VisiCalc (1982) 6 Spreadsheet Other

VisiCalc was the first spreadsheet program for personal computers. It was extremely successful, and pivotal as it was significantly responsible for moving personal computing out of the realm of hobbyists and in to the realm of serious business tools. application suite that also included VisiWord, VisiFile, VisiSpell, VisiTrend/Plot, and VisiTutor. a GUI based environment. But that did not catch on. The similarly named Visi On Calc spreadsheet is not at all related to VisiCalc, and later had to be renamed to Visi On Plan.

• Advanced Apple III

Lotus 1-2-3 (1983) 86 Spreadsheet OS2 Unix

Lotus 1-2-3 was an early spreadsheet application available for MS-DOS. It became extremely popular in the late 1980s, displacing the former leader VisiCalc. Lotus had difficulties adapting 1-2-3 to the Windows environment, and was overtaken by Microsoft Excel. Spreadsheet functionality was also included in Lotus Symphony. Later versions were included in Lotus SmartSuite.

• 1.x (OS/2)
• 1.x (Unix)
• 2.x (OS/2)

Norton Utilities (1983) 55 Utility Unix

The Norton Utilities is a suite of disk and system utilities designed to enhance system performance and stability. It started off as a set of disk utilities written by Peter Norton, and later was sold by Symantec. It competed against Central Point PC Tools and the Mace Utilities. In 2003, Norton Utilities was merged with Norton SystemWorks, but later split back out.

• For System V

Multiplan (1983) 10 Spreadsheet DOS OS2

Microsoft Multiplan was an early 8-bit spreadsheet application for CP/M and MS-DOS with ports to numerous other platforms in the early 80s. Initially it competed against VisiCalc and later Lotus 1-2-3. A companion product, Microsoft Chart, provided graphing support. Multiplan was never ported to Windows, where it was replaced with Microsoft Excel. Excel also replaced Multiplan on the Macintosh platform.

• 4.x

SynFile (1983) 1 Database Other

SynFile, from Synaps Software, is a database program for the Atari 400/800 computer.

• 1.x

Informix (1983) 0 Database Unix

Informix is a powerful high-speed high-end multi-user relational database program originally developed for Unix and Xenix in the C programming language. It includes form and report building tools.

• 3.x

Autodesk AutoCAD (1984) 21 Graphics Engineering Unix

AutoCAD, from Autodesk and first released in 1982, is a powerful Computer Aided Design tool. It was, and still is, often considered the standard for CAD tools. Primarily for the IBM PC platform, it was ported to x86 machines with higher video resolutions such as the Zenith Z-100 and NEC APC. Intermittently, versions for the Macintosh appeared. Later versions use a dongle copy protection.

• r10 (Unix)

Sidekick (1984) 15 Utility PIM OS2

Borland Sidekick is a DOS based PIM (Personal Information Manager) and one of the first widely-used TSR (terminate and stay resident) programs. The key feature of Sidekick was that one could use Sidekick's utilities while using most other MS-DOS applications. This was important because MS-DOS had no built-in multi-tasking or task switching capabilities.

• 1.0 for OS/2

Unify (1984) 0 Database Unix

Unify is a relational database for Unix based systems. There was also a DOS version.

• 3.1

99/4 Auto Spell-Check (1984) 0 Utility Other

99/4 Auto Spell Check, by Dragonslayer ASC, is a spell checker for the TI-99/4A home computer with disk system.

• 1984

Microsoft Excel (1985) 83 Spreadsheet OS2 MacOS Windows

Excel, from Microsoft, is a powerful spreadsheet application for Mac, Windows, and OS/2. Excel was first released for the Mac. When it was ported to Windows 2.x, they started at version "2.0" to one up current Mac version. There was never a DOS version. Instead, DOS and 8-bit platforms used the older Microsoft Multiplan. Excel was later bundled as part of Microsoft Office

• 2.2
• 3.x

Freelance Graphics (1985) 10 Presentations Graphics OS2

GCI/Lotus/IBM Freelance Graphics is a vector based presentation and graphing package developed for DOS, OS/2, and Windows. It was intended for use alongside Lotus 1-2-3. Later versions were part of SmartSuite. Before it was acquired by Lotus it was known Freelance, from Graphic Communications.

