1 (edited by infocastme 2013-11-22 07:55:57)

Topic: Old software you miss or no longer use.

With Winamp getting ready to shutdown, I thought I would start a thread about old software that has faded away that we liked to use in the past. Also what program(s) do you still use but run an older version and why.

Some that come to mind is Wordperfect, Lotus Symphony, DirectoryTree, Nero, Alcohol 120%, and MusicMatch Jukebox . There are a lot of DOS programs that I used but of course are no longer needed.

Some of these are still out there in one form or another but no longer in the main stream. Good ol' MS has incorporated a lot of the functions into its OS. Linux users also have a lot of functionality built into the OS and have a lot of good freeware or inexpensive software available.

Re: Old software you miss or no longer use.

What I miss is Caesar II. I really liked that game.
When I bought my first PC in 1996, it came with a folder of CD ROMs. This impressed me at the point of sale because I didn't know any better, but they were generally useless or unappealing or both, except for Caesar II. It ran on DOS, and over the years I have made desultory attempts to get some sort of emulator working, without success. I don't really have enough knowledge to be able to troubleshoot that sort of thing.

Re: Old software you miss or no longer use.

I only run Windows for Photoshop and InDesign these days so I no longer use any old Windows software.

If you want to really go back for old software I used to use, how about Multimate and VP Planner? I had a word processor that fit on one 3.5" floppy disk. The spell checker was on a second floppy disk. Can't remember the name anymore. I am not a gamer but enjoyed Worms and Worms2. Fit my sense of humor. I used Lotus 1-2-3 for a very long time. I still don't like the way Exel works.

I have a lot of old programs saved for DOS, Palm Pilot, Windows CE, Android 2.1, Windows 3.1, Windows95, Windows98, WindowsXP, and a few other OSes. I may never use any of it again but bit buckets are cheap and much of it can be run in emulators these days.

Tar, feathers, congress. Some assembly required.

4 (edited by bobsz 2013-11-25 18:49:24)

Re: Old software you miss or no longer use.

I may have to post here a couple of times, because old favorites keep coming to mind. All-time best for the bytes- Windows Cardfile. It was nothing but alphabetical index cards, very straightforward, like a real Rolodex. Around since first Windows. Obviously,  ran super-fast on modern computers. 16-bit version still worked for me through Vista, but I need to find 32-bit version for my newest computer. This little thing ran all by itself, you could run as many versions as you wanted.

Best photo editor- Microsoft Picture-It. No kidding, could keep up with Photoshop, but was much more intuitive, had some auto-fixes better than any other program. I had Picture-It Publishing Silver 2001, a real deluxe version. CDs got lost but I think I saved iso images someplace, hope to resurrect it. BTW, later versions dumbed down, not nearly as good, but still fun. Unfortunately, totally proprietary formats, abandoned by MS.

There was a great free version of another photo program called Polyview. Only limitation was wouldn't print directly. Had some cool features, excellent easy resizing, created animated gifs, etc.

Lotus Organizer was best calendar/organizer ever, worked and looked like a paper planner. Unfortunately, old versions didn't sync well with Outlook. Wasn't aware it was still made, but just abandoned by IBM this year. Think I'm going to try to buy a copy since all these years later almost nothing still syncs with Outlook properly, anyway.

There was a great tiny planner called Plan-it Playboy. Yes, it had pictures of Playmates. Playboy made the basic version free because you were limited to 12 Playmates. They gave it free as a promo to buy the magazine, back when things worked that way. Had *great* coordination of to-do list with calendar, easily switch calendar views. The company (Anamoly Software) also made editions like Plan-It National Parks, but none caught on in the days when the first "suites" were coming out. Don't think it ran on anything later than Windows 95, maybe 98. I really hated to lose that one!

Yes, WordPerfect was always the best. You could look at a letter printed from WordPerfect next to one from Word, and always knew which was the WP one- for some reason, it looked better.

Non-PC favorite- Windows Mobile 6.0. Have it on an iPaq110 that's just dying now. It could do so many things my new Windows Phone 8 can't do. Really synched with Outlook, via simple USB. With Opera Mini, great website cruising. Even easier to type with stylus than with finger. softkeys. In fact, earlier versions of Windows Mobile/pocket PC/CE were pretty good too. All had much better adjustments for screen sensitivity, brightness controls, etc than modern devices. With a free program I could stream Web radio. And could see the screen outside in full sun, also better than modern devices.

Whoops, I realized I just switched from favorite programs to favorite devices. That'll be another thread!

Re: Old software you miss or no longer use.

bobsz, my wife still uses Picture-It 99! Makes all her cards and still does some photo editing in it. I have bought her other programs and she still comes back to it.

Another program I miss is a program called Little Black Book or LBB. It was a contact database that you could print out in a small booklet form to fit in your wallet. Smart phones have made this all but useless. Still could be used for a backup I suppose.

And yes, all the old toys that we used. Still have some PDA's that I am not sure why I still hold on to. Ipac, Palm III, Data watch. MMMmmmm yes another thread!

Re: Old software you miss or no longer use.

Sorry for the bump, but I didn't know this topic existed for some reason. Anyway, the oldest piece of software that I use regularly is Civilization II. It's a PITA to get working on modern computers (Because the game is 16 bit, and my computer is 64 bit, I have to copy all of the files on the CD to the folder the game expects to be installed to, replace a bunch of files to upgrade it to Multiplayer Gold Edition, which is 32 bit, replace the .exe so the computer doesn't screw up democracy every turn, patch the game so it works with 64 bit computers, and run it with a special launcher to fix CPU usage and remove arbitrary in-game limits, like the amount of cities and units). Of course, it's SO worth it. I have sunk more hours into this game than any other, although SimCity 2000 comes close. It is addictive to try to beat the computer, and because the game is turn-based, you control how much time that you play. Steelpaw: Caesar II isn't available, but for $6 you can buy the sequel, Caesar 3, legitimately here: http://www.gog.com/game/caesar_3.

Re: Old software you miss or no longer use.

I am sure most visitors here know this site well, but for those who don't, I give you Old Version:
http://www.oldversion.com/

Lots of older software and even some games.

Tar, feathers, congress. Some assembly required.

Re: Old software you miss or no longer use.

nathanm wrote:

Sorry for the bump, but I didn't know this topic existed for some reason. Anyway, the oldest piece of software that I use regularly is Civilization II. It's a PITA to get working on modern computers (Because the game is 16 bit, and my computer is 64 bit, I have to copy all of the files on the CD to the folder the game expects to be installed to, replace a bunch of files to upgrade it to Multiplayer Gold Edition, which is 32 bit, replace the .exe so the computer doesn't screw up democracy every turn, patch the game so it works with 64 bit computers, and run it with a special launcher to fix CPU usage and remove arbitrary in-game limits, like the amount of cities and units). Of course, it's SO worth it. I have sunk more hours into this game than any other, although SimCity 2000 comes close. It is addictive to try to beat the computer, and because the game is turn-based, you control how much time that you play. Steelpaw: Caesar II isn't available, but for $6 you can buy the sequel, Caesar 3, legitimately here: http://www.gog.com/game/caesar_3.

Why not run it in a virtual machine?