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General Software Discussion / Software longevity
« on: March 01, 2014, 09:46 AM »
The arrival of Beyond Compare 4 made me look back to see how long I have been using that software. It would seem to be at least 16 years, since I found an email from Tim Thousand from February 1998 concerning a suggestion I had made for adding some features to BC 1.
That, in turn, made me wonder just how many programs that I still rely on have I been using on a regular basis for that long. It's a pretty short list.
I've used Kedit and Opttech Sort since the 1980s, and while neither has been updated for years, they both remain essential in my work and are still maintained and sold by their developers.
I've relied on Quicken and Turbotax for financial matters since at least 1990, and probably started using them earlier than that.
I converted to Microsoft Word and Excel in 1994 and have stayed with them ever since.
My earliest licenses for the Opera browser (it didn't become free until several years later) and Treesize Pro date from 1999, and I may have used them before that. I still use both on a daily basis. I purchased Adobe Acrobat in 1999, and I guess that might count since, while I haven't used Acrobat in years, I do still use Adobe Reader.
I may have missed something, but looking at the dozens of programs I use regularly, no others have been around that long.
That, in turn, made me wonder just how many programs that I still rely on have I been using on a regular basis for that long. It's a pretty short list.
I've used Kedit and Opttech Sort since the 1980s, and while neither has been updated for years, they both remain essential in my work and are still maintained and sold by their developers.
I've relied on Quicken and Turbotax for financial matters since at least 1990, and probably started using them earlier than that.
I converted to Microsoft Word and Excel in 1994 and have stayed with them ever since.
My earliest licenses for the Opera browser (it didn't become free until several years later) and Treesize Pro date from 1999, and I may have used them before that. I still use both on a daily basis. I purchased Adobe Acrobat in 1999, and I guess that might count since, while I haven't used Acrobat in years, I do still use Adobe Reader.
I may have missed something, but looking at the dozens of programs I use regularly, no others have been around that long.