# Favorite old pieces of software (not games) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 2, 2021, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-old-pieces-of-software-not-games/932059 "2021-02-02T15:34:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![TheCuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thecuse/32/2854_2.png) [@TheCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheCuse)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-old-pieces-of-software-not-games/932059/81 "2021-02-04T12:15:30Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > Well, we were doing it in-house, at the office, til this Covid thing came along. Now I sit on my sofa and peruse the PDFs. Same at my place, except we have one guy still in the office, and the other is working from home. I’m working at home doing my thing with InDesign and whatnot. I’d rather be in the office, but it is what it is. I live in a one-bedroom apartment so I’m sick of looking at the same four walls. But it is nice to be working from home when the weather is bad out and we’re getting a ton of snow. ---
**Author:** ![Brayne\_Ded](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Brayne\_Ded](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brayne_Ded)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-old-pieces-of-software-not-games/932059/82 "2021-02-04T12:48:21Z")
I have a little experience with runtime formatters, but not Tex / LaTex. There is a steep learning curve. Not being WYSIWYG, you could run them on a 286, which is also fast enough for ASCII text editors. ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-old-pieces-of-software-not-games/932059/83 "2021-02-04T13:40:37Z")
Although classic WordPerfect (4.2) can of course still be run on modern hardware using DosBox, I’m not sure whether you can get a legal copy anymore. If you mean later versions, I didn’t like the windowized WordPerfect as that added the clutter of Word. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-old-pieces-of-software-not-games/932059/84 "2021-02-04T14:21:15Z")
You can _get_ WordPerfect 4.2 from the Internet Archive here: > **[WordPerfect 4.2 For DOS : WordPerfect : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming...](https://archive.org/details/word-perfect-4.2-for-dos-4.2-1987-09-english-3.5-720-k)** > > WordPerfect 4.2 For DOS ( 4.2) ( 1987 09) \[English\] ( 3.5'' 720 K)Two incredible resources for WordPerfect can be found online at:WPUniverse.com - an... As for whether it is legal to _use_ it for actual work in anyone’s particular situation, I have no idea (the Archive says it is your responsibility to find out, and not to violate any fair use in the case of copyrighted content). ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-old-pieces-of-software-not-games/932059/85 "2021-02-04T16:34:00Z")
Tape write rings! I used to collect every color, still have some in a box somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-old-pieces-of-software-not-games/932059/86 "2021-02-04T18:14:49Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > The graphics app I used in the 90s was **Deluxe Paint IV** for the Commodore Amiga. I used that one, too. One of the things I remember about the Amiga is that different windows/graphics could be displayed at different resolutions/color depths _at the same time_. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-old-pieces-of-software-not-games/932059/87 "2021-02-04T18:22:05Z")
I used to like playing with [this](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typestry), but the little company that made it switched to a different business model. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-old-pieces-of-software-not-games/932059/88 "2021-02-04T19:05:31Z")
[IrfanView](https://www.irfanview.com/) was first released by Irfan Skiljan in 1996. It’s still going strong, and I still use it all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Brayne\_Ded](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Brayne\_Ded](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brayne_Ded)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2021, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-old-pieces-of-software-not-games/932059/89 "2021-02-05T14:28:34Z")
I doiwnloaded it and tried it. Basically, it is a browser-like program, so if you love browsers you will find it ideal. However, it does not use function keys for common functions such as copy, move and delete, using the familiar Windows key combinations instead. Being so familiar with NC and Servant Salamander, I find XYplorer less agile and requires more mousing. It just does not offer me anything that justifies spending US$40. But many thanx for the info, and other people may well find it ideal for them. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2021, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-old-pieces-of-software-not-games/932059/90 "2021-02-05T14:44:43Z")
You can set it up to use the function keys, and any other keys, for anything you like. ### [Customizable Keyboard Shortcuts](https://www.xyplorer.com/tour.php?page=cks) > Personalized keyboard shortcuts are the key to maximized work efficiency. In XYplorer you can freely and easily assign any of hundreds of key combinations to hundreds of functions, including your own [custom functions](https://www.xyplorer.com/tour.php?page=udc) and [scripts](https://www.xyplorer.com/tour.php?page=scripting). Almost everything XYplorer can do, you can trigger it with one keystroke of your choice. And since it’s portable, and the shortcuts are saved in a separate file anyway, you only ever have to do it once. ---
