During the development of this article we discovered several programs that were formerly sold as commercial products. The original vendors are now offering these same products for free. If you find other such programs like those below, be sure to let us know.
Lotus Agenda: This is a Personal Information Manager (PIM) from Lotus Development Corp. Many Palmtop users have already discovered this program and are grateful to have it available in their pocket. The downside is that there is no online instructions for using the program. Books that supported Agenda have long since gone out of print. But if you're willing to experiment you may find that its just what you needed. Agenda may be found at
http://ftp.support.lotus.com/ftp/pub/desktop/Agenda/dos/2.0/misc/
DataPerfect: This is a true relational database program somewhat like dBASE III+. It was originally sold by the Word Perfect company. When the company was bought by Novell and then Corel, DataPerfect was returned to the author who is giving it away. You can get a copy of DataPerfect from the WPUSER forum on CompuServe.
PC-File: If you don't need a relational database but you want something akin to the database on the Palmtop, PC-File might suit you. PC-File was sold by ButtonWare Software. Since Jim Button has retired, he now gives away what he once sold, as shareware. You can find a copy of version 5.01 of the program at www.halcyon.com/knopf/free.htm A book, "The Complete Guide to PC-File", is available from the authors. Visit the site. Therein you'll find the true story behind shareware from Jim Knopf (a.k.a. Jim Button.)
Square Notes, version 3.5: If your job involves researching and keeping notes on related topics, for instance when writing a thesis or a product report, then SquareNotes 3.5 might be useful. Its a free-form database with powerful cross-referencing capabilities. You could probably get the same functionality from a custom database on the Palmtop. But if you want something that will run out of the box on the Palmtop then get your free copy of Square Notes at www.sqn.com.
Accounting Pro: This is a full accounting package along the lines of DAC Easy Accounting or Quickbooks. It is one of the files described in the DOS section of this article. Again, its a commercial product that is available for the taking.