-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- PCM Online November 1994 REVIEWS Contents: [] Reviews: 20 reviews of games, business programs, utilities and other neat stuff [] Focus On: Presentation Graphics, an in-depth look at programs like Harvard Graphics and Freelance Entire contents copyright 1994 by Falsoft, Inc. PCM -- The Premier Personal Computer Magazine is intended for the private use and pleasure of its subscribers, and reproduction by any means is prohibited. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Reviews ~~~~~~~ <> AnyTime <> Bartender 2.0 for Windows <> Bridge Baron <> Car Buyers' Companion & Home Buyers' Companion <> Connect for Success <> Dragon's Lair CD-ROM <> Escape With Your Life <> Expert Forms, Expert Labels, Expert Resume Writer <> Forest & Trees 3.1 <> Goblins Quest 3 <> The Hanna-Barbera Animation Workshop <> Medio Magazine <> MyBrochures and Mailers for Windows <> The Print Shop Deluxe <> Reuter's Money Network <> SpeedTools 2.0 for Windows <> WindowMagic -=*=- <> AnyTime <> Places to Go, People to See AnyTime is the perfect low-cost organizer program for people with things to do. It serves as your appointment scheduler, to-do list manager and address book organizer, but calendars are where it shines. AnyTime can print schedules in more than 40 formats, including Day-Timer and Filofax. (If you don't have the formatted paper, AnyTime prints cutting lines and hole-punch guides.) Most popular dot-matrix and laser printers are supported. Another AnyTime specialty is conflict avoidance. AnyTime lets you know right away if you schedule concurrent appointments. And its Quick Glance Planning feature, which shows schedules by week or month, helps locate blocks of free time. In the glut of Windows organizers, AnyTime makes a place for itself with a pleasing interface, intuitive operation, low price, and calendars. {AnyTime: Individual Software, Inc., 5870 Stoneridge Drive, #1, Pleasanton, CA 94588-9900, (800) 331-3313; $49.95. REQUIRES: a 386+ CPU, 2MB RAM, Windows 3.1 and VGA.} -=*=- <> Bartender 2.0 for Windows <> Pour It Again, Sam Mix master, mix master, mix me a drink. Make it real stiff, and preferably pink. (Hic.) Sorry (burp), Bartender 2.0 for Windows puts one in a certain mood. It contains more than 1100 alcoholic, low-alcohol and no-alcohol drink recipes. Every drink and cocktail you've ever heard of, and many more you haven't, can be found in this inexpensive ($24.95) bartender's recipe book. It's a Seabreeze to use -- merely browse the alphabetical list for a favorite cocktail. What if you don't have all the ingredients for that favorite drink but do feel adventurous? Try Bartender's bar-stock utility: from its inventory you select the ingredients you have on hand, and it shows what drinks can be made from them. If by a slim chance your favorite drink is absent, you can add it. For serious party planners, Bartender for Windows will be worth its weight in grenadine. This is one program that will be popular with your friends. They'll be constantly hitting you up for printouts! {Bartender 2.0 for Windows: DataLogic InfoSystems, Inc., 10332 Federal Blvd., Suite 119, Denver, CO 80221, (800) 531-3290; $24.95. REQUIRES: Windows 3.1 system with 4MB RAM and VGA. "Mouse and blender are highly recommended."} -=*=- <> Bridge Baron <> Bidding in Windows Three's a crowd. With Bridge Baron you can forget your three chums and hone your bridge bidding and playing skills all you want, all by yourself. Bridge Baron becomes your computer opponent -- and your teacher. It features more than 2 billion random deals, observes popular bidding conventions and offers four playing levels. (Though its most popular feature is probably the Hint option: when you can't decide on a play, click on "Hint" for the recommended card.) The game comes with an impressive pedigree. Designed by bridge expert Tom Throop, Bridge Baron is also endorsed by bridge champion Alfred Sheinwold. (In fact the official title of the game is Alfred Sheinwold Presents Bridge Baron for Windows.) For three years it's been rated the top program by the American Contract Bridge League. {Bridge Baron: MicroLeague Interactive Software, 201 Bellevue Building, Newark, DE 19702, (302) 368-9990; $59.95. REQUIRES: a 1MB Windows 3.0+ system with VGA.} -=*=- <> Car Buyers' Companion & Home Buyers' Companion <> Auto Salesmen's Worst Nightmare He eyes you nervously over the hood of a 94 Probe. You smile. He sweats, mumbling something like, "I gotta go talk to my manager." When you're armed with the right info, you can afford to smile at auto salesmen. Having taken a look at The Car Buyers' Companion, you'll know more about options and payment plans than they will. The Car Buyers' Companion helps you select a new automobile that's suited to your budget and needs. If you're not sure now exactly what you want, feed the program a want list (under $24,000, air bags, etc.), and see what turns up. Or go window shopping inside the "Showroom," where you can browse among 200 or so 1994 domestic and imported cars, trucks, vans and utility vehicles. The program also helps you figure the base price, taxes, destination charge and down payment for any auto. Plus, its payment estimator can show you what the monthly damage comes to based on current rates. If you're torn between buying and leasing, let it compute total costs both ways. And after you drive away in your new car, drop by the realtor's to see if the seller took your offer -- which you arrived at with the help of The Home Buyers' Companion, which just happens to be bundled with The Car Buyers' Companion! {Car Buyers' Companion and Home Buyers' Companion: Parsons Technology, One Parsons Drive, P.O. Box 100, Hiawatha, IA 52233-0100, (800) 223-6925; $49. REQUIRES: a Windows 3.1 system with 4MB RAM.} -=*=- <> Connect for Success <> No Failure to Communicate It's not what you know but who you know that counts, the saying goes. An amendment might be, "And it's not just who you know but how you relate to them that's important too." If you need to brush up on your interpersonal skills, check out Connect for Success, a seminar on CD-ROM. It's designed to "show people how to get what they want by successfully influencing others." Connect for Success immerses you in multimedia role-playing scenarios in which you must interact with other "people" and decide how to relate to them. The subjects talk and move, thanks to your MPC sound board and the supplied QuickTime drivers. In the course of the simulation, Connect for Success helps you learn to identify four common communication styles people exhibit -- and techniques for adjusting your style accordingly. {Connect for Success: Wilson Learning Corp., 7500 Flying Cloud Drive, Eden Prairie, MN 55344, (612) 944-2880; $69.95. REQUIRES: an MPC system (25MHz 386+ CPU, 4MB RAM, hard disk, Windows 3.1, Super VGA, a CD-ROM drive, mouse and Windows-compatible sound card).