Friendlyware was a set of 30 computer programs that were written in
BASIC
BASIC (Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages designed for ease of use. The original version was created by John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz at Dartmouth College ...
. There were several releases of Friendlyware. A review of some its software appeared in the April 1983 issue of
PC World
''PC World'' (stylized as PCWorld) is a global computer magazine published monthly by IDG. Since 2013, it has been an online only publication.
It offers advice on various aspects of PCs and related items, the Internet, and other personal tec ...
magazine.
Reception and distribution
These programs, which were bundled with some
IBM personal computer
A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or tech ...
s sold by hardware vendors, included computer games, business software and personal data analysis programs.
The original copy, titled Friendlyware I, was distributed on a 5.25"
floppy disk
A floppy disk or floppy diskette (casually referred to as a floppy, or a diskette) is an obsolescent type of disk storage composed of a thin and flexible disk of a magnetic storage medium in a square or nearly square plastic enclosure lined ...
with a green label. It had one arcade game (Brick Out) and other family software, including strategy games like
Reversi
Reversi is a strategy board game for two players, played on an 8×8 uncheckered board. It was invented in 1883. Othello, a variant with a fixed initial setup of the board, was patented in 1971.
Basics
There are sixty-four identical game pieces ...
. The Friendlyware PC Introductory Set was among the first games available for the PC. It was a best seller for three months with little competition.
The Friendlyware Arcade pack came on a floppy disk with a red label and contained eight additional arcade-style games. The BusinessWare release came with a blue label and contained simple business software.
Friendlyware was published in 1983 by a company named
Friendlysoft. Over 29,000 copies of the original FriendlyWare were eventually sold.
FriendlySoft
FriendlySoft was started by Michael Yaw, an investor who also owned several
Domino's Pizza
Domino's Pizza, Inc., trading as Domino's, is an American multinational pizza restaurant chain founded in 1960 and led by CEO Russell Weiner. The corporation is Delaware General Corporation Law, Delaware domiciled and headquartered at the Domino ...
stores. The software was written by a team of four programmers; who were paid royalties on the sales. Development was completed on some of the earlier IBM PCs. One of these computers was a PC with an innovative CGA card (
Color Graphics Adapter
The Color Graphics Adapter (CGA), originally also called the ''Color/Graphics Adapter'' or ''IBM Color/Graphics Monitor Adapter'', introduced in 1981, was IBM's first color graphics card for the IBM PC and established a de facto computer disp ...
).
Cultural impact
Friendlyware was briefly referenced in ''
Homestar Runner
''Homestar Runner'' is an American Flash animated comedy web series and website created by Mike and Matt Chapman, known collectively as The Brothers Chaps. The series centers on the adventures of a large and diverse cast of characters, headed by ...
s "Strong Bad Email #65", with a subsequent playthrough of a number of the games in "Disk 4 of 12 - FriendlyWare".
Friendlyware was one of the first pieces of software to implement a
boss key
A boss key, or boss button, is a special keyboard shortcut used in PC games or other programs to hide the program quickly, possibly displaying a special screen that appears to be a normal productivity program (such as a spreadsheet application) ...
, a shortcut to obscure the nature of the software from superiors in the workplace, Enhancements to this feature were still noteworthy in 2014.
References
External links
FriendlyWare profile(provided by GameSpy)
DOS software
{{DOS-stub