1]

SEPTEMBER 1992

n

15 WRITIN^JOOLS f OR DAZZUN •10 PRINTER ADD FOR SIZZLING OUTNI

• 7 DRAW PACKAGES FOR GRAPHICS GREATNE

PLUS! ^^

• HOTACCOUNtiRG^ SOFTWARE TOP NEW FOOTBALL SIMULATION

'7U86"02193'

09

•♦0 -"#

L.

\^4 just exploded the myth that all drawing programs are expensive, hard to master, and for art school graduates only.

More than 2,600 ready-io-use clip art images make Windows Draw perfect for business graphics, home office projects, even presentations.

Cut and paste images. Customize them. Or draw up your own ideas with a box full of smart tools and special effects.

In no time, you'll be confidently creating great-looking logos, illustra- tions, charts, posters, memos, newsletters and more.

Helpful on-screen hints keep you drawing in the right direction. But if you need to talk, we're here 24 hours ever>' weekday, and most of the

weekend.

Best of all Windows Draw won't blow your budget. Along with being fun, fast and friendly, it's affordable - just $149.95 suggested retail. According to InJoWoiid, "...a real steal." So get your copy today. And have a blast!

MICROGRAFX*

Visit your local software dealer or call us toll-free at 7 -800-347-371 5 for the name of a store near you.

e U» 1 , Microgrurx. Inc. All rlBbl^ rcs.r^-ed, MlcroEr^f.. ...id ihc M-crosr^lx lug,, arc rcfiLsUTed ■r.<i.n>.rte and W,r>dow. Draw

is a trademark of Microgram, Inc.

Circle Reader Service Number 180

connpuTE

VOLUME 14, NO. 8, ISSUE 144

SEPTEMBER 1992

FEATURES 6

PRINTERS AS HOT RODS

By William Barrel Soup up your printer for fast-lane output.

14

TEST LAB

Edited by Mike Hudnall

Seven super draw programs

go head to head.

60

WORKING WITH WORDS

By Gregg Keizer

Expert advice on choosing a

word processor,

68

PRODUCTIVITY CHOICE

By Herbert L. Tyson

XYQUEST's nevif, improved

Signature 1.02.

72

MINDING YOUR BUSINESS

By Kathy Yakal

Accounting's not just for

accountants anymore.

COLUMNS

4 EDITORIAL LICENSE

By Clifton Karnes An insider's look at PC Expo.

32

NEWS & NOTES

By Jill Champion Top computer news.

36

FEEDBACK

Answers to tough questions.

40

POINT & CLICK

By Clifton Karnes Ten Windows speed tips.

42

PROGRAMMING POWER

By Tom Campbell Microsoft Basics.

44

INTRODOS

By Tony Roberts Automate with DOSKEY.

Cover photo by Michel Tcherevkoll

46

TIPS & TOOLS

Edited by Richard C. Leinecker Tips from our readers.

50

HARDWARE CLINIC

By Mark Minasi

Learn the ABC's of

using fonts.

54

ON DISK

By Tony Roberts Top shareware.

56

COMPUTE/NET

By Troy Tucker What's new online.

58

SHAREPAK

By Steve Draper Best new shareware.

70

PERSONAL PRODUCTIVITY

By Philip Chien The tiny home office.

80

ART WORKS

By Robert Bixby A look at the future of pen computing and CD-ROM.

84

MULTIMEDIA PC

By David English

Creating multimedia apps by

moving icons.

128

NEWS BITS

By Jill Champion Top stories at press time.

ENTERTAINMENT 81

PATHWAYS

By Steven Anzovin

What makes a great

adventure game?

82

DISCOVERY CHOICE

By David Sears The Secret Island of Dr. Quandary.

S6 ENTERTAINMENT CHOICE

By Ralph Roberts

The Laffer Utilities

version 4.01.

90

GAMEPLAY

By Carol Ellison The battle for the home PC.

92

PIGSKIN PREVIEW

By Peter Scisco

Tune in to the hottest

computer football games.

REVIEWS 97

WordPerfect for Windows,

Roland SCC-1,

The Rocketeer,

Sports Adventure,

Sony Multiscan

HG VGA Monitor,

Micro-Scope 4.28,

Star Laser Printer 4,

Midwest Micro

Ultra 386SX-20,

Three Windows Utilities,

Armor Premier Accounting

Software,

Pet Mouse,

PC Positive 2100-2,

The Bard's Tale

Construction Set,

and Freedom Menu System.

Pmted in the USA by R, R Donnelley & Sons Inc X dsWbS^^^^^ hv r ,r Jr " '', T'^T'^ '"''"^^'^ °' •=°'^''^^^ Publicalions International Ud,

in Australia by The Hor^vitt Group. P.O. Box ,306. Carrimera NSwSz A si, N 'nnd n"te l^K by Nofthom and "i^pII P^Pn n'^"?^^^^ f^nnsa.ken, NJ 0S1D9. Dislribuled

paid at New York. W, and at additional mailing olfices POSTMASTER- Send a<W™9schan^^^^^ Lonoon EM 9TW Second-class postage

and elsewhere -S2S.94 one year Single copies S2 95 in US ThrDjblisher disd^m^ M rp^^^r^^ , L '^^ P''^''^'^^'- Subscriptions US, AFO - $19.94 one year: Canada

property of COMPUTE Publications Internalional Ltd Letters int to SMPUTETisedto^^^ and a^nghts in portions published thereof remain the soie

Ste. 200. Greensboro. NC 27408 Tel (919) 275-9Bra. L,urv.ruic or us editors txjcome the properly o( Ihe magazine Eduonal offices are located at 324 W, Wendover Ave..

COMPUTE SEPTEMBER 1992

This isn't an ad for a National Geographic^ Special, an action movie, the

r-^^-.

Discovery ChanneF or Nintendo: Ifs an ad for the Sound Blaster" Multimedia

Span' • Witlk 1 -v\-nk'i n. iliracl. i of mi asliomiLil : in moving almul

ill ^ijace inusidi-

i.f hi^ rfp:U'i'

Upgrade Kit Which turns your computer into all of them.

Industry leading 20-voice sound card.

Over $3000 worth of goodies for less than S 800.

A complete library of leading CD software titles.

Easy-to-install CD-ROM drive.

Visit your computer retailer or call us at 1-800-998-LABS. CREATIVE L^BS, INC.

Sound Blaslsr is a Irademart ot Crealm iate, Int T?ie Multimedia PC Idjo is a Irademark ol the Muitim«iia PC MatWing Council; Inc All other marte are owned by ttieir Kpedlve compajiia

Clrcl« RNder Service Number 125

EDITORIAL LICENSE

Clifton Karnes

Here's an inside

look at PC Expo in

New fork, tlie

siiow oi sliows for

corporate buyers.

PC Expo, held this past June in sunny New York City, saw the introduc- tion of severai new, inno- vative products. Some of these are major new releases, but many would be easy to mIss- Here's a quick look.

