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Software for Windows 1.0

Mark2000

Experienced Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2012
Messages
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I never took Windows seriously back in the day, so I don't know if there are any applications other than the ones supplied with Windows itself that are worth running or even exist. Googling "windows 1.0 software" brings up very little. Is there anything specific I should be looking for or any particular resources?
 
Honestly, I don't thinlk anyone took Windows 1.0 seriously back in the day. It is to my understanding that if you wanted graphics, you got a Mac.
 
Worth running: tough to say. Most showed signs of being the various companies first GUI designs or they were Mac ports by programmers that hadn't yet learned Windows progamming.

Available for Windows 1.0x: Micrographx In-A-Vision ; Palantir had a bunch of different application; Pagemaker; Whitewater Actor; Balance of Power. Look at the early Windows 2.x app list*, most were runnable on Windows 1.0x. I am not sure as to Excel since Excel was released just before Windows 2 but I seem to remember that Excel had a prerelease version of Windows 2 as a runtime.

* http://www.guidebookgallery.org/ads/magazines/windows/win20-applications from 1988
 
That's partly what I meant. The few people who did use it mostly just used it for DOS apps.
 
Yeah even tools like Ami shipped with Windows 2.11 libraries, and MS Word for Windows was built for Windows 3.0 with 2.11 support. Windows 1 was pretty blah really, as above it's like a task switcher / file manager, I'm sure there might've been a few apps made but I haven't came across one - I suspect anything made for it in that time wouldn't have been terribly popular.
 
Most of the people that I knew that used Windows 1.x ran Pagemaker. Early x86 Pagemaker sucked pretty badly, so you were advised to buy a Mac to run it. But there were some die-hards...
 
Actually, looking at Win1.04 again for the first time in, maybe, 25 years, it's not too bad. Write is a pretty decent WYSIWYG word processor. Paint isn't too horrible either, being made by ZSoft. Just wish it had color. The app tiling is kind of useless, but I like the method of minimizing and switching apps. All in all it's quite cute. I wouldn't mind seeing other apps in it.
 
Weird question... I never used win 1.0 alot, but what is the difference between it and dosshell in later dos versions? I always figured win 1.0 was just an older version of dosshell.
 
Well, it had a few built in programs and can multitask. DOSSHELL was really just a graphic file manager.
 
Weird question... I never used win 1.0 alot, but what is the difference between it and dosshell in later dos versions? I always figured win 1.0 was just an older version of dosshell.

DOS 5 DOSSHELL was closer to the Win 3 standard mode task switching and the OS/2 DOS compatability box: the DOS app (really most of the lower 640KB) would be saved to disk and some other app loaded into the lower 640KB.

Win 1.x did a crazy thing by sharing the lower 640 KB between Windows and the DOS app and tried the multitask with the DOS app. Surprisingly, sometimes this actually worked and for the rest of the applications, the DOS app could be forced into a non-multitasking mode. Note: for most big DOS apps (Wordperfect and the like), running them in Win 1.x left too little room for the DOS app and also used so much memory that few Windows apps could run. Win 286 2.x changed this in several ways: DOS apps could be set into seperate EMS page frames and quickly switched between so big apps were easily run; Win 286 stopped bothering to try forcing most DOS apps to multitask but added functionality to work with Topview's cooperative multitasking; and the PIF system inspired by Topview for DOS setups were enhanced to work with more applications.

Just in case I wasn't clear: DOS apps in Win 1.x and 2.x could run in a window. See http://toastytech.com/guis/win101dos.gif for an example.
 
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I know this is an old thread, but I recently got my IBM AT running with Windows 1.03. I have a very vague memory of playing with a Windows 1 system sometime in the 80's. In addition to the programs that come with Windows, it had a set of demo programs that I would love to find. Most of the programs seemed to be designed to show off the graphics features of Windows. One of them produced graphics that looked similar to the Windows "Mystify" screen saver". Another one caused moles to pop up at random places on the screen on top of what ever program you were using. They left behind mole hills, and it would eventually slow the system down to a crawl. I'm almost sure there was one that produced an aquarium where you could vary the number and size of the fish. The mouse cursor would turn into a fish while running that one. I think there was one that filled the screen with various size and color rectangles stacked on top of each other. I'm not sure if they were from Microsoft, or not, but I'm sure they were for pre 2.0 Windows.
 
