Lotus 1-2-3 (1983) 83 Spreadsheet OS2 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 (OS/2)
• 1.x (Win)
• 4.x (Win)
• 2.x (OS/2)
• 5.x (Win)
• 97 (Win)
• 9.5 (Office)
• 9.0 (Win)
• 9.1 (Win)
• 9.5 (Win)

Multiplan (1983) 12 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

Autodesk AutoCAD (1984) 21 Graphics Engineering Windows

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.

• r11 (Win)

PC Paintbrush (1984) 4 Graphics Windows

ZSoft PC Paintbrush is a bitmap drawing program visually similar to MacPaint. The earlier DOS versions were often bundled with Microsoft and Microsoft compatible mice, and were notable for supporting a huge variety of video adapters. It competed against Mouse Systems PC Paint (not related despite the similar name). ZSoft PC Paintbrush eventually became Microsoft Paintbrush included in Windows 3.x. For Microsoft's rebranded version see Microsoft Mouse and Microsoft Paintbrush

• 1.05 (Win)
• Plus 1.x (Win)

PC Paint (1984) 4 Graphics Windows

PC Paint, from Mouse Systems Corporation, is a Macintosh MacPaint-like paint program for the PC. It was often bundled with Mouse Systems mice. Despite the similar sounding name and appearance, it is NOT related to Microsoft/ZSoft PC Paintbrush.

• 3.x

Microsoft Excel (1985) 127 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
• 2.2
• 3.x
• 4.x
• 5.x
• 95 (7.0)
• 97/98 (8.0)

PrintMaster (1985) 4 Graphics Windows

Print Master was another sign and banner creation program similar to The Print Shop. The earlier version got in to trouble for looking too much like the Print Shop.

• Gold 3.0 (Win)
• Gold 4.0 (Win)

Freelance Graphics (1985) 3 Presentations Graphics OS2 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 (OS/2)
• 1.0 (Win)
• 2.x (Win)

Ability (1985) 23 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

Microsoft Works (1986) 84 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

Harvard Graphics (1986) 16 Graphics Windows

Harvard Graphics, from Software Publishing Corporation and initially called Harvard Presentation Graphics, is a graphing/plotting/presentation creation application for DOS. It was extremely popular in the late 1980s. At release, it competed against many graphing products such as PFS:Graph (AKA IBM Graphing Assistant ), Microsoft Chart, ChartMaster, and Cricket Graph, just to name a small few. A Windows port was released in 1991, but it lost out to Microsoft Powerpoint.

• 1.0 for Windows
• 2.0 for Windows
• 3.0 for Windows
• 4.0 for Windows

In-a-Vision (1986) 0 Graphics Windows

In-a-Vision is a vector based drawing program that was one of the first commercial programs written for Microsoft Windows. It runs under Windows 1.x. Later versions of this software were called Micrografx Designer

• 1.x

Micrografx Windows Draw (1986) 6 Graphics Windows

Micrografx Draw is a free-form vector based drawing program with a collection of clipart. The earlier versions are especially notable as being among the few programs produced for Microsoft Windows 1.x.

• 1.04
• Plus 1.1
• 3.0
• 4.0
• 5.0
• 6.0

PowerPoint (1987) 17 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)

Quattro Pro (1987) 9 Spreadsheet Windows DOS

Quattro Pro, initially just named "Quattro", is a spreadsheet application from Borland International. It competed against Lotus 1-2-3 and Excel, and had several advantages including tabbed sheets, and the ability to handle up to a million rows. Quattro Pro was the subject a lawsuit by Lotus, simply because because Quattro Pro copied their menu user interface, but Lotus claimed this was not allowed. This also affected The Twin and VP-Planner.

• 1.0 (Win)
• 5.x
• 6.x (Win)

AutoSketch (1987) 10 Graphics Windows

AutoSketch is a 2D vector program sold by Autodesk. Unlike artistic drawing programs, AutoSketch is specifically geared towards engineering applications. Although not as powerful as AutoCAD, it can work with 2D AutoCAD files. Autodesk also produced AutoCAD LT, a higher end 2-D drawing program. But unlike AutoSketch, AutoCAD LT was based directly on AutoCAD and worked similarly.

• 2.x (Win)
• 5.x (Win)

Micrografx Portfolio (1987) 0 Utility Graphics Windows

Micrografx Portfolio is a Windows 1.x preview and clipboard tool for use with Micrografx Clip art. It previews clipart on the screen and lets the user copy items to the clipboard, or export them to Micrografx Windows Draw and Micrografx In-A-Vision/Desginer. They can also be used with Micrografx Windows Graph. Clip art can be converted with Micrografx Windows Convert

• 1.0

Micrografx Windows Graph (1987) 0 Presentations Graphics Windows

Micrografx Windows Graph is an application for creating business graphs and charts. It was one of a handful of commercial applications designed for Microsoft Windows 1. It has much in common with Micrografx's other freeform drawing products, In-a-vision/Designer and Micrografx Windows Draw. More clip art can be found with Micrografx Portfolio or converted with Micrografx Windows Convert

• 1.x
• Plus 1.x

Meta Software Design (1987) 0 Presentations Graphics Windows

Design 2.0 is an outline/org chart for Microsoft Windows 2.

• 2.x

Publish Pac (1987) 0 Graphics Publishing Windows

Publish Pac is a set of drivers and a small scanning application for use with DEST scanners. It does not do much without the scanner, but it is interesting as it runs under Microsoft Windows 1. It includes a Windows 1.04 runtime, so DOS users would not have to purchase Windows.

• 2.x

Adobe Illustrator (1988) 108 Graphics Windows

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.

• 1.x
• 4.x
• 7.0
• 8.0
• 9.0
• 10.0

Photoshop (1988) 45 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.

• 1.x
• 2.x
• 3.x
• 4.x
• 5.x
• 6.x

Micrografx Designer (1988) 9 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.

• 1.1
• 2.0
• 3.0
• 3.1
• 4.0

Xerox Presents (1988) 1 Presentations Windows

Xerox Presents is a slideshow/presentation program similar to PowerPoint. You can use it to draw various kinds of graphs and charts, and it comes with a selection of vector based clipart. It later became CA Cricket Presents.

• 1.0

FreeHand (1988) 3 Graphics Publishing Windows

FreeHand is a vector based drawing program used to create illustrations. It is similar to CorelDraw and Adobe Illustrator. Initially it offered more features and flexibility than illustrator. It was created by Altsys, sold through Aldus, then sold to Macromedia, and then finally was assimilated by Adobe. Later versions repositioned itself as a content creation system for the web through Flash. The final version was Freehand MX (version 11) in 2003.

• 3.1
• 4.0
• 5.0