Thursday, September 7, 2017

Fastmenu GOLD, a blast from the past


I was digging through old archives, and stumbled upon an old dos program I used way back in 1991.

Fastmenu Gold... those were the days.

I didn't have the money for Windows 3.11, and I really wanted a snazzy desktop to run my dos apps from.

I feel bad for the original programmer... I never got to thank him for all the work he did.

His name was Jack W. Hildenbrand. I found out through some digging that he has since passed away.


It might not look like much, but this program had so many features built into it. Yes it could launch other dos programs (it's main function), but it could do so much more. It had a editor, a address book, a calculator, and a file manager. This probably seems like nothing, being that modern operating systems like Windows or Ubuntu have far more impressive abilities than these, but keep in mind this was released back in 1991.

Here is Jack's pitch for this old dos menu app:

         What fastmenu GOLD can do for you:
         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
         o.. Fast one or two key strokes to your applications.
         o.. Consumes no memory during applications execution.
         o.. Allows up to 80 folders up to 20 applications per folder.
         o.. Allows quick editing of the applications lists.
         o.. Can be operated with a Mouse.
         o.. Built in Auto Mouse Detection.
         o.. PassWord protection on any or all outside applications
             execution, Module operations and DOS exits.


         What you need to run fastmenu GOLD:
         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
         o.. IBM PC/XT/AT or Compatible with DOS 2.2+.
         o.. 512Kb of memory.
         o.. A Hard Drive and at least one floppy.
         o.. VGA Color Card and Monitor.


I wish I could go back in time.. I would love to tell him how useful and important this software was to me back in the day..


If you are interested in downloading a copy of Fastmenu GOLD 7, here is a link to my personal copy:
dwdenny.freeshell.org/GOLD70C.ZIP

Well, I hope you don't mind my being nostalgic.. I just wanted to share this old hidden gem.
-Denny