} -=*=- <> Dragon's Lair CD-ROM <> Swash the Buckle With Daring Dirk It was 10 years ago at Chuck E. Cheese's that I first met Dirk the Daring. Amid the blocky, bloopy coin-op arcade games like Pac-Man was an animated cartoon game drawing crowds (and tomato sauce). It was called Dragon's Lair, it ran from a laser disc, starred Dirk, featured the animation of Don Bluth (best known for the movie American Tail), and was an adventure game ahead of its time. Well, Dirk's come home to the 90s in a CD-ROM translation of that laser-disc classic. Dragon's Lair CD-ROM delivers full-motion video that's almost indistinguishable from the original laser disc. In this fantasy adventure you become Dirk the Daring (of course!), a valiant knight on a quest to rescue the voluptuous princess Daphne from Singe the Evil Dragon. It's a multimedia spectacle. Need we say more? {Dragon's Lair CD-ROM: ReadySoft, Inc., 30 Wertheim Court, Suite 2, Richmond Hill, ON L4B 1B9, (905) 475-4801; $69.95. REQUIRES: 386+ CPU, 4MB RAM, VGA and a CD-ROM drive (150K/s or faster). A 486+ CPU and a double-speed CD-ROM drive are recommended.} -=*=- <> Escape With Your Life <> Women Fight Back With all the news of carjacking, rape and murder, it often seems that women take their lives in their hands just by going to work in the morning. We truly live in violent times. Most women profess a desire to take a self-defense class, but many never get around to fitting it into their busy schedules. If you're one of those women, consider enrolling in a new CD-ROM self-defense course called Escape With Your Life. It lets you learn and practice at home in your own time. Led by martial-arts instructor John DeBlasio, Escape With Your Life features full video demonstrations of defense techniques that require neither strength or agility. If you can point, clap and raise your hand, you can defend yourself and rend your attacker incapable of pursuit. The course may be viewed straight through, or you can turn to the glossary to review maneuvers, such as how to use your elbow when someone grabs you from behind. An interactive video quiz tests your knowledge of which techniques work best in different situations. If you're ever in a tough spot with an aggressor, a clear head and these defense techniques just may help you "escape with your life." {Escape With Your Life: Villa Crespo Software, 1725 McGovern St., Highland Park, IL 60035, (800) 521-3963 or (708) 433-0500; $49.95. REQUIRES: an MPC system (386+ CPU, 2MB RAM, Windows 3.1, Super VGA, sound card, mouse and CD-ROM drive).} -=*=- <> Expert Forms, Expert Labels, Expert Resume Writer <> Label These Great Bargains Who would have thought there existed a useful business program selling for only $14.95? Well, there's not just one but a whole line of them from Expert Software. Expert Labels for Windows and Expert Forms for Windows tackle heavy business tasks but are light on your wallet. Expert Resume Writer for Windows is of course for people who are trying to get into position to handle those business tasks! (It includes 100 resume templates, plus an appointment calendar and word processor.) Expert Labels for Windows is great for printing sheets of labels addressed to everyone in your address book (address-book database included!). You can design your own custom labels, or choose from the 120 standard Avery label formats provided (envelope, shipping, disk, videotape, Rolodex, etc. -- all you have to do is buy the appropriate labels from your office-supply store). You choose the fonts for your labels and can even decorate them with clip art and bar codes. Need an invoice? Fax cover sheet? Personal calendar/to-do list? You need Expert Forms for Windows, which lets you design, fill in and print forms. Expert Forms lets you import color photos, company logos and clip art in six popular formats. If you're looking for business solutions, don't let these experts' low prices keep you away. {Expert Forms, Expert Labels, Expert Resume Writer: Expert Software, 800 Douglas Road, Coral Gables, FL 33134, (800) 759-2562 or (305) 567-9990; $14.95 each. REQUIRES: Each requires a 386+ CPU, 4MB RAM, Windows 3.1 and VGA.} -=*=- <> Forest & Trees 3.1 <> Cruising the Corporate Jungle What's a busy CEO to do? He has questions -- doesn't want to wait on his accounting department (which uses dBASE), his planning department (which uses Excel) and his sales department (which uses Paradox) to spit out incompatible reports. He wants answers, and he wants them now! For harried executives who can identify, there's Forest & Trees 3.1, a Windows program that specializes in pulling data from other programs into custom views. Forest & Trees comes with a variety of providers, special interfaces that automatically monitor and collect data from specific programs -- such as dBASE, Paradox and Excel. The Client/Server edition's providers can pluck data from remote systems. Raw data must be processed, however, in Forest & Tree's programming language, before it ends up as easily digestible charts and graphs. So the CEO had better grab a techie, because CEOs are not generally known for their programming ability. Does your company need custom views of performance data, both the large and small pictures? If so, try Forest & Trees. {Forest & Trees 3.1: Trinzic Corp., One Harbour Place, Suite 500, Portsmouth, NH 03801, (603) 427-0444; $695 for Standard Ed., $790 for Client/Server Ed. REQUIRES: a 386+ CPU, 3MB RAM, mouse, Windows 3.0+ and EGA/VGA.} -=*=- <> Goblins Quest 3 <> Interview With the Goblin Goblins Quest 3 proves that goblins have been getting a bad rap. Put yourself in the purple boots of a hot young Goblin reporter named Blount. He's just a decent guy who's been assigned the dangerous task of interviewing rival tribe leaders. With your help, Blount finds clues, takes pratfalls, and teams up with hilarious sidekicks to solve the many, many problems plunked in his path. Goblins Quest 3 is a problem-solving adventure -- one spiced with cartoon graphics, a musical score and CD-quality sound. The third in the popular Goblins series from Coktel Vision and Sierra On-Line, Goblins Quest 3 will tax your brain and keep you in stitches at the same time. Example: how do you get a parrot unstuck from a hole in a ship's deck? With a plunger, of course! Then you get to enjoy the parrot's raucous response. This program marks the beginning of a series of Sierra CD-ROM titles priced under $30 and targeted at families. Both kids and parents will be amused for hours. {Goblins Quest 3: Sierra On-Line, Inc., P.O. Box 485, Coarsegold, CA 93614, (800) 757-7707; $29.95, $24.95 for the floppy-disk version. REQUIRES: 386+ CPU, 2MB RAM, DOS 5.0+, VGA, CD-ROM drive, hard disk and a sound card (Sound Blaster compatible).} -=*=- <> The Hanna-Barbera Animation Workshop <> Flintstones! Meet the Flintstones! Meet the whole cast of Hanna-Barbera characters in The Hanna-Barbera Animation Workshop -- then "invite" them into your own animations. Bring the Jetsons to Bedrock if you like! With its VCR-style controls and intuitive icons, The Hanna-Barbera Workshop simplifies computer-based animation for both children and adults. You'll find it easy and fun whether you're starting from scratch with your own characters or coloring the clips of Fred and Scooby Doo that come with the program. The process of drawing is made easier through onion-skinning, a feature professional animators use. Onion-skinning simply lets you see previous "frames" you've drawn, which helps keep you on track for the frames you are about to draw. In traditional animation, the artists use transparent "onion-skin" paper for this. {The Hanna-Barbera Animation Workshop: Empire Software, 4 Professional Drive, Suite 123, Gaithersburg, MD 20879, (301) 216-9706; $49.95. REQUIRES: 640K, DOS 3.0+, VGA, hard disk and a mouse.