Artisoft – Creators of LANtastic

Artisoft, Inc. was a software company based in Tucson, Arizona, best known for developing LANtastic, one of the most widely used peer-to-peer networking systems of the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Founded in the early 1980s, Artisoft focused on making networking accessible and affordable for small businesses, schools, and individual users who couldn’t afford the high cost or complexity of enterprise-grade systems like Novell NetWare. Its flagship product, LANtastic, gained popularity for enabling simple file and printer sharing over local area networks without requiring a dedicated server.

Core Innovations:
  • LANtastic allowed up to 10 computers to communicate in a peer-to-peer configuration.
  • It supported both DOS and early Windows operating systems, making it flexible for its time.
  • Artisoft also offered related networking utilities and drivers that simplified setup and maintenance.
Relevance to BBS History:

LANtastic’s affordability and simplicity made it a popular networking solution for multi-node bulletin board systems. Many BBS sysops used LANtastic to run multiple lines from a single machine or across linked PCs. It was a key technology that enabled small-scale systems to expand without major hardware investments.

In contrast, ExecNet ran on Novell NetWare, offering a more robust, enterprise-level networking platform that gave it a technical edge over peer BBS systems.

Decline and Transition:

As networking became increasingly integrated into mainstream operating systems like Windows 95 and later versions, demand for third-party LAN systems like LANtastic declined. Artisoft eventually shifted focus to other software solutions and sold parts of its business.

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