First, many of the innova- tions at PC Expo focused on notebooks, which get smaller, lighter, and faster each year. The most exciting news for lap- toppers is the introduction of PCMCIA cards. PCMCIA is a standard for credit card- sized add-ons that are ma- chine independent, so any PC- MCIA card can work in any machine. The first use for PC-

compute

MCIA cards was memory. With the introduction of an en- hanced specification (2.0), however, PCMCIA cards can be used for modems, eth- ernet adapters, and just about anything else.

At NCR's booth, the compa- ny was proudly showing its light and sexy NCR 3170 lap- top, an enhanced version of the Safari, which made such a stir several months ago. Be- sides a state-of-the-art point- ing device and battery-saving CPU, the 3170 has a PCMCIA slot, and the reps at the booth were running around with handfuls of every type of card imaginable, demonstrat- ing how each worked with the

SEPTEMBER 1992

3170. They even hinted that the next generation of PC- MCIA cards wouid allow a ful- ly functional Winchester hard drive to be put on a card.

At the other end of the hali, one of NCR's competitors, Sharp Electronics, showed its gorgeous notebook color dis- plays. And, behind closed doors, the company also un- veiled a working version of its new Pen Wizard, a slightly larg- er Wizard with a GUI pen inter- face.

Aldus, famous for Page- Maker, upped the ante in the low-end draw market with its in- troduction of IntelliDraw, a draw program that uses intel- ligent objects. What's an intel- ligent object? It's a vector- based graphic that retains its shape and character when re- sized or stretched. This means you can manipulate in- telligent clip art and never lose the object's identifying at- tributes.

Although PC Expo is primar- ily a show for corporate buy- ers, there were several enter- tainment companies represent- ed, and one of them was a ma- jor surprise: Microsoft. Until re- cently the only Microsoft enter- tainment title was Flight Simu- lator, one of the most popular games ever. At PC Expo, the company introduced Microsoft Golf, a game it has licensed from Access, the creators of Links. (Look for a book on Links and Microsoft Golf this fall from COMPUTE books,)

Programmers at PC Expo were able to see demonstra- tions of two cutting-edge Win- dows code generators. A code generator allows a Win- dows programmer to draw an interface interactively and then have the program gener- ate the code necessary to pro- duce the interface. The pro- grammer then takes this code as a starting point for a pro- gram. At PC Expo, Protoview and Caseworks were showing

their stuff, The big news is that both companies offer an upgrade path for different com- pilers. Caseworks' Case:W 4,0 offers Knowledge En- gines, add-ons that allow the same program to generate code for different compilers. There are separate Knowl- edge Engines for C, C++, MFC, OWL. and so on. With this approach, you can de- sign your interface and gen- erate code for one compiler, say Microsoft C, but if you de- cide to move to C++, all your interface design can be reused by simply plugging in another Knowledge Engine, Protoview plans to include all these code generators with its basic product.

As most Windows users know, Windows leaves a big footprint when it takes control of your system. Understand- ing what Windows does to your operating environment is difficult, but Renasonce's Sky- light, a new diagnostic tool introduced at the show, is a big help. One of Skylight's most useful features is its sys- tem file editor When you're in- side the editor, you can right- click on any line and get an explanation of just what that line does. If you've every looked at your SYSTEM, INI file, you know how useful this can be,

Physiotrionics introduced Sherlock, a new tool that breaks the eighl-character lim- it for Windows filenames. With Sherlock installed, all your Windows applications will be able to use filenames of as many as 254 charac- ters. Looking through my Win- Word and Excel directories, I see filenames such as E0692PCX.XLS. REP0692 .DOC, M0692BT2.DOC, and F0592FD.DOC. Clearly. I need this program',

Stay tuned to future issues of COMPUTE for full reviews of these products. O

Introducing tlie New Grolier MiJtinieciia Encyclopedia"' witk exciting features for 1992

We are piled with aice as ice explore the solar system. Each discovery comes alive with spectacular sights and sounds. It's getting late, but we're not ready to head back to Bartlj...

Wkile exploring tke final frontier, we met

Copernicus, saw tne Space Snuttle and listened as

Neil Armstrong took a giant leap witn one small step.

Tne Grolier Electronic Encyclopedia has long Dcen recog- nized as tlie pre- mier CD-ROM encyclopeaia ror serious, effective researcn. Now, Grolier introduces a remarkable resource that sets a whole new stanaara ror multimeaia encv'clo- pedias — the New Grolier Multimeaia Encyclopedia™

Serious researcn. Serious run.

Featuring all 21 volumes of the Academic American Encyclo- pedia on a single CD-ROM, the New Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia pro\'iaes a refer- ence resource unparalleled in hoth quauty and comprehensiveness.

Within seconds,

you can locate articles on everything from cov- ered wagons to lunar

Tlic New Grower Multimeaia Hncj-clupeuia runs on tou^y'^ must popular plalfonns inclua

landers. And a host of exciting new features makes the urge to explore virtually irresistitlc. You'll find more color photographs, illus- trations, sounds and motion

sequences. And timely coverage of such recent world events as the Persian Gulf \(^r and dissolution of the So\'iet Union.

But that's just the start. You can actually listen to famous speeches, music and more. And explore every comer of the world using over 250 liigh-quahty maps.

The new edition also features a unique Timeline with over 5,000 entries that lets you journey from

prehistory to the present, linking you directly to articles. And our new Knowledge Tree takes the search out of research by letting

you explore hroad topics, then quickly narrow your search to specific topics.

Still just ^395.

It's heen selected Product of the Year hy the Optical Putlishing Association. And it's sot just *395. For more information on the New Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia, call toll-free today.

1-800-356-5590

MULTIMEDIA

L O P E D I A

Gmlicr Electronic Putlisking, Inc., Skmiun "I'npl;., Dantmj' CT 06816 D 203- J97-3500

The New

GROLIER

E N C Y C

M MS-DOS, Macinlosk and WinJowsj'MPC.

Circle Reader Service Number 133

Remember the hot rods? Muscle cars like the '65 GTO and '66 Chevelle SS. In our prideful youth, we spent every penny on our cars and every spare minute with them, working on the engines to make them faster and more powerful, waxing them and detailing them to catch the eye of (hat certain someone at (he drive-in or just to turn heads on the main strip in town. Young and image-conscious, we put all our attention into whatever we thought made us Sook good. I was as guilty as the next guy. I souped up my car— a fuel- injected carburetor for speed, wide tires for traction, loud pipes (0 announce my presence, and chrome wheels and pinstripes to look good. I read hot-rod magazines vora- ciously, lusting after new and improved add-ons. Enthusi- astically ordering the extras I could afford, t waited impa- tiently for the mail carrier to deliver them.

As we age, we still want— and need— our toys, but somehow they have (o be more utilitarian to be justified.

Instead of junking your jaEopy of a printer,

soup it up witii one of tliese super add-ons

By William Harrel

Today, all grown-up, I read computer magazines, marveling at the newest technology, all the work it can help me do, and the speed it will give my comput- er. How much better my documents would look if only I had this add-on, that peripheral. I buy the ones I can afford. And when (hey don't come on time, I call the freight carriers to find out why.

