to the World | journal=Softalk | volume=4 | issue=11 | pages=97–102 | via=the Internet Archive}}</ref>{{rp|98}}

The gambling personality [Jerry L. Patterson](/source/Jerry_L._Patterson) opened a BBS running Net-Works II out of [South Jersey](/source/South_Jersey) in March 1984.<ref name=Petzold1984>{{cite journal | last=Petzold | first=Charles | date=March 20, 1984 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1817418818 | title=Count on It | journal=Philadelphia Daily News | publisher=Philadelphia Media Network | page=36 | id={{ProQuest|1817418818}} }}</ref>

==See also==
* [List of Apple II BBS software](/source/List_of_BBS_software)

==References==
{{reflist}}

Category:1980s introductions
Category:Apple II software
Category:Bulletin board system software

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Net-Works II](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net-Works_II) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net-Works_II?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.