Friendlyware

Friendlyware was a set of 30 computer programs that were written in BASIC and bundled with certain IBM personal computers. They were a collection of business, game and personal analysis software that pushed the power of BASIC to the maximum.

Friendlyware was published in 1983 by a company called Friendlysoft. Friendlyware was one of the first pieces of software to implement a boss key,[1] realizing that business executives also enjoyed having fun on their computers.[2]

There were several releases of Friendlyware. The original "demo" copy came on a 5.25" floppy with a green label. The demo copy (Friendlyware I) had one arcade game (Brick Out) and other "family" software, including strategy games like Reversi.[3] The Friendlyware PC Introductory Set was among the first games available for the PC; with little competition, it was a best seller for three months.[2] The Friendlyware Arcade pack came on a floppy with a red label, and contained eight additional arcade style games reminiscent of the early 1980s. The BusinessWare release came with a blue label, and contained simple business software.

The FriendlySoft company was started by an investor named Michael Yaw, who also owned several Domino's Pizza stores. The software was written by a team of four programmers, who were paid royalties on the sales. Development was done on some of the earlier IBM PCs, which were so new at the time that they had to be ordered. One of the computers purchased was a PC with a CGA card (Color Graphics Adapter), which was an innovation. Over 29,000 copies of the original FriendlyWare were eventually sold.