Just as I tinkered with my car, I piddle with my comput- er. I've found that one way to tweak my computers perfor- mance is to tune up my printer. Out of the box, few printers are fast enough, and even fewer have pretty or versatile output. Luckily, however, add-ons that enhance both speed and quality abound. The solutions range from inexpensive software to costly hardware— and include everything in between. What you can do to improve your printer's perfor- mance depends on the type of printer, your application (what you need), and, of course, your budget. The goal is to get the output right, and to get it fast.

Output quality— the look of the print- ed page — is improved by printing at a higher resolution {more and better paint) and by adding fonts (detailing). Again, depending on the printer, there are a number of add-ons that do one or the other. A few do both. Some products, such as soft fonts, give you professional- looking typefaces. Others, such as PostScript-emulation cartridges, make a LaserJet printer PostScript compatible. At the high end of the add-on market are resolution- enhancement boards, which boost resolution by several hundred dots per inch (dpi). Some, such as LaserMaster's WINJet 800, increase both speed and resolution.

You can speed up printing with memory boards that increase your printer's RAf\/l (a new carburetor), allowing it to receive and process data more quickly. Another alterna- tive is a spooler — a place on your hard disk or in your com- puter's memory where print data is collected and transmit- ted at a rate the printer can handle. Neither memory nor

spoolers do much to actually make the printer faster; instead, they move print- ing to the background, returning control of the computer to you faster so that you can continue working. Enhance- ment boards, which take processing away from the printer, speed up print- ing. The surest way to enhance printing is with a fast com- puter and a new printer (the latest RX7 or Mustang). But for most of us, this is impractical, perhaps even impossi- ble. Besides, you can't get much on trade-ins. Instead of retiring your printer to the scrap pile, try one of these add- ons to boost its performance.

Dot-Matrix Printers

This class of printers needs the most help. Dot-matrix printers usually have only a few built-in (resident) fonts and are slow to begin with. Unfortunately, there isn't much help available. With many laser printers now priced well

REVVING UP WINDOWS

Almost everyone raves about Microsoft Windows. But no one lauds thie program's printing perfor- mance. That's because Windows printer drivers are notoriously slow. And version 3.0 limps away from the starting line when it comes to font handling. There are, however, ways to supercharge your printing in Win- dows.

Upgrade to Windows 3.1. Before buying a third-party printer add-on, run down to the software store and pick up Windows 3,1. It's like trading in your two-year-old Ford on a brand-new Lincoln. Version 3.1 runs faster; handles memory better; stalls less; and, yes, prints more quickly— much more quickly. And il comes with its own type manager, TrueType.

TrueType runs in the background with no fuss, is compatible with other type managers (you can run them concurrently), prints on almost any printer— and it's free! Fifty TrueType fonts and four weights of Helvetica, Courier, Times, and Symbol equiva- lents come with the upgrade, and you can buy others from Microsoft. For many applications, the original 50 are the only fonts you'll ever need.

Turn on Print Manager. Win- dows' Print Manager is a built-in spooler that processes print jobs in the background, quickly freeing up your computer so you can get back to work. To use i!, click on the Con- trol Panel icon in the Main program group; then click on the Printers icon. In the lower left corner of the Printers dialog box, select Use Print Manager. Close the dialog box and Control Panel. Windows will now spool your print jobs.

Install a RAM drive. If you have plenty of memory in your com- puter (at least 4MB), you might want to install a RAM drive with RAM- DRIVE.SYS, which is included with both DOS and Windows. A RAM drive is a portion of memory that emulates a physical drive; it's much

faster than a hard disk. Once you've installed the RAM drive, you can direct spooler and other temporary files to it with a SET TEMP= state- ment in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. There are complete instructions for setting up and using RAM drives in the DOS and Windows manuals.

Install a third-party printer driver. If you still aren't satisfied with the printing speed even after upgrading to 3.1 and turning on the spooler, try adding an enhanced printer driver, such as Zenographics' SuperPrint. One of these products will replace Windows' printer drivers and spooler files. It can often speed up printing. Be sure, however, that a driver for your particular printer is included.

Install a type manager. If your application requires many dif- ferent fonts and imagesetter com- patibility, you may stili need ATM or some other type manager. Even if TrueType catches on (which it prob- ably will), it could be some time before there are many typefaces available for it.

Install an enhancement board. The ultimate solution, other than buying a new computer or printer, is installing a resolution- enhancement board. LaserMaster's WINJet 800, designed especially for Windows, speeds up printing, has 50 fonts, and is PostScript compati- ble. The bad news is that you'll need a 386 with 8MB RAM to use it.

below $1,000, iike it or not, dot-matrix is a fading technology, Fortunately, however, dot-matrix users do have some options (not the case with my '56 Buick Special— to find parts for it, I was finally relegated to the junkyard).

Dot-matrix printers rely heavily on the computer for processing print data. Many are capable of receiving only a few lines of information at a time. So there's little you can do to speed up your dot-matrix printer unless you install a software spooler, like Windows' Print Manager or Zeno- graphics' SuperPrint, or buy a print buffer, which is nothing more than a RAM spooler. You can, however, improve print quality with one of the following software solutions,

Type managers. If you use Win- dows, WordPerfect, PageMaker, Ven- tura Publisher, or any other major soft- ware application, you're probably familiar with type managers. The most popular is Adobe Type Manager (ATM). Also in this category are Laser- Tool's Fonts-on-the-Ffy, Bitstream's FaceLift, MicroLogic's MoreFonts, Microsoft's TrueType, and many oth- ers. Type managers manage type. In other words, when you ask for a cer- tain font in a document, such as 12- point Helvetica, the type manager cre- ates it from a font outline on your hard disk and sends it to the printer. Although dot-matrix printers aren't capable of accepting downloadable fonts as laser printers are, with a type manager installed, they can draw graphic representations of the fonts, thereby giving your printer access to virtually hundreds of professional type- faces.

Nowadays, most type managers run under Windows. ATM, Fonts-on- the-Fly, and a few others can be used with WordPerfect 5. 1 and other popu- lar DOS applications.

PostScript emulators. PostScript is the output of choice for desktop publishers and graphics designers — the people who really need quality printing. With PostScript you get fonts that are scalable from two to several hundred points (there are 72 points to an inch). And PostScript improves graphics capabili- ties. For dot-matrix printers, emulators

ill/ILI 01 THE

8 COMPUTE SEPTEMBER 1992

ARTS&LEHERS

APPRENTICE

Created usinaArt5 S Letteis.«l9WConi(Mef Support Cotporaliofi.

Conjure up a dragon or an invader from outer space. Design an ad, a flyer, or a brocfiure. All it takes is a little imagination and tlie Arts & Letters Apprentice. Tfiis graphics program has all the drawing tools you'll ever need. There is a clip-art collection of over 3,500 images and 25 typefaces to draw upon. To top it off. Apprentice is extremely easy to learn and use.

Apprentice sells for under $100 in most software stores, fvlail in this coupon and receive an additional $25 rebate from the publisher, plus a free 4-color poster of the Dragon.

