Has it really been over 25 years?
Law Systems Ltd incorporated in 1992, and for our 25 year anniversary we decided to have a little trip down memory lane to review the development of Probate Plus over the years as well as a bit of a review of how the technology landscape has changed.
There’s a saying that a software project is never finished, merely abandoned. Technology changes, ways of working change, users ask for features and the constant adaptation and development process continues.
Growing from an idea on a massive sheet of paper, coding started in 1991…
The path...from there to here
Versions, operating systems, processors – do you remember them all?
1992 – ProbatePlus! v1.0
O/S: MS-DOS
Intel 486
Fast, flexible, albeit limited in how much information it could hold!
A sharp focus on standardising how matter and accounting information was recorded.
Probate Plus v2.1
O/S: MS-DOS / Windows 3.1
Intel P6 (Pentium Pro/II)
Greatly expanded storage and, colour(!).
Beginnings of automated tasks.
Better support for the printers of the day.
Quick to navigate.
Single user only.
Beginnings of automated tasks.
Better support for the printers of the day.
Quick to navigate.
Single user only.
Probate Plus v1
O/S: Windows 3.1 / 95
Intel P6 (Copper Mine)
Published under the Sweet & Maxwell “Connections” brand.
Multi-user.
Full database back-end.
Pay-as-you-go licensing.
Cash tracking implemented.
Multi-user.
Full database back-end.
Pay-as-you-go licensing.
Cash tracking implemented.
Probate Plus v2
O/S: Windows 98 / 2000 / ME
Intel NetBurst
Similar UI to v1 but new reports, enhanced printing, higher performance.
Probate Plus v3
O/S: Windows XP
Intel Prescott
Single-window UI.
New database back-end.
PDF form filling support.
Asset sub-categorisation.
Client-server support.
Many new text links and document pack updates.
“Assistants” for IHT form and Word integration.
Internet knowledgebase.
COM object.
New database back-end.
PDF form filling support.
Asset sub-categorisation.
Client-server support.
Many new text links and document pack updates.
“Assistants” for IHT form and Word integration.
Internet knowledgebase.
COM object.
Probate Plus v4
O/S: Windows Vista / 7 / 8 / 10
Intel Core
Many new reports.
Exporting of reports to DOC/PDF/XLS.
One-click report re-run.
Task panel.
Drill-downs.
Connected addressees browser.
Speed improvements.
Specific tax-categorisation of assets if needed.
More text links.
New income categories.
Oyez and IRIS support.
Exporting of reports to DOC/PDF/XLS.
One-click report re-run.
Task panel.
Drill-downs.
Connected addressees browser.
Speed improvements.
Specific tax-categorisation of assets if needed.
More text links.
New income categories.
Oyez and IRIS support.
Probate Plus v5
O/S: Windows 10
Intel Kaby Lake
Major UI overhaul.
Powerful search and drill-down.
Practice & matter analysis.
The “dashboard”.
CloudLM licensing option now standard.
Highly customisable layout of information, grouping, sorting, ordering.
Export of contents of screen views possible.
Progress icons.
New text links.
Many optimisations.
Error logging and reporting tool.
Powerful search and drill-down.
Practice & matter analysis.
The “dashboard”.
CloudLM licensing option now standard.
Highly customisable layout of information, grouping, sorting, ordering.
Export of contents of screen views possible.
Progress icons.
New text links.
Many optimisations.
Error logging and reporting tool.
Powerful, flexible, forensic...
We’re as passionate about Probate Plus, supporting our users and providing great new features today as we were on day one. Thank you for using Probate Plus, and, here’s to the next 25 years!
Simply – somewhere to record everything when building the picture of someone’s estate