Hobbies And Interests
Early Years
Minitab was first designed in 1972 at Penn State University and was originally based on a program called Omnitab. Omnitab, a high-level spread sheet used for statistical analysis, was programmed by the Statistical Engineering Division of the National Institute for Standards and Technology. Omnitab used basic algorithms and responded to simple user commands.
Evolution
In the 1980s Minitab became a commercialized version of Omnitab, and all development of Omnitab ceased in 1986. The Minitab program was optimized for the Windows 1.0 operating system and a new graphical user interface (GUI) was designed to make it more user friendly. The simple statistical software began to evolve and implement more complex statistical abilities such as regression analysis. With each new version more and more statistical tools were added and Minitab became vital software for many statisticians and engineers.
Ancillary Software
Minitab Inc. produces two other software products that complement it's Minitab software. Quality Trainer is a learning tool that teaches statistical concepts and tools for quality improvement. Quality Companion is a tool for managing lean manufacturing projects that require six sigma process control. Both products integrate seamlessly with the original Minitab software.
Today
In 2010 Minitab 16 was released as the latest version of the software which is now available in seven languages. The core functionality of the software remains the same in 2011 as it did 20 years ago. Most of the recent revisions are simple GUI updates and tweaks to utilize new features in new Windows releases.