Mail to:

Attn: Arts & Letters

Computer Support Corp. 15926 Midway Rd. Dallas TX 75244

Tel: 214/661-8960 Fax: 214/661 -5429

S25 REBATE COUPON

Name

Address eity

Apprentice Registration Numlier

Zip

circle Reader Service Number 210

(Please include saJes slip Irom your local reiailer.)

such as LaserGo's GoScript are the only way to get PostScript. The output is a little shy of laser quality, and emu- lation software requires a lot of com- puter horsepower — as much as a 386 with 4MB of RAM and a math copro- cessor. Even then, don't expect exceptional performance. Another advantage of PostScript is that it's high-resolution imagesetter compati- ble (see the sidebar "Renting a Limo"). If you need typesetter output occa- sionally, an emulator is one way to proof documents before taking them to a service bureau.

Ink-Jet Printers

The Hewlett-Packard (HP) DeskJet and other ink-jet printers can use most type managers. Memory can be upgraded (but not by much) with memory cartridges. But so far, emula- tors are the only way to get PostScript. Ink-jet printers can also use bitmapped soft fonts and font car- tridges.

Like dot-matrix printers, bitmapped soft fonts are being supplanted by newer technology — in this case, scal- abie soft fonts and type managers. However, some top-selling DOS appli- cations (Lotus 1-2-3, Harvard Graph- ics, and WordPerfect) currently still use them. A drawback is that bitmapped fonts come in fixed sizes and require a lot of disk space. To use soft fonts with an ink-jet printer, you must upgrade printer memory.

Bitmapped font cartridges. Bitmapped font cartridges offer a limit- ed number of typefaces in fixed sizes. Many printer manufacturers offer optional cartridges for their ink-jets (HP has a whole line). Also available are some third-party products, such as CPi's DeskSet, which has 68 fonts, and Pacific Data Products' DeskJet, which has 25. Ink-jet font cartridges vary widely. Be sure that the one you buy works with your printer.

Laser Printers

Although laser printers come in all shapes and sizes, they can be sepa- rated into two basic types: HP compat- ibles, which use HP's Printer Com- mand Language (PCL), and PostScript. There are other printer Ian-

RENHNG A UMO

The quality of printer output is deter- mined primarily by resolution, or dots per inch (dpi). Dot-matrix printers, for example, print between 75 and 150 dpi, which is the reason graph- ics, straight lines, and large type come out jagged. There aren't enough dots to fill in the gaps. Most laser printers print at 300 dpi, which is passable for many applications, such as printing text and simple graphics. Recently, 400-, 600-, 800-, 1000-, and even 1200-dpi laser printers have appeared. Although their output is markedly better than that printed at 300 dpi, they still don't match the clean, crisp quality of high-resoiution imagesetters, such as the 1270- and 2540-dpi Linotronic 330.

if your documents contain com- plex graphics, halftone screens, or scanned photographs, they really should be printed on an imagesetter. Laser printers — no matter how high the resolution — ^just can't measure up. The only place to get imageset- ter output is at a desktop publishing service bureau. If you live in a city, there's probably one around the cor- ner. If not, there are several through- out the country that accept files by modem or on disk by mail or courier.

If you use a type manager with PostScript fonts (such as ATM), you can easily print your documents on an imagesetter, Because of the diversity of IBM-compatible applica- tions, however, most service bureaus prefer that you provide them with a PostScript file. Some require it. Many prograrns let you print to a file; in Windows, since printing is handled by the environ- ment, almost all applications do this.

The following is the procedure for printing to a PostScript file from WordPerfect for Windows. It's similar in all other Windows programs.

1 . Call the service bureau and ask what model its imagesetter is. Be sure to get the full name and num- ber, since some companies make

more than one model.

2. Define a new printer in Windows using the service bureau's imageset- ter as the device and File as the connection.

3. In WordPerfect for Windows, select the new printer. Use the Win- dows printer driver, rather than the WordPerfect one. (If your document was originally composed for a non- PostScript printer, look it over to make sure line and page breaks haven't changed. You might have to make a few minor adjustments.)

4. Print the document. Windows will ask you to name the file. You can name it anything you want, but print files generally have a PRN or EPS extension.

5. Send the file by modem or mail to the service bureau. You'll be asked at what screen frequency (lines per inch) the file should be printed. If you plan to have the document reproduced, ask your print shop for the proper screen settings. Be sure to tell the service bureau what kind of paper the final document is to be printed on; this is important to the print quality.

It doesn't take much — a photograph or two, several fonts, and graphics — for a print file to get too big to fit on a disk. If your print file rs too large, use a file-compression utility, such as PK2IP, to compress it. Make it a self- executing file, or make sure the ser- vice bureau has a copy of the decompression utility. I usually include the utility on the disk.

Another option for multipage doc- uments is to print one page at a time to several smaller EPS files. This works only when the pages aren't complex.

If you aren't using Windows, check your program's documenta- tion for instructions on printing to a PostScript file. If you use a LaserJet- compatible printer, this isn't the same as creating a PCL print file. Imagesetters require PostScript, and nothing else will do.

10 COMPUTE SEPTEMBER 1992

m

^»

Cteate Songs on Your Sound Card with MusicTimc.

Whaiever your musical ability, MusicTime will inspire you to create your own breathy love songs, foot-tapping jazz or head-slammin' rock 'n' roll.-With MusicTime and either a sound card or a MIDI instrument, you can compose, edit, playback and print sheet music on your PC.

Bring Your Music to life.

Use your mouse to click musical notes and symbols onto a staff sheet. If you've got a Miracle'" or MIDI key- board, MusicTime will record and transcribe your live performance into music notation in real time — right before your eyes!

Easy to Play Back, Edit and Print.

Play back instantly through your sound card or MIDI gear. Editing is easy with MusicTime's cut, copy and paste commands. Automatically transpose notes into any key. Add guitar chords. Write beautiful lyrics. Print out publishing-quality sheet music.

MusicTime couldn't be

easier, to use.

Windows, Mac and MIDI Compatible.

MusicTime is available for PC's with- Windows'" or the Macintoshf and is compatible With The

Miracle Keyboard, Sound Blaster Prof Media Vision Pro Audio Spectrum™ and Thunder Board',' AdLib

Gold'" and most popular PC sound cards. , '

For your copy of MusicTime, call Passport or visit

your nearest computer or . .

music store. If you're tired of

just playing games with your

sound card, get MusicTirne and

turn your beeps and blasts into

be-bop and hip-hop.

PASSPORT.

- MOOSOfT- WlNDCWSn. COMWTIBLE.

P

10

BE

1^

m\

K

T >

Passpon Designs, Int • 100 Stone Pine Rd. » HalfMoon Bay, CA 94019 USA • Phone (415) 726^280 • Fajc (415) 726-2254

Passport MiisirtiuK is a Iradema* d) Passport Designs. Inc. All olha ptoduds and brands are tisdemaiks 01 legislered trademaiks of Itieir resfiectnre liolffire, CIrcIa RMder Smvice Number 219 ' 1 1

WHERE TO BUY

Adobe Type Manager

S99.00

Adobe Systems (800) 833-6687

FaceLift

$99.00 • Bitstream (800) 522-3668

DeskSet

S149.00 JetPage

$349.00 JetType IIP

$249,00

Computer Peripherals

(800) 854-7600

GoScript

$149.00 (13 fonts) $299.00 (35 fonts) LaserGo (619)450-4600

WINJet 800

$795.00 LaserMaster (800) 365-4646

Fonts-on-the-Fly

$149.00 LaserTools (800) 767-8004

MoreFonts

$149,95

MicroLogic

(800) 888-9078

PacificPage and

memory board

$499,00 and up

25 In One!

$399.00

Pacific Data Products

(619)552-0880

SuperPrint

$195.00 and up

Zenographics

(714)851-6352

guages, but these two are the most widely used.

