Goold Old Software: from Norton Commander to Deluxe Paint
In the 1980s and 1990s, PCs were still uncharted territory, and the software of the time perfectly reflected that evolving, somewhat experimental landscape. Programs like Norton Commander and Deluxe Paint are often remembered as icons of that era, but they were far from alone: there was an entire universe of tools still remembered today.
For productivity, programs like Lotus 1-2-3, WordPerfect, and Microsoft Works were ubiquitous—essential, fast, and advertised as capable of turning your PC into a pocket-sized office. Those taking their first steps into digital graphics found their way through editors such as Deluxe Paint, CorelDRAW, or the early versions of Adobe Photoshop, which were beginning to shape the industry.
In the realm of file management and operating systems, MS-DOS, PC Tools, and the first versions of Windows coexisted with more spartan utilities like XTree Gold and Norton Utilities. These were essential tools for navigating files and directories, recovering data, or squeezing a few extra kilobytes out of hard drives that were tiny compared to what we use today.
And then there was the creative and multimedia side, which exploded in the ’90s with software like Painter, 3D Studio, Director, and various Tracker music tools, paving the way for new methods of producing images, animations, and audio. Each program was crafted with an almost artisanal care, optimized to run on limited machines, and forced developers to focus on what truly mattered.
Here's a list of some of the most memorable software from that era:
Productivity
Lotus 1-2-3 – The spreadsheet giant before Excel.
WordPerfect – The leading word processor of the ’80s.
Microsoft Works – A lightweight all-in-one suite.
Graphics & Multimedia
CorelDRAW – The dominant vector illustration tool.
Painter – Known for its natural media brushes.
3D Studio – The precursor to 3ds Max and a milestone in 3D graphics.
Operating Systems, File Managers & Utilities
MS-DOS – The backbone OS of IBM-compatible PCs.
Windows 3.1 / 95 – The versions that brought Windows mainstream.
Norton Commander – The iconic dual-pane file manager.
Audio & Music
FastTracker – A classic tracker for PC composers.
Impulse Tracker – A refined tracker used by demoscene artists.
Cakewalk – One of the earliest consumer-level MIDI sequencers.
Misc / Iconic
PKZIP / PKUNZIP – The standard for file compression.
Netscape Navigator – The browser that defined early web surfing.
Winamp – The MP3 player that “whipped the llama’s ass.”
The ’80s and ’90s were the decades in which many influential software titles emerged, ones that helped companies like Adobe rise to prominence, but also others that unfortunately never spread as widely as they deserved (who doesn’t miss Norton Commander?).