Geoworks Ensemble 2.01 Download

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NewDeal Technical Support Document 276

Geoworks has made a shareware version of Ensemble 2.01 available with a copy of GeoManager, GeoWrite, and a few other gadgets. It's available on the major on-line services as well as FTP sites that have GEOS content.

• 1991: GeoWorks 1.2. 1992: GeoWorks 1.2 Pro (with Borland Quattro Pro for DOS with PC/GEOS 'Look and Feel') 1992: GeoWorks DTP. 1992: GeoWorks CD Manager. 1993: GeoWorks Ensemble 2.0 (new kernel PC/GEOS 2.0) 1993: Geopublish 2.0. 1994: Geoworks Ensemble 2.01. 1996: NewDeal Office 2.2.
• This download includes three separate programs that were subsets of the GeoWorks Personal Office Suite, based on v2.0 code and released after the original: GeoWorks Desktop 2.0: includes GeoManager and accessories such as GeoDex, GeoPlanner, Calculator, and Notepad. GeoWorks Designer 2.0: includes File Cabinet, GeoDraw, GeoBanner, Scrapbook.
• Geoworks Ensemble 2.0 Soundblaster Driver. An icon used to represent a menu that can be toggled by interacting with this icon.

Geoworks Versions 1.x and 2.x

Things you should know if you have Geoworks software, or if you have just upgraded from Geoworks to NewDeal

Running Geoworks on new computers or operating systems

You may experience difficulties running Geoworks software on computers fasterthan 66mhz or with DOS versions newer than 5.0, including Windows 95 andWindows 98. Geoworks software was written more than five years ago, beforecomputers faster than 33mhz were commonly available and before DOS version6. Geoworks Ensemble version 1.0 was introduced in 1990 and version2.0 was introduced in 1993. Geoworks Pro was introduced in 1991, QuickStart was released in 1992, and the Personal Office Series (Designer,Writer, and Desktop) were also released in 1992.

If you have one of these Geoworks softwares, we strongly recommend upgradingto NewDeal. NewDeal is designed to run on modern, fast computers andwith the newest versions of DOS and Windows. If you have documents createdwith Geoworks, you can use your documents with NewDeal software. NewDealoffers upgrade discounts to owners of legacy Geoworks products.

Until your upgrade arrives, here are some tips about making Geoworks runon modern computers and with newer operating systems. We provide this informationas a service and NewDeal does not guarantee that Geoworks software will workat all. Geoworks software will not run under Windows NT.

To run Geoworks Ensemble 2.0 or 2.01 on a computer fasterthan 66mhz or under DOS 7 or Windows 95 or 98, after installing the software,edit your GEOS.INI file like this

[system]
continueSetup = false
fs = ms4.geo

After making the changes, do not run SETUP.EXE. From the DOS prompt, runLOADER.EXE. If you are using Windows 95 or 98, follow the guidelines in TechnicalSupport Document 271, substituting theappropriate directories and file names for your software. If your computerhas more than 32mb of RAM, you may need to limit the amount of EMS or XMSmemory available to Ensemble to no more than 32mb of each type of memory.If you use the DOS memory manager EMM386, configure it for EMS (which isautomatically limited to 32mb). If you use Windows 95 or 98, to set limitsfor EMS and XMS, right click the shortcut you use to launch Ensemble, chooseProperties, and click the Memory tab.

For Geoworks Pro, Quick Start, Geoworks Ensemble 1.2 or the PersonalOffice Series, install the software, then edit your GEOS.INI filelike this

[system]
continueSetup = false

At the DOS prompt, enter these commands

c:
cd:windows
setver setup.exe 5.0

Reboot your computer. To start the software, run LOADER.EXE. Do not run SETUP.EXEagain. If you are using Windows 95 or 98, follow the guidelines in TechnicalSupport Document 271, substituting theappropriate directories and file names for your software.

For Geoworks Ensemble 1.0, edit your GEOS.INI file likethis

[system]
continueSetup = false

Then at the DOS prompt, enter these commands

c:
cd:windows
setver geos.exe 4.01
setver setup.exe 4.01

Reboot your computer. From the DOS prompt, run GEOS.EXE. Do not run SETUP.EXEagain. If you are using Windows 95 or 98, follow the guidelines in TechnicalSupport Document 271 (Windows 95 or 98 and NewDeal,substituting the appropriate directories and file names for your software.

Frequently Asked Questions

System-wide and NewManager questions

Can I use my Geoworks Pro and Ensemble 1.0 & 1.2 documentswith Geoworks 2.x or NewDeal software?

