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Questions tagged [identify-this-software]

Requests to identify retro software, based on an appearance within other media or some other criteria.

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7 votes
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Where can I find an EGA demo by IBM that created a full screen animation by redefining the EGA character glyphs?

It was an IBM demo of the EGA's ability to show arbitrary text characters, like Chinese or hieroglyphics. It was a full screen animation of a waterfall and a brook and trees with waving leaves. but it ...
Jess Fuckett's user avatar
  • 1,129
9 votes
1 answer
1k views

Identify this bouncing ball screensaver in DOS

This is an odd ask, but I remember using a DOS TSR screensaver long ago that I've been trying to find without luck. I've dug through shareware archives and never found it. Perhaps someone knows what ...
eesz34's user avatar
  • 935
17 votes
1 answer
3k views

Which program is used in this shot of the movie "The Wrong Woman"

There is a software screen shown at minute 4 in the 1995 movie The Wrong Woman. What Software was used?
elbarna's user avatar
  • 2,515
3 votes
0 answers
275 views

What is the “data file browser” that appears in the film “Segreto di stato” (1995)?

From the movie "Segreto di stato" (1995) at minute 01:29
elbarna's user avatar
  • 2,515
6 votes
1 answer
679 views

In the 1999 movie The Matrix, what is the news reader software that is being used?

The above is a screenshot from the film. The application icons seem reminiscent of the Tkinter Perl applications from the late 2000s, which would suggest a Gtk1 or Gtk2 icon set(?) What is this ...
tetris11's user avatar
  • 163
3 votes
0 answers
150 views

Hierarchical/navigational database engine available on RSX-11M

Around 1988-1990 I worked for a company that was using an old RSX-11M system to host an ERP application. The application used a third-party database product of which I am trying to recall the name. ...
Anthony X's user avatar
  • 441
4 votes
0 answers
160 views

Name of application that showed cursor coordinates (both global and local)

There was a classic Macintosh shareware/freeware application - which may have been a CDEV/INIT (control panel or extension), DA (desk accessory), or an application - that displayed both the global and ...
Greenonline's user avatar
  • 4,470
3 votes
0 answers
243 views

DEC (probably PDP-11) operating system with a guest mode allowing to run BASIC programs

In the mid 1970's I used an OS on DEC equipment (I believe PDP-11) that had a guest mode. If you weren't an authorised user you could login as guest mode where you supplied a name and if it didn't ...
hptsb's user avatar
  • 145
4 votes
3 answers
3k views

Blue-Green Software Mascot

I recall seeing a mascot for some sort of computer platform or program. I've seen images many times, but am now struggling to find it. Here are the details I can remember: I think it was a 1990s ...
rightbrace's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
272 views

Linux BBS software from the year 1992

What was the right name of a software platform for some Linux BBSs in the year 1992? "Galactico" if I remember well...
Dimitris P. Kalousis's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
593 views

Windows screensaver showing "natural selection"

Some time around the (late?) 1990s, I remember seeing a novelty screensaver which showed a fantasy environment- possibly underwater- with its denizens occasionally eating each other and acquiring ...
Mark Morgan Lloyd's user avatar
17 votes
4 answers
3k views

Document format for a DOS word processor where control commands begin with a dot

I successfully achieved the reading of several 5.25″ old floppies. They contain old documents from a retired lawyer. For the memories, we want to read them correctly, nevertheless, I don't find which ...
David Sosa's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
173 views

Math and French practice floppies

A long time ago, at school, they used to provide us with some 5.25 inches floppies each year. The teacher used to boot Unisys PCs with some bootable floppies (I do not believe they had hard disks), we ...
user10191234's user avatar
  • 1,963
6 votes
1 answer
560 views

Basic page layout program from the PrintMaster 2.0 era

I remember it as "Fantasy" but the lack of results makes me think I may be wrong. All I know for sure is that it was a single page layout program; it was contemporary with PrintMaster 2.0, ...
alecail's user avatar
  • 163
14 votes
1 answer
407 views

Help identifying format of old tape backup

I'm recovering data from old QIC backup tapes for an acquaintance, which I do by dumping the raw data in Linux, and decoding the files from it using my own scripts, which handle several standard ...
Dmitry Brant's user avatar
7 votes
1 answer
403 views

Origin of PALMPC.ZIP "Palm PC emulator"

The program PALMPC.COM, which is available on an old link in the Internet Archive, and also on e.g. S.U.P.E.R., apparently provides graphics emulation, including interrupt 0x5F used by the HP/Lotus ...
Tomas By's user avatar
  • 2,102
7 votes
1 answer
638 views

Can you remember the name of a public access Unix system, around 1990/1, Spug or Spud?

Hey I recall accessing a public-access UNIX system in the UK, likely around 1990/91. I seem to recall it gave you shell access but it might actually have only been Mail or UUCP/usenet client? I have a ...
Mike Dent's user avatar
11 votes
5 answers
3k views

Was there a way to play an hourly custom sound on Macs circa 1985-1995?