} -=*=- <> Medio Magazine <> General-Interest CD-ROM Magazine If you could piece together a new electronic medium out of elements from newspapers, magazines, reference books, TV and radio, you'd probably end up with something like Medio Magazine: it's a general-interest CD-ROM magazine that's informative and fun for both adults and children. Medio's stated goal is to deliver "All the world on a CD-ROM," and to an extent it succeeds. After all, the shiny disc does contain 11,000 articles plus photographs, digitized video, a novel for kids (Alice in Wonderland this time), plus the CIA World Factbook (perfect for geography homework). There's a lot of data to digest, everything from designer fashions to stock-market analysis to sports stories, but Medio Magazine's topic-based approach offers a fairly noncluttered handle on it all. The issue is broken into eight sections: Entertainment, Sports, Finance, News, KidStuff, Reference, Scene (pop culture) and Backtalk. Many of the articles are from the Associated Press. Medio sent us the Premier issue to examine, so the stories were a little old when we got it (flash: all is not sweetness and light in the Tom/Roseanne Arnold household!). Medio reports its second issue will ship this month, and from September on it will be a monthly magazine. Good luck, Medio: your product is slick, but we wouldn't want your job of compiling all that data! It's difficult to describe Medio Magazine. There's so much there -- it's like the information highway, as it is popularly imagined, will be delivered by your mailman in monthly doses. {Medio Magazine: Medio Multimedia, Inc., 2643 151st Place N.E., Redmond, WA 98052-5562, (800) 788-3866 or (206) 867-5500; $9.95 per issue, $59.95 for 12-month subs. REQUIRES: a 486 SX+ CPU, 4MB RAM, CD-ROM drive, hard disk, Super VGA and Windows 3.1+.} -=*=- <> MyBrochures and Mailers for Windows <> Professional Homemade Brochures Taken a look at office or laser-supply catalogs recently? The latest thing is specialty paper: heavy parchment stock and even three-panel brochure stock with colorful designs and borders -- but no printing. With a desktop-publishing (DTP) program, you can "fill in the holes" with your own custom message, logo and pictures, then print to a laser or inkjet printer. Voila. Instant, professionally designed brochure, without artist and print-shop fees. For super-simple layout, forget the DTP program and go with MySoftware's new MyBrochures and Mailers for Windows, a specialty design program just for brochures. While it lets you print to plain paper, the excitement lies in taking advantage of the textured, marbled and otherwise decorated papers from such companies as Paper Direct, BeaverPrints and MySoftware (you guessed it -- a line of "MyPapers"). It's easy: just select the template for the paper you've ordered -- you'll see the color template onscreen -- and type the message in your choice of font. You can also add clip art, scanned photographs, bulleted lists, tables, logos and other elements pasted from Windows programs. If you're a small business with something to promote, or one that custom-tailors its services to a select clientele, you should take advantage of MyBrochures. There's no easier or faster way to print custom brochures, fliers, announcements, trade-show handouts and mailers. {MyBrochures and Mailers for Windows: MySoftware, 1259 El Camino Real, Suite 167, Menlo Park, CA 94025, (415) 473-3600; $59. REQUIRES: a 386+ CPU, 4MB RAM, Windows 3.1, and a laser or inkjet printer.} -=*=- <> Print Shop Deluxe <> The Mother of All "Shops" You like to print birthday banners? Party invitations? Yard-sale signs? Customized calendars? Business cards? Certificates? Then you probably already know about Print Shop, arguably the best "printing" program around. But did you know there's a new "Shop" in town? Print Shop just went CD -- with all the goodies you would expect. Print Shop Deluxe CD Ensemble includes: Print Shop Deluxe, Print Shop Deluxe Companion, Print Shop Deluxe Business Graphics and more. In total you get more than 1000 pieces of clip art and 73 TrueType fonts. If you haven't checked out Print Shop in a while, you'll be intrigued. Its color graphics and professionally designed layouts may give you better results than a high-priced desktop-publishing program. {The Print Shop Deluxe CD Ensemble: Broderbund, 500 Redwood Blvd., Novato, CA 94948-6121, (800) 521-6263 or (415) 382-4400; $79.95. REQUIRES: 386 SX+ CPU, 4MB RAM, Windows 3.1, CD-ROM drive.} -=*=- <> Reuters Money Network <> Online Help for Investors You can find stock quotes and other financial data on CompuServe and other online services. But for real financial oomph, try Reuters Money Network (formerly Reality's Smart Investor Network). Offering financial services only, Reuters Money Network is targeted to the individual investor. The service helps novices get their feet wet by asking questions about their risk tolerance and liquidity needs. Then it filters "the world of Wall Street," helping identify suitable investments, and connects them to brokers to execute trades. Online trading is through PC Financial Network, a large discount brokerage firm. As users grow more confident, they can research the database of thousands of stocks, mutual funds, CDs and money markets. Reuters Money Network's start-up kit costs $49.95, and flat monthly fees range from $9.95 to $17.95. (A personalized news-clipping service is available for $6.95 extra -- it pulls up articles from The Wall Street Journal and other sources for items of interest to you.) The service kit is sold stand-alone, but it can also be purchased bundled with WealthBuilder by Money Magazine, a financial planner from Reality Technologies. {Reuters Money Network: Reality Technologies, Inc., 2200 Renaissance Blvd., King of Prussia, PA 19406, (215) 277-7600; $49.95 start-up kit. REQUIRES: a 286+ CPU, 640K, DOS 3.3+, a hard drive, EGA/VGA and a Hayes- compatible modem.} -=*=- <> SpeedTools 2.0 for Windows <> Speed Up Your Windows System Speaking of Program Manager replacements, Central Point makes a powerful one called PC Tools for Windows. Along with a more intuitive desktop, PC Tools for Windows offers a suite of utilities that help speed up your system. And now PC Tools for Windows has offspring -- its System Consultant and Optimizer programs have "budded off" into a separate, low- priced ($29.95) product called SpeedTools 2.0 for Windows. If you're happy with your present Windows desktop and are just looking for a way to prod it into higher gear, SpeedTools is your program. System Consultant makes specific recommendations on improving your configuration for optimal performance. Tips may be as simple as adding a disk cache or as esoteric as reducing the TimerCritical-Section value in your SYSTEM.INI file. Acting on the suggestions is simple -- just select "Do It." SpeedTools' Optimizer cures disk fragmentation, a common ill that results when files get stored in random, fragmented fashion. SpeedTool's Optimizer goes a step beyond other optimizers by automatically defragmenting the hard drive whenever the system remains idle for an extended period of time! This way your files stay in top form, and file access is quick. Optimizer supports DoubleSpace and the 32-bit access of Windows for Workgroups 3.11. {SpeedTools 2.0 for Windows: Central Point, 15220 N.W. Greenbrier Parkway, Suite 150, Beaverton, OR 97006-5798, (800) 873-7409 or (503) 690-8090; $29.95. REQUIRES: a 386+ CPU, 4MB RAM and Windows 3.1+.