Yes, all of your old documents can easily be converted to the newerformat. These older files can be upgraded manually in NewManager orGeoManager. Just select the file by clicking on it once, thenchoose Upgrade 1.x Document from the Utilities menu. You can usethis procedure to upgrade your old GeoWrite, GeoDraw, GeoDex,GeoPlanner, Scrapbook, background and clip art files. See supportdocument number 239 (Upgrading Geoworks 1.x documents) for more information.

When I try to upgrade my documents, I get the message, 'ErrorConverting File.'

You need to turn off the Read­Only attribute for files youwant to upgrade. In NewManager or GeoManager, select the file, then chooseFile Information, Change Attributes from the File menu.

Can I use my NewDeal or Geoworks 2.x documents with Geoworks Proor Ensemble 1.2?

No. The format for the newer documents is much more complexthan the format of Pro and Ensemble 1.2 documents. For NewWriteor GeoWrite documents, you can save them as ASCII text files using the exportfeature, then import them into Pro or 1.2's GeoWrite using theInsert from Text File option on the File menu.

What happened to the Beginner and Intermediate workspaces thatwere in earlier versions of Geoworks?

Because the Beginner and Intermediate workspaces were completelydifferent from the main NewManager or GeoManager screen, some userswere confused when they switched to the Advanced workspace. Since NewManagerand GeoManager offer access to complete file management functions and User Levelsare available in each application, the Beginner and Intermediate workspacesare no longer included.

Geoworks 1.x had a Welcome screen. Without a Welcome screen,how do I get to the DOS Programs screen?

From the main NewManager or GeoManager screen, click on the button labeled DOS.

How can I start a DOS Program from within Geoworks or NewDeal?

You can simply double­click on the DOS program's icon inNewManager or GeoManager or you can select Create Launcher from theUtilities menu to make a launcher for the program.

Can I use my old Geoworks fonts in NewDeal software?

Copy the fonts from the GEOWORKSFONT or GEOS20USERDATAFONTdirectory to the NEWDEALUSERDATAFONT directory. If the fontalready exists in your NewDeal software, do not overwrite it. Youmay need to exit and re­enter NewDeal before theadded fonts are recognized.

What is the Desk Accessories folder for? It looks empty.

Applications you place in this folder are 'always on top'of other open applications. You might find this useful behaviorfor the Calculator, the addressbook, or other apps you frequently use.Simply move the application into this folder to make it an 'alwayson top' application. If you decide you don't like this behavior,move it out of the Desk Accessories folder and back into the Worlddirectory.

What are these User Levels? Why do they keep changing backafter I set them?

The User Levels are designed to ease the 'learning curve'for beginning and intermediate users. Say you're a beginning spreadsheetuser, but an advanced word processor: you can set User Level 2in your spreadsheet application and User Level 4 in your word processorIf you want the new User Level to be permanent, you need to choose SaveConfiguration from the Options menu in each application.

How do I use my faxmodem?

Geoworks software and early versions of NewDeal offer direct supportfor the Complete Communicator fax modem. If you have another brand offax modem, consider upgrading to NewDeal, which includes supportfor sending and receiving faxes with most faxmodems, or thePrint­to­File feature may be able to generate files in aformat you can use with your fax software. See document number 218(Fax Support) for more information.

How can I dial into America Online from NewDeal software?

NewDeal software does not include a client for America Online.Geoworks software does include an AOL client, but it is no longersupported by America Online.

Can NewDeal products be used to automate interactions?

No. Programs like HP New Wave will perform tasks like that, because theyhave something called an 'agent,' but we do not. Also, some calendarprograms can start up something automatically, but NewPlannerand GeoPlanner cannot. A macro program is available from Breadbox Computersfor version 2 or 3.

Can I print something directly from NewManager or GeoManager?

Yes. Select one or more document files and then press CTRL+P, or selectPrint from the File menu.

Does the software support a network environment?

Yes, the software is network aware. That means you can run it on aworkstation attached to a network and will see the network drives.Network support has been improved with each version of the software.Version 1.x recognizes network drives on Novell Netware 3.xx networks.In version 2.0, support was added for Lantastic and LanManager networks.Version 2.1 was improved to see drives properly on Novell 4.1 servers.Banyan vines and some other networks are not supported.A network version of NewDeal is available that runs on the server.

What kind of mouse can I use?