I have a memory of my dad's old Macintosh playing a custom sound every hour. It was his a capella rendition of the Westminster Quarters. This was decades ago and my memory could be faulty. Was this ...
Atomic Tripod's user avatar
4 votes
0 answers
206 views

Searching for encryption software for Windows from around year 2000, encrypting files in folders with names starting with @

I am searching for encryption software I was using around the year 2000, probably on Windows 2000. All I know is, it run at background and was automatically encrypting and decrypting files in folders ...
Martin Jedlička's user avatar
9 votes
1 answer
830 views

Software that emulated VGA high res mode on an EGA board

I have this very faint recollection from my late elementary school days back in the end of 1980s of a very specific piece of MS-DOS software that claimed to do what was an incredible thing to an ...
mkay's user avatar
  • 719
5 votes
0 answers
164 views

Looking for documentation or source for CERN Fortran programming aids

In the 1970s, the CERN Program Library for IBM/CDC included a few FORTRAN source analysis tools. As mentioned in CERN Computer Newsletter 141, Q. SERVICE OR HOUSEKEEPING-PROGRAMMING AIDS ... *X ...
Leo B.'s user avatar
  • 20.6k
5 votes
1 answer
782 views

Novell and DOS instant messaging

Long ago, there was a TSR that would allow instant messages to be sent and received between DOS based computers using a Novell network. I think it was called Noteworks. It had a little airplane that ...
pithhelmet's user avatar
6 votes
0 answers
253 views

Atari ST image viewer with unusual zoom

I'm looking for info on an Atari ST (16-color) full-screen image viewer that I once used. When zooming in the edges between colors were smoothly curved (instead of e.g. no smoothing or interpolation ...
Alex Hajnal's user avatar
  • 9,430
18 votes
4 answers
4k views

Is this Votan voice assistant from 1984 a real system?

This clip from BBC Archive allegedly shows a computer that can do voice recognition, speaker recognition and speech synthesis with minimal delay in 1984. I find that hard to believe, they must have ...
AndreKR's user avatar
  • 333
26 votes
2 answers
7k views

Strange version of Windows 3.1 marked with a "W" logo

I was digging through my storage and came across this old copy of Windows 3.1. It's a strange looking version though and am wondering if anyone has any info on it. The copyright page only mentions ...
Zenboy's user avatar
  • 261
6 votes
1 answer
716 views

Did XEROX 630 and 645 run CP/M?

My late father owned two bulky and havy word processing systems manufactured in the 1980s or early 1990s, a XEROX 630 and a XEROX 645. Both had similar cases featuring an integrated Diablo 630 daisy ...
Paolo Amoroso's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
582 views

"GAZE" GUI Organizer program?

In the early-to-mid '90s there was a GUI-based DOS organizer-like program, called GAZE, from which you could launch software and games which had an eyeball in the corner that followed the cursor as ...
cheeto_pasta's user avatar
12 votes
3 answers
3k views

Name of MS-DOS program that shows realtime update of light/dark map of whole planet

Years ago (circa 1996-1997 maybe?) I ran a MS-DOS program that showed a map of the whole earth, updated once a minute with the time, timezones, and light/dark areas of the planet, taking up the whole ...
Steve Sether's user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
385 views

Looking for a 90s Macintosh background pattern collection

I've been trying to find a collection of desktop patterns for Macintosh that I had for System 7 back in the day. I remember it as a specific application that you ran to set the patterns (as opposed to ...
hexamon's user avatar
  • 335
8 votes
1 answer
945 views

Which MS-DOS program implemented the "Methinks it is like a weasel" evolutionary algorithm?

In the late 1980s I had a set of 3.5″ floppy disks which contained some games like Sleuth, Centipede, Space War, and Sopwith. Also present was a program that I think was called "weasel", ...
jl6's user avatar
  • 181
13 votes
5 answers
901 views

What was this almost-magic Mac data conversion tool?

In the mid 1990s I was working for a large construction/engineering consultancy. We'd often engage the services of an acoustic consultant who used a wonderful piece of software to convert all manner ...
scruss's user avatar
  • 21.9k
6 votes
3 answers
326 views

How were "catalog" picture files created? [closed]

Back in the 1990s there were CD-ROMs containing a large collection of pictures split across several folders, where each folder would have a "catalog" file at the top. This file was basically ...
Ben's user avatar
  • 130
1 vote
0 answers
258 views

What was this early 2000s software subscription that had a billboard theme and was about music and bands? [closed]

I cannot remember the name of this music software CDs I used to have. We would get it in the mail every month and it had interviews and song samples in a game style UI with a city/billboard theme. ...
Heather's user avatar
  • 19
20 votes
3 answers
4k views

What is the name of the publishing software used at IBM in the late 80s?

