Check them out at and discover why old-school is sometimes preferred. The majority of the programs are for Windows, but the site also hosts a sizeable Mac selection as well. The site now hosts 2,843 old versions of 194 applications, including Web browsers, e-mail clients, instant messaging, video and audio utilities, word processors, image editors, security tools and a lot more. The next five revisions were disastrous, and after Jasc was acquired by Corel in 2004, the application was a sad shadow of its former self.īut why despair when OldApps lets you download older, discontinued editions of Paint Shop Pro, from Versions 2 to 12, free of charge, on an as-is basis. One of my favorite case studies is Jasc Software’s Paint Shop Pro, a terrific little graphics editor that steadily improved over the years, finally peaking - in my opinion - at Version 7. This site is full of examples of software that might be 10 years old, yet they still outperform the newer versions. Although not technically abandonware, these older versions usually no longer are supported by the original developers, so what you download is what you get.

Sometimes, an older version of a program just feels better or enables greater workflow.Ī great place to start is a site appropriately named OldApps, where you can still find and download older versions of applications. Sometimes, changes made to software remove features, reduce functionality or cause conflicts with existing hardware or software. Why would anyone want an old version of an application? “New and improved” or “latest and greatest” labels often don’t hold true. Misguided programmers rarely adhere to the old adage, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Often it’s a matter of software changing hands, and the new developers don’t under the product as well as the end users. But there’s no denying that some revisions are done unnecessarily, sometimes causing more problems than they fix. Newer isn’t necessarily better, especially in the world of computer software, where a single revision can change a respected product from must-have application to avoid-at-all-costs disaster.ĭon’t get me wrong: Product upgrades are an essential part of the software development process, fixing bugs, adding new features and enhancing functionality.

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