There are 3 common types of mice: bus, serial and PS/2. The mouse mustbe 100% compatible with Microsoft, Logitech or Mouse Systems.

How much memory does the software take up when I'm runninga DOS application from a launcher?

It varies slightly depending on your system. About 2.7K.

Scrapbook

How do I scale graphics and clip art? I used to do it in Scrapbook,but 'Copy at View %' isn't there now.

You can scale images in the draw layer of the major applications.Just paste the Scrapbook page into your document and use the Scaleoption under the Transform menu. Or paste it in and resize it bydragging one of the handles on the graphic. If you hold the Shiftkey down while dragging, the graphic will scale in proportion.

NewDraw or GeoDraw

How do I fuse and defuse objects?

Fuse and Defuse in version 1.x have been replaced by Group andUngroup in the Arrange menu in version 2.x or newer. Group andUngroup work in exactly the same way as Fuse and Defuse. Notethat Group and Ungroup are only available if you are at UserLevel 2 or above.

I moved an object off the screen. How do I get it back?

Starting in version 2.x, it is possible to move graphic objectscompletely off the screen, because you no longer have to clickon the object to drag it as you did in earlier versions. Now youcan move any selected object by holding down the right mouse buttonand moving the mouse in any direction. If you drag an object toofar in any direction, it will go off the screen and you will haveto drag in the opposite direction to get it back. If you've alreadyde­selected the object, choose Select All from the Edit menu.Then de­select all of the objects you can see, one at a time,by clicking on them while pressing the CTRL key. Now drag themouse while holding the right mouse button. The remaining selectedobjects (which were off screen) will be moved back into view.Also, you might temporarily enlarge your Page Size to help locatethe object.

NewFile or GeoFile

How do I create a new database? All I can do is open an existingfile or template.

You need to change to User Level 3 or 4 before you can start anew database.

NewWrite or GeoWrite

How do I set tabs?

Simply click on the ruler with the left mouse button. A left­alignedtab marker will appear at the position you clicked on. To changethe tab to a different alignment or to make it a 'dot leader'tab, double­click on the tab (or choose Tabs from the Paragraphmenu). The Tab Attributes dialog box will appear, where you canset the attributes or position of any tab.

How do I import an ASCII text file?

Choose New/Open from the File menu. Click on the Import button.In the Import File dialog box, select ASCII for file type. Selectthe directory path and filename in the File portion of the box,and click on Import to import the file, or open the file in TextFile Editor and copy/paste the text into NewWrite.

The INSert key isn't working anymore. How do I enable it?

Launch Preferences and click on the Look and Feel button. In thesection headed Overstrike Mode, click on Via Insert Key.

What happened to Save As under the File menu?

This option is only available under user levels 3 and 4. ChooseChange User Level. To make this the default User Level wheneveryou enter the application, choose Save Configuration from theOptions menu.

Can I print from small files like ASCII files?

Yes, you can print from the Text File Editor or import to NewWriteor GeoWrite and print from there.

Can I increase the spacing between letters my document?

Yes, you can increase the character spacing (sometimes called 'manualkerning'). Just choose Character Spacing.

Importing and Exporting files

Why does each application have different formats listed forimport/export?

Some formats are only appropriate for one type of application.For example, NewWrite is text­based, so it's difficult toexport NewWrite files in spreadsheet or graphics formats. Youcan always copy information from one application to another totry to expand your export options.

Why won't some of my files import?

• The file may not be in a supported format.
• Try selecting the specific file format instead of choosingAuto Detect.
• Make sure the file has been saved in the application that generatesfiles of that format (for example, if you think a file is in WordPerfect 5.1 format, try to open and save the file in Word Perfect5.1).
• If the import process seems to start, then just sits there,make sure you're allowing enough time for the import to complete.For large files, it's not unusual for the import to take severalminutes. We have even seen cases where importing took half anhour.
• Some imports require large amounts of swap memory space. Tryincreasing the Max File Size in Preferences, NewDeal (or NewDOSor Geos).

How do I import a file?

Under the File menu, choose New/Open. Click on the Import button.

How do I export a file?

Under the File menu, choose Other. From the Other menu, chooseExport document.

How do I import my Quattro Pro spreadsheets into GeoCalc or NewCalc?

Open the file in Quattro Pro and save it again using the WK1 or DBFfile name extension. Once the file is in WK1 or DBF format, you can importit directly into GeoCalc or NewCalc.

