Microsoft Plus! (1995) 103 Utility Novelty Windows

Microsoft Plus! was an add-on package to Windows that added desktop themes, screen savers, sound effects, power-toys, and other assorted goodies for the home user. Plus! 95 also included Internet Explorer 1.0, which was not included in all Windows 95 distributions.

• 95
• 98

After Dark (1989) 38 Novelty MacOS Windows

After Dark, from Berkeley Systems, Inc, is a set of entertaining screen savers for Mac and Windows. After Dark for Windows started off as "Magic Screen Saver" for Windows 2.x. After Dark was most famous for its "Flying Toasters" screen saver. Afterdark was very popular on both the early Macintosh computers and Windows 3.0, as neither included any kind of screen saver or screen blanker that would help prevent screen burn-in.

• 1.0 for Macintosh
• Magic ScreenSaver
• 1.0 for Windows
• 2.x
• 3.x
• 4.x
• Tenth Anniversary
• 9

Adobe Acrobat Reader (1994) 16 Document DOS MacOS Windows OS2

Acrobat Reader is the free software from Adobe used to read, view, and print documents created by the commercial Adobe Acrobat product. Its primary strength is that documents appear and print identically across differing systems.

• 1.0
• 2.x
• 3.x
• 4.x

Instant Artist / Print Artist (1992) 14 Graphics Publishing Novelty Windows

Instant Artist, later renamed to Print Artist, is a greeting card and sign creation program that uses vectorized graphics. It was created by The Pixellite Group, the original authors of The Print Shop, and published in 1992 by Autodesk. It was later sold by Sierra On-line. It features a high quality set of generic reusable clip art. The clip art uses vector based technology that was also used in BannerMania.

• 1.0
• 2.0
• 3.0
• 4.0
• 6.0
• 8.0

Calendar Creator Plus (1990) 14 Novelty PIM Windows

Calendar Creator Plus from Vermont Creative Software/Power Up, and later Spinnaker Software, is a tool for creating printed calendars with different styles and custom lists of events.

• 2.0 (Win)
• 4.0 (Win)
• 5.0 (Win)
• 7.0 (Win)

Microsoft BOB (1995) 12 Novelty Windows

Microsoft BOB is a Windows 3.1 graphical shell intended for novice users. It presents your desktop as a series of "rooms" with various selectable objects, and assists you with a friendly animated guide. It features vector based graphics that scale to any size or resolution screen, supports user profiles, and includes rudimentary editor, calendar, address book, and checking programs. It was created as a response to Packard Bell Navigator and is somewhat comparable to Apple At Ease and 3DNA.

• 1.00
• 1.00a

Gryphon Morph (1993) 5 Graphics Novelty Windows

Morph, from Gryphon Software was the first commercial morphing program for PCs. With this program you specify related points between two images and the software will morph the two images together at different levels. The program can export the results to a movie file.

• 1.00

Corporate Secretary (1998) 5 Document Windows

EZ Legal Software Corporate Secretary is a set of legal templates geared towards the operation and management of a company.

• 4.x

Wired for Sound (1992) 4 Novelty Windows

Wired For Sound, from Aristosoft, is a tool that assigns silly sounds to various Windows events. It also includes a set of backgrounds, alternate icons, and alternate cursors, and a talking clock. There were different editions of WFS Pro with different sound sets.

• 2.x
• 3.x

Correct Quotes (1991) 4 Novelty Windows

Correct Quotes, from WordStar International, is a small database of about 5000 famous quotes. There were versions for DOS, Windows, and Macintosh. WordStar International, the producers of WordStar, also sold several other similar companion products including Correct Writing - a writing style manual, and Correct Letters - a large collection of letter templates.

• 1.x

Dilbert Break A Day (1997) 3 Novelty Windows MacOS

Released in 1997 by DayBreak Software, Break A Day is a calendar that shows a different Dilbert comic every day. Includes a 16-bit Windows 3.1 version, 32-bit Windows 9x/NT version, and a Mac version.

• 1

ABC 3D Atlas (1997) 3 Reference Novelty Windows

A 3D world atlas.

• 98

Johnny Castaway Screen Saver (1992) 3 Novelty Windows

Johnny Castaway Screen Saver from Sierra.

• 1.x

Omnipage Pro (1992) 3 Document Windows

Omnipage is an optical character recognition (scanned image) application that can export to a number of document formats. It was often bundled with scanners.

• 2.x
• 5.0
• 4.0LE
• 6.0
• 7.0
• 8.0
• 9.0
• 10.0
• 12

3DNA (2002) 3 Utility Novelty Windows

3DNA is a 3D virtual environment shell that presents your computer as a series of 3D video-game like rooms. It features objects that you can set to launch applications, web site previews in the form of a "browser bay", and in-program advertising. It was bundled with some video cards. In many ways it is like a 3d-version of Microsoft Bob, and has a resemblance to Packard Bell Navigator.

• 1.0
• 1.1

AOLPress (1997) 2 Editor Document Windows

AOL Press 2.0 is a Windows based what-you-see-is-what-you-get HTML editor from AOL. It competed with other HTML Cuisinarts such as Microsoft Front Page.

• 2.0

ViaVoice (1997) 2 Utility Novelty Windows

ViaVoice is a voice recognition program from IBM. It was available in a number of different languages. It was based on the previous VoiceType product Helloooo computer!

• 4.x
• 98

Faces (1998) 2 Graphics Novelty Windows

Faces 3.0 is a face composting tool similar to that which law enforcement uses. Select from a large number of facial features and parameters to re-create almost any face.

• 3.x

Icon Hear-It (1992) 1 Novelty Windows

Icon Hear-It, released in 1992 from Moon Valley Software, is a shell enhancement for Windows 3.0 and 3.1 that adds sound effects to all kinds of desktop and Program Manager actions. It features the ability to change the Program Manager program group icons, animated cursors and icons, and includes a talking calculator, clock, and solitaire game. It includes a PC speaker driver for those without a sound card.

• 1.0

Icon Make-It (1992) 1 Novelty Windows

Icon Make-it, from Moon Vally Software, the makers of Icon Hear-It, is a Windows 3.x icon editor, icon animator, and clipart. It also includes a "lite" version of Icon-Hear-It.

• 1.0

Microsoft Greetings (1997) 1 Publishing Novelty Windows

Microsoft Greetings is a greeting card maker for Microsoft Windows 9x/NT. It was made in conjunction with Hallmark.

• Workshop 2.0
• 99 (3.0)

Microsoft Saturn Screensaver (1995) 1 Novelty Windows

The Microsoft "Saturn" screen saver is a plasma-like screen saver that uses 256-color VGA pallet rotation to create dazzling effects.

• 1

Microsoft Creative Writer (1994) 1 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
• 2.x

Icon Do-It (1992) 1 Utility Novelty Windows

Icon-Do-It, from Moon Valley Software, is a utility that enables you to customize your program group icons, and add animated icons to normal program items. It also includes a screen saver module. It is designed to work with both Windows 3.0 and 3.1.

• 1.x
• 2.x

Talking Icons (1994) 1 Novelty Windows

Talking Icons 2.0 is a utility from Aristo-Soft for Windows 3.1 that adds silly sounds and animated icons to the Windows environment. It also features a tool (Windows FX) that changes the windows border with multiple themes, additional screen savers, wallpaper, additional mouse cursors, an icon editor, and "Talk" ready versions of Minesweeper, Solitaire, and Clock.

• 2.0