For DOS taskswitching/multitasking I always used PC-MIX by Proware. It's able to run on a 286 or an 8088, only requires 256K to run and can use EEMS. It can be configured to run three programs simultaneously. Once I discovered it I never ran my 286 without it (for obvious reasons).


Here's the blurb. Pay close attention to the 'PC-MIX is Small:' paragraph as this little program manages to do something WinBlows never could master. :) And it's only a 34K ZIP file!


Easy to Use:

With PC-MIX we went to great lengths to bury the complexity of the
system deep in the software. We don't burden you with all kinds of
complex set-up and control. We made Multitasking easy to use. In fact,
it is so easy to use you almost don't even need to read the User's
manual!


It's Simple to Learn:

We put a lot of effort into making PC-MIX simple to learn. We don't
overwhelm you with a lot of complex command sequences and useless
information. With PC-MIX you'll be up to speed in no time at all!


It's Quick to Set-Up:

PC-MIX is quick and easy to set up. In addition to our clear and
concise User's Manual, you'll get a specially designed configuration
editor. The Editor gives you all the configuration parameters on just
one screen along with a graphical display of your computers memory.
It won't take you any time at all to be up and running with a
customized multitasking system.


PC-MIX is Small:

Have you ever loaded a utility into your computer and found, to your
dismay, that it consumed half of your memory? Somebody must have
thought it was the only thing you wanted to run. PC-MIX will not hog
your computer's memory like other Multitasking programs. PC-MIX uses
only 30K Bytes. That's Small!


PC-MIX Features:

True Pre-Emptive Scheduling; PC-MIX allows your program to share your
computer. PC-MIX switches back and forth between your programs many
times a second. It's automatic. You won't know it's Happening.

Three Programs Running Concurrently; PC-MIX allows you to have three
application programs, such as spreadsheets, data bases, and word
processors, running concurrently.

Fast and Efficient Program Execution; PC-MIX does not swap your
programs out to disk. They always remain in memory. This makes your
programs run fast and efficiently.

Rapid Switching Between Programs; It only takes Two Key strokes to
switch from one task to another.

Full-Screen Program Displays; PC-MIX allows your programs to use the
entire screen just like they are designed to. Each program has it's
own dedicated screen.

System Status Display; PC-MIX gives you a composite view of your
computer system with the system status display. Information is concise
and well organized. You can quickly see the status of all your programs.

Configurable Memory Partitions; Your computer's memory is divided
into three partitions; one for each task. You can easily customize
the size of each partition to suit your needs.

Selectable Task Priorities; Task priorities determine the execution
sequence of your programs. PC-MIX gives you the flexibility to set
each task's priority to one of three levels.

Operation Beyond 640K; With EEMS memory, PC-MIX can dramatically
increase the size of your task's memory partitions. With some
computers you can have 640K bytes of memory for each task.

Dedicated Graphics Screen; Scheduling graphics programs can be a
terrible burden on a multitasking system. Huge Video buffers must
be continously swapped in and out of video ram. The performance of
the system drops dramatically. PC-MIX has solved this problem by
dedicating the computer to the Graphics programs. All other programs
are put on hold until the graphics program is finished. You won't
have to work with a slugish computer. It will be as fast as it
normally is.
 
Maybe creating a thread about PC-MIX with screen shots might be instead of being buried in a Windows one might be useful Stone.
 
I was considering that as an option and I think you have convinced me. I can't run it on my Pentium 233 tweener so I guess I'll have to go to one of the real computers to set it up again.
 
It might create a bit of discussion of similar programs re multitasking/task switching and environments/OSs on a 286 class machine. I don't think we've had one for a while.
 
I gathered that but early Windows bashing does get tiresome and demonstration of the software in question would be a lot more useful.
 
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