Laser printers differ from othier printers in that they process entire pages at once rathier than a few lines at a time. To do so, they have proces- sors built in. As data is received from the computer, it's held in RAM and rasterized (processed). When an end- of-page code is encountered, the printed page rolls out.

Memory upgrades can increase printing speed greatly. And often addi- tional RAM is required to run many output-enhancement add-ons, such as soft fonts and fonJ- and PostScript- emulation cartridges. Laser printers can use all of the products mentioned so far (type managers, bitmapped soft fonts, and font cartridges), and they can use emulation software as well.

The following discussion of add- ons pertains mostly to PCL printers. In fact, most printer add-ons are designed to bring non-PostScript devices closer to PostScript stan- dards. If you own a PostScript printer, you have almost everything you need for state-of-the art font and graphics printing.

Scalable soft fonts. Another term for scalable fonts is outline fonts. Type managers, such as ATM,

FaceLift, and so on, use outline fonts to do their magic, The beauty of out- lines is that one size fits all. One rela- tively small font file on your hard disk for Times Bold, for example, will give you emboldened Times in sizes rang- ing from 2 points up to and (depend- ing on the font and application) beyond 200 or 300 points.

Without a type manager, however, not all laser printers (such as the HP LaserJet Series II, IID, IIP, IIP Pius, and compatibles) can use outlines. There are all kinds of scalable fonts available. Be sure you buy the ones supported by your printer.

Scalable font cartridges. In most cases, your printer must support outline fonts to use scalable font car- tridges. Exceptions are cartridges that give printers scaling capabilities, such as CPl's JetType IIP, which brings scalable TrueType fonts to the Laser- Jet IIP and IIP Plus. Scalable car- tridges are similar to bitmapped car- tridges in that aJI you do is plug them into the printer. However, depending on the number of fonts in the cartridge, you have a lot more size and weight choices.

PostScript-emulation car- tridges. If you have a LaserJet or compatible printer and need

PostScript, this is the way to go. You get complete PostScript capabilities- scalable fonts, enhanced graphics printing, and typesetter compatibility — for a fraction of the cost of a PostScript printer. Several vendors, including Adobe, HP, CPI, and Pacific Data, sell emulation cartridges. Among them, you should find one for your HP com- patible, whether it's a Series Uxor illx. However, not all vendors make car- tridges for every printer.

Most PostScript cartridges require at least 2.5MB of printer RAf^^, which, if you don't have it, is an extra expense. CPl's JetPage will print limited fonts and graphics with 1,5MB, and Pacific Data bundles a memory board, 2MB of printer RAM, and its PostScript car- Iridge, PacificPage, for $499.

Resolution- or image- enhancement boards. Enhance- ment boards occupy a slot in your computer, and most of them take pro- cessing away from the printer. There are several boards around, but the most common is LaserMaster's WINJet 800, Prices, features, and the number of fonts included vary with each board, LaserMaster claims that depending on the complexity of the page, WINJet 800 prints 3-100 times faster than an unenhanced printer. It comes with 50 PostScript and 50 TrueType fonts for less than $1,000. Like PostScript car- thdges, enhancement boards are usu- ally phnter specific. Be sure you buy the right one for your printer.

Before You Buy

Whether your printer needs minor tun- ing with a type manager or the super- charged positraction of an enhance- ment board, be sure to analyze your future application before buying. If, for example, you1l be moving to Windows or upgrading to Windows 3,1 soon, you may not need an add-on (see the sidebar "Revving Up Windows"), Some popular desktop publishing (Ventura and PageMaker), graphics (Designer and Freehand), and presen- tation packages (Persuasion) come bundled with ATM and other type managers, making purchasing one of them pointless. In other words, look before you leap— you may get chrome wheels free. Q

■ lfflEMIIi.iUlBnriiEHIIMGS

12

COMPUTE SEPTEMBER 1992

Discover Star's new NX-2430 printer. Laser features at 1/3 the price.

Because its features and performance are so much like a laser, you'd thinlc the new NX-2430 Multi-Font was actually a laser printer. It has 13 scalable fonts, which allow you the creative freedom to customize your documents. And it has the extra conveniences that make lasers so easy to use, like real-time LCD display and automatic emulation switching. What's more, its print quality is excellent for both text and graphics.

But don't be fooled— the NX-2430 Multi-Font is a very reliable, extremely affordable, 24-pin dot matrix. And it's backed by Star's exclusive 2-Year Parts and Labor Warranty For more information, call 1-800-447-4700.

SCALABLE

Aaa

FONTS

AUTO

/ rn

LLU

AEC

EMULATION

DISPLAY

	LANDSCAIT:	DPI
K
H*
OUIETMODE	LOADING

IT TAKES A LITTLE EXTRA TO BE A STAR.

circle Reader Service Number t13

13

TEST LAB

Edited by Mike Hudnall

As children, we learned first to finger-paint and then to draw simple figures. But as I adults, we're embarrassed when we make those same stick- figure drawings, so we leave the painting and drawing to others.

Fortunately, computer paint and draw programs make it easi- er than ever to acquire the skills needed to create professionai- looking art. While you still need an understanding of the proper tools and techniques to create great works of art, computer pro- grams can make it much easier to learn and experiment.

Draw programs store their imag- es as lines and curves (unlike paint programs, which store imag- es as thousands of dots). Even though you see a draw image on the screen as dots, the image is really a series of commands. A hor- izontal line is simply a command for the program to plot a line from point A to point B.

Because paint programs are dot based, they're resolution de- pendent. A 72-dpi (dots per inch) paint image will print at 72 dpi, even when printed on a 300-dpi printer. Because draw programs are command based, they're res- olution independent. When printed on a high-resolution printer, a line will automatically include any extra dots that fall between the two plot- ted points, For this reason, a 72- dpi draw image will print at 2400 dpi on a 2400-dpi printer.

Paint programs are your best choice if you work with scanners and photorealistic images. Draw programs are best if the form of the image is more complex than its color or if you plan to print at high resolutions. For the best of both worlds, you might look for one of the draw packages that include au- totrace programs. It will let you con- vert bitmapped paint images into line-based draw images. As you might expect, autotrace programs work best with paint images, such as icons and clip art, that include

14 COMPUTE SEPTEMBER 1992

IBM PC and compatibles (80286 or taster, 80386 or faster recont- mended), 2MB RAM (4MB recom- mended), E6A or Hercules (high- resolution graphics recommeuded), hard drive (80MB drive recommend- ed), mouse or other pointing device, Windows 3.0 or 3.1— $595 (free upgrade automatically sent to reg- istered owners of version 3.0 for Windows in the U.S. and Caiada)

ALDUS

411 First Ave. S Seattle, WA 98104 (206) 622-5500

simple, easily described forms.