} -=*=- <> WindowMagic <> Buttons, Icons, Toolbars Galore If you're looking to simplify Windows operations and like toolbars, icons, quick lists and busy, busy screens, you'll like WindowMagic. It lets you turn any Program Manager group into a toolbar for quick launching. Or if you'd rather pick your program out of a list, try the "Get-It" button (looks like a hand, and pretty handy), which parks itself next to the control box of the active window. From Get-It's drop-down menu you can perform all Task Manager functions, as well as launch other programs. And not only does it list program names -- it also shows their icons. WindowMagic runs on top of the Program Manager and can even serve as its replacement. A bundle of drag-and-drop utilities are included, but the icon collection is probably WindowMagic's neatest feature. It comes with 3800 icons. You can assign any of the icons to minimized groups as well as to applications. {WindowMagic: WinWear, 14150 N.E. 20th St., Suite 346, Bellevue, WA 98007, (206) 882-1530; $89.95 (call about the $39.95 introductory price). REQUIRES: Windows 3.1+.} -=-------------- -=*=- -=*=- -=*=- --------------=- Focus On: Presentation Graphics ~~~~~~~~ "Programs to present your case, make your claim, prove your point" THE BUSINESS OF GRAPHICS by Ela Heyn Your boss comes to you at 3 p.m. on a Friday. "It looks like we'll need to deliver a presentation on the new health- care benefits first thing Monday morning," he says. You reach for the phone to cancel your Saturday golf date and prepare to type and photocopy a pile of handbooks. Familiar scenario? Did you know that BusinessWeek has estimated that business people deliver 33 million presentations every day? But before you heat up the photocopier, you should give some thought to the best way to present your material. According to studies, it's been found that people remember 10 percent of what they read, 20 percent of what they hear, and 70 percent of what they see and hear? It's true. So how about using presentation software to make your point? Recent meeting management studies conducted by 3M and the Wharton Business School show that presenters who use visuals convey their messages more effectively than those who don't -- and are perceived as more professional. Other studies have shown that using visuals in meetings shortens meeting times by speeding up decision making. But, you say, I only have until Monday to put together this presentation! Relax. Today's presentation graphics software makes it easy to produce professional-quality presentations to help you get your message heard, seen and understood. Presentation graphics software is poised on the brink of a paradigm shift. While full utilization of the programs' capabilities is still somewhat beyond the reach of the "average" desktop PC, a small investment in extra RAM and other small hardware upgrades will allow you to create stunning multimedia presentations. Presentation graphics software has evolved toward all-graphical, object-oriented WYSIWYG displays, with the ability to create data links to other programs. Most presentation programs also include a selection of clip-art images, support for commonly used printers, and some sort of screen-show feature for practicing and viewing your completed presentation. Many of these packages incorporate animations and/or full-motion video, sound effects and/or music, transition effects -- even run-time modules that allow you to display your presentation on any PC. Creating and presenting a stunning presentation that takes advantage of these capabilities does not require a Pentium processor, but you will probably want at least a 386- or 486-based machine and a minimum of 8 megabytes of RAM, a sound card, a mouse or other pointing device, and VGA or Super-VGA graphics. Also, be forewarned that all of the "big" presentation graphics packages eat up huge amounts of hard drive real estate. A full installation of Harvard Graphics for Windows eats up 21MB of disk space, while a full installation of Microsoft's PowerPoint 4.0 consumes a whopping 42MB! Speaking of hardware, how do you plan to display your presentation to your audience? If you are showing it to just a small group, an ordinary VGA monitor should be just fine. For displays to larger groups, many conference rooms are now being equipped with large-screen display monitors (some larger than 40 inches) that accept composite signals of audio as well as video -- with resolution close to VGA. There are also low-cost (under $200) video converter boxes available that allow you to display your presentation on a television or store it on videotape. More expensive ($1500 to $6000) desktop-projection products plug into your computer and allow you to project an image that simulates a large-screen display monitor. Presentation Tips So, how should you go about developing your presentation? First you should know exactly what you want to present, and why. Is your intent to educate and inform your audience, or persuade them, or some combination of the two? And is the nature of the information you want to convey appropriate for a group presentation? Perhaps there is too much information to convey, in which case you should consider a series of seminars instead of a single presentation. Or perhaps the information would be better conveyed on an individual basis (such as when there are changes in departmental assignments). Also, give some thought to the time of day when you deliver your presentation to ensure your audience's attention. The worst times are immediately before lunch, after lunch, and late afternoon -- maybe your boss could move that health-care presentation to Monday afternoon? You also need to give some thought to how you put your presentation together. Remember that the human mind is not good at concentrating for more than 20 minutes without some kind of break, and that your audience's attention level is highest at the beginning of your presentation. Whether I am running a self-timed screen show or using independent slides, I like to start off my presentations with a "high-tech" visual that incorporates sound or music, perhaps even a video clip. Multimedia presentation software is still fairly novel to most audiences, so presentations with multimedia elements generally make a big hit. If I have to explain a complex or numerical concept, I use a chart or diagram to make my point. One good way to visually demonstrate a trend -- such as sales for the past year -- is through an animation (or series of slides) that builds the sales line right on the chart. Be careful about throwing too many bells and whistles into your presentation, however, or it will end up looking like a newsletter produced by someone who has just discovered desktop publishing and puts every headline in a different font! Finally, the most important thing to remember about your presentation is to practice, practice, practice! I