XTree

XTree is file manager software, originally designed for use under DOS. It was first released on 1 April 1985 and became highly popular. Although the user interface was composed of text characters, it had many graphical elements, especially when XTree Gold was released in 1989, and pull-down menus were introduced.

The program filled a required niche in the market, as DOS shipped with no graphical file manager, until the generally unsuccessful DosShell that was provided with MS-DOS 5. Even at this point, the speed and features of XTree Gold (specifically support for the ZIP compression format and ability to undelete files). The program also had the benefit of requiring very little memory, essential at a time when less than 640kb of memory were available for programs to run.

XTree suffered a terminal decline after the widespread usuage of Microsoft Windows. The built in Windows file manager had a vaguely similar appearance to XTree, and while it lacked the speed, keyboard shortcuts and power, it did benefit greatly from being included free with Windows. In 1992 XTree for Windows was released. The product was a disaster for XTree Company who had dropped many of the features liked in the DOS versions. In 1995 XTree Company ended their attempts to produce XTree products.

The popularity of the program has led many enthusiasts to develop clone versions that work with modern opperating systems