Qmodem
Encyclopedia
Qmodem was an MS-DOS
shareware
telecommunications program and terminal emulator
. Qmodem was widely used to access bulletin boards in the 1980s and was well respected in the Bulletin Board System
community. Qmodem was also known as Qmodem SST and Qmodem Pro.
, the dominant shareware IBM PC communications program of that time.
Originally developed in Borland
Turbo Pascal
, the application originally supported the Xmodem
protocol, gradually added support for other protocols such as the popular Zmodem
protocol and CompuServe
-specific protocols such as CIS-B and CIS-B+. After a few versions it was rewritten in C and renamed Qmodem SST, and evolved features such as the ability to host a simple Bulletin Board System
. The application was sold to Mustang Software
in 1991 and in 1992 Mustang Software released version 5 of the program. Mustang Software changed the name of the software to Qmodem Pro and released several versions for MS-DOS
and for Microsoft Windows
with the final version being Qmodem Pro 2.21 for Windows 95
and Windows NT
which was released July 7, 1997.
Qmodem Pro continued to be sold by Mustang Software through 2000 when the rights to it were purchased by Quintus Corporation. Its status is now abandonware
.
In 2003 an independent free software
re-implementation of Qmodem for Unix-like
systems called Qodem
was released.
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...
shareware
Shareware
The term shareware is a proprietary software that is provided to users without payment on a trial basis and is often limited by any combination of functionality, availability, or convenience. Shareware is often offered as a download from an Internet website or as a compact disc included with a...
telecommunications program and terminal emulator
Terminal emulator
A terminal emulator, terminal application, term, or tty for short, is a program that emulates a video terminal within some other display architecture....
. Qmodem was widely used to access bulletin boards in the 1980s and was well respected in the Bulletin Board System
Bulletin board system
A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...
community. Qmodem was also known as Qmodem SST and Qmodem Pro.
History
Qmodem was developed by John Friel III in 1984 and sold as shareware through a company called The Forbin Project. Qmodem gained in popularity very quickly because it was much faster and had many new features compared to PC-TalkPC-Talk
PC-Talk was a communications software program. It was one of the first three widely popular software products sold via the marketing method that became known as shareware...
, the dominant shareware IBM PC communications program of that time.
Originally developed in Borland
Borland
Borland Software Corporation is a software company first headquartered in Scotts Valley, California, Cupertino, California and finally Austin, Texas. It is now a Micro Focus subsidiary. It was founded in 1983 by Niels Jensen, Ole Henriksen, Mogens Glad and Philippe Kahn.-The 1980s:...
Turbo Pascal
Turbo Pascal
Turbo Pascal is a software development system that includes a compiler and an integrated development environment for the Pascal programming language running on CP/M, CP/M-86, and DOS, developed by Borland under Philippe Kahn's leadership...
, the application originally supported the Xmodem
XMODEM
XMODEM is a simple file transfer protocol developed as a quick hack by Ward Christensen for use in his 1977 MODEM.ASM terminal program. XMODEM became extremely popular in the early bulletin board system market, largely because it was so simple to implement...
protocol, gradually added support for other protocols such as the popular Zmodem
ZMODEM
ZMODEM is a file transfer protocol developed by Chuck Forsberg in 1986, in a project funded by Telenet in order to improve file transfers on their X.25 network...
protocol and CompuServe
CompuServe
CompuServe was the first major commercial online service in the United States. It dominated the field during the 1980s and remained a major player through the mid-1990s, when it was sidelined by the rise of services such as AOL with monthly subscriptions rather than hourly rates...
-specific protocols such as CIS-B and CIS-B+. After a few versions it was rewritten in C and renamed Qmodem SST, and evolved features such as the ability to host a simple Bulletin Board System
Bulletin board system
A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...
. The application was sold to Mustang Software
Mustang Software
Mustang Software, Inc. was a California-based corporation that developed telecommunications software products. Mustang was incorporated in 1988, became a public corporation in 1995, and was finally merged into Quintus Corporation in 2000.Mustang's first software products were sold using the...
in 1991 and in 1992 Mustang Software released version 5 of the program. Mustang Software changed the name of the software to Qmodem Pro and released several versions for 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...
and for 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...
with the final version being Qmodem Pro 2.21 for Windows 95
Windows 95
Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products...
and Windows NT
Windows NT
Windows NT is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. It was a powerful high-level-language-based, processor-independent, multiprocessing, multiuser operating system with features comparable to Unix. It was intended to complement...
which was released July 7, 1997.
Qmodem Pro continued to be sold by Mustang Software through 2000 when the rights to it were purchased by Quintus Corporation. Its status is now abandonware
Abandonware
Abandonware are discontinued products for which no product support is available, or whose copyright ownership may be unclear for various reasons...
.
In 2003 an independent free software
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
re-implementation of Qmodem for Unix-like
Unix-like
A Unix-like operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, while not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification....
systems called Qodem
Qodem
Qodem is a text-based free software clone of the popular MS-DOS program Qmodem, updated for use on modern Unix-like operating systems. Its main features include Unicode support, multiple terminal emulations , file transfer protocols, keyboard macros, external scripts, and a dialing directory.Qodem...
was released.
Awards
- 1992 John Friel received the Dvorak AwardDvorak AwardsThe Dvorak Awards for Excellence in Communication were established by computing columnist John C. Dvorak. Ascend Communications was their primary sponsor, but other businesses both inside and outside the computing industry also assumed sponsorship. The awards were given from 1992 through 1997...
for his development of Qmodem - 1994 Mustang Software, Inc., received the Dvorak AwardDvorak AwardsThe Dvorak Awards for Excellence in Communication were established by computing columnist John C. Dvorak. Ascend Communications was their primary sponsor, but other businesses both inside and outside the computing industry also assumed sponsorship. The awards were given from 1992 through 1997...
for QmodemPro for Windows