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PathMinder isfile managersoftware, orDOS shell originally designed for use underDOS disk operating systems. Published by Westlake Data Corporation ofAustin, Texas, and designed by Albert Nurick and Brittain Fraley, it was first released on 30 September 1984 and became fairly popular. Although theuser interface was composed of text characters, it had many graphical elements, especially when PathMinder Plus was released in 1989, and the Reconfigurable User Interface was introduced.
PathMinder won numerous computer industry awards and product comparisons, and was nominated forPC Magazine's Technical Excellence award.
PathMinder was the first DOS shell to incorporate an integratedtext editor, the first to include an application manager, and the first to include activity logging.
The program filled a required niche in the market, as DOS shipped with no graphicalfile manager, until the generally unsuccessfulDOS Shell that was provided withMS-DOS 4.
PathMinder had several key features which contributed to its success, including a virtual loader that required only 4 KB of RAM when other programs were running, an important feature when less than 640 KB of RAM were available on systems of the day.
A version of PathMinder was independently developed in 1988 to run on theCP/Moperating system.[1]
PathMinder suffered a terminal decline after the widespread usage ofMicrosoft Windows. Westlake Data released a version of PathMinder designed for theWindows 3.1 operating system called PathMinder Does Windows, but it met with little critical or commercial success.