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DeskMate 2 - Tandy’s GUI of the 80s (before Windows 3.1) for their computers sold at RadioShack

Posted on April 6, 2025

Tandy Personal DeskMate 2 dropped in 1987 as an upgrade to the original DeskMate that came bundled with Tandy and RadioShack PCs. It was a GUI-based shell running on top of DOS, giving you a clean menu system for launching apps like word processing, spreadsheets, calendar, and a basic drawing tool. It made clunky DOS machines feel almost modern. DeskMate 2 added better file handling and smoother navigation, and even supported color if your monitor could handle it. It wasn’t flashy, but back then, having an “all-in-one” suite on a home PC felt next-level. By the time Windows 3.1 hit in ‘92, DeskMate was already fading, but if you had a Tandy back then, you definitely clicked around in this thing.

DeskMate 2 - Tandy’s GUI of the 80s (before Windows 3.1) for their computers sold at RadioShack