TopView (1985) 3 Utility DOS

Released by IBM in 1984, TopView was a text-mode windowed multitasker for the IBM PC, XT, and AT computer. It featured preemptive multitasking, text-based windowed task sessions, overlapping windows, and supports the use of a mouse. In part, it was one of the reasons why overlapping windows were added to Microsoft Windows 2.0. TopView was later overtaken by DesqView, OS/2, and Windows. For more information, see the Topview 1.00 Software Spotlight.

• 1.x

V-Spell (1985) 0 Utility DOS

V-Spell, from CompuView, is a spell checking product designed to accompany VEDIT. VEDIT was a powerful, customizable, and portable editor designed for programmers and power users.

• 1.x

Copy II PC (1985) 4 Utility DOS

Central Point Copy II PC is a disk duplication program that can successfully copy many copy protected disks using only standard IBM PC hardware. It is generally considered the best software-only solution for duplicating such disks. "snatchit".

• 2.xx
• 3.xx
• 4.xx
• 5.xx
• 6.00

IBM Document Retrieval Assistant (1985) 0 Utility DOS

IBM Document Retrieval Assistant is a tool that enables you to easily search through a large number of documents for specified keywords. It is designed to work with documents produced with any of the IBM Assistant Series applications.

• 1.00

PolyWindows DeskPlus (1985) 0 Utility DOS

PolyWindows DeskPlus is a collection of memory resident accessories for DOS. It was first released in 1984 by POLYTRON Corporation. It includes an editor, index cards, a calendar/appointment book, an alarm clock, several calculators, a phone dialer, DOS functions, keyboard macros, and can cut-and-paste between applications. HQ, Mastro, PC Desk, Pop-Up Desk Set, and WordPerfect Library.

• 1.2

IBM Personal Print Control (1985) 0 Utility DOS

Personal Print Control consists of a DOS based print spooler that runs in the background while you run other applications, and a controller TSR that you can bring up from within other programs to manage the spooler. It features the ability to print multiple copies directly from the spooler, recovery from printer errors, and printer formatting control code management.

• 1.00

IBM Utilities III (1985) 0 Utility DOS

Utilities III is a small set of PC utilities published as part of IBM's "Bargain Basement" Personally Developed Software Family and Productivity Family. It includes Five Utilities: Loadram and Saveram, Sort, Compare, Patch, and Errorlog.

• 1.00

IBM Personal Computer Organizer (1985) 0 Utility DOS

Personal Computer Organizer is a complete menu-driven system designed to help install, organize, and integrate a wide variety of applications on the IBM PC. This product appears to have been targeted mainly at IBM business customers that use IBM's high-end PC software.

• 1.00

PowerSOFT Super Utility (1985) 1 Utility DOS

PowerSOFT Super Utility is a disk editing utility that was originally developed for the TRS-80. It includes disk mapping, hexadecimal sector editing, directory editing, and sector copying.

• 1.00

Protec (1985) 0 Utility DOS

Protec is a DOS menu shell that restricts access of files and programs to specific users. It hides files so they can not be easily seen by unauthorized users, includes encryption tools, and features access audit logging.

• 2.x,3.x

Norton Commander (1986) 135 Utility DOS

Norton Commander is a MS-DOS based file shell that was widely popular due to it's two column design. You could easily copy and move files between one folder or another, execute DOS commands and more. It competed against many other file managers including Gazelle Q-DOS and Xtree

• 1.x
• 2.x
• 3.x
• 4.x
• 5.x
• 5.5x

FastBack (1986) 6 Utility DOS

Fastback, by Fifth Generation Systems, Inc, is a backup utility for DOS. Its key feature is that it can read and write both a floppy disk and hard disk at the same time by making use of dual-channel DMA. Combined with speedy data compression, it can make a very fast backup.

• 5.x
• Plus 1.x
• Plus 2.x
• Plus 3.x
• Plus 6.x

SY-TOS (1986) 0 Utility DOS

SY-TOS is a powerful backup program for DOS, and other operating systems. It was commonly customized for and bundled with OEM backup hardware. SY-TOS Plus was the first retail standalone version.

