Ability (1985) 5 Word Processor Spreadsheet Presentations Communications Database DOS

Originally released in 1984 by the Canadian company Xanaro that went bankrupt, and then by Migent, Ability is an integrated office suite for DOS that includes word processor, spreadsheet, database, telecommunications, business graphing, presentation graphics capabilities, and built in file management. It features good integration between the different components, with the ability to import, share, and dynamically update data between them. It was advertised as a very easy to use and a quick to learn system.

• Plus 2.0

AppleWorks (1986) 5 Word Processor Spreadsheet Presentations Graphics Communications Database MacOS Mac OS X

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.

• 5.x
• 6.x

By Design (1993) 0 Word Processor DOS

By Design is an add-on set of document design utilities, fonts, and clipart for WordPerfect. Graphics include lead characters, page borders, graphics fonts, and page headers. Templates include newsletters, letterheads, title pages, and business forms.

• 3.0

ChiWriter (1990) 0 Word Processor Mathematics DOS

ChiWriter is a WYSIWYG scientific text editor for DOS. Created by Cay Horstmann in 1986, it was one of the first that could write mathematical formulas on common PC computers.

• 4.2

ClarisWorks (1991) 22 Word Processor Spreadsheet Presentations Graphics Publishing Database Windows MacOS

ClarisWorks is an all-in-one Word Processor, Spreadsheet, Database, Graphics Editor, and Presentations tool from Claris. In 1998, after version 5.0.2, ClairsWorks was purchased by Apple and re-branded under the "AppleWorks" name. It is not related to the Apple II AppleWorks product.

• 2.x
• 3.x
• 4.x
• 5.x
• For Kids 1.0

DataPerfect (1993) 0 Word Processor Database DOS

DataPerfect, originally written by Lew Bastian, published through WordPerfect Corp, and later through Novell, was a fast, memory efficient, but capable relational database for DOS. WordPerfect Corp sold the product alongside their other DOS based office products, such as WordPerfect and PlanPerfect. In 1995 Novel released DataPerfect as freeware and development was continued by its original author until about 2008.

• 2.x

GeoPublish (1994) 1 Word Processor Publishing DOS

GeoPublish was a rudimentary desktop publishing program for the Apple II and C64 that ran under GEOS. In 1993, Geoworks re-released their commercial standalone Geoworks Writer product as a shareware product reprising the name GeoPublish.

• 2.x

MacWrite (1984) 10 Word Processor MacOS

MacWrite was one of two applications released with the Apple Macintosh in 1984 - the other being MacPaint. These applications defined the Macintosh, and helped define what users expected from GUI applications.

• Pro 1.x

Microsoft Creative Writer (1994) 11 Word Processor Novelty Windows MacOS

Microsoft Creative Writer is a dumbed down Microsoft BOB-like word processor and sign maker targeted at children. It was sold alongside, and later bundled with, a drawing program called Microsoft Fine Artist

• 1.x

Microsoft Office (1991) 297 Word Processor Spreadsheet Presentations Publishing PIM Database Windows MacOS

Microsoft Office is a bundle of Microsoft's productivity application. This includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access and later Mail, Office Manager, and Outlook. The "1.x" versions of Microsoft Office were simply a marketing bundle of the standalone products sold together with no other packaging changes. Even though these were distinct applications, rather than one single monolithic program, they shared a similar user interface, integrated well together and shared the ability to embed documents from one application in the documents of another.

• 4.3
• 97/98
• 2001 (Mac)

Microsoft Word (1983) 126 Word Processor DOS Windows MacOS

The Microsoft Word word processor was first introduced for MS-DOS in 1983. Its design made use of a mouse and WYSIWYG graphics. Its crude WYSIWYG/mouse support was a direct response to the Apple Lisa/Mac, and VisiCorp Visi On. Initially it competed against many popular word processors such as WordStar, Multimate, and WordPerfect. Word for DOS was never really successful.

• 6.x

Microsoft Works (1986) 81 Word Processor Spreadsheet Communications Database MacOS Windows

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.

• 3.x (Mac)
• 4.0

New Deal Office (1999) 2 Word Processor Spreadsheet Presentations DOS

Based on GeoWorks, New Deal Office was a graphical operating environment for DOS which later became Breadbox Ensemble. New Deal adds a Windows-95 like user interface with a task bar and start menu. New Deal Office targeted low-end 386 and 486 computers that were not up to the task of running Windows 95. It was also released in a "WebSuite" edition only includes the internet connectivity and web browsing tools.

• 3.1b
• 3.2a
• 2000

Professional Write (1986) 11 Word Processor DOS

Professional Write, from Software Publishing Corporation, was a popular word processor for home use during the late 80s and early 90s. It features an easy to use menu system and an integrated spell checker. Professional Write was a revamp and replacement for SPC's earlier PFS:Write.

• 3.0

Textra (1985) 0 Word Processor DOS

Textra, from the University of Michigan based Ann Arbor Software, was a small and fast word processor highly optimized for speed and rapid data entry. First released in 1982 Textra, like many other early PC word processors, was born out of the lack of a decent IBM PC editor/word processor. Textra featured a full set of text manipulation commands, common text formatting abilities, and full screen editing. It was specifically designed for the IBM PC, giving it faster load and save times and the most responsive user interface possible. It was priced much lower than most other text editors or word processors.

• 7.0

THINK C (1988) 8 MacOS

THINK C, originally from THINK Technologies and later Symantec, was a C compiler for the Apple Macintosh. Initially released in 1986 under the name "Lightspeed C", it featured libraries and extensions useful to creating native Macintosh applications. It competed with Macintosh Programmers Workshop.

• 6.x
• C++ 6.x
• C++ 7.x
• C++ 8.x

Timeworks DOS Office (1993) 0 Word Processor Spreadsheet Database DOS

Timeworks DOS Office, from Timeworks, Inc., is an office suite consisting of the Timeworks Word Writer PC word processor, the Timeworks SwftCalc spreadsheet, and the Timeworks Data Manager desktop database.

• 1.0

VEDIT (1987) 0 Word Processor Editor DOS

VEDIT, from CompuView, is an extremely powerful, flexible, and customizable editor designed for power users and programmers. It can handle extremely huge files. It has a programmable command mode that can be used to automatically perform complex operations on files. It features a completely customizable keyboard layout and special features for editing programming language source files. operating systems including CP/M-80, CP/M-86, and MS-DOS, and supported a large number of terminal types.

• Plus 4.x

WordPerfect (1983) 98 Word Processor MacOS DOS

During the late 1980's, WordPerfect was THE standard word processor for DOS based PCs in big business. Under DOS, it competed mostly against Wordstar. WordPerfect for Windows enjoyed some success in the early Windows environments, but was quickly displaced by Microsoft Word for Windows. Later Windows versions were part of Borland Office/Novell PerfectOffice/Corel Office/Corel WordPerfect Office.

• 2.x (Mac)
• 6.x (DOS)
• 3.x (Mac)
• 7.x (Unix)

XyWrite (1984) 0 Word Processor DOS

XyWrite is a word processor for MS-DOS and Windows modeled on the mainframe-based ATEX typesetting system. Popular with writers and editors for its speed and degree of customization, XyWrite was in its heyday the house word processor in many editorial offices, including the New York Times from 1989 to 1993. XyWrite was developed by David Erickson and marketed by XyQuest from 1982 through 1992, after which it was acquired by The Technology Group. The final version for MS-DOS was 4.18 (1993); for Windows, 4.13. An offshoot descendant of XyWrite called Nota Bene is still being actively developed.

• 4