PathMinder
Encyclopedia
PathMinder is file manager
software, or DOS shell
originally designed for use under Microsoft
's MS-DOS
disk operating system
. Published by Westlake Data Corporation of Austin, Texas
, and designed by Albert Nurick and Brittain Fraley, it was first released on 30 September 1984 and became fairly popular. Although the user interface
was composed of text characters, it had many graphical elements, especially when PathMinder Plus was released in 1989, and the Reconfigurable User Interface was introduced.
PathMinder won numerous computer industry awards and product comparisons, and was nominated for PC Magazine
's Technical Excellence award.
PathMinder was the first DOS shell to incorporate an integrated text editor
, the first to include an application manager, and the first to include activity logging.
The program filled a required niche in the market, as DOS shipped with no graphical file manager, until the generally unsuccessful DOS Shell
that was provided with MS-DOS 4.
PathMinder had several key features which contributed to its success, including a virtual loader that required only 4kb of RAM when other programs were running, an important feature when less than 640kb of RAM were available on systems of the day.
A version of PathMinder was independently developed in 1990 to run on the CP/M operating systemArthur-PC.
PathMinder suffered a terminal decline after the widespread usage of Microsoft Windows
. Westlake Data released a version of PathMinder designed for the Windows 3.1 operating system called PathMinder Does Windows, but it met with little critical or commercial success.
File manager
A file manager or file browser is a computer program that provides a user interface to work with file systems. The most common operations performed on files or groups of files are: create, open, edit, view, print, play, rename, move, copy, delete, search/find, and modify file attributes, properties...
software, or DOS shell
DOS Shell
The DOS Shell is a file manager, debuted in MS-DOS and IBM DOS 4.0 . It was discontinued after version 6.0, but retained as part of the "Supplemental Disk" until 6.22 for MS-DOS; as such, it was not a core part of the operating system throughout its evolution, but rather an add-on...
originally designed for use under Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
's MS-DOS
MS-DOS
MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...
disk operating system
Disk operating system
Disk Operating System and disk operating system , most often abbreviated as DOS, refers to an operating system software used in most computers that provides the abstraction and management of secondary storage devices and the information on them...
. Published by Westlake Data Corporation of Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, and designed by Albert Nurick and Brittain Fraley, it was first released on 30 September 1984 and became fairly popular. Although the user interface
User interface
The user interface, in the industrial design field of human–machine interaction, is the space where interaction between humans and machines occurs. The goal of interaction between a human and a machine at the user interface is effective operation and control of the machine, and feedback from the...
was composed of text characters, it had many graphical elements, especially when PathMinder Plus was released in 1989, and the Reconfigurable User Interface was introduced.
PathMinder won numerous computer industry awards and product comparisons, and was nominated for PC Magazine
PC Magazine
PC Magazine is a computer magazine published by Ziff Davis Publishing Holdings Inc. A print edition was published from 1982 to January 2009...
's Technical Excellence award.
PathMinder was the first DOS shell to incorporate an integrated text editor
Text editor
A text editor is a type of program used for editing plain text files.Text editors are often provided with operating systems or software development packages, and can be used to change configuration files and programming language source code....
, the first to include an application manager, and the first to include activity logging.
The program filled a required niche in the market, as DOS shipped with no graphical file manager, until the generally unsuccessful DOS Shell
DOS Shell
The DOS Shell is a file manager, debuted in MS-DOS and IBM DOS 4.0 . It was discontinued after version 6.0, but retained as part of the "Supplemental Disk" until 6.22 for MS-DOS; as such, it was not a core part of the operating system throughout its evolution, but rather an add-on...
that was provided with MS-DOS 4.
PathMinder had several key features which contributed to its success, including a virtual loader that required only 4kb of RAM when other programs were running, an important feature when less than 640kb of RAM were available on systems of the day.
A version of PathMinder was independently developed in 1990 to run on the CP/M operating systemArthur-PC.
PathMinder suffered a terminal decline after the widespread usage of Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
. Westlake Data released a version of PathMinder designed for the Windows 3.1 operating system called PathMinder Does Windows, but it met with little critical or commercial success.