• 1.x (DOS)
• 3.x (DOS)

Executive Card Manager (1986) 2 Utility Database DOS

Executive Card Manager, from Hewlett-Packard, is a Rolodex-like database for storing contact information. It features the ability to transfer information between other common applications. screen.

• 1.x

Turbo Lightning (1986) 0 Utility DOS

Borland's Turbo Lightning is a DOS based TSR spell checker. It can also look up Synonyms.

• 1.x

Popcorn Desktop (1986) 1 Utility PIM DOS

Popcorn desktop is a set of TSR utilities similar to Borland Sidekick. It includes a text editor, a calculator, and a calendar. It can copy information from currently running programs displayed on the screen.

• 1.x

Back-It (1986) 0 Utility DOS

Back-It, from Gazelle Systems, is a fast and compact hard disk backup utility. It was sometimes part of OEM system bundles. It was kind of low-end, and changed backup formats between releases but otherwise did what it was supposed to do.

• 2.x
• 3.x
• 4.x

SuperKey (1986) 3 Utility DOS

Borland SuperKey is a combination resident macro program and file encryption tool. It can record and play back keystrokes in most DOS application, enabling you to automate repetitive tasks. It also includes a file encryption tool that lets you password protect sensitive files. It was marketed alongside Borland Sidekick.

• 1.x

Lotus Metro (1986) 0 Utility PIM DOS

Lotus Metro is a set of resident desktop management tools similar to Borland Sidekick or Popcorn desktop. Metro includes an appointment book, phone book, scheduler, calculator, clipboard, and a text editor. A user can call up these tools while almost any other DOS program is running. In addition to performing small tasks without exiting their primary program, Metro can copy information from or to the screen. It also include macro functionality for automating tasks comparable to Borland SuperKey. It was primarily targeted at existing users of Lotus 1-2-3 and Lotus Symphony.

• 1x

Executive Systems HOT (1986) 1 Utility DOS

HOT, from Executive Systems - the makers of XTREE, is a highly configurable menu shell for the IBM PC, with built-in "hot menus" for common DOS functions. It features a pop-up file browser, a small text editor, the ability to feed keystrokes to applications, and automatically sets up known programs found on your hard drive.

• 3.0

DS Backup (1986) 0 Utility DOS

DS Backup Plus is a simple hard disk backup utility. It was not as full featured or robust as other backup products, but it got the job done. Backups can be done from within the program or from the command line. It supports wildcards, filespec inclusion/exclusion, backup to any DOS drive type, automatic disk formatting, incremental backups, and claims to be faster than DOS backup and restore.

• Plus 1.x

Media Master (1986) 0 Utility DOS

Media Master is a disk utility for interchanging files between MS-DOS and certain CP/M or non-DOS systems. Supported disks must be MFM or FM decodable by the computer's floppy disk controller, therefore formats like Apple II or C64 can not work.

• 3.x

EZ-DOS-IT (1986) 2 Utility DOS

EZ-DOS-IT was a very low-cost low-resource multitasking program for DOS on the IBM PC and compatibles. It claimed compatibility with most popular software of the time. However, the initial 1.0 release had serious bugs, was copy protected, and was not compatible enough for many people. Although these issues were quickly fixed and copy protection removed, it earned them bad reviews.

• 4.x

RightWriter (1987) 9 Utility DOS

RightWriter is a grammar / structure checking utility. You can feed it a document, and it will produce a marked up copy listing high level critiques such as readability, delivery strength, and jargon. It competed with Grammatik, but RightWriter generally produced superior results.

• 2.x
• 3.x
• 3.2 for DeskMate
• 4.0

Mace Utilities (1987) 0 Utility DOS

The Mace Utilities, from Paul Mace Software, is a suite of disk and system tools similar to the Norton Utilities and PC-Tools. Notable features in included the ability to undelete files, recover re-formatted disks, a defragmenter, and disk caching software. In 1989, Paul Mace Software Inc sold the Mace Utilities to 5th Generation Systems. After "Mace Express" in 1991, the product seemed to vanish?

• 4.x
• 5.x
• v1990