Remember when software felt new and exciting? Remember your first PC and the fun you had on it? Here's a look back at some classic programs that defined our computing experiences.
Experimenting with new software, shareware or demo versions you either found online or received on a CD with a PC magazine? Many of those old programs have been forgotten or simply don't work any more, or need to run inside a DOS box/Emulator or are too complicated to run on modern systems. Here are a few that still work!
:
Winamp:
Originally released in April 1997, this was the go to software to play your collection of mp3's. Customizable skins, easy to use equalizer, current track display and playlist display were all included. Winamp had its own visualisations that you could choose from while your songs were playing which made it one of the greatest pieces of music software at the time. At last count Winamp had over 90 million users before stopping development in 2013 and slowly fading into obscurity.
The latest version for Windows can be downloaded from the official Winamp website here
Navigate to the player section and download the legacy player for Windows. And yes, the MilkDrop visualiser is still built in.
Visual Basic 6:
Released in 1998, VB6 was the most popular programming software by far at the time. Due to its popularity, many industrial, medical and business applications were written in VB6 and are now considered legacy software. Either due to time or cost constraints to replace or rewrite the software, there are still many VB6 applications running in various companies around the world - Think banks and insurance companies.
Microsoft has confirmed that the VB6 runtime will be supported in Windows 11 for its lifetime so VB6 will still be around for many years to come.
Here is a link to the installer on the official Microsoft download pages:
Installer and Guide and the updates to the Common Controls: mscomctl.ocx and comctl32.ocx are here:
Common Controls (ocx). The install should be quick and painless and hopefully you remember how to manually register an ocx file. (For those who need a refresher, to register an .ocx file, use the 'regsvr32' command via the Command Prompt)
WinRar:
First released as "Try before you buy" software in 1993 it was mainly used to create or unpack ZIP and RAR type files. It could however unpack a large amount of other files and could be used to unzip .exe files if they were compiled as
self-extracting archives.
Known for its 40 day trial period but the software never actually expired, you could, and can still use it for free for ever. And people have been dealing with the below popup for decades.
WinRar can be downloaded from it's official page here
VLC:
Released in February 2001
, this player can handle almost any type of media file that you throw at it. Not only used to play audio and video files, it can stream media over a network and includes tools for converting media files between different formats.
VLC is able to handle damaged or incomplete files and includes support for subtitles. It can even capture the display on your pc and save it to file or stream it to the network.
There are many more functions to this software that I have not included as the list is impressive.
All you need to do is open the menus and you will be surprised at the amount of options and functions it has.
VLC can be downloaded
here
Puppy Linux:
Initially released in June 2003, Puppy Linux was a light-weight distribution that runs from random-access memory (RAM). It can function as a live USB and has a range of tools and applications that can be useful to boot any compatible computer and can be used as a boot repair tool. Included network/internet connectivity and offers a session save on shutdown. A complete package manager also allows for downloading extra applications that you might need.
Puppy Linux can be downloaded
here
If you are feeling a bit nostalgic and want to find an old piece of software that you used to use you can browse the Internet archive website
here
Here are two other links for really old software. Most will require some form of emulator (DOS, Console, Platform emulator), or in the case of and Apple/Mac systems a 68000 based Macintosh or supported model of Power PC.
Enjoy the stroll through the past and hopefully you find that software or game that brings back memories from a different time when computers were a lot slower but not nearly as complicated as today. What was your favourite piece of software from back in the day? Let us know in the comments!
Cheers!
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