will never forget the time I was in the middle of a screen slideshow and my screen went completely black -- and stayed that way! As my audience sat in polite but perplexed silence, I checked the cabling and fiddled desperately with the controls on the monitor. Finally I accidentally leaned on the mouse, and my screen jumped back to life. I had forgotten that After Dark's DOS screen blanker was set to kick in after a few minutes of mouse inactivity! I could have avoided that experience had I "test driven" my presentation on that particular computer. I have also added to my library of embarrassing experiences more than once by making a last-minute change to a slide without testing the effect on my presentation. When I got in front of my audience, the slide would suddenly make no sense, appear out of sequence, or segue into an animation that shut down abruptly. Remember, better safe than sorry! With just a small amount of effort and practice, you can put together a health-care presentation that will turn Bill and Hillary green with envy -- and maybe even hit the links this weekend too! Ela Heyn, an MBA candidate with the University of Phoenix Online, has an undergraduate degree in business administration from James Madison University. She works for The Conference Board and lives in Rahway, New Jersey, with a pet rabbit and ferret. Her online address is 71122.200@compuserve.com. -=*=- Harvard Graphics 2.0 for Windows Review by Ela Heyn Let me begin this review by noting that I absolutely would not recommend that anyone attempt to use Harvard Graphics 2.0 for Windows on a system with fewer than 8 megabytes of RAM. To do so is an exercise in frustration as well as an invitation for high blood pressure. As the technical support representative from Software Publishing Corporation said when I explained that I was running the program with "only" 4MB of RAM, "Boy, that's really pushing it!" Even such simple tasks as moving a pie chart half an inch to the left or right took more than five seconds to complete; it was an experience that can only be compared to walking underwater or through knee-deep snow. That said, I would hasten to add that Harvard Graphics for Windows 2.0 justifies a small ($200 to $300) investment in 4 megabytes of additional memory if producing high-quality charts and presentations is important to you! Harvard Graphics 2.0 for Windows is a very powerful presentation software package that is also relatively easy to use. To shorten the learning curve and make presentation building easy, the product includes: [] a "5-minute coach." This is an online, interactive tutorial that includes an overview and three task-driven lessons. It is designed to give new and infrequent users four game plans for building basic presentations. (Personally I am more fond of Microsoft PowerPoint 4.0's Wizards and AutoLayout features in this regard because they do everything short of writing the presentation for you). [] the Adviser Quick Tips and Design Tips. This onscreen text box offers guidance on how to quickly accomplish specific tasks, and it also offers suggestions on layout, color and other design features. [] a customizable button bar. While this bar offers a dauntingly large array of icons, a quick pass of the mouse cursor over each button causes it to display its function on the top-line status bar. In addition, Software Publishing provides a handy chart of all buttons and their functions, on the back of the user's manual. [] "What's New Help" and "Upgraders' Help." These functions tell users about the new tools available in Version 2.0, and they show users who have upgraded from DOS versions of Harvard Graphics how to accomplish the same tasks in Harvard Graphics for Windows. The program also has context- sensitive help that drops the user directly to the relevant help topic. [] Quick Looks. These are interactive chart miniatures displayed on the chart dialog boxes and data forms to provide visual cues to the chart component you are editing. Best of all, the Quick Looks allow you to try out visual effects before you apply them. [] Harvard Graphics Advisers. These are trained graphics professionals who can advise you over the phone on issues of design, layout, media, etc. The Harvard Graphics Advisers service is included with the basic technical support package. So, it's easy to use. But what can Harvard Graphics do for you? To start with, Harvard Graphics has outstanding charting and graphing capabilities, which provide you with 31 professionally-designed presentation styles and allow you to enter your own data or import Lotus 1-2-3, Microsoft Excel or ASCII data. Once your data is in place, you can enhance the look of your presentation with some of the 530 symbols in the Harvard Graphics library and the drawing tools in the Harvard F/X special- effects module. There is an outliner to help you organize your thoughts and presentations, a slide editor for viewing individual slides, and a slide sorter to display your entire presentation. If you want to display your presentation onscreen, you are in for even more fun. You can select ScreenShow effects, which create professional- looking transitions between slides, and add your own sound and video files. There is even "electronic chalk," which allows you to draw onscreen during a presentation to highlight key points, and a runtime ScreenShow Player, which can display a Harvard Graphics presentation on either a DOS or Windows system that does not have the product installed. If you are on a local area network, you can take advantage of Harvard Graphics' new Conferencing feature to display your presentation on up to 64 other computers simultaneously during a telephone conference call. The only feature I really do not like about Harvard Graphics 2.0 for Windows is the new technical support policy, implemented in February 1994. I have been using Harvard Graphics since DOS Version 2.1 in 1987, and I had always thought Software Publishing's policy of unlimited technical support was one of its best features. Now, however, registered users receive free technical support for only 90 days from their first call to Software Publishing's hotline -- and can purchase a "Premium Support" package for phone support beyond that time. Premium Support options include a 900 answer line (first minute free, $2 each additional minute), a $25-per-call 1-800 credit-card answer line, and a one-time fee that allows you unlimited toll-free technical support. The one-time fee for the "800 Answers" program would actually be a very good deal if you are a heavy user of technical support: $79 will buy you all the calls you can make between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. EST, Monday through Friday. [Editor's note: by the time you read this, Harvard Graphics 3.0 will be available. New and improved features seem to lie in the area of ease of use: more online tutors and a simpler interface.] -=*=- Q/Media for Windows 1.2 Review by Ela Heyn Q/Media for Windows 1.2 bills itself as "the easiest, fastest way to create full-blown multimedia presentations. Period!" While this might be overstating the case, the product is a very good $99 alternative to expensive presentation software packages such as PowerPoint and Harvard Graphics. You simply drag and drop