View source for DeskMate

{{short description|Tandy operating environment}}
{{other uses|deskmate}}
{{Infobox Software
  | name = DeskMate
  | screenshot = DeskMate 3.02.JPG
  | caption = DeskMate version 3.02
  | developer = [[Tandy Corporation|Tandy]]
  | released= {{Start date and age|1984|11}}
  | latest_release_version = 3.05
  | latest_release_date = c.{{Start date and age|1992}}
  | operating_system = [[TRSDOS]], [[MS-DOS]]
  | genre = [[GUI]]
  | license = [[Proprietary software|Proprietary]]
}}

'''DeskMate''' is a software application that provides a graphical [[operating environment]]. It originally was for [[Tandy Corporation]]'s [[TRSDOS]] Operating System for their [[TRS-80]] line of computers, but eventually shifted to [[MS-DOS]]. Like [[Graphics Environment Manager|GEM]] from [[Digital Research]], it is not a full [[operating system]], but runs on top an existing system. Initial [[Porting|ports]] only ran on Tandy's PCs such as the [[Tandy 1000]], but later became available for true [[IBM PC compatibles]] and competed with early versions of [[Microsoft Windows]].

Some non-Tandy software uses DeskMate to provide the user interface via a [[Run-time system|runtime]] version of the operating environment for those without it. This includes [[Activision]]'s The Music Studio<ref name="latimer198911">{{cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/stream/1989-11-compute-magazine/Compute_Issue_114_1989_Nov#page/n103/mode/2up | title=The Music Studio 3.0 | magazine=Compute! | date=November 1989 | accessdate=11 November 2013 | author=Latimer, Joey | pages=102 | volume=11 | number = 11 #114}}</ref> and a version of [[Lotus 1-2-3]].<ref name="lewis19890813">{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/13/business/the-executive-computer-sorting-out-lotus-s-new-1-2-3-s.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm | title=Sorting Out Lotus's New 1-2-3's | work=The New York Times | date=1989-08-13 | accessdate=11 November 2013 | author=Lewis, Peter H. | url-access=limited}}</ref>

== DeskMate 1.0 ==
DeskMate version 1.0 was included with the original [[Tandy 1000]] and did not work correctly on non-Tandy computers. This was mainly due to the use of the [[function key]]s - as most non-Tandy PCs either did not come with an ''F12'' button or with one that did not act in the same way as a Tandy ''F12'' function key (Tandy adopted F11/F12 before IBM did).

DeskMate was popular, increasing sales of the Tandy 1000 to homes and schools.{{r|alsop19880118}}

== DeskMate 2 ==
By the time Personal DeskMate was released with the Tandy 1000 EX, it was a GUI that acted as a ''portal'' for many other office productivity applications. The DeskMate application would run on top of MS-DOS. The [[user interface]] was made up of text. The applications that made up the suite were:
*a basic [[word processor]] ("Text")
*a [[spreadsheet]] ("Worksheet")
*a calendar
*a basic [[Database|database program]] ("Filer")
The programs all fit on a 360K [[floppy disk]]. With careful manipulation, it was possible to isolate the individual applications and remove the others, placing them on separate floppies to be swapped when required. DeskMate was still required, as the individual programs could not be accessed directly.

=== Professional DeskMate ===
For corporate users, Tandy offered Professional DeskMate which included [[LocalTalk]]-based file-service and email extensions. This variant was renamed to "Workgroup Companion" for later versions.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tandy Personal DeskMate |url=http://toastytech.com/guis/pdm3.html |access-date=2024-06-25 |website=toastytech.com}}</ref>

==DeskMate 3==
DeskMate 3 added a number of basic applications:
*a drawing program ("Draw")
*a simple digital [[Audio editing software|audio editing program]] ("Sound")
*a simple music program ("Music"), which could play music with [[Sampling (signal processing)|audio samples]] created in Sound, used the 3-channel [[Tandy DAC]], which provided 22&nbsp;kHz 8-bit audio.
*an online service ("[[AOL|PC Link]]")

The core parts of DeskMate (and DOS) were shipped in ROM on certain Tandy 1000s, allowing the computer to boot into DeskMate within a few seconds.

This was the first version of DeskMate that allowed for a run-time version that could be distributed with applications.  This allowed users to use DeskMate applications on their PC's even if they did not have DeskMate installed.

==WinMate==
This was a complete rewrite for [[Windows 3.1x|Microsoft Windows 3.1]], providing a simplified user interface and a few applications.

==Reception==
Noting that Tandy had found that Personal DeskMate increased sales of its 1000 computers, Stewart Alsop II in 1988 praised Tandy's strategy for Professional DeskMate as "brilliant: while [[IBM]], [[Apple Inc.|Apple]], and virtually the rest of the computing world focus almost exclusively on corporate and government business", Tandy "responds to the basic needs of small businesses and professional offices".<ref name="alsop19880118">{{Cite magazine |last=Alsop |first=Stewart II |author-link=Stewart Alsop II |date=1988-01-18 |title=Tandy DeskMate: Viva La Small Business |url=http://vintagecomputer.net/cisc367/PC-Letter_19880118.pdf |magazine=P.C. Letter |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=9–10}}</ref>

== References ==

{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://toastytech.com/guis/deskmate.html DeskMate ver 3.69 screenshot and text]
*[http://www.oldskool.org/guides/tvdog/deskmate.html DeskMate Programs and Related Files] for DeskMate version 3+
*[https://archive.org/details/80_Micro_1985-05_CW_Communications_US/page/n31/mode/2up DeskMate: Tandy's Software Starter Package] ''80 Micro'' review of original Deskmate for Tandy 1000

[[Category:DOS software]]
[[Category:File managers]]
[[Category:IBM PC compatibles]]
[[Category:Operating system APIs]]
[[Category:Assembly language software]]
[[Category:TRS-80]]
[[Category:Windowing systems]]