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-   -   Oldest PC Software that you currently use (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/gadgets-computers-software/266932-oldest-pc-software-you-currently-use.html)

It would be an interesting idea to know your oldest software currently in use.

- Someone in my family who is a Chartered Accountant still uses Dollars and Sense (the bookkeeping and basic financial management software) on DOSBox which was developed by Monogram in 1985. I believe that it was acquired in 1990 IIRC.

- It was complimented by Lotus 1-2-3 and WordStar (WS) until mid-90s.

- It enjoys the company in the form of MS Office, Saral Tax Return, Tally etc. in the current date.

Very unique thread, thanks for sharing! It's amazing how MS Windows continues to support old software developed 2 - 3 decades ago.

The oldest software that I use on a daily basis = MS Money. It's the "Mercedes-Benz" of personal financial software. Google up and you'll see hundreds of thousands of fans still using it.

- I got it with my first personal laptop (a Compaq X1000) circa 2002. Came pre-installed.

- The useability, thoughtful features and friendliness are Apple-level good. It works fantastic, there are several small features that make accounting so easy and I've never faced a bug. In 20 years!

- Works for bank accounts, credit cards, bills, investments etc.

- Locally hosted. I am not a fan of cloud-based software for something I am heavily dependent on. For one, if the SaaS company goes bankrupt or gets bought out, you lose your software and / or data. Second, I am not comfortable giving all my financial data to a 3rd party.

Over the years, I have evaluated many financial software. Nothing comes close to MS Money. It's as timeless, robust and dependable as a W124.

For me, the oldest software which is currently and widely use is Notepad. I started using it from Windows 95. However, it was available well before that (I guess 35 years). When you think of something to write, you can click the Notepad icon and program opens in a flash so that you can write before you forget the idea or information. It is also my default format remover whenever I you copy from the web/excel/pdf. It will quickly remove all the garbage and bad formatting and gives me plain text :Cheering:

I regularly use Vim Editor on Linux.
On Windows, Notepad, PuTTY, Notepad ++.

Well till date I still use VLC media player.
uTorrent since I have been using PC.

I never stopped using WINAMP:



Download from here:
https://www.winamp.com/downloads/

To change the skin to the classic look, right click on winamp, go to skins -> Winamp classic

I still have a desktop that runs Windows 98. Moved all my data from that to successive laptops a long time ago. It's not even online. I boot it up once in a while to keep it going. I really don't know why I've hung on to it. Have some vague notion of renting it out as a movie prop in 20-30 years. Or perhaps when AI takes over every connected device and connected humans in the year 2050, this is the disconnected legacy device that 'The Resistance' will use to launch the fightback! :)

CDex remains my go-to tool to rip CD's, though I use Audacity for editing. Have been using CDex for about 20 years now.

I use the FileZilla FTP program since 2001 and the VLC media player since 2000.

Are these the oldest software that I use even today?
No, I just now discovered (surprise!) that I started using MS-Excel since 1995-96, along with Win95. I started using Windows seriously with 95 and before that it was an era of MS-DOS/ Novell NetWare, WordPerfect, Lotus 1-2-3, dBase/FoxPro etc. rendered on a Modi-Olivetti PC with a BPL monochrome monitor.

I also played Prince of Persia during lunchtime. Still vividly remember the click noise the BPL monitor used to make while switching from graphics mode to text mode and the beep the 1-2-3 made whenever a mistake is made. We also discovered that the same beep can be made endlessly till ESC in both dBase and FoxPro if you output CHR 7 on a loop. That was huge, a database software can make audio. :D

The Excel was borne in 1987, I discovered today. clap: This is an ad from 1990

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOO31qFmi9A

For me it is the swiss knife of softwares : Irfan View



(Picture courtesy : wikipedia)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IrfanView

Me too ! Using WinAmp since ~25 Years :)

Interesting thread!

I'm mostly a Linux guy but the first computer I bought after getting a job was a PC (Compaq-Presario) running windows XP. This was circa 2005. ADSL internet was just getting popular and affordable and one of the things that I stumbled upon during my download spree was this demoscene video called heaven seven. I was simply awestruck by the quality of the video and sound effects considering that the executable was just 64KB in size!

Incidentally, I am now on a Windows 11 PC and I downloaded the zip files just to see if the program would still run and boom, double clicking on HEAVEN7W.EXE took me back to the same experience I had all those years back. Frankly I wasn't expecting this kind of backward compatibility in Windows (in the Linux world, this is standard). If you're lazy to try it out yourself, the video is available on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNqpD3Mg9hY

I agree. Without Winamp, my desktop and laptop feel empty.

In addition, I've been using VLC, Notepad, and AutoHotKey.

PS: Time has changed, else I wouldn't mind using yahoo messenger as well.

Do Games have a chance in this thread.

I still have Roadrash and the Original Dave games in my PC and my new age son loves to play them.

Why not? - Guess many will remember :

IDDQD, IDKFA
Price.exe yippeeyahoo

On the other hand, never understood why was it called "Dangerous" Dave!

:cool:

First question on messengers / chat rooms -> asl?
If you don't like the answer, Straightaway click "X" :D

Hard to forget -> "Winamp, it really whips the llama's ass!"
I guess Winamp introduced me to the world of skins!