After becoming a satisfied PC-File 5.01 user, I saw no need to upgrade when versions 6.0 and 6.5 were released. I tried them out, but there was nothing compelling in the upgrades to make me abandon Version 5.01.

I did not upgrade to Version 6.0 because it was a cosmetic, not substantive, redesign of PC-File, giving it pull-down menus, radio buttons, and dialog boxes. Files were still stored in the popular dBase format. Import/export options still included ASCII, comma-delimited, Lotus PRN, WordPerfect, and VisiCalc DIF files. It was still a DOS-based database management system.

I did not upgrade to Version 6.5 because I did not need its new features, such as, Soundex matching, bar code support, and the ability to run PC-File in full-time graphics mode. Besides, the latter feature got poor reviews. Most users said that the GUI interface resulted in sluggish performance. Fortunately, users could opt for the more agile text mode, switching to graphics mode only for the display of graphs. Like its predecessors, PC-File 6.5 was a DOS-based database management system that saved its files in the popular dBase format. ( )