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Last Modified 15 Feb 1999

Hey all, Ernie here with a refreshed piece about GeoWorks, one of the great noble failures of the early PC era. There have been some updates that I’ve been wanting to add to this, as well as additional details that I think tech fans would appreciate. So here’s a second look.

Today in Tedium: Back in the early ’90s, it wasn’t a sure thing that Microsoft Windows was going to take over the market, even though they had a clear lead over many of their competitors, thanks to MS-DOS. In fact, one of the iconic GUI-based experiences of the era, AOL, hedged its bets for a while, creating and maintaining a DOS version of its iconic pseudo-internet software using an GUI platform few were familiar with: GeoWorks. It was an operating system for an era when it wasn’t even a sure thing we’d have a modem. Today, we do a dive into the world of GEOS. It’s a pretty fascinating place. — Ernie @ Tedium

— OS News writer Kroc Camen, discussing the early launch and success of GEOS (Graphical Environment Operating System), which started as an operating system option for the Commodore 64. The app, built by Berkeley Softworks—not to be confused with Berkeley Systems, which built the famous “flying toasters” screensaver—was one of the most popular pieces of software on C64 for a time, thanks to the fact that it was very functional and worked on very inexpensive hardware. The operating system eventually moved to the PC in the early ’90s in a more advanced form, and Berkeley Softworks changed its name to GeoWorks.

So what was GeoWorks like, anyway?

I had some experience with Commodore 64 thanks to a childhood friend of mine who owned one and let me mess around with it a bit, but ultimately, I caught onto the PC version of GeoWorks because it came bundled with a 386 I used when I was a kid.

That computer wasn’t super-fast—what, with its 40-megabyte hard drive and one megabyte of RAM—and, as a result, it really benefited from the lightweight, object-oriented approach of GeoWorks. The operating system took up maybe 10 of those megabytes, tops. And in an era where connecting to the wider world wasn’t really a big thing, the simplicity of the format was actually kind of nice.

Among the more interesting things about the platform:

Different interfaces for different skill levels: DOS was not a simple operating system for novices to jump into, and GeoWorks Ensemble made an effort to ensure it was more approachable. It offered two different tiers of usage—“appliances” and “professional,” along with a shell to jump into DOS programs, so you could play Commander Keen without a problem if you really wanted to. For people who had never used a PC before, the strategy was perfect—it had built-in training wheels.

Built-in office tools: The software included a variety of apps that were roughly comparable to anything you could find on other operating systems such as the Mac, including a word processor, calendar, and spreadsheet. It also included a Print Shop-style banner-maker, which came in handy if you owned a dot-matrix printer. Overall, these offerings were great for home users, an audience that Microsoft hadn’t really emphasized early on in Windows’ history. It wasn’t as flashy as, say, Microsoft Bob, but it worked a lot better.

(Raymond Shobe/Flickr)

Strong capabilities, low power: But the best part of GeoWorks was the fact that it worked well without really strong hardware. Windows 3.1 really needed a 486 to shine, but GeoWorks could effectively run on a 286 or 386 without any problem. Which was smart, because the market at that time was sizable. “Estimates of the total number of XTs and 286s that can’t do Windows right (Windows 3.0 was designed primarily for 80386-based computers) range as high as 20 million,” a 1991 Compute! magazine article stated. “GEOS may inherit this enormous market—providing that it survives.” It was stable, and despite the fact that (like early versions of Windows) it was essentially a graphical shell for DOS, it rarely ran into hiccups.

The software had a cult fanbase, especially among German computer users, who have done a lot to keep its memory alive.

So why did it fail? There are a variety of reasons out there, including the belief among its own leadership that Microsoft had iced GeoWorks out of the OEM market, but one of the bigger ones is that it had no apps. America Online was one of the only third-party developers it had—certainly a biggie, but not enough to sell a platform. Part of the reason for this was that, early on, you needed a Sun workstation to develop software for the platform, a deeply ironic requirement—essentially, you needed a $7,000 computer to develop software for low-end PCs, which meant mom-and-pop shops had no chance to even get on board. At the time, Microsoft was releasing Windows-native development platforms like Visual Basic to win over small developers.

But those things could have been dealt with, honestly, if the desktop operating system itself gained a significant audience. Even GeoWorks’ biggest fans knew it didn’t stand a chance against Windows, due to Microsoft’s already-established goodwill.

“I feel badly that this truly amazing program will never be given a chance, as IBM and Microsoft would never allow it,” one such fan wrote to PC Magazine in 1991. “I hope that software developers will see Ensemble’s amazing potential and will begin developing it. Without third-party developers, Ensemble will never survive.”

