John Dvorak's Top 10 Most Important Software Programs

[CVX]

10. Microsoft BASIC (1976)--This was Microsoft's one true innovation that worked. Unlike its competitor of that era, Northstar BASIC, which was probably better-quality software, Microsoft sold its BASIC unbundled, and it was one of the first standalone boxed programming languages, if not the first. This software triggered the modern programming era and popularized the idea of shrink-wrap languages.

9. Sendmail (circa 1983)--This is the one criteria-challenged pick of this list, since it's kind of a protocol, but it's also a system supported by a company, Sendmail Inc., and is sort of a shrink-wrapped product without the shrink wrap. I had to include it on the list. Today's e-mail boom stems from the invention of this code.

8. Aldus Pagemaker (1985)--This is the program that sealed the deal for desktop publishing and the concept of WYSIWYG. It's the granddad of much of today's layout and design software. I'll also lump in its drawing partners Illustrator and Freehand.

7. dBASE II (1980)--A remarkable product in its day, and its influence lives on in all low-end commercial database software. It popularized the concept of a relational database manager, although it didn't quite follow all the parameters.

6. Photoshop (1990)--Over time the importance of this program to the development of small computers will increase. Used by professionals and amateurs alike, this software has influenced all its competition and has become very desirable.

5. The Mac OS (1984)—This OS and its Intel processor variant Windows 95 have to be on the list. The modern implementation of the graphical user interface was invented by Xerox, refined by Apple, and adopted by Microsoft. While Microsoft gets chided by me and others for copying the Apple/Xerox idea, there was probably no idea more worthy of being copied.

4. The Mosaic browser (1993)--This is the code that triggered the second desktop revolution, in combination with the World Wide Web. All modern browsers are based on many of the principles developed by Mosaic.

3. Apache (1995)—Apache and software from the open-source movement, including Linux and other initiatives, have to be included. This is a vague category where products are intermixed in a complex scene that encompasses the Internet and its transports. The fact is we would not be where we are today if it were not for the Linux/Apache Web servers. This powerful combination is now evolving into what users call LAMP (Linux-Apache-MySQL-PHP), which seems to be a movement that will undermine the Microsoft .NET strategy. None of this could have happened without the Apache Web server software, which proved that open-source software can be reliable, stable, free, and definitive.

2. WordStar (1978-1979)—WordStar and its predecessor the Electric Pencil, as well as descendants such as Microsoft Word for Windows, have to be included. WordPerfect also deserves a mention here. But it was WordStar that really triggered things and became the first word processing killer app, dominating word processing for over a decade beginning with its release in the late 1970s. Word. You would not be reading this column if it wasn't for WordStar.

1. VisiCalc (1979)—VisiCalc and its descendants, including Lotus 1-2-3 and Microsoft Excel, were standout products. While fundamentally not as important as word processing, the modern spreadsheet, initially implemented on the Apple II, became the triggering mechanism that brought what was then called a microcomputer into the office. Almost all of the history of desktop computing stems from this invention.

[anastrophe]

dvorak is one of the few computer industry columnists/pundits worth reading. fabulously informative, safe from hype, tells it like it is.

[Týr]

I just realized, browsing through the list from ten years back, that it still holds up very well. Not many lists from ten years back could say the same.

As for Wordstar I note I still use it on a daily basis. The version I have is a rewrite from 1988 called Joe but it behaves identically. I'd not want to do that with any of the 80s spreadsheet programs but for document writing Wordstar has everything it takes to still rule.

[Wandrin]

I think CP/M & MP/M deserve a place on the list. CP/M was the first operating system that was available for the home computer and immediately changed the scene from stand alone application programs. IBM tried to get Gary Kildall to produce a branded version for the 8086 and only approached Microsoft after failing.

[Týr]

I had a couple of machines which ran CP/M, both with Z80 processors if I remember. One was the TRS/80 and the other was an Apple ][ with a Z80 coprocessor card. Once you'd learned the manual it was all very effective. Everyone learned manuals back then which is why micros were so useful. Few people these days learn, for example, Android, so they miss half of what it can do.

[Wandrin]

I had an Altair, an Apple ][ w/Z80 card, and then a Datapoint 2200 - the first portable (it was self-contained and fit in a rugged piece of luggage). I fully agree about the manuals, especially with Android.