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nostalgia hour: old software you loved

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iphigenie:
I've just been sorting through old papers and one of the folders had old software licenses, old registration emails... It just got me thinking fondly of some old software I just liked (yes, fondly!), used a lot, lost... and some I still use...

So 3 questions

1) what are the earliest (independent) programs you "registered" - that can be paid registration, email registration, donation, postcard?

2) what are your favorite programs you no longer use?

3) what are the oldest programs you still use?
a) use a new version of / b) still use "as is"

nudone:
nice questions but i personally can't think of anything old enough for it to be interesting. i look forward to seeing the other replies.

iphigenie:
1) earliest software:

I'm not a 100% sure as I was using windows and OS/2 in parallel and it's hard to remember...

* squeaky mouse - navigation helper on windows 3 - moving the mouse cursor to dialog, help with scrolling, help with jumping down lists by typing a letter. Most of these features have now
* windows commander
* postroad mailer (OS/2)
* a fax software
i think i also had quarterdeck dashboard and cleansweep, but they're borderline "shrinkwrap".

The earliest software I remember spending money on was on a much earlier PC still, and it was Borland's turbo pascal. It cost and arm and a leg to me when i was in school and i saved for a long time to buy it (they didnt have academic pricing then) and a 20Mb hard drive. At 14? and I wasnt even that geeky but programming was fun... That was DOS! I'm sure I spent money on some other things too but I only remember that one cause it was so much money.

2) fondly remembered:

* squeaky mouse clearly is one of them, it was so incredibly cute as well as useful. I still have the executable. In my family we still have what we call the "squeaky mouse dance"... moving swiftly on...

* cookie pal would be another, before all browsers accumulated their own cookie management. It could still be useful if it evolved in being a tool where you can manage one blacklist, one whitelist which works in all browsers...

* webgal - a snippets management tool for developers, to store code bits etc. which the developer never moved forward. It was very useful to me, but I just might have been the only one.

I still have the executables for those 3 and everything I ever registered... although maybe not the os/2 ones.

3) oldest programs still in use:

a) I have had these through numerous versions, so the version i use is not old, but the "software relationship" is.

total commander - i'm not sure when i registered it, maybe i should ask. Somewhere around 1994 I think. And I still get upgrades for free! I'd almost feel bad about it, except I had several companies I work with buy 10-25 licenses and currently own 14 licenses on top of that one, so i think that evens it out.

object desktop - i used it under OS/2, around 1996? then when switching to windows I got it to get some of the tools I was familiar with, and I kind of have been renewing ever since. I think at the moment I use very little of it but it goes in phases...

slickedit - i love that editor. I'm stuck at version 6 cause i can't justify the upgrade costs at the moment. I remember discovering it as part of the IBM OS/2 developer connection in 96 or so

iphigenie:
nice questions but i personally can't think of anything old enough for it to be interesting. i look forward to seeing the other replies.
-nudone (March 03, 2007, 04:49 AM)
--- End quote ---

yes, i guess it depends on age and all. mine aren't very old compared to some people, probably, but seem antique when i realise it has been 12 years or more!

app103:
First program I ever paid for: McAfee Virus Scan 5 (they wouldn't tell me how to update v4's dats and made me buy v5 to get the info)

Oldest program I no longer use but wish I could: Nuts & Bolts Defragger (from McAfee Office 2000, which came with that Virus Scan v4)

Oldest program I still use...

I thought it was Dupeless 1.2 (1998) but then I remembered this little gem I like to play:



Keep in mind I didn't get my first PC till 1999.  :-[

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