I was a tech writer at IBM in Austin, TX in the late 80s. We were writing documentation for the RS/6000. I loved the publishing software we used and was sorry to see it replaced in the marketplace by ...
april26's user avatar
  • 303
9 votes
1 answer
643 views

Which pre-ANSI C compilers allowed a conditional expression as Lvalue?

Soon after learning the C language in the late 80s, before an ANSI C compiler was available on the machines I was using, it occurred to me to check if the following compiles int a, b, c; foo() { (...
Leo B.'s user avatar
  • 20.6k
5 votes
1 answer
1k views

Looking for the source code of a sophisticated Pascal pretty-printing program

I'm trying to find a 70s or very early 80s source code of a Pascal pretty-printing program which is more advanced than the version mentioned on the Prettyprint wiki page which is undated and somewhat ...
Leo B.'s user avatar
  • 20.6k
11 votes
1 answer
588 views

Assembler where output file was executable WHILE including the source code

I seem to remember using an assembler with the following interesting workflow: You'd write an assembly language file and assemble it. The output overwrote your source code by placing the executable ...
davidbak's user avatar
  • 6,354
1 vote
1 answer
212 views

Operating system/hardware used for playing a video during a recorded trial that took place in 2013 [closed]

I am watching a 2013 murder trial on YouTube Jodi Arias Trial : Day 23 : 1 Of 3. There is a considerable amount of evidence involving phones and computers. The following picture briefly appears on-...
chasly - supports Monica's user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
1k views

Network card that came bundled with a space war game

In the 90s, before everything was networked, you had to buy a Network Interface Card as an expansion card for your PC. One brand came with a bundled game where you piloted a space ship and fought ...
thrutch's user avatar
  • 73
2 votes
1 answer
166 views

macOS Spaces first appearance under any guise? [closed]

Wikipedia tells me I had to wait until OS X Leopard in 2006 to first use Spaces. It does mention earlier 3rd party structures in an outside reference but the Wayback link quoted doesn't actually ...
Tetsujin's user avatar
  • 191
4 votes
1 answer
340 views

Identifying and recovering programs from tapes

A couple of days ago, I was given some old tapes with programs written on them. However, I am having some trouble with them. I do not know what computer they were programed for. After recognising the ...
user3141592's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
216 views

Macromedia Flash Desktop API / EXE bundler

Sorry if this is too recent, but back when I was first getting into programming in ~2002-2004, there was some Flash/SWF-to-EXE tool that provided ActionScript bindings to Windows desktop APIs. Does ...
Alex Reinking's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
478 views

What was IBM’s early attempt at an OS/2 office suite?

I definitely remember that sometime after OS/2 was introduced - while it was still in its very early days - after the breakup from Microsoft, long before Warp - IBM announced with great fanfare a ...
davidbak's user avatar
  • 6,354
5 votes
3 answers
445 views

What is this Intel Hexadecimal-like file format in this Tiny BASIC dump?

I am looking at this Tiny BASIC dump which seems to consist of two sections, the first being a list of symbol addresses, and the second one containing Intel Hexadecimal records with a leading space: ...
Cactus's user avatar
  • 2,770
7 votes
1 answer
340 views

A demoscene production from mid-2000s featuring four seasons animation

I recall seeing a PC demo - meaning an executable program demonstrating various graphics and sound effects - in mid-2000s (does this count as sufficiently retro?) that featured animations of the four ...
DmytroL's user avatar
  • 2,664
3 votes
2 answers
521 views

Trying to recall an OS I worked on that was called CPM but was not DR's CP/M

I'm trying to trace a type of system I did a little work on in my first job, which was for a company which no longer exists and I am not in regular touch with most of my former colleagues. It was a ...
Liam Proven's user avatar
  • 1,285
2 votes
0 answers
192 views

Has anyone heard of SCHEMA page layout tool?

I've found a text formatting tool, under the name of SCHEMA, which would accept an input language like *RED *0STA*NN*RG*1RL*0MCS1 20 *3/ *MDLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, *MDconsectetur adipiscing elit, *...
Leo B.'s user avatar
  • 20.6k
11 votes
2 answers
3k views

What was this OS / Application on a 80286?

I was hoping, that someone could help me find the name of the operating system that was originally (I guess) used on the 80286 (the later ones with 12MHz). Before I eventually installed DOS-5.0 and ...
fancyPants's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
343 views

What is the *BEAST* event-recording software grammar?

I recently recovered a data-set my father (a biology professor) recorded at UC Berkeley in the 90s on Stickleback mating behaviors. He says the data was recorded using the "open-source BEAST ...
Max von Hippel's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
1k views

What is this 2000s-era Windows XP or earlier educational computer game? [closed]

So I asked this question a while back asking for help with identifying a retro computer game, and got the answer I was looking for. Thus, I've decided to ask for help identifying another retro game ...
Sciborg's user avatar
  • 290