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Location: GUIs > Windows > Applications for Windows 1.x/2.x


Corel Draw 1.10
From that list, here are a few that seem to have survived and escaped in to the wild. Corel Draw 1.10 turned up and runs nicely under Windows 2.

Aldus PageMaker 2
Aldus PageMaker 3.0 also surfaced. They probably skipped the version number 2.0 to be on par with their Macintosh version. It is specifically designed for Windows 2.

Micrografx Designer 1.1
Micrografx Designer 1.1 has been floating around for quite a while now.

Pubtech Desktop
I've mentioned this one before, but it deserves mentioning again. Pubtech Desktop for Windows 2! It provides a somewhat Mac like desktop for Windows 2.

Word and Excel for Windows 2
Windows 2 was the first version of Windows to see ports of Microsoft Word and Excel.

Both Word and Excel were released for the Macintosh prior to their Windows versions.

There seems to be some possible mis-information about the earliest versions of Excel for Windows. From my research it looks like the first version of Excel for Windows was "2.0" (to match the Mac version) in late 1987, followed by a "2.01" update in early 1988,  and then "2.1" followed up by several smaller updates indicated by a letter after the number. The 2.x version ran on Windows 2.

Surprisingly, the very original Excel "2.0" for Windows - if this information is correct - does not seem to be floating around out there. (Again, if anyone knows of a copy if this specific version...)

PC Mag benchmark
Not too exciting, but I found a copy of a 1990 PC Magazine benchmark utility for Windows 2 and OS/2 1.x.

EyeStar Plus
The same site that shows PC Paintbrush for Windows 1.05 has what looks like another painting program called "EyeStar Plus".

Screen Saver for Windows 2
Update: A few more Windows 2 applications turned up!

Magic Screen Saver 1.02 is a freeware screen saver for Windows 2. It is also the direct predecessor to the famous After Dark.

Several shareware desktop shells also turned up. For those see my Command Post and METZ Desktop Navigator pages.

ABC Flowcharter 1.11
ABC Flowcharter 1.11 is a program for creating flow chart diagrams that runs under Windows 2.

AMI Pro 1.2
A spanish version of AMI Pro 1.2 turned up. Obviously there should be an english version out there somewhere. (And 1.0 versions are always nice to have)

Micrografx Draw Plus 1.1
Micrografx Draw Plus 1.1, a vector based drawing program with a clipart libary, turned up.

Paintbrush Version 1.22
Version 1.22 of ZSoft PC Paintbrush for Windows is a later 1989 release, quite similar to the 1.05 version.

This version, however only runs under Windows 2, and bundles scanner related software.


Surprisingly, it turns out the first version of Microsoft Project for Windows is actually a Windows 2 application. It was released around the same time as Windows 3.0 and describes running it under Windows 3.0 in the documentation.

In addition to the full version, Microsoft released a "working model" demo version of Project 1.0 for Windows.


Microsoft Pageview is strangely a primitive program for a commercial product. All it does is graphically display, print, and insert graphics into documents created with Microsoft Word for DOS 3 or 4. And for all that it bundles a Windows 2 runtime.

Note that this was released almost two years before Word for Windows 1.0.


Xerox Presents 1.0, a presentation tool similar to PowerPoint, also turned up.

This program can create slides with charts and graphs using various vector based clipart.

It also come bundled with the Windows 2 runtime.

MineSweeper for Windows 1 and Windows 2
And of course, now Windows 2 has WineMine!

For historical preservation:
Corel Draw 1.10d
Aldus Page Maker 3
PC Magazine Labs Performance Tests
Micrografx Designer 1.1
Klotz
Pubtech File Organizer 2.11
Windows 2 drivers (Paradise, Video 7, and now ET-4000, Tseng, and Video 7 VEGA)
Kermit Terminal program for Windows 2
AMI Pro 1.2 [Spanish]
ABC Flowcharter 1.11
PC Paintbrush For Windows 1.22
Micrografx Draw Plus 1.1
Magic Screen Saver 1.02
Metz Desktop Navigator 2.41
Metz Desktop Navigator 2.50
Metz Destkop Navigator 2.53
Comand Post 5.2
Microsoft Project 1.0 Demo
Microsoft Pageview 1.0
Xerox Presents v1.0
Ami 1.2b
More Misc Windows 2 Shareware
Micrografx Windows Convert 2.3 and Manual
Even More Misc Windows 2 Shareware
Z-Soft Type Foundry 1.10
TVGA 8900 Drivers Utilities B2.01 9-18-1990

Since I put this page up, it has become clear that there was a lot more Windows 2 software than I first though.

The following are Windows 2 programs that are available elsewhere

Excel 2.0 (10/31/1987)
Excel 2.01 (2/29/1988)
Excel 2.1 (6/30/1989)
Excel 2.1 (7/31/1988)
Excel 2.1c (12/14/1989)
Excel 2.1d (7/13/1990)
Word 1.0 (11/15/1989)
Word 1.1a (2/7/1991)
Microsoft Project 1.0 for Windows
Corel Draw 1.10 German
Balance of Power 1990 Edition
hDC Windows Epress 2.11
Omnis 5 Database
IBM Current 1.00 (There was also a 1.10 for Windows 2.x)
hDC Windows Manager
Logitech Image-In (Requires Logitech Scanman hardware)
Microsoft Mail for PC Networks 2.1
Windows 2 drivers for Cornerstone DualPage 1600 video card
Windows 2 drives for Genius Display
Arts and Leters 2.x
Superbase 4 Windows v1.x
FAXit (requires Intel FAX hardware)

Keep in mind, all versions of old software and their documentation are worth preserving in one way or another. Future historians will thank you!