Abacus

Note: The application is no longer for sale, but you can still download the demo if you have a license.

Abacus is a very simple software utility which can be used in the spirit of education, namely to teach children how to work their way around an abacus, the most primary form of calculation.

The tool does not include any configuration settings, making it ideal for the younger audience or adults with no experience in computer software.

The installation procedure takes little time to finish and does not require special input from the user. Once it is done, you can run the app to view a small, rectangular window with an interactive environment that resembles an abacus.

You can click a bead to change its position in the abacus, and view the corresponding number on the upper part of the screen, along with the full number sequence on the bottom. It is also possible to enter a number from the keyboard in order to view its representation on the abacus.

There are no other options provided by this utility. It would have come in handy to be able to print, copy to the Clipboard or export the abacus to an image file for further evaluation, along with the numerical information.

As expected, the application is very low-demanding when it comes to the CPU and RAM, running on a low amount of CPU and RAM. It has a good response time and works smoothly, without causing the OS to hang, crash or pop up error dialogs. Instructions on how to use the abacus are detailed in the Help section.

Abacus delivers a straightforward solution when it comes to teaching kids about using an abacus in a virtual environment. Although it has not been updated for a while, it smoothly integrates into later operating systems.