<s>
Norton	O
Commander	O
(	O
NC	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
discontinued	O
prototypical	O
orthodox	O
file	B-Application
manager	I-Application
(	O
OFM	O
)	O
,	O
written	O
by	O
John	O
Socha	O
and	O
released	O
by	O
Peter	O
Norton	O
Computing	O
(	O
later	O
acquired	O
in	O
1990	O
by	O
the	O
Symantec	O
corporation	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
NC	O
provides	O
a	O
text-based	B-Application
user	I-Application
interface	I-Application
for	O
managing	O
files	O
on	O
top	O
of	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
last	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
version	O
of	O
Norton	O
Commander	O
,	O
5.51	O
,	O
was	O
released	O
on	O
July	O
1	O
,	O
1998	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
related	O
product	O
,	O
Norton	O
Desktop	O
,	O
a	O
graphical	O
shell	O
for	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
and	O
Windows	B-Application
,	O
succeeded	O
Norton	O
Commander	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
came	O
in	O
two	O
variants	O
,	O
Norton	O
Desktop	O
for	O
DOS	B-Device
and	O
Norton	O
Desktop	O
for	O
Windows	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
John	O
Socha	O
started	O
work	O
on	O
Norton	O
Commander	O
in	O
1984	O
;	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
,	O
he	O
called	O
it	O
"	O
Visual	O
DOS	B-Device
"	O
or	O
"	O
VDOS	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
bottom	O
of	O
the	O
screen	O
,	O
Norton	O
Commander	O
displays	O
a	O
list	O
of	O
commands	O
that	O
are	O
extended	O
on	O
demand	O
by	O
the	O
CTRL	B-Device
and	O
ALT	B-Device
keys	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Norton	O
Commander	O
was	O
very	O
popular	O
during	O
the	O
DOS	B-Device
era	O
and	O
it	O
has	O
been	O
extensively	O
cloned	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
the	O
IntelliJ	B-Language
IDE	I-Language
used	O
to	O
include	O
a	O
"	O
Commander	O
"	O
plugin	O
that	O
performed	O
file	O
manipulation	O
using	O
the	O
same	O
shortcut	O
keys	O
as	O
Norton	O
Commander	O
but	O
the	O
plugin	O
is	O
now	O
obsolete	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Windows	B-Application
95	I-Application
included	O
a	O
new	O
graphical	O
shell	O
called	O
Windows	B-Protocol
Explorer	I-Protocol
and	O
supported	O
long	O
filenames	O
(	O
LFN	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Symantec	O
released	O
Norton	O
Commander	O
5.51	O
to	O
support	O
long	O
filenames	O
using	O
the	O
standard	O
Windows	B-Application
APIs	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
order	O
to	O
preserve	O
LFNs	O
while	O
working	O
in	O
real	B-Application
mode	I-Application
,	O
Norton	O
Commander	O
5.51	O
required	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
a	O
terminate-and-stay-resident	O
(	O
TSR	O
)	O
utility	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Norton	O
Commander	O
did	O
not	O
have	O
native	O
support	O
for	O
LFNs	O
in	O
real	B-Application
mode	I-Application
and	O
would	O
truncate	O
them	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
former	O
Peter	O
Norton	O
Group	O
developer	O
Mark	O
Lawler	O
,	O
after	O
Symantec	O
had	O
acquired	O
Peter	O
Norton	O
Computing	O
,	O
Symantec	O
had	O
speculated	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
would	O
be	O
a	O
success	O
,	O
so	O
the	O
key	O
PNC	O
resources	O
had	O
been	O
diverted	O
,	O
while	O
new	O
programmers	O
for	O
Windows	B-Application
platform	O
were	O
hired	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Enrique	O
Salem	O
(	O
who	O
eventually	O
became	O
Symantec	O
's	O
CEO	O
)	O
led	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
a	O
Windows	B-Application
shell	O
replacement	O
for	O
Windows	B-Application
File	I-Application
Manager	I-Application
and	O
Program	O
Manager	O
released	O
as	O
Norton	O
Desktop	O
for	O
Windows	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Norton	O
Commander	O
for	O
Windows	B-Application
was	O
a	O
Windows	B-Application
95	I-Application
variant	O
of	O
the	O
classical	O
DOS	B-Device
file	B-Application
manager	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
supported	O
both	O
Windows	B-Application
95	I-Application
and	O
Windows	B-Application
NT	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
version	O
fully	O
integrated	O
with	O
Windows	B-Application
features	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
Recycle	B-Application
Bin	I-Application
and	O
Quick	B-Application
View	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Quick	B-Application
View	I-Application
feature	O
was	O
supported	O
via	O
the	O
included	O
basic	O
Quick	B-Application
View	I-Application
Plus	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Version	O
1.02	O
added	O
Windows	B-Application
98	O
support	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
supports	O
Windows	B-Application
2000	O
and	O
functions	O
under	O
Windows	B-Application
XP	O
,	O
Windows	B-Application
Vista	O
,	O
and	O
Windows	B-Application
7	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
last	O
Windows	B-Application
version	O
of	O
Norton	O
Commander	O
was	O
2.01	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
supports	O
OS/2	B-Application
2.0	O
with	O
HPFS	B-Application
or	O
FAT	O
file	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
June	O
1993	O
,	O
Symantec	O
lowered	O
the	O
price	O
of	O
Norton	B-Application
Commander	I-Application
for	I-Application
OS/2	I-Application
to	O
$49	O
,	O
and	O
soon	O
ceased	O
sales	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
BYTE	B-Application
in	O
1989	O
listed	O
Norton	O
Commander	O
2.0	O
for	O
DOS	B-Device
as	O
among	O
the	O
"	O
Distinction	O
"	O
winners	O
of	O
the	O
BYTE	B-Application
Awards	O
,	O
stating	O
that	O
"	O
navigating	O
through	O
a	O
crowded	O
hard	O
disk	O
is	O
a	O
breeze	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
the	O
song	O
contains	O
no	O
literal	O
references	O
to	O
the	O
Norton	O
Commander	O
file	B-Application
manager	I-Application
,	O
it	O
is	O
speculated	O
that	O
the	O
song	O
's	O
subject	O
matter	O
of	O
comfort	O
and	O
familiarity	O
relate	O
to	O
the	O
familiarity	O
and	O
reliability	O
of	O
the	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
