Medlin Software was born in 1984 as a way to distribute Jerry's software to other businesses.
Jerry Medlin was inducted in the first class of the Shareware Hall of Fame (1997): "Author in 1984 of Medlin Accounting Software series: PC-GL, PC-AR, PC-PR, PC-AP, and PCINV. Possibly the most popular and highly awarded accounting shareware of all time."
As of 2021, our longest continuous customer has been using Medlin Software since May of 1986 (a CPA office in Mississippi). The next longest has been using Medlin Software since June of 1986 (a mobile home contractor in California).
In 2012, we still received a few requests for 3.5 inch floppy disks, and at least a few folks were still using our DOS based General Ledger software.
An early "software club" catalog. For a few dollars, the club would copy trial software onto a disk then mail you the disk (this was before internet downloading was available). If you wanted to use the software after the trial period, you would mail a check to the software author.
Before the internet, shareware (try before you buy) software could also be found on racks at supermarkets and computer stores. Note the price was paid to the person/company providing the disks, not to the software authors.
Who was the first Shareware Industry Award winner for Business and Finance software?
An early Windows based version of Medlin Payroll. Our first Windows based version was in 1994.
Our DOS based programs were discontinued in 1999, although we updated the tax calculations for a few folks through 2004.
The 1988 Payroll program opening screen.
The 1988 Payroll program's main menu. It was a huge programming feat to optimize the software to allow for 1000 paychecks in a DOS based system with only 640k of memory.