animation, video and audio files onto the screen to create high-quality multimedia presentations with transition and audio effects comparable to that of "the big guys." Q/Media also allows you to create background images for your scenes using gradients, bitmaps or slides from popular Windows presentation applications. I was impressed with the wide variety of complementary products with which Q/Media is compatible! It can play animations from Autodesk Animator, 3D Studio, Macromedia Director, PC-Animate Plus and 3D Workshop. Q/Media also supports Microsoft Video for Windows, Action Media II and Intel DVI. When it comes to sound, Q/Media is versatile: it supports .WAV digitized sound, MIDI music and CD audio. Add all kinds of sound to your presentation, synchronizing the audio to your images and animation! One of Q/Media's strongest features is its ability to make use of slides created in Harvard Graphics, Microsoft PowerPoint and Aldus Persuasion. In addition Q/Media comes with more than 10MB of animation, digital video, wave audio, MIDI files and images organized into categories for business, training, and entertainment. [Editor's note: The newly released CD-ROM version contains 500MB of digital video, animation, music, background images and more.] Q/Media's interface is well-designed and a snap to use for anyone who has a basic familiarity with Windows. One feature I particularly appreciated was the Timeline, which offers a graphical overview of when objects appear in a scene. This feature can be used to set an object's duration, position in the scene, and attributes including transition effects. Q/Media also has an excellent storyboard viewer, which represents each scene in the presentation in a thumbnail, WYSIWYG view. Scenes can be reordered with a simple drag and drop -- or maximized with a double click. The major problem I experienced with Q/Media was a jerkiness of audio and video caused by the high memory demands of the program on my 486/DLC- 33 machine with 4MB of RAM. I also invariably encountered General Protection Faults upon exiting the program. The technical support representative at Q/Media assured me the company is aware of this problem and that they expect to mail a "fix-it" disk to all registered Q/Media users in February 1994. Finally, although the manual is generally well- written, I would have liked to see it contain a table of buttons and icons similar to the one on the back cover of the Harvard Graphics' manual. Several times I found myself leafing madly through 122 pages of manual searching for a picture of a particular submenu button I needed to create a desired effect. -=*=- MyCharts Review by Ela Heyn Talk about user-friendly! MyCharts for Windows' packaging claims you can learn to use the program in only five minutes, and the entire user's manual is confined to both sides of a single sheet of paper. Yet I found this program's interface to be so intuitive that I never once referred to the manual -- and I created my first chart within five minutes of installing the software. I cannot recommend this program highly enough to anyone with a need to create high-impact charts and graphs. MySoftware Company specializes in creating simple, inexpensive software packages that perform one task incredibly well. While MyCharts retails for only $24.95, it has the look, feel and features of a program at least four times that price. It creates 12 types of charts (including pictographs), offers 22 fill patterns and colors, and has lines, arrows, borders and an optional 3-D effect. MyCharts even comes with 100 clip-art images and offers 223 bullet point styles! MyCharts can import clip art in EPS, .PCX, .BMP, TGA, WMF, TIFF and GIF formats. Additionally, the program can be used as an easy charting utility for word processing or spreadsheets. Data and charts can be copied and pasted easily to and from Word, WordPerfect, Excel, Lotus 1-2-3, Quattro Pro and other programs. -=*=- PowerPoint 3.0 Review by Jim Grindstaff Surveys have shown that people fear getting up and talking in front of other people more than they fear death. I guess that makes me pretty fearless, because I make presentations every day as part of my job. I am a high-school mathematics and computer-science teacher, and I use PowerPoint. PowerPoint, like other presentation packages, fills a need for people who must present information in a captivating way and attempt to elicit greater attention from an audience. PowerPoint has made this task much easier for me, and it offers other benefits as well. By delivering PowerPoint presentations on an LCD panel, I can actually face my students -- instead of having my back to them while writing on a chalkboard. PowerPoint includes a viewer module, which is essential for those times when a presentation is to be taken "on the road." This is a feature I use quite often: my copy of PowerPoint is licensed to my home computer, and it would be illegal for me to install the entire package on my classroom computer. Because of the viewer module, a presentation doesn't have to be tied to the computer on which it was produced. Colorful clip art and background templates are available and can easily be added to any presentation under construction. All that color may be wasted if your end result is to be a black-and-white laser-printed handout, though: and so for the majority of computer users who have not opted to buy expensive color printers, PowerPoint comes with black-and- white templates. Whatever your printer, PowerPoint makes it easy to wind up with a polished end result. To give you an idea of how easy it is to use PowerPoint, let me describe a project I started recently. Because the content of my computer- science course changes each year, I have been creating my own textbook with PowerPoint's help. The process starts in PowerPoint's Outline view. (There are four views available: slide, handout, slide sorter and outline.) The Outline view is perfect for organizing the flow of the textbook. After I finish the outline, I can save it in Rich Text Format (RTF) and then import it into a word-processing or page-layout program to flesh out the body text. The outline becomes the basis for the slides I will use as I present new material from the textbook. If I want to include diagrams or drawings on a slide, I'll call on the toolbar for its drawing tools and many predrawn shapes. Artwork created in other programs can be input by way of the clipboard, by object linking (add charts from Excel or text from Word), or by direct import of files supported by the graphic import filters. PowerPoint supports more than a dozen graphic file formats. When it comes to graphics flexibility, PowerPoint surpasses just about all its competitors. Once I have created the slides I'll switch to the Handout view, add text, then pass out the finished result. This will give my students an additional resource for reviewing notes. As with any good presentation, you should provide the audience something to go back to later. I've only described the tip of the iceberg so far, and, as you might have guessed, there is much more beneath the surface. For those who prefer actual 35mm slides to a computer-controlled presentation, PowerPoint includes a telecommunications driver to send finished presentations to a Genigraphics