Lotus 1-2-3 (1983) 64 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.

• 97 (Win)
• 9.5 (Office)
• 9.0 (Win)
• 9.1 (Win)
• 9.5 (Win)

Norton Utilities (1983) 38 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

Sidekick (1984) 4 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.

• 2.0 for Windows

Microsoft Excel (1985) 45 Spreadsheet Windows

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

• 95 (7.0)
• 97/98 (8.0)

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

Microsoft Works (1986) 90 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.

• 4.0
• 4.5
• 5.x
• 6.0
• 9.0

Norton Commander (1986) 72 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)

Norton Anti-Virus (1990) 0 Utility Windows

Originally written by Symantec and sold as Symantec Antivrus for Macintosh, it became part of the "Norton" branded products sold by Symantec after they acquired Peter Norton Computing. Norton Anti-Virus became a popular product on DOS, Windows, and Macintosh (SAM was renamed to NAV in 1998) and battled the then-new threat of malicious software. In 2015, Symantec unified their security product lineup under the single "Norton Security" product. It was also bundled with Norton SystemWorks.

• 2.0 (Win)

QEMM (1990) 17 Utility DOS Windows

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.

• 9.x

PKZip (1990) 12 Utility Windows

Pkzip is the most common archiver for MS-DOS based systems. It implements a an open compression method and is much faster than other archivers of its time.

• 2.5 for Windows

WillMaker (1990) 0 Other Windows

WillMaker is a program that takes a set of simple human-understandable questions to produce the complex legal language and law considerations, required for a modern will.

• 5.0

Microsoft Office (1991) 324 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.

• 95
• 97/98
• 2000
• XP (2002 Beta)

ClarisWorks (1991) 9 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.

• 4.x

Windows Resource Kit (1991) 9 Utility Windows

The Microsoft Windows Resource kit is a set of supplementary tools for managing and deploying Microsoft Windows. The first Windows Resource kit was released in 1991 for Windows 3.0. Most, but not all, Windows versions after that had corresponding Resource Kits. These were often freely downloadable from Microsoft.

• 95
• NT 4.0
• 98
• 2000

Xerox Globalview (1992) 0 Word Processor Spreadsheet Presentations Graphics Publishing Communications Database Windows

Xerox Globalview is a desktop environment and office suite originally developed for the Xerox Star. It was developed in the MESA programming language on the Xerox Star, and ported to Sun Solaris, OS/2, and Windows 3.1 (The OS/2 version requires a MESA emulator card).

• 2.1 for Windows
• 2.3 for Windows

Dashboard (1992) 0 Utility Windows

Dashboard for Windows, originally from HP, is a convenient push-button utility which gives you quick access to and maximum control over your Windows programs. and buttons for launching programs. Drag-and-drop support for printing, plotting, and faxing. Miniature screens that make it easy to work with several full-screen programs at once. An alarm clock with a built-in snooze alarm. And "At a glance" feedback to let you know which programs are running and how much memory you are using. It has a resemblance to the Unix Common Desktop Environment toolbar.

• 3.0
• 95

Lotus SmartSuite (1992) 27 Word Processor Spreadsheet Presentations PIM Database Windows

IBM/Lotus SmartSuite is an office suite from Lotus software for Windows and OS/2. SmartSuite includes SmartCenter, 1-2-3, Word Pro, Freelance Graphics, Approach, Organizer, and ScreenCam.

• 4.0
• 96
• 97
• 9.0
• 9.1
• 9.5
• 9.6
• 9.7
• 9.8

Vistapro (1992) 0 Graphics Other Windows

Vistapro is a three-dimensional landscape simulation program. Using U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Digital Elevation Model (DEM) files, Vistapro can accurately recreate real world landscapes in vivid detail. It can also create fractal based landscapes, and provides many customizations. Vistapro originated on the Amiga and also had a Macintosh port.

• 4.x (Win)

Monarch (1992) 0 Utility Windows

Monarch is an easy to use business tool that extracts data from printed reports and mainframe data files that you can then import in to tools like Lotus 1-2-3 or Excel. Printed reports files are not always formatted in a consistent fashion - they are formatted for people to read, not machines. But this tool makes sorting through all of that easy.

• 2.x (Win)
• 3.x (Win)

Packard Bell Navigator (1993) 5 Utility Other Windows

Packard Bell Navigator is an alternate user interface that replaces the Windows 3.1 Program Manager shell. It presents the content of your computer as a series of rooms.

• 3.9

ARCserve (1993) 0 Utility Server Windows

ARCserve, from Cheyenne Software Inc., is an enterprise grade backup software for Windows NT.

• 6.0

Backup Exec (1993) 0 Utility Windows

Backup Exec is an easy to use backup program. It can back up files to floppy disks or certain tape drives. companies including Maynard Electronics, Archive Corp, Quest Development Corporation, Conner Peripherals, Arcada Software, Seagate Technology, Veritas Software, and Symantec. On top of that, Microsoft bundled a version with MS-DOS 6.

• 5.0 (Win)

FontMinder (1993) 1 Utility Publishing Windows

FontMinder, by Dennis Harrington & Costas Kistos, is a font management tool that streamlines the installation and archival of Windows TrueType and Adobe Type Manager fonts.

• 2.5

Policies Now! (1993) 0 Utility Publishing Windows

Policies Now is a document creation wizard that specializes in corporate policies. It provides general purpose templates with carefully constructed language that are customized via a series of questions. The results may be manually customized further with a built in text editor. accompanied by "DescriptionsWrite Now!" (A job description writing tool), and "Personal Policy Expert". These were renamed to "Policies Now!", "Description Now!", and "Policies Now! HR Pro Edition" respectively.

• 5.x

WINProbe (1993) 0 Utility Windows

WINProbe is a commercial system information and diagnostic program from Landmark International, maker of benchmark and diagnostic programs. criticized as being rather buggy. Landmark also produced the separate Sysinfo product for DOS.

• 3.1