The most popular abandonware applications
Abandonware DOS is not only about games. Some of the most fondly remembered software for old PCs is an application. These applications, both for DOS and early versions of Windows, played pivotal roles in shaping the personal computing landscape. They introduced users to various productivity tools, multimedia experiences, and the potential of GUI-based interfaces.
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Turbo Assembler (TASM)
DOSWindows XP/98/951989 programming, utility
Turbo Assembler and Tools 5.0, often referred to as TASM, is an x86 assembler for MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows. As a key component of Borland's suite of development tools, TASM was packaged alongside Turbo Debugger (TD),...
Norton Commander 5.5
DOS1998 file management
Norton Commander was one of the most popular and influential file management applications ever released for MS-DOS. Introduced in 1986, it featured an innovative, dual-pane interface that allowed users to perform tasks like copyin...
QBASIC
DOS1991 programming
QBasic, or QuickBASIC, was an interpreted version of the BASIC programming language developed by Microsoft. It was designed to be easy to learn and use, making it accessible to beginners and hobbyist programmers. QBasic was part o...
dBASE III
DOS1984 database
dBASE III is a relational database management system (RDBMS) that was popular in the late 1980s. It was developed by Ashton-Tate, a software company. dBASE III was a successor to the earlier dBASE II and was part of a series of dB...
Wordstar 4
DOS1986 word processor
WordStar 4 was a popular word processing software program during the early days of personal computing. WordStar 4 included features typical of word processors in that era, allowing users to create, edit, and format documents....
GW-BASIC 3
DOS1988 programming
GW-BASIC (short for Gee Whiz BASIC) is a dialect of the BASIC programming language that was developed by Microsoft. It's one of the early implementations of BASIC and was included as the default programming environment in early ve...
Deluxe Paint 2
DOS1988 graphics editor
Deluxe Paint, often abbreviated as DPaint, was a popular bitmap graphics editor and animation software package. It was developed by Electronic Arts (EA) and released in the mid-1980s. Deluxe Paint was initially designed for the Co...
ELIZA for DOS
DOS1988 utility, life simulation
ELIZA, created in the mid-1960s by Joseph Weizenbaum at MIT, was one of the first computer programs to simulate human conversation. Designed as a natural language processing demonstration, ELIZA used pattern matching and substitut...
Borland Turbo Basic 1.0
DOS1987 programming
Borland Turbo Basic was a programming language developed by Borland, a software company that was prominent in the 1980s and 1990s. Turbo Basic was part of the Turbo series of programming languages and development tools that Borlan...
Borland Turbo C v1
DOS1987 programming
Turbo Pascal 7
DOSWindows 3.xMac OS1992 programming
Turbo Pascal 7 (TP7) is a programming language and integrated development environment (IDE) that was popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was developed by Borland as an evolution of their earlier Turbo Pascal versions. Tu...
VisiCalc 1.0
DOS1979freeware spreadsheet
VisiCalc was the first spreadsheet software for personal computers, and it played a pivotal role in the early history of personal computing. It was developed by Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston and first released in 1979 for the App...
PrintMaster
DOS1985 graphics editor
PrintMaster is a program that allows users to create a variety of print projects, such as greeting cards, banners, brochures, and more. It provides users with tools and templates to design and customize their own print materials.&...
Borland Turbo Pascal 3.0
DOS1986 programming
Borland DBase 5
DOS1994 database
Norton Commander 1.0
DOS1986 file management
Norton Commander was a file manager and editor application released by Peter Norton Computing for DOS. Norton Commander used a text-based user interface with side-by-side panels and featured copy, delete, editing and preview ...
DOSBox
Windows XP/98/95LinuxMac OS2002freeware emulator
DOSBox is an open-source emulator that allows you to run software and games designed for the MS-DOS operating system on modern computers. As you probably already know, MS-DOS was a popular operating system used in the 1980s and ea...
Word Perfect 5
DOS1989 word processor
DOS Navigator v 1.5
DOS1991freeware file management
Quattro Pro v4
DOS1991 spreadsheet
Arj
DOS1990 utility
ARJ is a file compression utility and file format created by Robert K. Jung. The name "ARJ" stands for "Archived by Robert Jung." It was popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a compression tool for MS-DOS and other systems....
Adventure Game Studio (AGS)
Windows 10/11LinuxMac OS1997freeware gaming software
Adventure Game Studio (AGS) is a software development tool that enables users to create point-and-click adventure games. It was originally created by Chris Jones and has been used by game developers to produce a variety of 2D adve...
Fast Tracker 2
DOS1994 sound software
After Dark
DOSWindows XP/98/95Mac OS1993 utility
Borland Paradox 4.5
DOSWindows XP/98/951993 database
Impulse Tracker
DOS1995freeware sound software
Impulse Tracker was a popular music tracker software developed by Jeffrey Lim in the late 1990s. Impulse Tracker utilized a tracker-style user interface, which was common in the demoscene and among enthusiasts of chiptune and...
Borland Turbo C v2
DOS1988 programming
Autodesk Animator Pro
DOS1991 graphics editor
3D Studio 3
DOS1993 graphics editor
Before Pixar made you cry with a lamp and a toy cowboy, there was 3D Studio 3 on DOS. Released in 1993, this was the go-to tool for aspiring animators who didn’t mind waiting three hours to render a spinning cube. It came wi...
DeskMate
DOS1984 utility, spreadsheet, word processor
Deskmate is a software suite developed by Tandy Corporation that provided a graphical user interface (GUI) and a set of applications for personal computers. It was often bundled with Tandy's TRS-80 and Tandy 1000 series of compute...