**Author:** ![blabbermeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9a140/32.png) [@blabbermeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blabbermeister)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2021, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-old-pieces-of-software-not-games/932059/91 "2021-02-05T18:15:46Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > [IrfanView](https://www.irfanview.com/) was first released by Irfan Skiljan in 1996. > It’s still going strong, and I still use it all the time. Me too. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-old-pieces-of-software-not-games/932059/92 "2021-02-06T05:33:36Z")
[Graphic Converter is still going strong.](https://www.lemkesoft.de/en/products/graphicconverter/) I’ve been using it a lot this winter to organize my digital photos. Sometimes I download a damaged file, or one in a weird format, and Graphic Converter opens it right up. I can’t remember the name, but I had a little TSR utility in the 90s that would dial phone numbers for you. That is, you’d move your cursor to near a phone number in a text file (like the scratchpad file I keep open at all times) and press F9 and it would use your modem to dial the phone number. Cool! ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-old-pieces-of-software-not-games/932059/93 "2021-02-06T05:55:53Z")
> [@leswax](#): > > Flying Toasters from After Dark around 1994 was a joy to watch. Another great screensaver: Johnny Castaway, a guy who was stuck on a desert island, with only a palm tree for company. A co-worker had that on her computer, and we’d spend coffee breaks watching Johnny’s always-futile attempts to be rescued. As I recall, the program paid attention to the system date, so Johnny might find a gift from Santa on Christmas morning, or similar. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lantern2/32/3010_2.png) [@Lantern2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern2)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-old-pieces-of-software-not-games/932059/94 "2021-02-06T06:49:04Z")
The OP does bring back the memories. I remember the classical music series especially the Dissonant quartet cd-rom. There was some movie-based cd-rom that I also remember from that time; the bit that has stuck in my memory is a video-clip of the “waiting at noon” sequence from High Noon. Being able to interact with text,music and video in a computer program seemed amazing in those days. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-old-pieces-of-software-not-games/932059/95 "2021-02-06T07:10:33Z")
Hmm. Not sure I have any one favorite, and a lot of my old software I liked were games. But here are some pieces of software I liked that come to mind: - Telix: a DOS terminal program was much better than the Terminal program in Windows, as it had color and Zmodem. - KidPix: While fun, it wasn’t a game, but a drawing program. It had a similar idea to Mario Paint in making drawing fun. - Cartoon Workshop: similarly sounds like a game, but a program that let you make your own Looney Tunes shorts. - Arachne: a full on graphical web browser for DOS. It didn’t have JavaScript, but it was in a weird time where it existed but didn’t break websites when you didn’t have it. Those are all that come to mind beyond some Unix shell commands. I liked telnetting into things, but telnet isn’t really all that special. And lynx is how I downloaded and tried out so much software (and is the only software I’ve ever seen that let you send an email from any arbitrary from address). ---
**Author:** ![Brayne\_Ded](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Brayne\_Ded](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brayne_Ded)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-old-pieces-of-software-not-games/932059/96 "2021-02-06T11:50:30Z")
True, but I would have to set it up, and I do not at the moment have a need for the other functions that can be programmed. It’s clearly a very good program, it just is that what I have meets my needs and I know all the commands by heart. Now if only Servant Salamander could integrate NCD. With any of these programs I get massively irritated by the clunky Windows navigation pane in programs such as Office. The system does not remember what directory I was in and I have to go through the whole tree rigmarole all over again for each file I want to open. ---
**Author:** ![Brayne\_Ded](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Brayne\_Ded](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brayne_Ded)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-old-pieces-of-software-not-games/932059/97 "2021-02-06T11:55:35Z")
[blabbermeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blabbermeister) [18h](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-old-pieces-of-software-not-games/932059/91) > [@GreenWyvern](#): > > [IrfanView](https://www.irfanview.com/) was first released by Irfan Skiljan in 1996. > > > It’s still going strong, and I still use it all the time. > Me too. Me too. An excellent program. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2021, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-old-pieces-of-software-not-games/932059/98 "2021-02-06T12:31:51Z")
> [@Brayne\_Ded](#): > > With any of these programs I get massively irritated by the clunky Windows navigation pane in programs such as Office. The system does not remember what directory I was in and I have to go through the whole tree rigmarole all over again for each file I want to open. You can [set default open and save locations](https://softwarekeep.com/help-center/how-to-change-the-default-folder-for-open-and-save-in-office). ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2021, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-old-pieces-of-software-not-games/932059/99 "2021-02-07T03:29:52Z")
PE2 Personal Editor 2. It was one of the first IBM-employee developed programs published by IBM as a way to bring more software to the new PC market. It was simple yet very customizable (Dvorak keyboard? No problem!) Not sure when or why I stopped using it (probably because it was DOS based text only). I currently use Notepad++. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2021, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-old-pieces-of-software-not-games/932059/100 "2021-02-07T07:45:34Z")
I agree with comments about the AfterDark screen saver. I had a lot of fun with customizing, especially when a version came out that allowed combining modules. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-old-pieces-of-software-not-games/932059.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-old-pieces-of-software-not-games/932059.md?page=6)