Microsoft File

This post is just for the sake of nostalgia. Microsoft File written by Nancy Andrews is a 1986 book about the Microsoft application of the same name for the Apple Macintosh.

Before Microsoft had an operating system of its own (DOS and Windows), it used to create applications. First came developer tools, like Microsoft Basic and later applications. Microsoft File was one of its earliest applications, which it created for the Apple Macintosh. Microsoft also launched its own computer book publishing arm, called Microsoft Press, pretty early on. Early titles from Microsoft Press were all about the applications that Microsoft created for the Apple Macintosh, like this one.

[ The back cover showing Microsoft Press books on other Microsoft applications for the Mac, like Excel. ]

The File application was meant for business users to create, edit and save their business documents. I was looking for the oldest Microsoft Press books available at the university library and picked this. The book is so old and irrelevant that it was in the Closed Stacks section and I had to order it up. The book was too boring to read, since the application itself is pretty boring. But, it was worth it just to flip through the application screenshots of that time. The author Nancy Andrews went on to write many other Microsoft Press books about their applications of this era.