You wrote a .RC text file, compiled it with RC.EXE , and hoped the coordinates didn't overlap. It was functional, but it was blind.
The last standalone Resource Workshop was version 4.5 (bundled with Borland C++ 4.5 in 1994). It received minor updates but never made the jump to 64-bit native. borland resource workshop
If you have an old VM, fire it up. Import PROGMAN.EXE . Change "Program Manager" to your own name. Save. Run it. You wrote a
For one brief moment, you’ll feel like a 1994 Windows wizard again. It received minor updates but never made the
If you cut your teeth on Windows programming in the early 90s—using C, Turbo Pascal, or even Visual Basic—you remember the Resource Compiler dance.
By Windows XP, Microsoft’s own resource tools had won by default. Here’s the surprising part: I still run Borland Resource Workshop in 2026 .
Then came . And for a generation of developers, it felt like magic. What Was Borland Resource Workshop? Released in the early 1990s as part of Borland’s C++ and Delphi ecosystems, Resource Workshop (often called RWS.EXE ) was a visual resource editor for 16-bit and 32-bit Windows applications (Windows 3.1 through Windows 95/NT).