My father, who is computer illiterate, is fond of saying that "there's nothing more obsolete than last year's computer." In some ways, my father is right. But in others, he's completely off the mark.

What if I told you that if you have an old computer that you can't afford upgrade lying around, that old computer isn't as useless as some people will tell you? Using software called Breadbox Ensemble, you can turn any seemingly obsolete PC into a powerful productivity tool. Once you use Breadbox Ensemble, you'll never look at an older computer in the same way again.

What is Breadbox Ensemble?

Based on an operating system called GEOS that was popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Breadbox Ensemble is a small (a full installation weighs in at under 10 MB) and fast suite of incredibly useful programs. While small, Breadbox Ensemble has a graphical user interface that mimics the look and feel of the Windows desktop. Everything you need is a mouse click away.

Breadbox Ensemble is a product of Florida-based firm called Breadbox Computer Company. For the longest time, the company developed software for the desktop version of GEOS and for various devices that ran the operating system. A couple of years ago, Breadbox bought the rights to GEOS and re-packaged desktop GEOS as Breadbox Ensemble.

What's Inside

The applications that make up Breadbox Ensemble range from basic to powerful. You can use the basic applications for keeping track of names and addresses, for scheduling events, and for managing your files. The more advanced programs in the Ensemble arsenal are Writer, Spreadsheet, and Artist -- the suite's word processor, spreadsheet, and graphics programs. With Writer you can create newsletters, reports, brochures, and letters. Spreadsheet is the perfect spreadsheet for home use. Not only can it perform all basic functions that you'd find in Excel, Spreadsheet can also generate charts and graphs. Artist is a drawing program that you can use to produce camera-ready art for the documents you create with Writer.

What really makes Breadbox Ensemble useful are the programs that lie in between those extremes. Programs like Banker, a Quicken-like personal finance program, and Banner, for creating large signs. There's even a Web browser and e-mail software that can get you on the Web quickly. These applications give Breadbox Ensemble the kind of utility and flexibility rarely found in other software.

While aimed at schools, Breadbox Ensemble can be a perfect fit for home users or even home businesses on a budget. And it costs far less than a new computer or an upgrade. It's true that none of the programs can match the power of most Windows applications. But they don't have to, because Breadbox Ensemble conforms to the 90/10 rule: 90% of users only use 10% of a program's features.