• 1.0 (OS/2)
• 2.x (Win)

TI-Artist (1985) 3 Graphics Other

TI-Artist, from INSCEBOT INC., is an easy to use general purpose drawing package for the TI-99/4A (not the original /4) that makes use of the high resolution bit-mapped graphics mode.

• 2.x

MG Advanced Diagnostic (1985) 1 Utility Other

MG Advanced Diagnostic is a floppy disk editor and diagnostic tool. Released in 1985 by Millers GraphicsFor the TI-99/4a with CorComp 9900 disk controller

• 1985

Quark Catalyst (1985) 0 Utility Other

Quark Catalyst is an Apple II utility that enabled moving applications, including copy protected applications, from 5.25" floppy disks to 3.5" floppy disks or hard disks, and provides launcher menu shell. As of version 3.0 the user interface was revamped to mimic the appearance of the Macintosh Finder. To appease software publishers, the Quark Catalyst software itself is copy protected.

• 3.0

HyperAccess (1985) 1 Communications OS2

HyperAccess is a telecommunications program that features easy to use scripting and a large number of file transfer protocols. There were versions for DOS, OS/2 and Windows.

• 7.x

Norton Commander (1986) 81 Utility OS2

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 (OS2)

AppleWorks (1986) 5 Word Processor Spreadsheet Presentations Graphics Communications Database Other

AppleWorks is an all-in-one Word Processor, Spreadsheet, Database, Graphics Editor, and Presentations tool. The original product was a text-based product for the Apple II. The Apple Macintosh and Windows versions were forked from ClarisWorks in 1998 by Apple. At the time, Apple was under a lot of pressure to have a direct alternative to Microsoft Office. There were serious concerns that Microsoft might pull Microsoft Office for the Macintosh from development.

• 2.x (Apple II)

SY-TOS (1986) 0 Utility OS2

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 (OS/2)

FontWorks (1986) 0 Utility Publishing Other

FontWorks is a utility that prints documents using high quality fonts on a dot-matrix printer. It was commonly sold as a companion product to AppleWorks on the Apple II. It can print sideways, it includes a number of high quality fonts, and includes a font editor.

• 2.x

PageMaker (1987) 72 Publishing Windows OS2

Aldus PageMaker, later Adobe PageMaker, is a desktop publishing program for Mac and Windows. First released in 1985, PageMaker was the first desktop publishing program for the Macintosh. It was followed over a year later with the release of 1.0 for the IBM PC. The PC version was a notable application as it was one of the few rare applications which would run under Windows 1.x. PC PageMaker 1.0 bundled a runtime version of Windows. This enabled MS-DOS users who had not decided to buy Windows to run PageMaker. Aldus skipped version 2.0 on the PC to bring version number in sync with the 3.0 Mac product.

• 3.01

FoxBASE (1987) 5 Database DOS Unix MacOS

FoxBASE, a relational database from Fox Software, started off in 1984 as a clone of dBase II that boasted many speed improvements. FoxBASE+ adds feature parity and compatibility with dBase III Plus. It was later aquired by Microsoft and became FoxPro

• Plus 1.x
• Plus 2.x

PrintPower (1987) 0 Publishing DOS Other

PrintPower is a tool for creating greeting cards, signs, banners, and calendars, similar to The Print Shop. It was a rather clunky low-end bottom of the bargain-barrel budget title. The later "Pro" version seems to give it a more Mac-like user interface.

• 1.x

Adobe Illustrator (1988) 92 Graphics Unix MacOS

Adobe Illustrator is a vector graphics editor developed and marketed by Adobe Systems. It was often sold as a companion product to the bit-map/photo editor Adobe Photoshop. Illustrator was originally released in 1987 for the Apple Macintosh. Early versions were ported to NexT, Silicon Graphics, and Sun Solaris.

• 5.5

Micrografx Designer (1988) 7 Graphics Publishing Windows OS2

Micrografx Designer, originally released as IN-A-VISON for Windows 1.x, is a vector based drawing and design program. It features ease of use, multiple layers, and dimensioning. Micrografx also sold large libraries of clip art. It competed against Corel Draw.

• 2.0