Phar Lap Software, Inc. was founded in April 1986 by Richard M. Smith, Robert Moote, and John M. Benfatto.

Later on the TNT DOS extender was created, which was a version of 386|DOS-Extender that emulated the Win32 environment, complete with flat address space and threading.

Phar Lap developed the Virtual Control Program Interface (VCPI) specification in cooperation with Quarterdeck Office Systems, who produced the DESQview task-switching software.

Phar Lap was also a member of the 12-firm committee that designed the DOS Protected Mode Interface (DPMI).

VCPI and DPMI are industry standards allowing DOS extenders to co-exist with expanded memory (EMS) emulators and multi-tasking environments.