Service Center. Genigraphics will then return finished 35mm slides (and, of course, a bill). Electronic presentations can be enhanced by adding transition effects that cause slides to dissolve from one to the next. Text can be made to dissolve into place, fly in from one side or another, and be emphasized by adding bullets consisting of any font character. As with other Windows software, TrueType fonts are supported. And as the slides are being presented, it is even possible to draw on the slide with the mouse to accent or underscore information. Printed output can be in the form of full-page slides, thumbnail slides, transparencies, handouts and outlines. I have tried just about all the output possibilities, and the most impressive are color slides printed on transparency film on a DeskJet 1200C. So for those of you who do have access to a color printer, rest assured that PowerPoint allows for very precise color matching. If you make presentations on a regular basis, invest in PowerPoint. There is no better way to plan, prepare, practice and perform your presentations. [Editor's Note: by the time you read this, Microsoft will have released Version 4.0 of PowerPoint. This latest version will have the AutoLayout feature, which lets the presentation practically design itself. Building presentations will become even easier with Wizards, Cue Cards and tool tips, all of which help walk a user through a project.] -=*=- CorelSHOW Review by Michelle Moore CorelSHOW is a slick presentation package that ships with CorelDRAW 3.0, and let's face it: since the release of CorelDRAW 4.0, the price of 3.0 has fallen to an affordable level. With 3.0's street price of about $120 (including 12,000 clip-art images on CD-ROM), why would anyone volunteer to pay threes times as much for 4.0? CorelSHOW emphasizes high-quality images and smooth transitions. It comes with a collection of impressive backgrounds and makes use of CorelDRAW's import filters, which means it can handle just about any type of graphic. The list includes .CDR (CorelDRAW's native format), .PCX, GIF, BMP, WMF, EPS, .TIF, .GEM and more. The only shortcoming in this vast array of import filters is the absence of .JPG support, which is a compressed format for .GIF files. Maybe Version 4.0 has that going for it, but I'll gladly convert my .JPGs myself if it saves me $200. One of CorelSHOW's key features is its ability is to use .FLI (flick) animation files as part of a presentation -- even as part of a slide. The term slideshow falls short when your presentation includes animated sequences. Watch the members of the board duck their heads as a soccer ball comes sailing up from a chart of dry statistics. If nothing else, it will wake everyone up! The many available transition effects lend a professional look to your presentations. Choose from a variety of smooth wipes, fades and dissolves -- or opt for curtains opening and closing. While transition effects are chosen from pull-down menus, a toolbar at the side offers immediate access to other elements, such as backgrounds. Toolbar icons can even transport you to the drawing and painting portions of CorelDRAW, where you can edit an image on the fly. Creating a presentation is fairly simple. On opening CorelSHOW you will notice a row of white boxes in the lower-left corner of the screen. These represent the individual slides on which you will be working. All you have to do is select a background and place an image on the slide. If you don't already have images, don't worry. A click of the balloon icon and SHOW transfers you to DRAW, where you can start from scratch. You can draw images, enter text or import artwork into a new slide without ever leaving SHOW. It works the same way for another built-in graphics tool, CorelCHART. Select the CorelCHART icon, build your chart and set it into the slide without all the fuss. Simple script applications require that your images already be prepared, and they offer no way for you to modify them as you work. In that respect, CorelSHOW's ability to glide into the DRAW and CHART programs as you're constructing a presentation makes it extremely flexible. After you've decided upon the makeup of each slide and selected a type of transition, play-test it with the movie camera icon. You'll get a full- screen playback of what you have put together, exactly as it will appear. A selection bar at the top-right corner lets you change the length of time each slide is displayed. You can embed sounds and media clips in slides if you're really adventurous, or really bored. Also included in the CorelDRAW package is a shareware utility called Showrun, which can present Corel slideshows on any Windows computer -- your presentation becomes truly portable! -=*=- Freelance 2.0 Review by Carol Hartman When you think of Lotus Freelance 2.0, think "fill in the blanks," because that's really all you have to do to build a presentation. Although Freelance is a powerful package -- that can do multimedia (sound, animation and video) -- it's best known for its point-click-boom method of getting a raw novice into a finished presentation. Try the animated QuickStart tutorial for a quick education about the program, then turn to the SmartMasters to simplify your life. SmartMasters are the heart of Freelance: they're 65 predesigned fill-in-the-blanks layouts with coordinated color palettes and typeface selections. Their "click here to . . . " prompts guide you through each step -- just "click here to" type your presentation title, "click here to" insert graphics, and "click here to" to do just about everything. If you're the kind of person who's plagued with doubts about the appearance of your presentations, stop worrying: SmartMasters are designed by professional artists, and it shows. The only thing you need to worry about is the content of your presentation! Beyond ease of use, Release 2.0 of Freelance goes head-to-head with the major presentation packages. It makes it easy to construct organizational charts and speakers' notes. It can import Harvard Graphics 2.3 and 3.0 files. And its screen-show features are smart -- you can click on buttons within your presentation to jump to other pages, play sound files and even launch applications. The VCR-like controls give presenters flexible command of their presentations, and your audience will be wowed by any of the 32 transitional effects. Most important to spreadsheet users, Lotus Freelance is tightly integrated with Lotus 1-2-3 (surprise!). Freelance's 108 chart styles are ready and waiting to go to work on your worksheet data. -=*=- CA-Cricket Presents for Windows 1.5 Review by Carol Hartman CA-Cricket Presents for Windows 1.5 is a cheap, cheap presentation package at only $92 -- but don't expect it to go chirp, chirp. Cricket Presents doesn't do sounds at all, nor does it do animation. If you're looking for multimedia razzmatazz, you'll have to search elsewhere. But if you're looking for solid software to build traditional (i.e., cutting- edge-just-last-year) presentations, one that takes little time to learn and use, Cricket Presents is your program. Cricket Presents comes with professionally created templates, eight different graph types (an unimpressive number, granted), 14 transition styles, speakers'-notes generators, drawing