Microsoft Works 2.x (DOS)

Microsoft Works was an all-in-one scaled-down Word Processor, Spreadsheet, and Database geared towards the home user. It was released in variants for early DOS, Windows, and Macintosh. Microsoft Works competed against Lotus Jazz, FrameWork, AlphaWorks/LotusWorks, PFS First Choice, and many others.

Microsoft Works started development as "Mouseworks" from "Productivity Software", and involved developers of the original Apple II AppleWorks. The first release was in 1986 for the Apple Macintosh. It seems that Microsoft purchased it mainly to compete with Lotus Jazz.

Works was a completely different product from, and even competed against, Microsoft Office. Occasionally, Works was bundled with a version of Word, to cover for weaknesses and lack of popularity of the native word processor in the package. Works was commonly bundled with many OEM PCs as an entry-level lower-cost alternative to Microsoft Office. Microsoft Works was discontinued in 2007, with the final version being 9.0.

It appears there was no "1.0" for Windows. The first Windows version was "2.0", that matched the versions for DOS and Macintosh.

For more information, see Software Spotlight: Microsoft Works.

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Release notes

Version 2.0 for DOS adds Windows-like user interface capabilities, such as displaying multiple documents type simultaneously and the ability to switch between them. Version 2 can run in a graphical mode that gives users access to some WYSIWYG features. Version 2 can also make use of Extended memory and includes a thesaurus.

Installation instructions

This version is for MS/PC-DOS running on IBM PC compatibles. Requires 512K of ram, can run using two floppy drives, and supports up to VGA graphics.