Quarterdeck Manifest (1988) 1 Utility DOS

Manifest is an easy to use diagnostic program that provides incredibly detailed information about DOS resource usage, loaded programs, IO devices, and memory usage including EMS, XMS, and UMB memory. It was available as a standalone program and bundled with QEMM and Deskview. Tools like this were essential for resolving compatibility problems between poorly behaved DOS programs and highly customized environments, especially in task switched or multitasking environments.

• 1.x

QuickMenu (1991) 0 Utility DOS

QuikMenu III is an icon-based graphical menu and desktop for DOS.

• 1.x

RightGrammar (1991) 1 Utility DOS

RightGrammar 1.0 was a short lived rebranded version of RightWriter 4.0. It is not clear why it was rebranded or if there is any difference.

• 1.0

RightWriter (1987) 3 Utility DOS

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.

• 2.x
• 3.x
• 3.2 for DeskMate
• 4.0

Sidekick (1984) 15 Utility PIM DOS

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.x
• Plus
• 2.0

Sideways (1985) 3 Spreadsheet Utility DOS

Sideways is a printing utility that enables you to print a spreadsheet sideways (landscape) when using a graphics printer. While that might seem like a common basic function these days, this is something that early spreadsheets lacked. Using continuous form (tractor feed) paper, a Sideways printout may seamlessly span multiple pages without having to tape or glue pages together. Sideways was sometimes bundled with spreadsheet products. "Sideways leaves no text un-turned".

• 3.11
• 3.3

SitBack (1991) 1 Utility DOS

SitBack is a unique backup tool that backs up files in the background while users are using their systems. This is based on the reality that most users do not want to take the time or effort to manually back up their work. SitBack can backup up to local drives or network shares, and can back up from many kinds of media.

• 3.x

SoftLogic Disk Optimizer (1987) 1 Utility DOS

Disk Optimizer, from SoftLogic Solutions Inc., was a low cost disk defragmentation utility that competed directly against the Norton Utilities. Like other disk optimizers, it re-arranges where files are stored on a hard drive to decrease file access time. It was, however, not as full featured or robust as the Norton Utilities.

• 2.x

Software Bridge (1989) 1 Utility DOS

Software Bridge is a set of executable word processor file converters. It can convert between a large number of word processors while preserving formatting.

• 3.x

Spellin! (1992) 2 Utility DOS

Spellin! is a spell checker that works from within Lotus 1-2-3 to find and correct spelling errors in spreadhseet text fields. Includes a database of 90,000 words and support custom dictionaries. Note: Lotus 1-2-3 3.x Requires Release Spellin release 3

• 1.x

SpinRite (1988) 19 Utility DOS

SpinRite, by Gibson Research, is a tool that can diagnose, repair, and rejuvenate the low-level formatting and optimize the interleave of MFM and RLL (ST412/506 interface) hard disk drives. Its pattern testing ability is also useful for verifying the operation of SCSI and IDE hard drives.

• 1.x
• II
• 3.x
• 4.x
• 5.0

StarProof Bridge (1984) 0 Word Processor Utility DOS

The StarProof Bridge is a utility that enabled IBM Word Proof to work with WordStar documents.

• 1.00

Super PC-Kwik (1992) 0 Utility DOS

PC-Kwik is an easy to use hard drive disk caching utility. Compared to some other caching utilities, it is easy to use, it automatically configures itself, and is less likely to cause data corruption.

• 5.x

The Program Director (1989) 1 Utility DOS

The Program Director is a tiny little customizable menuing program. It was sold commercially as budget software.

• 1989

Top Priority (1989) 1 PIM DOS

Top Priority is a Personal Information Management tool that keeps track of your appointments and tasks, set priorities, alerts you of periodic events, chart progress, and creates schedules. It offers an optional resident version that can run in the background while other DOS programs are in use. Can export data to Calendar Creator Plus.

• 1.0

TopView (1985) 3 Utility DOS

Released by IBM in 1984, TopView was a text-mode windowed multitasker for the IBM PC, XT, and AT computer. It featured preemptive multitasking, text-based windowed task sessions, overlapping windows, and supports the use of a mouse. In part, it was one of the reasons why overlapping windows were added to Microsoft Windows 2.0. TopView was later overtaken by DesqView, OS/2, and Windows. For more information, see the Topview 1.00 Software Spotlight.

• 1.x

ToyBox Menu Manager / Magic Desk (1992) 0 Utility DOS

ToyBox II, later renamed to Magic Desk, is a simplified graphical menu system that lets you launch your DOS applications from a selection of tiled iconic buttons. Supports nested hierarchies, includes an icon editor, and a number of common icons.

• 2.x
• 3.x (Magic Desk)

Trend Micro Chip Away (1993) 2 Utility DOS

Released in the early 90s by the Japanese company Trend Micro Devices, Inc (later just Trend Micro), Chip Away Viruses is a DOS based virus scanner that is intended to run from a hardware product built in to a PC motherboard before the system boots. It includes a custom embeddable DOS (called X-DOS), but it can be run from regular DOS. Trend Micro also produced the products PC Rx (A regular software virus scanner), and PC-cillin (a hardware/software combo that keeps critical boot information in a special device). Users sometimes misinterpreted the name "ChipAway Virus" as being a virus itself.

• 2.x

Turbo Lightning (1986) 1 Utility DOS

Borland's Turbo Lightning is a DOS based TSR spell checker. It can also look up Synonyms.

• 1.x

V-Print (1984) 1 Utility DOS

V-Print, from CompuView, is a printing product designed to accompany VEDIT.

• 2.x

Video Tape File System (1991) 0 Utility Reference DOS

Video Tape File System is a database program that you can use to organize your VHS video tapes. You can sort by title, actor, or category, print labels, and print a complete reference. It includes a top 100 movie reviews, can retrieve movie review information from Prodigy, and it includes 50 colored labels to get you started. There were version for Apple II and IBM PC.

• Plus

ViruSafe (1991) 1 Utility DOS

ViruSafe is a fast, comprehensive yet easy to use virus scanner produced by the makers of XTree. It can find known viruses and monitor files for any kind of unwanted changes. It features the ability to schedule scans, and can create a "recovery" boot disk to deal with boot sector viruses.

• 4.5

WindowDOS (1987) 1 Utility DOS

WindowDOS is a pop-up TSR utility that enables DOS users to run DOS commands and perform file management while they are still running other applications. It can search for files, password lock a system, view files, and send special printer control codes to change printer text modes.

• 2.x

WordPerfect Library (1998) 2 Utility Editor PIM DOS

WordPerfect Library, introduced in 1986 and later renamed WordPerfect Office (not to be confused with Corel's Windows office suite of the same name), was a package of DOS network and stand-alone utility software for use with WordPerfect. The package included a DOS menu shell and file manager, whose macros allowed text to be moved from one program to another (for example, from WordPerfect to Calendar, and vice versa), a do-all editor, apparently that of Wordperfect 3.0, which could edit binary files as well as WordPerfect or Shell macros, calendar, and a general purpose flat file database program that could be used as the data file for a merge in WordPerfect and as a contact manager.

• 2.0

WordPerfect Office (Groupware) (1990) 1 Utility Editor PIM DOS

WordPerfect Office, from WordPerfect Corp, is a groupware utility that includes a menu shell, text editor, calendar, calculator, notebook, and file manager. It is unrelated to the later Corel office suite by the same name. Earlier versions were known as WordPerfect Library.

• 3.0