capabilities, and support for more than 10 popular graphics file formats, including .PCX, .BMP, JPEG and EPS. I like the intuitive way in which it lets me arrange (and rearrange) presentations -- sorting slides all at once on an "electronic light table." Since Cricket Presents takes care of linked effects, you can switch and swap slides to your heart's content. Another neat feature is the CA-Cricket Player, a run-time version of the program that can display your presentation on machines without Cricket Presents. To cap off that professional look, Cricket Presents files can be sent (via modem) to overnight slide service bureaus for stunning 35mm slides and even full-color overhead transparencies. Cricket Presents is affiliated with a number of services, offering connection software and coupons for free slides. -=*=- WordPerfect Presentations 2.0 for Windows Review by Carol Hartman WordPerfect Presentations 2.0 for Windows, a jumbo presentation package with all kinds of neat features, has one really neat feature in particular -- a bundled Logitech ScanMan hand scanner, which will let you add scanned photos and illustrations to your presentations. Because the scanner is TWAIN-compliant, you can scan directly into WordPerfect Presentations without having to go through some other graphics program first. I could go on and on about finding a scanner in a software package -- I'm probably CrackerJacks' biggest customer, but this "prize" takes the cake. What a gimmick! WordPerfect Presentations needs no gimmick to sell it, however, because it's full of power and features (which I'm about to describe) -- but I'm glad the marketing people thought of it. WordPerfect Presentations has a wonderfully graphical interface. Push- button toolbars lead you to all the major functions, and you can even see all your slides at once on the Slide Sorter. The graphics aren't bad either! The software includes a gallery of slide backgrounds along with more than 1000 clip-art images (which you can modify), and you can also create your own bit-mapped pictures. The Outliner captured my attention next -- just type your information. If you're a WordPerfect (word processor) user, you can retrieve an outline you created there. And if you forget how to work with the outline (or most other WordPerfect Presentations features), you can turn to the QuickTutors, a set of tutorials that show you the steps necessary to perform many operations. How does WordPerfect Presentations handle data? Just fine. It can import data from popular spreadsheet programs, such as Lotus 1-2-3, Excel and Quattro Pro, but it's own built-in table editor is quite handy. Best of all, you can have the table editor and your chart onscreen at the same time. And multimedia? WordPerfect Presentations acts as an OLE client and server, so you can link animation and video from other programs. A DOS version of WordPerfect Presentations is also available (without scanner), but the word is that WordPerfect Corporation has stopped development on all its DOS products, including the flagship WordPerfect 6.0 (but DOS products will continue to be supported). It's more and more a Windows world all the time, folks. Did I mention that WordPerfect Presentations 2.0 for Windows comes with a scanner? -=*=- Quick Clips <> Though it arrived too late for an in-depth review, Bravo! deserves a big round of applause. It's a high-powered, low-priced ($79) Windows presentation program from Alpha Software (the people who make the Alpha Four database). Bravo! is easy to use, has all the usual features (outliner, variety of graph types, clip art, templates) plus some very impressive ones: an organizational chart builder and support for multimedia, animation and Photo CD graphics. Keep Bravo! in mind -- it's a compelling alternative. <> Attention, business users who need graphics for their presentations -- and need a lot of variety. For you, MasterClip Graphics has released MasterClips: The Art of Business, a CD-ROM disc full of .CGM files you can use in your presentations. (Most popular presentation packages support the .CGM format.) There are about 6000 color/grayscale images in all, broken down into 102 categories. Whether you're looking for images to reflect industrial or corporate concerns, you'll probably find your picture here. <> Adults shouldn't have all the fun! Kids can get in on the presentation-graphics act too with Show & Tell for Kids. This program lets kids type text, draw and color their own pictures, and even record their voices! It also comes with a slew of pictures and sounds that are ready to use. Kids just decide which pictures come first -- they can swap them around -- and then "attach" sound effects or voiceover narrations. They'll be multimedia writers, directors and producers! It won't take them long to whip up a presentation. And when they're finished, they can present it to the class for Show & Tell. For more information about Show & Tell for Kids, see Mark Haverstock's review on Page 50 of the September 1993 PCM. -=*=- FOR MORE INFORMATION: Bravo!: Alpha Software, 168 Middlesex Turnpike, Burlington, MA 01803, (800) 852-5750 or (617) 229-2924; $79. REQUIRES: a 286+, 2MB Windows 3.0+ system. CA-Cricket Presents for Windows 1.5: Computer Associates Intl., Inc., One Computer Associates Plaza, Islandia, NY 11788-7000, (516) DIAL CAI; $92. REQUIRES: a 286+ Windows 3.1 system with at least 2MB RAM. CorelDRAW 3.0: Corel Systems Corp., 1600 Carling Ave., Suite 190, Ottawa, ON K1Z 7M4, (800) 836-3729 or (613) 728-8200; $199. REQUIRES: a 286+ computer, Windows 3.0+, a hard drive, VGA and a mouse or tablet. A 386 DX or faster machine with 4MB+ RAM is recommended. Freelance Graphics for Windows Release 2.0: Lotus Development Corp., 55 Cambridge Parkway, Cambridge, MA 02142, (800) 343-5414 or (617) 577-8500; $495. REQUIRES: a 286+ Windows 3.0+ system with 3MB RAM. Harvard Graphics 2.0 for Windows: Software Publishing Corp., 3165 Kifer Road, P.O. Box 54983, Santa Clara, CA 95056-0983, (408) 986-8000; $495. REQUIRES: a 386+ Windows 3.1 system with 4MB RAM. CD-ROM users can request a free evaluation copy of the CD-ROM version, which allows 10 uses before locking up. MasterClips: The Art of Business: MasterClip Graphics, Inc., 5201 Ravenswood Road, Suite 111, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33312-6004, (305) 983- 7440; $299. REQUIRES: a program that can read .CGM files. MyCharts for Windows: MySoftware Company, 1259 El Camino Real, Suite 167, Menlo Park, CA 94025, (415) 325-9383; $24.95. REQUIRES: a Windows 3.1 system with 4MB RAM. PowerPoint 3.0: Microsoft Corp., One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052- 6399, (800) 426-9400 or (206) 936-3865; $499. REQUIRES: a Windows system with 2MB RAM. Q/Media: Q/Media Software Corp., 312 E. 5th Ave., Vancouver, BC V5T 1H4, (800) 444-9536 or (604) 879-1190; $99. REQUIRES: a Windows 3.1 system with 4MB RAM. Show & Tell for Kids: Digispeech, Inc., 2464 Embarcadero Way, Palo Alto, CA 94303, (415) 494-8086; $49.95. REQUIRES: a 386+ Windows 3.1 system with VGA and a sound card. WordPerfect Presentations: WordPerfect Corp., 1555 N. Technology Way, Orem, UT 84057-2399, (801) 222-1000; $495. REQUIRES: a 386+ system with Windows 3.1 and 4MB RAM. -=------------=- T-H-E E-N-D F-O-R N-O-W -=-------------=-