LANtastic is a peer-to-peer local area network (LAN) operating system for DOS, Microsoft Windows and OS/2. LANtastic supports Ethernet, ARCNET and Token Ring adapters as well as its original twisted-pair adapter at 2 Mbit/s.
Its multi-platform support allows a LANtastic client station to access any combination of Windows or DOS operating systems, and its interconnectivity allows sharing of files, printers, CD-ROMs and applications throughout an enterprise. LANtastic was especially popular before Windows 95 arrived with built-in networking and was nearly as popular as the market leader Novell at the time.
LANtastic was originally developed by Artisoft Inc. in Tucson, Arizona. Following the release of TeleVantage, Lantastic and Artisoft's other legacy products were acquired by SpartaCom Technologies in 2000. SpartaCom was later acquired by PC Micro.
The current (2006) version is LANtastic 8.01. It can connect PCs running DOS 5.0 (or later) with Windows 3.x or higher (including Windows XP).
Lantastic networks use NetBIOS.
Reception
BYTE in 1989 listed LANtastic as among the "Distinction" winners of the BYTE Awards, stating that the $399 starter kit with two cards was "a lot of LAN for the buck" and noting that columnist Jerry Pournelle used it "despite the silly name".