What were the MS-DOS programs that Windows used the progman.exe stock icons for?

Mostly generic-looking icons. The post What were the MS-DOS programs that Windows used the progman.exe stock icons for? appeared first on The Old New Thing.

May 6, 2025 - 19:48

Last time, we learned the history of moricons.dll, and along the way learned about legacy icons in progman.exe. But what are the icons?

Today, we’ll look at the bonus icons in progman.exe. Some of them were auto-assigned by Windows to some programs. Others were just fun icons that you could use for your own Program Manager items.

[MS-DOS word processor]
Brief 2.1/3.0
Brief 3.1
DisplayWrite 3
DisplayWrite 4
DisplayWrite 5
DisplayWrite Assistant
Formtool
GW BASIC
IBM Personal Editor
IBM Professional Editor

IBM Writing Assistant 2.0
Microsoft Macro Assembler
Microsoft Quick Pascal
RightWriter
Soft Kicker
Volkswriter 3.0
WordStar 2000
WordStar Professional
WordStar Professional 5.5
Writer Rabbit
XY Write

[MS-DOS spreadsheet]

Lotus 1-2-3
Lotus Access System

Supercalc 4.0
Supercalc 5.0

[MS-DOS database]
Ashton Tate dBase III
Ashton Tate dBase IV
IBM Filing Assistant
Insight
Microrim R:Base 3.0

Microrim R:Base 5000
Microrim R:Base Clout
Microrim R:Base System V
Paradox
Q & A Report Writer
Quick Verse 2.0

[MS-DOS communications]

Microsoft Online 1.0
PC3270
PFS: Access
Procomm

Prodigy
QModem
Smartcom II
TeleMate

[MS-DOS generic program]

Managing Your Money
Microsoft Advanced Basic
Microsoft Basic
Microsoft Fortran Compiler 5.1
Microsoft Macro Assembler
Microsoft Make Utility

Microsoft Pascal Compiler
Microsoft Spell
PFS: Plan
PFS: Professional Plan
Ready!
Turbo Tax

[paint]
PFS: First Graphics

[bar chart]

[camera]

[CD-based program]
Microsoft Bookshelf

[chart or file system]
Norton File Find
PFS: First Choice 3.0

PFS: First Choice 3.1
PFS: Professional Network
XTree Gold

[clapboard]

[drafting]

Autocad
Autosketch 2.0

Autosketch 3.0
Generic CADD

[desktop publishing]
PFS: First Publisher
Soft Kicker
Ventura Publisher

[filmstrip]

[graphing]
Microsoft Chart
GraphWriter

[handshake]

[utilities]

Norton Utilities 4.5
Norton Utilities 5/6.0

Sidekick 1.0
Sidekick Plus

[mail]
Lotus Express

[fine art]

[newspaper]

[telephone]

[plain document]

[spreadsheet]

[sticky note]

[cassette tape]

[typewriter]
Norton Line Printer

[briefcase]

[door]

[large envelope]

[mailbox]

[safe]
CP Anti-Virus

[help]
Norton Time Mark

It appears that at the start, the visual language was that MS-DOS programs were represented as a program running inside a frame, the frame representing the GUI frame around the MS-DOS session. (Also known informally as the MS-DOS “box”.)

Windows used the information in the APPS.INF file to identify these executables and associate them with icons and PIF file configurations.

Next time, we’ll look at the icons in moricons.dll.

The post What were the MS-DOS programs that Windows used the progman.exe stock icons for? appeared first on The Old New Thing.