SoftRAM

SoftRAM and SoftRAM95
Developer(s)Syncronys Softcorp
Stable release
1995 / August 1995
Operating systemMicrosoft Windows
TypeSystem software
LicenseProprietary
Websitesyncronys.com at the Wayback Machine (archived December 28, 1996)

SoftRAM and SoftRAM95 were system software products that claimed to increase or even double the available random-access memory in Microsoft Windows without the need for a hardware upgrade, which is theoretically possible using memory compression. However, it later emerged that the program did not have any actual compression algorithm.[1]

In July 1996, the developer of SoftRAM, Syncronys Softcorp, agreed to settle charges by the Federal Trade Commission that the company "misrepresented and/or failed to substantiate the performance" of the products.[2] As part of the settlement, Syncronys Softcorp offered $10 rebates for affected consumers. The primary owners of the company in 1996 were Daniel Taylor (41%), Rainer Poertner (16%), and Wendell Brown (10%), and Mobius Capital Corporation, which owned 40.8%.[3][4]

In 2006, the product was rated the third "Worst Tech Product of All Time" by PC World behind AOL and RealPlayer (1999 version).[5] Around 100,000 copies of SoftRAM and 600,000 copies of SoftRAM95 were sold overall.[2][6]

  1. ^ Chen, Raymond (11 November 2021). "The inside story of the outside investigation of SoftRam95". www.Devblogs.Microsoft.com. Archived from the original on 2023-11-04. Retrieved 2023-11-04. I found the compression algorithm...They implemented only one compression algorithm. It was memcpy. In other words, their vaunted patent-pending compression algorithm was "copy the data uncompressed"...with a stub compression function that did no compression...
  2. ^ a b Shapiro, Howard (July 10, 1996). "Computer Software Manufacturer Agrees to Settle Charges of Software Misrepresentation" (Press release). Federal Trade Commission. Archived from the original on January 5, 2016. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
  3. ^ "1996 Proxy statement pursuant to section 14(A) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 for Syncronys Softcorp". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. October 28, 1996. p. 8. Archived from the original on August 29, 2021. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
  4. ^ "Placebo forte! Was wirklich hinter SoftRAM 95 steckt". C't. 1995 (12): 100. 1995-11-11. Archived from the original on 2021-06-17. Retrieved 2020-05-10.
  5. ^ Tynan, Dan (May 26, 2006). "The 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time". PC World. Archived from the original on June 28, 2018. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
  6. ^ "Tech Publication". www.digitaltrends.com. 17 September 2016. Archived from the original on 2020-08-09. Retrieved 2020-04-27.