The sections below refer to those programs and systems which were either installed and [re-]tested for this paper or were tested and documented in the author’s book book. The following symbols are used:
a checkmark beside an item denotes that it installs and executes correctly
an X denotes that the software exists but cannot be compiled or installed correctly, so testing it was not possible
a circle denotes that the software could be installed but either would not execute, or executed but with unresolvable errors
an empty box denotes the software is no longer available
The platform used for testing Windows and MS-DOS software was Windows XP SP2 running on a Dell Optiplex 745.[3] The objective was to emulate as reasonably as possible the office environment circa 1998–2002. A modern Linux distribution (Mint 19) was used for the few UNIX or GNU/Linux utilities. The procedure for testing was:
Install the software from original media where possible, or from zip archives from network repositories
Run the relevant program[s] from the Start menu or from an installed icon (a few command-line procedures were run from the Windows Command terminal)
Open or otherwise invoke the sample SGML document (see Sample SGML document), performing any necessary prerequisites such as making the DTD or SGML Declaration available to the program
Exercise the features or functions of the software to check they operate correctly (eg Insert Element, Edit Attribute, Validate, etc)
Record details of success or failure
[3] An attempt was made to use Windows 95 but this satisfied the requirements for only the oldest programs.