Unlike paint programs, most draw programs allow easy manip- ulation of shapes (you simply grab an object's outline and pull it), grouping and ungrouping of ob- jects (for global special effects), and elaborate type effects (includ- ing the ability to align text to a path). Most draw programs also include a generous selection of clip art and typefaces.

This month's Test Lab features five industrial-strength draw pro- grams (Aldus FreeHand 3.1, Arts & Letters Graphics Editor 3.1, Co- relDRAW! 2.01, Harvard Draw for Windows 1,0, and Designer 3.1) and two bargain-basement draw programs (Arts & Letters Appren- tice 1.0 and Windows Draw! 3.0). If you have a 386SX or faster machine and work with technical drawings, illustrations, or object- based graphics, any of the five high-end programs should suit you. If you're new to the area and just want to experiment, you'il find that the two lower-priced pro- grams have most of the features of their higher-priced cousins.

Whether you're a professional illustrator or a weekend wannabe, this current crop of draw pro- grams offers a wealth of powerful features. But don't be intimidated by the features, Remember to put your ego on hold, and you'll soon become a starry-eyed kid again.

DAVID ENGLISH

ALDUS FREEHAND 3.1

Wrap up nearly everything you can imagine in a draw program, bundle it in an interface that looks like Pagefvlaker, and you have Aldus FreeHand 3.1 for the PC.

FreeHand, venerable Macin- tosh illustration software, finally makes its PC debut, and the pro- gram is as comfortable to use as any software of its kind that I've seen. But I'm a regular user of oth- er Aldus products— PageMaker and Persuasion — so perhaps the family feeling contributes some- thing to my affinity for FreeHand.

FreeHand provides the usual as- sortment of drawing tools plus a complement of line styles and pat- terns to dress things up. The free- hand drawing tool includes an add- ed twist — pressure sensitivity. Although designed for artists plugged into a pressure-sensitive digitizer, this feature has keyboard controls that allow it to work reason- ably well on any PC. The idea is that the harder you press while drawing, the wider the resulting line. On a stock PC, you use the cursor keys to increase or de- crease the weight of the line.

FreeHand also offers plenty of flexibility in the editing of shapes. With the pen tool, you draw by placing points, both curve points and corner points, which allows

you to create any shape with a sin- gle tool, The curve, corner, and connector tools help you refine shapes. To join a straight path with a curved path, you can use the connector point tool.

The program allows you to com- bine separate elements into groups that can be moved and re- sized as a whole. Related to this, a very convenient feature permits you to select elements within a group and make changes or ad- ditions without ungrouping the set. There are also dozens of pre- designed file and line styles, and there's ample opportunity to cre- ate styles of your own. One other handy tool is the knife. If you need an arc, you can use the knife to excise the appropriate segment from a circle or ellipse,

FreeHand comes packed with a copy of Adobe Type Manager 2.0, which allows the program to show off its text-handling prow- ess. Although Aldus says many text features will work with other text-management utilities, Adobe Type Manager is the only utility guaranteed to support all of Free- Hand's type attributes.

The program is a whiz at plac- ing text on a path, be it circle, arc, or freehand squiggle, Typograph- ic controls include letter and word spacing as well as kerning. Characters are easily converted to paths manipulated as you please. You can enter text direct- ly on the drawing or in a text dia- log box, depending on your se- lection in the Preferences menu, A collection of preprogrammed text effects — fill and stroke, in- line, shadow, and zoom text — can produce startling results with little effort.

FreeHand offers myriad op- tions for delivering artwork to oth- er applications. It exports in a va- riety of formats including Al, EPS, EPS with TIF, TIF, and WMF. But a word of caution is in order: Free- Hand uses the level 5 TIF format, which may not be understood by some of your applications. As you might expect, though, other

Aldus products read the TIF and the EPS witti TIF formats just fine.

You'll also have plenty of con- trol when sending your finished art to the printer or the high-reso- lution imagesetter. The program includes a setting to change an illustration's flatness value, which can shorten printing time, FreeHand also provides control over screen angles and densi- ties. Although more than ade- quate at producing line art and drawings for use in other pro- grams, FreeHand is fully capable of intricate full-color work. One of the manuals in the document set is a guide to FreeHand and com- mercial printing. This short vol- ume alerts FreeHand artists to is- sues such as color selection, trapping, separations, moires, screens, and bleeds.

The program's clip art selec- tion is a bit of a letdown. Thougfn the images number nearly 500. many of them are maps and flags of the world. Some of the symbols will prove useful, but I think the images of computers and printers will not. If you're a skill- ful enough artist to use all that this program offers, however, you won't need clip art. You'll create your own.

And that may define the target audience for this program — skill- ful artists. FreeHand is a complex and versatile design tool, and un- less you know how to handle such a tool, it may be more than you need. FreeHand will do just fine doctoring up clip art images, but if that's all you need to do, using FreeHand may be akin to running an Indy car back and forth in the driveway. The pro-

IBM PC and compatibles (8S288 or faster). 2M6 RAM, hard drive wldi 1 0MB free, Windows 3.0 or htgher— $169

COMPUTER SUPPORT 15026 Midway Rd. Dallas, TX 75244 (214) 661-8960

gram also places heavy de- mands on your computer. On a 386SX, you can get the job done, but you wouldn't want to work long at that pace. If your job de- pends on what you do with the pro- gram, plan to use a fast machine with plenty of memory to make your work bearable.

The original FreeHand for the PC was released in late 1991. ^er- sion 3. 1 appeared just before the release of Windows 3. 1 . The new release ensured compatibility with the new Windows as well as adding such features as the pres- sure-sensitive drawing tool, auto- matic calculation of blend steps, custom magnification and reduc- tion, commands to create color li- braries, and improved exporting and printing capabilities.

TONY ROBERTS

Circle Reader Service Number 304

ARTS & LETTERS APPRENTICE 1.0

If the high price of draw software has kept you from getting the pro- gram you need, take a look at Arts & Letters Apprentice 1.0. This modestly priced package from Computer Support provides all but the fanciest tools.

To the casual artist like me, clip art is a vital feature of a draw pro-

0< sklop GMphic, It,, ■;^t W

Homt antt Bmirwi, :X ■^-

SEPTEMBER 1992 COMPUTE 15

When a bug showed up in a new program, the first to know was a guy in Montana. And everyone on G3mpuServe.

why settle for always being the last to know when you can be among the first with a CompuServe membership? We put an entire world of up-io-lhe- minute information right at your fingertips.

Our online, interactive hardware and software

support forums can put you in touch ^vith tliousands of experts: local, national, and international. Even the authors of new and popular soft\vare programs.

Whether you're a novice or an expert, there's someone out there who can help you with your

specific problems and concerns. Lend you expertise you won't find in any manual. Keep you on top of the latest developments. Or just give you someone to talk to who shares similar interests.

And there are libraries of software available for each hardware and software forum that j'ou can download for free as a CompuServe member.

