TabWorks is a replacement shell for

Windows 3.x Windows 3.x means either of, or all of the following versions of Microsoft Windows: * Windows 3.0 * Windows 3.1x Windows 3.1 is a major release of Microsoft Windows. It was released to manufacturing on April 6, 1992, as a successor to Windo ...

and

Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows 9x family of operating systems. The first operating system in the 9x family, it is the successor to Windows 3.1x, and was released to manufacturin ...

developed by XSoft, a division of

Xerox PARC PARC (Palo Alto Research Center; formerly Xerox PARC) is a research and development company in Palo Alto, California. Founded in 1969 by Jacob E. "Jack" Goldman, chief scientist of Xerox Corporation, the company was originally a division of Xero ...

. It organizes files and applications in a tabbed 3-ring notebook user interface, making it easier for novice users to navigate Windows. The software was created to replace

Program Manager Program Manager is the shell of Windows 3.x and Windows NT 3.x operating systems. This shell exposed a task-oriented graphical user interface (GUI), consisting of ''icons'' (shortcuts for programs) arranged into ''program groups''. It replaced ' ...

on Windows 3.x and the shell on Windows 95. The user interface concept was a collaboration between

IDEO IDEO () is a design and consulting firm with offices in the U.S., England, Germany, Japan, and China. It was founded in Palo Alto, California, in 1991. The company's 700 staff uses a design thinking approach to design products, services, environ ...

and XSoft. The concept was originally developed at Xerox PARC by Stuart Card, Robert Kincaid, Sonny Lundin, Kim Medrano, Ed Stitt, Gary Schoolcraft, Hal Schoolcraft, Steven Calwas, Steve Farrell, Kerry Kobashi, Janine Walters, Pat Gibberson, Rick Soriano, and David Ching. TabWorks was shipped in 1993 and distributed with PCs from 1993 to around 1997 by several companies, including

Compaq Compaq Computer Corporation (sometimes abbreviated to CQ prior to a 2007 rebranding) was an American information technology company founded in 1982 that developed, sold, and supported computers and related products and services. Compaq produced ...

and

NEC is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. The company was known as the Nippon Electric Company, Limited, before rebranding in 1983 as NEC. It prov ...

. Over 9 million copies of the software were installed worldwide. Microsoft did not like that Compaq was creating systems that replaced the primary Windows user interface.

"Since the release of Windows 95, Microsoft has become aware of instances in which OEMs are modifying the product as a method of differentiating their hardware. This has caused considerable confusion with our end user customers. As a result, Microsoft is taking this opportunity to define the requirements and restrictions of the preinstallation process, so that all of our end users have a consistent experience with our products."

Compaq stopped bundling TabWorks with its machines in 1996, claiming it was no longer necessary given the improvements to the shell in Windows 95. TabWorks was later acquired in 1996 by Citadel Computer systems, which integrated it into their line of network security and desktop utility product lines. Citadel discontinued selling TabWorks in early 2001.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tabworks Utilities for Windows Desktop shell replacement Windows-only software