What were the MS-DOS programs that the moricons.dll icons were intended for?

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Nostalgia for Windows 3.x and moricons.dll

  • Many recall discovering moricons.dll as a kid and treating it as a hidden treasure trove to decorate Program Manager and PIFs.
  • Several remember misinterpreting “moricons” as a nonsense word rather than “more icons.”
  • The icons trigger strong sensory memories: Windows startup sounds, hard-drive and floppy noises, and general early-90s PC vibes.
  • Some note using moricons not for the “intended” apps but as a general-purpose icon set, often just picking anything vaguely related and making sure no two apps shared the same icon.

WordPerfect, DOS Productivity Software, and Icon History

  • WordPerfect evokes intense nostalgia, especially its DOS-era dominance, function-key cheat strips, and “Reveal Codes,” which are compared to LaTeX-like explicit markup and praised for precise formatting (notably in legal work).
  • Discussion contrasts WordPerfect’s DOS excellence with a disastrous transition to Windows (crashes, bloat, interface and macro changes) that pushed users to Word.
  • Other canonical DOS apps mentioned: Lotus 1-2-3, dBase, Harvard Graphics, Flight Simulator, Crosstalk XVI, Q&A, DesignCAD, etc.
  • Clarification that “Access for DOS” was a communications tool, not a database.
  • Several comments answer “why ship third‑party icons?”: Windows 3.1’s setup scanned for existing DOS apps (via APPS.INF) and assigned them appropriate icons so the new GUI would feel polished and familiar.

Learning to Program: QBasic, Turbo Pascal, Borland C++

  • Many share childhood misunderstandings: thinking QBasic/Turbo Pascal were text editors that “ran games,” not compilers; not realizing .BAS files could be edited in any editor; odd confusions about strings, numeric types, or error messages.
  • QBasic, NIBBLES.BAS, and GORILLAS.BAS feature heavily as first programming experiences and bug-fix memories.
  • Turbo Pascal is praised for speed and a great debugger; Borland C++ is remembered as powerful but confusing for beginners.
  • Modern fantasy consoles (PICO-8 vs TIC‑80) are mentioned as ways to recapture that exploratory feeling, with some preferring polished constraints (PICO‑8) and others favoring open-source flexibility (TIC‑80).

PIF Files, Icons, and Technical Tidbits

  • PIF files are recalled as configuration for DOS apps under Windows (memory, options), later treated as special shortcuts whose extensions are hidden and which are effectively executable, contributing to past exploits.
  • Links are shared documenting the PIF format; some lament such lore disappearing without archives.
  • Icon craft is admired: low-res icons seen as surprisingly expressive; some criticize the “icon on lined paper” style as visually busy on modern displays.
  • A CSS snippet using image-rendering: pixelated is shared to view icons crisply, with side discussion about how CRT-era appearance differed from modern pixel-perfect scaling.

Broader Reflections on Computing Then vs Now

  • Several contrast the early PC era’s sense of user control and discovery with today’s locked-down, ad-driven, or subscription-based ecosystems.
  • Comments note that past constraints were mostly hardware or skill limits, whereas now they’re often manufacturer- or policy-imposed.
  • Others argue constraints and artificial segmentation existed even then (e.g., mainframes, 486 variants), but agree modern firmware locks and SoC keys raise the stakes.
  • There are calls for stronger consumer protection, clearer distinctions between sold vs. rented devices, and pushback against ownership-eroding practices.