<s>
DeskMate	B-Device
is	O
a	O
software	O
application	O
that	O
provides	O
a	O
graphical	O
operating	B-Application
environment	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
originally	O
was	O
for	O
Tandy	O
Corporation	O
's	O
TRSDOS	B-Operating_System
Operating	B-General_Concept
System	I-General_Concept
for	O
their	O
TRS-80	B-Device
line	O
of	O
computers	O
,	O
but	O
eventually	O
shifted	O
to	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
GEM	B-Application
from	O
Digital	O
Research	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
not	O
a	O
full	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
,	O
but	O
runs	O
on	O
top	O
an	O
existing	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Initial	O
ports	O
only	O
ran	O
on	O
Tandy	O
's	O
PCs	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
Tandy	O
1000	O
,	O
but	O
later	O
became	O
available	O
for	O
true	O
IBM	O
PC	O
compatibles	O
and	O
competed	O
with	O
early	O
versions	O
of	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
non-Tandy	O
software	O
uses	O
DeskMate	B-Device
to	O
provide	O
the	O
user	B-Application
interface	I-Application
via	O
a	O
runtime	B-Device
version	O
of	O
the	O
operating	B-Application
environment	I-Application
for	O
those	O
without	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
includes	O
Activision	O
's	O
The	O
Music	O
Studio	O
and	O
a	O
version	O
of	O
Lotus	B-Application
1-2-3	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
DeskMate	B-Device
version	O
1.0	O
was	O
included	O
with	O
the	O
original	O
Tandy	O
1000	O
and	O
did	O
not	O
work	O
correctly	O
on	O
non-Tandy	O
computers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
mainly	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
the	O
function	B-Application
keys	I-Application
-	O
as	O
most	O
non-Tandy	O
PCs	O
either	O
did	O
not	O
come	O
with	O
an	O
F12	O
button	O
or	O
with	O
one	O
that	O
did	O
not	O
act	O
in	O
the	O
same	O
way	O
as	O
a	O
Tandy	O
F12	O
function	B-Application
key	I-Application
(	O
Tandy	O
adopted	O
F11/F12	O
before	O
IBM	O
did	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DeskMate	B-Device
was	O
popular	O
,	O
increasing	O
sales	O
of	O
the	O
Tandy	O
1000	O
to	O
homes	O
and	O
schools	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
the	O
time	O
Personal	O
DeskMate	B-Device
was	O
released	O
with	O
the	O
Tandy	O
1000	O
EX	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
a	O
GUI	B-Application
that	O
acted	O
as	O
a	O
portal	O
for	O
many	O
other	O
office	O
productivity	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
DeskMate	B-Device
application	O
would	O
run	O
on	O
top	O
of	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
user	B-Application
interface	I-Application
was	O
made	O
up	O
of	O
text	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
programs	O
all	O
fit	O
on	O
a	O
360K	B-Device
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
careful	O
manipulation	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
possible	O
to	O
isolate	O
the	O
individual	O
applications	O
and	O
remove	O
the	O
others	O
,	O
placing	O
them	O
on	O
separate	O
floppies	B-Device
to	O
be	O
swapped	O
when	O
required	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DeskMate	B-Device
was	O
still	O
required	O
,	O
as	O
the	O
individual	O
programs	O
could	O
not	O
be	O
accessed	O
directly	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DeskMate	B-Device
3	O
added	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
basic	O
applications	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
a	O
simple	O
music	O
program	O
(	O
"	O
Music	O
"	O
)	O
,	O
which	O
could	O
play	O
music	O
with	O
audio	B-Algorithm
samples	I-Algorithm
created	O
in	O
Sound	O
,	O
used	O
the	O
3-channel	O
Tandy	O
DAC	O
,	O
which	O
provided	O
22kHz	O
8-bit	O
audio	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
core	O
parts	O
of	O
DeskMate	B-Device
(	O
and	O
DOS	O
)	O
were	O
shipped	O
in	O
ROM	O
on	O
certain	O
Tandy	O
1000s	O
,	O
allowing	O
the	O
computer	O
to	O
boot	O
into	O
DeskMate	B-Device
within	O
a	O
few	O
seconds	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
the	O
first	O
version	O
of	O
DeskMate	B-Device
that	O
allowed	O
for	O
a	O
run-time	O
version	O
that	O
could	O
be	O
distributed	O
with	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
allowed	O
users	O
to	O
use	O
DeskMate	B-Device
applications	O
on	O
their	O
PC	O
's	O
even	O
if	O
they	O
did	O
not	O
have	O
DeskMate	B-Device
installed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Tandy	O
offered	O
DeskMate	B-Device
for	O
corporate	O
users	O
as	O
an	O
alternative	O
to	O
OS/2	B-Device
Presentation	I-Device
Manager	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Professional	O
DeskMate	B-Device
provides	O
a	O
text-based	O
GUI	B-Application
for	O
DOS	O
,	O
with	O
LocalTalk-based	O
file-service	O
and	O
email	O
extensions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
a	O
complete	O
rewrite	O
for	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
3.1	I-Application
,	O
providing	O
a	O
simplified	O
user	B-Application
interface	I-Application
and	O
a	O
few	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Noting	O
that	O
Tandy	O
had	O
found	O
that	O
Personal	O
DeskMate	B-Device
increased	O
sales	O
of	O
its	O
1000	O
computers	O
,	O
Stewart	O
Alsop	O
II	O
in	O
1988	O
praised	O
Tandy	O
's	O
strategy	O
for	O
Professional	O
DeskMate	B-Device
as	O
"	O
brilliant	O
:	O
while	O
IBM	O
,	O
Apple	O
,	O
and	O
virtually	O
the	O
rest	O
of	O
the	O
computing	O
world	O
focus	O
almost	O
exclusively	O
on	O
corporate	O
and	O
government	O
business	O
"	O
,	O
Tandy	O
"	O
responds	O
to	O
the	O
basic	O
needs	O
of	O
small	O
businesses	O
and	O
professional	O
offices	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
