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1982First tentative migration from UNIX to MS-DOS. Development of IDE and first source code editor (code written directly in EDLIN). Hex editor, disk editor and proprietary development core libraries follow.
1983XPT becomes a bootstrap system with over 30 tools. System design tools added, enabling clients to sketch user interfaces which are then directly integrated into the code.
1984Number of tools in the XPT reaches 56, number of full-screen editors passes 20. All of MS-DOS removed from development boxes save for six files.
1987XPT ported partially back to UNIX.
1989Work begins on Windows port.
1992-1993XPT for Windows 3.1 contains over 60 applications.
1994XPT for Windows 3.1 sold on site licence.
1995XPT ported to Win32.
1997XPT released as 'Rix97'. Package whittled down from 160+ applications to just over 30.
1997XPT renamed 'Rix2k' and guaranteed to already be Y2K secure.
1998The Lockergnome finds the XPT; Radsoft is deluged in over 1,500 inquiries per day; Demon server in Finchley goes down under the crunch; domain moved first to UU and then to its present location.
1999RIX Y2K announced: The product will not contain flashy new features to mark the millennium but will concentrate on ever better quality. Radsoft are invited to participate in a White House Y2K conference (offer respectfully declined). Work begins on X-file suite.
1999 JulyFirst release of RIX Y2K.
2000 JanuaryFinal release of RIX Y2K. AWSA project announced. X-file suite previewed at RISKS Digest.
2000 JulyAWSA released. X-file suite integrated into project. 2001 project announced.
2001 JanuaryXPT 2001 released, incorporating new X-bar technology. 2001b project announced.
2001 MayXPT 2001b released nearly two months ahead of schedule, incorporating 118 applications and the all-new E3. 2002 project announced.
2001 NovemberXPT 2002 released nearly seven weeks ahead of schedule, incorporating 126 applications and the all-new X-frame. 2002b project announced.
2002 SeptemberPremiere for the acclaimed XPT 2003, released four months ahead of schedule, and with a staggering 146 projects.
2003 DecemberPremiere for the XPT 2004, marking the twelfth Internet release of Extreme Power Tools.
2004 NovemberE3 Nighttime. Premiere for the XPT 2005.
2005 DecemberPremiere for the new 'Extreme Power Tools (Permanent Edition)'.

The XPT is a collection of developer utilities. They were all developed by developers for developers, most often for personal use. And they just happen to be extremely well written. As the code is being used all the time (bootstrap) it is consistently and continually gone over, honed and tweaked. After all, the developers want to use these programs themselves, so they want the best possible performance and functionality available.

As developers normally run extremely heavy systems, an accent has always been on 'lean and mean'. These additional tools must use as little disk space and as little RAM as possible. And as the program authors are real developers and not amateurs trying their hand at writing programs, as they deal with operating system and coding contingencies on a daily and even hourly basis, you can know that the code is savvy to a degree not often found elsewhere.

Because all the tools are built with the 'lets get this one job done' attitude in mind, they all do their appointed job well and stick to that job, avoiding featurism and not confusing things unnecessarily - a condition which otherwise often leads to the three nasty B's: Bugs, Bloat, and the Blue Screen of Death.

And because their purpose is always strictly defined, they can often be used for tasks totally undreamt of at the time of their writing.

What do the Extreme Power Tools do? Above all, they make your box happier and make it run smoother. It might not be enough to just run the XPT - you might need to check the knowledge content of Radsoft for other good tips 'n' trix - but using these tools instead of the system defaults and instead of other ISV products you've tried will in general boost your system performance by a wide margin. Tests on unwitting users have consistently led to remarks such as 'but you're running this box with a faster CPU and more RAM!' And the XPT will make your box safer and healthier both today and tomorrow too.

As to their individual tasks - these differ. The XPT was not originally envisioned as a 'product', but was merely a collection of powerful applications collected and distributed in a very closed and exclusive group. No attempt has ever been made to 'commercialise' the product. In fact, the online website has consistently shied away from cheap marketing techniques. It is far more rewarding to know that the tools have ended up in the hands of people who understand them and appreciate them than that they have generated revenues.

There are tools which replace system defaults and there are tools which add to the system defaults when these are conspicuous in their absence. All told, they represent a subset of everything a developer needs on the desktop - with no 'overlapping', no attempts to re-invent the wheel, if other applicable and well-engineered products are available elsewhere. Each tool represents a real 'need': A need on the part of the developer at hand at the time, and a need adjudged to be still applicable to the populace at large at the time of the current release of the XPT.

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