VisiCalc (1982) 0 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, VisiSchedule 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) 2 Spreadsheet Windows

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 (Win)
• 4.x (Win)
• 5.x (Win)
• 97 (Win)
• 9.5 (Office)
• 9.0 (Win)
• 9.1 (Win)
• 9.5 (Win)

Norton Utilities (1983) 1 Utility Windows

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.

• 1.0 (95) for Win
• 2.0 (95) for Win
• for NT 4.0
• 3.0 for Win
• 4.0 for Win
• 2001 for Win

dBASE (1983) 3 Database DOS Windows

Ashton-Tate dBase was an early popular database management system for CP/M and MS-DOS. It was regarded as one of the killer applications for CP/M, and achieved good success. At the time of conception Ashton-Tate was a garage based company but quickly grew.

• 5.x

SynFile (1983) 0 Database Other

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

• 1.x

Sidekick (1984) 0 Utility PIM Windows

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 Windows
• 2.0 for Windows

FileMaker (1984) 2 Database Windows MacOS

FileMaker is a very easy to use graphical flat-file database management tool from Claris that allows for visual form and report creation. Originally for DOS, there were Macintosh versions and later it was ported to Windows.

• Pro 2.x
• Pro 3.x
• Pro 5.x

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) 5 Spreadsheet Windows OS2 MacOS

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

• 2.0
• 2.1
• 3.x
• 4.x
• 5.x
• 95 (7.0)
• 97/98 (8.0)

PC Tools (1985) 3 Utility Windows

PC Tools, from Central Point Software, is a system and disk utility suite similar to the Norton Utilities. Central Point also produced a similar set of tools for the Apple Macintosh known as MacTools. Central Point Backup, bundled as part of PC-Tools, was also offered as a standalone product.

• 2.0 for Windows

Procomm Plus (1985) 2 Communications Windows

ProComm, from Datastorm technologies, was a powerful and very popular telecommunications program for DOS and Windows. TERMULATOR, written to fill the gap left by shareware PC-Talk when its author died. protocols for uploading and downloading, and automatic redial. The commercial "ProComm Plus" includes a scripting language, more terminal types, additional file transfer protocols, context sensitive help, support for 8 COM ports, and a professionally written manual (telecommunications)](/product/microsoft_access_business_information_access_program), Crosstalk, Relay Gold, and PFS Access. Later, it competed with QModem and Telemate.

• 1.0 For Windows
• 2.x for Windows
• 3.0 For Windows

XTree (1985) 0 Utility Windows

XTree is an easy to use text-mode file manager. It pioneered the use of a GUI-like hierarchy tree, and provides many integrated file viewers. It competed against many other file managers including Gazelle Q-DOS and Norton Commander

• Gold for Windows 4.0

Freelance Graphics (1985) 0 Presentations Graphics Windows

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 (Win)

R:Base (1985) 0 Database Windows

R:Base, from Microrim and first released in 1983, was a popular relational database that competed with Ashton Tate's dBASE product. R:Base was the first relational database for the IBM PC, also notable as earlier relational databases typically required more powerful hardware. R:Base also includes a form and report generator that is optimized for the capabilities of the IBM PC and features the ability to add or remove fields without losing data or relationships.

• 5.0 (Win)

FormTool (1985) 0 Database Windows

FormTool is an easy to use form creation and data entry application.

• 3.x
• 1.x for Windows

Ability (1985) 2 Word Processor Spreadsheet Presentations Communications Database Windows

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.

• 1.5 for Windows
• 2000
• 2002

Omnis (1985) 0 Database Windows

Omnis, from the European based Blyth Software, is an easy to use multiuser relational database for Windows, MacOS, and OS/2. It was the first database ported to Microsoft Windows, which ran on Windows 1.0x.

• Quartz (Win)

MG Advanced Diagnostic (1985) 0 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

Microsoft Works (1986) 5 Word Processor Spreadsheet Communications Database Windows MacOS

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.

• 2.x (Win)
• 3.x (Win)
• 4.0
• 4.5
• 5.x
• 6.0
• 9.0

Norton Commander (1986) 9 Utility Windows

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 (Win)
• 2.x (Win)

AppleWorks (1986) 0 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)

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

RightWriter (1987) 0 Utility Windows

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.

• 5.0 for Windows

PowerPoint (1987) 0 Presentations Windows MacOS

Microsoft PowerPoint is a graphical presentation tool that is today part of Microsoft Office. Prior to its acquisition by Microsoft, it was known as "Presenter" from Forethought Inc. These are the standalone versions. For the Office bundled versions, see Microsoft Office.

• 2.0
• 3.x
• 4.x
• 95 (7.0)