PC-DOS (1981) 257 DOS

IBM PC-DOS was an IBM branded version of MS-DOS licensed from Microsoft for use on the IBM PC system. Versions of PC-DOS paralleled that of MS-DOS up until version 6.1, where PC-DOS was independently maintained by IBM up until 7.1, the last version. Although not the only OS available for the IBM PC when it came out, it quickly became popular due to its low cost in comparison to the others. Its direct competitors on the PC at the time were CP/M-86 and UCSD p-System. The major differences between PC-DOS and MS-DOS were only in terms of driver support and built in programs until version 6.1 where development diverged.

• 7.x

PC-MOS (1987) 12 DOS

PC-MOS, released by The Software Link, was a multi-user multitasking OS that had compatibility with MS-DOS 5 applications and allowed users to connect to it via terminal.

• 5.x

PC-NFS (1994) 1 DOS

PC-NFS, from SunSelect/SunMicrosystems is an enterprise-grade NFS client and utility set for Microsoft Windows. NFS is a primitive TCP/IP network file sharing system used by Unix systems. UNIX systems, VMS minicomputers and IBM mainframes. It also include telnet and Unix printing support.

• Pro 2.x

pcANYWHERE (1990) 6 Communications DOS

pcAnywhere is a tool that enables one to remotely control another computer, or to be remotely controlled.

• 5.0 (DOS)
• 2.0 (Win)

Peachtree Complete Accounting (1992) 3 Financial DOS

Peachtree Accounting was originally created in 1975 by an Altair dealer, The Computer SystemCenter, in Atlanta, Georgia to help sell Altair computers. That possibly would have made it the first accounting package for personal computers.

• 8.00 (DOS)
• 9.00 (DOS)

Persuasion (1991) 12 Presentations MacOS

Aldus Persuasion is a presentation and slide creation program. "With the support that Persuasion offers - professional quality slides, overheads, handouts, and speaker notes - you can deliver your presentation with more confidence and ease than ever before." After version 2.x, Persuasion was purchased by Adobe.

• 3.0

Photoshop (1988) 77 Graphics Windows MacOS

Photoshop is a powerful drawing and photo manipulation program for both Mac and Windows. The Macintosh version was released by Adobe in 1990, although a very small number were bundled with Barneyscan slide scanners prior to that. Photoshop contained many advanced features including layered images, advanced color control, and plug-ins. Prior to its release, many of its features were only found in high end dedicated photo pre-processing systems.

• 3.x

Professional Write (1986) 12 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

PTS-DOS (1995) 8 DOS

PTS-DOS is a Russian DOS clone created by the Russian company PhysTechSoft.

• 7

QEMM (1990) 47 Utility DOS

Quarterdeck QEMM is a DOS Extended Memory Manager for 386+ computer which allows you to make use of memory beyond the 640kb barrier. It can also be used with QRAM, a utility for freeing up the 640k base memory.

• 7.x

Qualitas 386MAX (1992) 15 DOS

Qualitas 386MAX is a memory manager that competed with Quarterdeck QEMM and Memory Commander. It features ease use, with automated configuration and optimization. It claims to make more DOS memory available than other similar tools at the time.

• 7.x

QuarkXPress (1986) 6 Publishing DOS

QuarkXPress was THE standard publishing software during the 1990s. However it failed to update its product line to newer technologies in a timely manager, charged insane amounts for updates or additional features that should have been built in to the software, and became very abusive to their customers. Later versions required a parallel port/ADB copy protection dongle. They lost most of their market share to Adobe InDesign.

• 3.x

Quarterdeck GameRunner (1995) 0 Utility DOS

Quarterdeck GameRunner, from Quarterdeck Corporation, is a specialized packaging of their QEMM memory management product that is specifically designed to automatically maximize the memory and speed available to known games. DOS based games of the time used a hodgepodge of memory access methods, that varied from product to product and often created conflicts. GameRunner attempts to mitigate some of this chaos by providing automatic configuration and management.

