Windows application

Applications for Windows 1.x and 2.x

Or "Sick Windows Tricks 4"!

I had previously posted some freeware games and developer samples for Windows 1.x and 2.x w1w2app.zip Since then a few more applications have surfaced.

Lets start with this little surprise: How often do you see a NEW application for Windows 1? Well then, make this the first time since about 1987!

I present WineMine for Windows 1.01!

This is a port of the MineSweeper program used by ReactOS and Wine. Surprisingly it uses a conservative set of WIN APIs that made it easy to recompile for Windows 1. After working around a couple of Windows 1.x/2.x bugs and shortcomings, it seems to work fairly well!

It runs natively under Windows 1.x, 2.x and in "compatibility mode" under Windows 3.x. The Windows 1.x version will not run under Windows 95/NT or later, but I have included a resource converted version that will.

While searching around for Windows 1.0 applications, I came across the site of Charles Petzold, who has written a number of books on Win 16/32 programming over the years: http://www.charlespetzold.com/etc/windows1/ On this page he demonstrates a sample "Cake" program for Windows 1.x, but where is the executable? Is the cake a lie?!

The source code is posted, and probably the intent is that you should compile it yourself. But for your convenience, I made you a cake!

Windows 1.0 cake program: win1cake.zip

Here is an interesting game that was written in 1985 for Windows 1.01 called "Balance of Power".

It appears it was distributed as a "DOS" program on a self-booting 360k floppy disk, and used a very minimal Windows 1.01 runtime.

Download Balance of Power: BOPIMA.zip (set up for DOSBox)

At long, long, last a copy of Aldus PageMaker 1.00 has appeared!

You could probably count the number of significant commercial applications developed for Windows 1.x on one hand, and this was one of them.

For the sake of historical preservation: AldusPageMaker1_0.zip

Also a slightly newer version with the Windows 1.04 runtime: Aldus PageMaker 1.0A.zip

The other known significant commercial application for Windows 1.x was Micrografx In*a*Vision. The Windows 2 and later versions of this were renamed to "Designer".

Update : ZSoft PC Paintbrush for Windows version 1.05 turned up.

PC Paintbrush 1.05 for Microsoft Windows is a port of ZSoft's DOS-Based PC Paintbrush program to the Microsoft Windows environment. This version was included on the mouse driver disk of some Windows 2 / Microsoft Mouse bundles, but ZSoft also advertised it as a standalone product. A later version of this program was bundled with Windows 3.x as Microsoft Paintbrush.

Although it was bundled with and intended for use with Windows 2, it is also designed to run under Windows 1.x.

This Windows version should not be confused with the more popular version of PC Paintbrush for DOS. Also when Zsoft was bought out, Softkey confusingly restarted the version number over with PC Paintbrush 1.00 for their commercial Windows 3.x version release. (It is also no relation to the software "PC Paint" bundled with Mouse Systems mice.)

The ability to edit and display color bit-mapped graphics under Windows 1 is an interesting feat. Windows 1 and 2 only support monochrome device independent bitmaps, with no concept of a pallet. As such, all color PCX files are assumed to match the 8-color EGA pallet used by Windows 1 and 2. (So to create a PCX file it will open, it must have the first 8 colors match that pallet)

Update : Micrografx Draw turned up! It is a vector drawing tool, similar to In*A*Vision, but geared more towards drawing clipart rather than an illustration tool. It bundles a Windows 1.03 runtime, and includes a few extra drivers not supplied by Microsoft.

Portfolio, a clipart viewer and clipboard tool for Draw/In*A*Vision:

(click for the full size version)

And here is another sick Windows 1 trick, Windows 1 running at 800*600 thanks to this driver modification: http://www.seasip.info/Misc/win1.html

Here is a local copy just in case: win1vga.zip

Finally, here are a few more small code sample apps that run under Windows 1.x and happen to be slightly useful or interesting on their own.

This includes a hexadecimal calculator, a simple bouncing ball program, a tool for saving the contents of the clipboard, and a clock that sits in the icon area - similar to Windows 95 and later.

Also came across several more shareware programs. First, a Mah Jong program called Taipei that seems to run great under Windows 1, although the readme suggests it was for Windows 2. Also an earlier version of the Missile Command-like Starbase program that works under Windows 1. And finally some miscellaneous shareware apps including a checkers program that happen to run under Windows 1.

A Microsoft Windows 1.03 driver disk set with drivers for:

Moniterm Viking I

Sigma Color 400

STB HT Chauffer

Video-7 Vega Deluxe with NEC Multisync Enhanced Color display

Vermont Microsystems Inc. Image Manager 1024

Wyse WY-700 High Resolution Display Adapter

It looks like there is also supposed to be a printers driver disk with this set, but is missing.

Others known/suspected to run under Windows 1:

Micrografx Windows Graph - a graphing tool from Micrografx Inc.

Omnis Quartz - a database package from Blyth Software

ATI EGA Wonder 800+ Drivers (Possibly other earlier ATI EGA Wonder variants also)