Microsoft was standing on the shoulders of giants. GeoWorks could barely even reach the ankles.

—Steve Case, the executive vice president of Quantum Computer Services, discussing the launch of the company’s then-new dial-up service Promenade in a 1990 press release. The software, which ran on a pre-release version of GeoWorks, was specifically set aside for IBM’s PS/1 platform, which was one of the earliest computers to have a built-in modem by default. (Finding a version of Promenade in the wild is very difficult even for retro software sleuths, as this lengthy message board thread highlights, but here’s what it looks like.) Within a year, the platform had been retooled into America Online (a company Case famously led throughout the ’90s), and within a decade, the company would be in the middle of an audacious merger with Time Warner.

An example of a Motif-based app, which isn’t a GeoWorks Ensemble app, but looks like one. (Wikimedia Commons)

The interface standard that gave GeoWorks its distinctive look

GeoWorks Ensemble was a GUI built for low-end home users, but it had borrowed some of its DNA from the era’s high-end computing infrastructure—particularly in the form of its interface.

The software, even with its relatively modest user base, may have been one of the most consumer-facing uses of Motif, a graphical user interface component toolkit that had first surfaced around the time that GeoWorks Ensemble was first built. While Windows was using its own internally built graphical user interface, GeoWorks was using an agreed-upon standard that was put together by the Open Software Foundation, a group of companies that aimed to create open standards for Unix.

(Do not, however, mistake “open standards” for “open source”: During the period GeoWorks used it, the Motif toolkit was proprietary, and its corporate users were required to pay royalties for it.)

Motif ages itself pretty handily due to its chiseled interface elements, a style that was also used in competing interfaces of the era, such as Windows 3.1 and NeXT. It’s effectively 1991 in software form.

The Common Desktop Environment, which used Motif. (via Guidebook Gallery)

Geoworks Ensemble 2.01 Download Torrent

But for a time, it was perhaps one of the most widely used GUI interface in Unix implementations, even if it only rarely surfaced in the consumer world. Irix, the operating system used in SGI computers, was based on Motif (using a descendant windowing interface called 4Dwm, or the IRIS Extended Motif Window Manager), as was the Common Desktop Environment that many Unix computers used throughout the 1990s.

But because it was proprietary, Motif and Linux didn’t always speak the same language and its impact was less felt in the world of open source, which was growing by leaps and bounds at the time. In 2000, the tool was made available to the open-source community, but not actually open sourced and reliant on a nonstandard license. Only in 2012, nearly a quarter-century after its initial creation, was Motif open-sourced.

But by 2012, Motif—while still having a fanbase and use in industrial applications, for example—had largely been superseded by interfaces borne from open source that quickly outpaced it. GNOME and KDE Plasma—take your pick!—have evolved consistently over the past couple of decades to become much better options. (For one thing, they’re significantly more modern.) But Motif, and its use in the Common Desktop Environment, arguably paved the way for those alternative interfaces to shine and go mainstream.

GeoWorks’ use of it was fairly unique, in part because GEOS wasn’t really a Unix operating system, but its own thing that ran on top of DOS. Its use of Motif also predated some of the other uses.

But by the late ’90s and early 2000s, that fetching not-Windows look gave way to designs that were very much Windows knockoffs. Too bad.

GeoWorks may have died as an operating system, but it had a number of extra lives

Geoworks Ensemble 2.01 Download Free

One interesting thing about failed operating systems is that they often don’t really die, but show up in random places because the software is still useful in certain cases. Palm’s sadly discarded webOS, for example, currently drives LG’s smart televisions, and as we noted last week, the NYC subway has used OS/2 to manage its systems for nearly three decades.

GEOS was much the same way. Like a cow shoved through the food manufacturing process and split into a million pieces, parts of GEOS showed up in the ingredient lists of all sorts of weird products. Among the places where GEOS showed its bones:

Personal digital assistants: Before Palm Computing founder Jeff Hawkins came up with the PalmPilot, he formulated an early take on the platform using a stripped-down version of GEOS. The Tandy Zoomer, which came out in 1993, wasn’t a hit, but the collaboration with GeoWorks, Tandy, and Casio proved informative for Hawkins and his team. It helped set the stage for the first truly successful PDA a few years later—one that didn’t use GEOS. (Not to be outdone, Hewlett-Packard created a PDA using the platform itself.)