• 2.x

Quicken (1989) 5 Financial DOS

Quicken, from Intuit, is a financial management tool for home users. It was first released in 1984 for DOS and later ported to Apple II, Macintosh, and Windows. Intuit also provided a more powerful product, QuickBooks, for small businesses.

• 8.x (DOS)

QuickPay (1994) 0 Financial DOS

Intuit QuickPay is a payroll management tool that works on top of Quicken. It Includes customizable payroll account/category names, tracking of emplyees' work, sick and vacation hours.

• 3.0

RAMpAT-Plus (1994) 1 DOS

The RAMpAT!-Plus is a 16-bit ISA memory expansion card for AT 286 and 386 based systems. The card enables users to expand the system memory beyond what can be installed on the system motherboard. It can be used as directly accessible AT-style "XMS" memory but can also be configured as XT-style paged "EMS" memory, for applications that may need that.

• 1.x

Real/32 (1994) 11 DOS

Real/32, also known as Real/NG or IMS Multiuser DOS, from Intelligent Micro Software, is a real-time multitasking multiuser DOS compatible operating system based on Digital Research's Multiuser DOS.

• 7.x

ReportSmith (1994) 0 DOS

ReportSmith is a database reporting and query tool that is the perfect companion to your PC data management software. Its WYSIWYG "live" data approach to reporting provides users with a drag and drop, visual interface that makes report creation and customization a snap. bought by Borland. Version 2.0 was the first retail release.

• 2.5

SoftWindows (1993) 0 Virtualization MacOS

Insignia Solution SoftPC, or "SoftWindows" when bundled with Windows, is an x86 emulator UNIX and MacOS that enables them to run DOS and Windows. SoftWindows is unique in that it uses native CPU recompiled Windows binaries providing near native speed for some application. It was also ported to platforms such as SGI Irix, Sun Solaris, HP-UX, IBM AIX, NeXT, Motorola 88000, DEC VAX/VMS, DEC ULTRIX, and was the emulator used by Microsoft to run DOS and Windows 3.1 application on the DEC Alpha CPU Windows NT.

• 2.0

Sound Blaster CD-ROM Drivers (1995) 4 DOS

These are DOS drivers for the Creative Sound Blaster with CD-ROM support sound card.

• 1.x

Sound Blaster Drivers (1990) 99 DOS Windows

The Sound Blaster is a series of sound cards from Create Labs. For a time, the Sound Blaster was considered a de-facto standard for DOS based gaming. Initially it competed against the uncommon IBM Music Feature card, and the Adlib cards. The original sound blaster provided 8-bit mono digital sound in addition to Adlib-compatible FM music synthesis and stereo CMS Game Blaster compatible square-wave music. Most DOS games work best with the earlier ISA cards. Later PCI cards use completely different hardware and only provide Sound Blaster compatiblity through software emulation.

• Sound Blaster AWE32

Stacker (1991) 0 Utility Archive DOS Windows

Stacker, from Stack Electronics, was a hard drive compression tool. It was wildly popular until Microsoft virtually eliminated the third party market for this by including their own drive compression tool with MS-DOS 6. and Expandz! Plus.

• 4.0 (DOS)

StepWay Art Shop (1994) 1 Publishing DOS

StepWay Art Shop is a very low-end budget graphics editor for DOS. It appears to have been targeted at new computer users and educational markets. The StepWay software is considered "modular", with additional functionality added in separate modules, sold separately. The separate modules they sold included Desktop Publisher, Art Shop, To Do List, Checkbook, Banner, Cookbook, Home Inventory, Greeting Cards, Mail List, and Calendar.

• 1.x

StepWay Desktop Publisher (1994) 1 Graphics Publishing DOS

StepWay Desktop Publisher is a very low-end budget graphics editor and desktop publisher for DOS. It appears to have been targeted at new computer users and educational markets. The StepWay software is considered "modular", with additional functionality added in separate modules, sold separately. The separate modules they sold included Desktop Publisher, Art Shop, To Do List, Checkbook, Banner, Cookbook, Home Inventory, Greeting Cards, Mail List, and Calendar.

• 1.x

Textra (1985) 1 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