One of the greatest things about computers in general is the rapid advancement. It's wonderful to get new and better applications and functions that solve problems that many didn't even really knew existed until solutions emerged for same. But with the advancement of computers often comes the loss of some old friends in the form of older games and even older productivity software that still works, but is lost against much, much more processing power than necessary. The Historical Software Archive—part of the Internet Archive—looks to fix that with creative emulation methods and a few neat twists.

The Historical Software Archive runs on the strength of the JavaScript Multi Emulator Super System (JSMESS), an emulation system that allows for any current browser—from Chrome and Firefox to even Internet Explorer and Safari—to run a variety of different programs on modern-era hardware by doing much of the heavy lifting required to adjust the program to levels at which it can be run.

Naturally, the Historical Software Archive does include some games. A software archive simply isn't a software archive without including games, which are one of the—some might even say the—biggest classes of software around. But this isn't just a repository for old games; it's also got some of the older productivity and informational software as well, like “Apple (News - Alert) Presents the IIc,” the collection of introductory guides that helped new users get around a new computer. There's even a copy of VisiCalc in there, which is essentially one of the first spreadsheet programs ever seen.

Admittedly, this isn't the first time that older software has been made available online. Consider the rise of ROM sites and the like that allow users to play old games from the eight-bit console era. But as is so often the case, issues of legality come into the mix; the archive's entire stock of titles is currently just 29, at last report, and that's where things start to get interesting.

There's a concept in the gaming community known as “abandonware.” Abandonware titles are, simply put, titles in which ownership is either unclear or largely ignored. As makers were bought and sold, and in some cases simply folded outright without new buyers, the exact identities of many games' owners is lost. This has led some to engage in less-than-legal methods to bring these games back to the forefront, and could be an example of where the Historical Software Archive could be a welcome source of these old programs. Abandonware doesn't have to be just about games, either, and so another opportunity for the Historical Software Archive is presented.

Some efforts have been taken in this vein, at last report; the United States' own Library of Congress has what's called the “Game canon” list, a list of over 3,000 games and 1,500 strategy guides designed to preserve games and the guides for same from earlier eras, including such cultural touchstones as “SimCity,” “Star Raiders,” and “Doom.” Such an effort has met with controversy, and some even advocate a complete aggregation system with tags, such that more titles—and more representative titles—can be appropriately archived.

The issue, however, remains. Software is part of our history as human beings; indeed, much of the last 20 years of human history would be wildly different without software to support it. So why not preserve that which would otherwise be lost in the rush of improvements to the hardware on which said software runs?