软盘（Softdisk）是一家位于美国路易斯安那州的专门经营软件和网络有关商品的公司。它经营为苹果电脑和其他主机提供支持的软件的杂志，比如苹果电脑软件杂志和大蓝盘。上个世纪90年代，他们的出版行为被迫停止，尽管载星杂志还在继续独立出版。2006年软盘公司出售给Bayou Internet and Communications公司。
软盘也售卖一些软件，包括能制作屏幕保护的屏幕保护工作室，现在这个软件还在开发和销售。不过软盘之所以被人所知还是因为他们曾经雇佣过后来成立了id Software的一些人，比如约翰·卡马克和约翰·罗梅洛，他们都曾经在软盘的软件部门工作过，但是后来和阿德里安·卡马克以及汤姆·霍尔一起离开了软盘创建了自己的公司。在软盘任职期间，他们开发了坦克3D、拯救罗沃和基恩梦想游戏（作为指挥官基恩系列游戏的“丢失”章节）。软盘在卡马克等人离开后雇佣其他人用这些游戏的引擎开发了其他一些游戏。
简介和主要资料编辑本段回目录
Softdisk
Type Private
Founded Shreveport, LA (1981)
Headquarters Shreveport, LA
Key people Jim Mangham, Founder
Judi Mangham, Founder
Al Vekovius, Founder, Past CEO
John Beaird, Past CEO
John Carmack, Former Game Programmer
John Romero, Former Game Programmer & Designer
Tom Hall, Former Game Designer
Adrian Carmack,
John Frasier, Former Lead Web Developer
Former Artist
Kevin Cloud, Former Artist and Manager
Jay Wilbur, Former Manager
Michael Amarello, Former Manager
Mike Hogan, System Administrator
Jason Bonnough, Assistant System Administrator, Lead Technical Support
Industry Software, Internet
Products Softdisk (Apple II diskmagazine)
Softdisk G-S (Apple IIgs diskmagazine)
Loadstar (Commodore 64 diskmagazine)
Softdisk PC
Softdisk for Windows
Softdisk for Mac
Screen Saver Studio
Catacomb 3D
Keen Dreams
Website www.softdisk.com
介绍编辑本段回目录
Softdisk is a software and Internet company based in Shreveport, Louisiana. Founded in 1981, its original products were disk magazines (which they termed "magazettes", for "magazine on diskette"). They were affiliated and partly owned by paper magazine Softalk at their founding, but survived its demise.
Names they have been known by at various times and for various purposes include: Softdisk Magazette, Softdisk Publishing, Softdisk, Inc., Softdisk Internet Services, Softdisk, L.L.C., and Magazines On Disk.
Softdisk has also published some standalone programs, including screensaver creator Screen Saver Studio (which is now published by Flat Rock Software).
However, they are probably most famous for being the former workplace of several of the founders of id Software, who worked on a short-lived game subscription product, Gamer's Edge. Gamer's Edge was a bi-monthly PC game disk started in 1990 by John Romero. The disk's developers were John Carmack, John Romero, and Adrian Carmack. Tom Hall, then a programmer who worked in the Apple II department of Softdisk, would come in at night to help with the game design. Lane Roathe was the editor.
These developers later left Softdisk to found id Software. However, to complete their contractual obligation to Softdisk, they did several more games for them including Dangerous Dave in the Haunted Mansion, Rescue Rover, Hovertank 3D, Rescue Rover 2, Tiles of the Dragon, Catacomb 3D and Keen Dreams (the "lost" episode of the Commander Keen series). Softdisk later published games by other developers using the game engines of the earlier games. This connection lead to Softdisk being mentioned extensively in the earlier parts of the id chronicling book Masters of Doom.
Also, some of the earliest employees of Origin Systems worked there before moving on: Greg Malone (Moebius, Windwalker), Dallas Snell (The Quest and Ring Quest), Joel Rea (The Quest and Ring Quest), and Alan Gardner (Windwalker, Ultima VI).
Since 1995, Softdisk has been an Internet service provider, Web hosting service, and Internet developer as well, and this eventually became their primary area of business. They have offered local dialup service in the Shreveport area, and Web hosting and development services.
As of 2006, their Web site redirects to that of Bayou Internet, which has taken over their Internet operations. The downloadstore.com site formerly owned and operated by Softdisk is now run by Flat Rock Software, which also publishes former Softdisk product Screen Saver Studio.
出版物编辑本段回目录
Publications included:
Softdisk for the Apple II
Loadstar for the Commodore 64
Big Blue Disk (later On Disk Monthly and Softdisk PC) for the IBM PC
PC Business Disk for the IBM PC
Diskworld (later Softdisk for Mac) for the Apple Macintosh
Softdisk G-S for the Apple IIgs
Softdisk for Windows for the Windows platform, published from 1994-1999.
By the late 1990s, however, these publications were discontinued, although Loadstar had a continued life as an independent company catering to a cult following of Commodore buffs.