You'll find a lot more to talk about on

CompuServe, too. There are forums that can offer you help on just about everything; cameras, pets, model building, scuba gear — you name it.

So get CompuServe today. See your computer dealer, or call 1 800 848-8199, for information or to order. Outside the United States, call 614 457-0802.

CompuServe*

The information service you won't outgrow.

circle Reader Service Number 103

TEST LAB

gram, and Apprentice offers a rich collection — more than 3000 clip art images in many categories. There are images for symbols, food and beverages, fiolidays and seasons, nature, people, cartoons, and maps, to name just a few. And the map library itself contains many symbols. You can bring up maps of the Eastern Hemisphere, Western Hemisphere, North Amer- ica, and Europe. In further detail, you can have the individual Euro- pean countries as well as the United States by region, time zone, and individual state. If you wish to portray contiguous states, call the individual symbols, and the Apprentice Align feature v^^ilt paste them together like a jigsaw puzzie. Pulling up clip art images is impressively fast.

Charts are vital features of pres- entation documents, and Appren- tice handles them very nicely. Click on Chart in the Draw menu, and the screen shows a spread- sheet grid. Enter your data by rows and columns, type in the la- bels and legends, and the task is done. You can have as many as 12 rows and five columns. Choose from five types of charts — area, bar, line, pie, and point.

If you crave color. Apprentice has a wealth. In addition to its sev- en base colors, you can choose from 14 palettes, with eight or more shades to a palette. Tiie pal- ettes are cleverly designed. For instance, one is for people, with shades for skin, hair, and eye col- or. Another is for wood, with shades of mahogany, pine, wal- nut, and so forth. If this abun- dance fails to meet your taste, you can mix your own colors.

You'll probably want some text with your artwork and charts. Ap- prentice includes 26 typefaces, scalable from 4 to 3200 points. Choose the style (normal, bold, ital- ic), the spacing of words and let- ters, the kerning, the aspect ratio, and the fill. A helpful preview fea- ture shows you a sample of the typeface as you browse. If you pre- fer other fonts, you can choose

IB COMPUTE SEPTEMBER 1992

any which have been download- ed to your printer. Create striking effects by binding text to a shape, either a free-form one or one chosen from the shape li- brary, The text then follows the curve, however convoluted.

fvlaybe you prefer to create your own art forms. Apprentice provides you with powerful tools for this purpose. When you draw a curved line, the program smooths the figure by calculating the number of Bezier segments (mathematical representations) in the curve and marking each seg- ment with a control point. You can edit the curve by manipulat- ing the control points and can even add new control points and zoom in for fine adjustments, f^y sketched figures usually bearon- ly faint resemblance to what I have in mind. With the Apprentice editing tools, my efforts are im- proved remarkably.

You can manipulate objects — text, clip art, or free-form— in all sorts of ways, Move them around on the page, stretch or shrink them, skew them, flip them hori- zontally or vertically, rotate them, align them, or do just about any- thing you please, fvloreover, these operations are convenient and fast.

When your work is finished and you're happy with the picture on your screen, what do you do with it? Apprentice lets you output to your printer, with control of orien- tation, size, and margins. You can print to a file for later use with another printer, such as a col- or printer, if you don't happen to have one of your own. With the Ex- port option, you create a graph- ics file which can be used with oth- er programs such as word proc- essors. Apprentice supports sev- en export formats, including the popular TIF and WordPerfect's WPG, I exported a number of im- ages to WordPerfect and was pleased with the results as well as with how quickly I managed to create the export file. A high-quality program, Appren-

tice deserves better documenta- tion. I felt that I had to work hard to find information in the user's guide, and the Clip Art Hand- book, though accurate on the whole, seems to be out of touch with the program in a few cases. What appears in the handbook is not necessarily what you'll find in the library.

Apprentice is not capable of the fancy operations, such as warp and perspective, typeface editing, and bitmap image en- hancement. But it can do just about everything the average us- er wishes. I am impressed with the speed and power of the pro- gram, and I prefer it to Co- relDRAW!. At a street price of about $100, it's a real bargain.

CHARLES IDOL

Circle Reader Service Number 305

ARTS & LETTERS GRAPHKS EDITOR

3.1

Maximum graphic impact with min- imum effort— that's the goal of any draw program. A difficult goal, to be sure, it requires the pro- gram to walk a fine line between being easy enough for the novice and being powerful enough for the working artist who knows the ropes. Arts & Letters Graphics Editor 3.1 is one program that achieves that goal.

Graphics Editor abounds in ex- tras that make design easier for nonartists and professionals alike. First among these is the huge 5000-image clip art collection, which provides pictures of every- thing under the sun: borders, ar- rows, geometric shapes, people, faces, animals, airplanes and oth- er modes of transportation, com- puters, signs and symbols, car- toons, maps of every state and country, and much more, Most of the pictures are high-quality line art; the cartoons and Japanese flags are dispensable, but they con- stitute only a small fraction of the

i

I

j-^^^^gQS^

You may have noticed most personal laser printers are pretty much the same.

So although you'd like a personal laser to adapt to your way of working, it's mostly the otherway around.

So, besides lots of fonts, speed, and paper capacity, we gave our KX-P4410 personal ^ laser printer two features you'll find intelligent indeed. One lets you proof the first copy of a multiple printout, before out- putting the remainder. The other is automatic shutdown, for those of you who use delayed printing. Together, they help you print intelligently. And complement the PCL 4-compatible 4410's full range of features that give you the look you want.

Like 28 internal fonts, side- loading font card. 512K standard memory, expandable to 4.5 megabytes, And flexible paper handling, with a 200-sheet multi-purpose cassette, accommodating letter and legal sized sheets plus envelopes- without changing cassettes. All this and a true 5 pages-per- minute print speed!

You'll find these same features on our PCL 5-compatible KX-P4430...and more! For example, 8 outline and 28 bit- mapped fonts; 1 MB RAM expandable to 5 M B; and our SatinPrint™ resolution enhancement

Panasonic" personal laser printers. Performance by design. For the Panasonic dealer nearest you, call us toll-free at 1-800-742-8086.

Panasonic

Printers^ Computers,

Peripherals. Copiers, Typewriters

and Facsimiles.

LPC-COM circle Reader Servlcs Number 1D4

TEST LAB

total. With such a wealth of images, you might never have to draw anything yourself; at least, you probably won't have to invest in another clip art collection.

Graphics Editor also includes 80 scalable typefaces, with ver- sions of Helvetica, Times Roman, and other popular fonts, if your type requirements aren't too demanding, you probably won't have to buy any more fonts, either.

Another invaluable ease-of- use feature is Graphics Editor's 18 defined color palettes, with each color named and tagged for a specific kind of image. There's a set of colors for eyes, hair, and skin; another for building materi- als; a third for food; and so on. De- fined palettes will save you plen- ty of time because they eliminate the hassle of finding just the right cotors and ensure that colors are always used in a consistent way, no matter who creates the art.

But Graphics Editor is not a "dumbed-down" draw program by any means. The tools provid- ed to edit lines and curves are as complete as any I've seen in any other draw program.