Early smartphones: GEOS’ role in the mobile revolution wasn’t limited to Palm. In the late ’90s, the operating system was a key part of the Nokia 9000 Communicator, one of the earliest smartphones, and one that was well-loved. It was capable of basic word-processing, graphical web-browsing, and could even edit a spreadsheet. For those perks, it wasn’t cheap, costing $800 at launch, and it was Zack Morris huge. “Modern users take features like mobile email and web browsing for granted, but the Nokia 9000 Communicator was the first device to offer these in a single device,” tech writer Richard Baguley wrote on Medium in 2013. “It may have been a bulky, clunky device, but we still miss it.”

Electronic typewriters: The ’90s were a bad time to be a typewriter-maker, and Brother was not well-positioned to handle the internet revolution. But it did have something up its sleeve: GEOS. The company collaborated with GeoWorks on a set of printer variations that added basic word processing and desktop publishing capabilities to the mix. They were still typewriters, but they did slightly more interesting things than write type.

Primitive netbooks: Brother’s interest in GEOS didn’t just extend to typewriters; it saw GEOS as an opportunity to bring “computing to the masses,” as one press release put it. In 1998, years after GEOS had faded from view for just about everyone else, the typewriter company launched an alternative platform—the $500 GeoBook, a low-power laptop that predicted the rise of netbooks by about a decade. It could surf the web and had much of the software available in the DOS version of GeoWorks, but it didn’t have a hard drive, which helped keep the price down. And much like netbooks, reviewers hated them. “For the price of this unit, you can easily find a discontinued, refurbished or used Windows computer and maybe even a new one. It will do hundreds of things that this machine cannot dream of,” a negative 1998 New York Times review explained.

(In case you’re curious what one of these is like, here’s a 2017 review.)

There aren’t any crazy GEOS projects like this nowadays that I’m aware of, but hey, maybe it’s running an ATM somewhere.

Geoworks Ensemble 2.01 Download Full

When I wrote the original piece, it ended kind of sadly, as it had been written at a time when GeoWorks, as a concept, was at its proverbial fork in the road after passing through a whole series of hands.

The good news is, GEOS has found its direction once again. But it’s worth discussing how it got there first.

After GeoWorks the company dissolved in the late ’90s, the technology was sold off to a firm named NewDeal, which built an office suite out of GEOS, one that looked a lot like Windows 95 and took away a lot of the platform’s charm.

At one point, the operating system was owned by Ted Turner’s son, who attempted to run a low-cost PC company called MyTurn.com, with the GeoWorks software as its centerpiece. (When Teddy Turner ran for Congress in 2013, his MyTurn.com days came back to haunt him.)

But perhaps its longest legacy was in the hands of a firm named Breadbox, which had essentially treated GeoWorks as a volunteer upkeep project, with the eventual goal of turning the GEOS into an educational software platform that worked in tandem with Android.

But (as I noted at the end of my original story from 2016) the platform faced a devastating setback when one of its maintainers, Frank S. Fischer, died unexpectedly. Fellow maintainer John F. Howard pledged it would return, though he said there were “some legal issues to resolve.”

The nature of those legal issues became clear earlier this year, after the work on the PC version of GEOS re-emerged as an open source GitHub project. (Which is great news! GEOS was many things over the years, but never open source.)

Managed by a firm named blueway.Softworks, the application took a complicated route to open source, TechRepublic reporter James Sanders noted in March, including agreements with the former rights-holders.

Speaking to the publication, blueway.Softworks founder Falk Rehwagen, who once worked with Breadbox, noted that the complex mixture of licensed and non-licensed software baked into PC/GEOS makes its open-sourcing harder than it sounds.

“Because Breadbox Ensemble uses licensed non-free parts, we decided to make it available for registered users only along the license agreement, to keep the system available to the world,” Rehwagen explained. “At the same time we are separating the non-free parts and making PC/GEOS core available as open-source, forming #FreeGEOS.”

The goal, he adds, is to give it state-of-the-art features and improve its level of support. “Modernizing the platform is a priority,” he added.

PC/GEOS may not take over the world—like Windows 3.1, it was a glorified DOS shell, and when was the last time you used DOS? But there’s something important and essential about keeping these operating systems ticking.

In some ways, GeoWorks was my first introduction into home computing, the GUI I used before Windows, before MacOS, before Linux or Android. It deserves a space in the modern conversation—even if it’s just to show that it can be done, even after all these years.

--

Find this one an interesting read? Share it with a pal! (And give GeoWorks a try sometime—it’s pretty cool!)

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