APS was written in a progamming language called AlphaBasic, which runs only on Alpha Micro computers. That computer was quite popular in the late 1970s, the 1980s and the early 1990s. By the end of the 1990s, however, the world had more or less standardized on personal computers, networks and UNIX computers, and the company Alpha Micro—along with many other computer companies—went out of business.
Program systems written in AlphaBasic, like APS, were therefore "stranded." They were good programs and good systems, but had nowhere to run because "modern" computers could not run AlphaBasic. What they needed was a "middle ware" program that could translate the AlphaBasic programs into a language that PCs and UNIX computers would understand. There were also other issues that needed to be addressed besides the language; printers, disk files, system commands, etc.
In approximately 1995, the software product A-Shell was born. Its purpose was to re-create the environment of the old Alpha Micro computer, so that AlphaBasic programs could run. Many of the old Alpha Micro computer dealers, who had great programs for many different industries—pawn shops, for example—adopted A-Shell as their new environment, and were able to continue supporting their customers, selling new systems, developing new programs, etc.
A-Shell itself has grown and evolved tremendously since 1995, and provides an essential software product for many programmers and computer resellers. A-Shell is responsible for keeping quite a few business in business.
If you are interested in A-Shell, you can read about it in the A-Shell Reference. To see a little bit of A-Shell as it relates to APS, see the APS Master Menu.