Text and draw objects can be warped in hundreds of ways and moved one-hundredth of an inch in any direction by entering frac- tions into a dialog box. Text can be bent along any free-form or reg- ular curve, and the program can also edit the outlines of Adobe Type 1 PostScript fonts, so you can modify existing fonts to suit your needs. Using an autotrace feature, you can convert scans into editable line drawings. You can work with 16- and 24-bit images even if you don't have a true-color graphics adapter (all the colors won't appear on- screen, but all color information will be retained in the file).

Finally, Graphics Editor per- forms spot and process color sep- arations for offset printing, with full control of screen angle and fre- quency and undercolor removal. Professional artists won't be dis- appointed with what this full-fea-

20 COMPUTE SEPTEMBER 1992

IBM PC and compaimies (80288 or faster), 2MB RAM, hard drive witli 14MB tree, Windows 3.0— $695; uitgrade from 1.x— $90; upgrade from 3.t1~$50 (Call Computer Support to yerifv price and version upgrade numHers before upgrading software.)

COMPUTER SUPPORT 15928 Midway Rd. Dallas, TX 75244 (214) 661-8860

tured program can do.

The excellent manuals docu- ment every feature. Clear tutorials get right to the point for users who want to jump in and create their first charts and posters. You will have to look in the user's guide to get started with editing, but that won't take long, and you can ig- nore the more advanced features until you need them. Technical sup- port is free to registered users.

Working with multiple graphics file formats is a daily chore for most computer artists, so a graph- ics program must handle file im- port and export smoothly. In this area, Graphics Editor could use some refinement. Of the most com- mon graphics file formats (TIF, GIF, TARGA, PCX, and EPS), only TIF files can be imported, and on- ly TIF and EPS files can be export- ed from within the program. All oth- er file conversions to and from Graphics Editor's native GED file format must be performed through a separate translator utili- ty called Decipher. Powerful and simple to use, Decipher is quite a capable image-processing pro- gram as well as a translator. How- ever, having to leave the main pro- gram and go to Decipher can stow your work. I'd prefer being able to import and export all the common file formats from within Graphics Ed- itor itself, using the Import and Ex- port menu options.

Usually, I use a Mac to do illus- trations and then import them into PC documents, but after using Graphics Editor, I began to think

^^JQ^

A0^^'

twice about that practice. Graph- ics Editor has the advanced fea- tures that professional artists de- mand and the extras that simplify design for nonartists. As a general- purpose draw program, it's as good as any on the market today.

STEVEN ANZOVIN

Circle Reader Service Number 306

CORELDRAW! 2.01

Put simply, CorelDRAW! 2.01 is a small package into which clever Canadians have crammed al- most every conceivable tool for design and illustration.

It consists of four programs with supporting fonts and clip art. The centerpiece is CorelDRAW! itself, a leading PC illustration pro- gram, but let's quickly survey the satellite programs. One is fv!osa- ic, a visual file selector that organ- izes artwork based on miniature editions of the art itself. Co- relTRACEl, an autotracing pro- gram, converts bitmaps into mod- ifiable draw objects. WFN BOSS is a powerful utility that can con- vert most major commercial fonts into CorelDRAWI's WFN font for- mat. You can also transform WFN fonts into Adobe Type 1 fonts for use in other software. Or you can create original fonts within Co- relDRAW!; these, too, can be mod- ified in WFN BOSS.

CorelDRAWI's tools for draw- ing curves are the fastest I've

Take (ontrol of your finames witfin^l An MoneyCounts® 7.0 Persoaal Edition! 1

"Real life" check

let you enter tmnsactiom just like i)i ifmir pa'soim! checkbook.

MonevCounts 7.0 Pergonal Edition is the low-cost solution to your money management woes! Rated #1 by Computer Sltopper readers four straight years, MoneyCounts now fea- tures convenient pull-down menus that let you get started quickly and easily. And the "real life" checkbook screens let you make entries just like in your personal checkbook. Features like these make the new Money- Counts the most user-friendly financial management package nvnilablc today!

Reiondie Faster and Budget Easier

Reconciling your accounts has never been easier. Our Smart Checkbook Balancer auto- matically finds and alerts you to the most common types of entry errors, virtually eliminating costly mistakes!

MoneyCounts 7.0 quickly organizes your expenses into the right categories and shows you where your money is going. Budget vs. actual and other reports make budgeting easy!

investment Troiking Made Easy

Now you can organize and track investments, update your market values and receive an informative analysis of all your investments.

Qui(k and Powerful Reporting

Choose from 25 predefined reports including income and expense reports, balance sheets, cash flow statements, investment gains and losses and more!

Upgrade to MoneyCounts 7.0 for True Finandal Control!

If you currently use a spreadsheet or another financial package to manage your money, now is the time to step up to the advanced features of MoneyCounts 7.0. And if you're using an earlier version of MoneyCounts, you're eligible for our special user upgrade (call for pricing).

MoneyCounts 7.0 Features

General Features;

•Clieckbook-like entry screens •Pull-doiMi menus, popup options lists

• Investment trackinj; and reporting •On-line context sensitive expert help system •Single or double entry accounting support

• Personal Income Tnx Estimator

■ 33 different 3-D gmphs and charts Account Features;

• Five predefined account sets (home, business farm, ctiurcli, rental property) for quick setup

•Calendar or fiscal year support •Five budget entry options

Transattion Fealurei;

•Smart Data Entrj'" to cut entri,' time

•Check regi.ster foraiat for viewing transactions

•Automatic processing of routine transactions

File Management Features;

• Interface to Checkfree' electronic banking

• Easy import of data from competitive products

• Export to spreadsheet and jax prepanstion software

Utility Features;

•Mail list manager/ Address book

• Pop-up math and financial calculators, note pad •Reminder utility

Report Features:

•Total of 25 flexible and easy-to<ustomize

financial, investment and budget reports

including:

• Income and Expense •Balance Sheet •Cash Flow

• Account Analysis

• Investment Gains and Losses •Investment Eanvingsand more!

Order MoneyCounts® and GetProCal(3D^FREE!

Order MoneyCounts 7.0 today for S49 and we'll also send you a H?EE copy of ProCalc 3D — Parsons Technology's complete and powerful spreadsheet software. A combined retail value of S138!

'^»€aJc :to

Order Today!

1.800-223-6925

Fn.Ti/(iiirurrffr(iiJ'.119-.W3-llW2orfflmI(te coupon, made payable (o Parsons Techmlog]/.

Yes, pleose send me MoneyCounts 7.0 Personal Edition for just $49! And include ProCalc 3D (an $89 value) FREE!

Aiil 5J ■^i-.ffiii^ lutidHag. iiX^M frt>iilt7its. pkitiK-sJJi^ sa^e tax. MkiM User's GuuUaii f USE Kfhnial support. UH tap^ proMaf.

Name

Satisfaction Guaronteed!

Step up to MoneyCounts 7.0 at no risk. Try it for 30 days and, if your not 100% satisfied, return it for a complete refund (excluding shipping). No questions asked!

System Kapirnnrafs,- Miiru-yCounts 7.0 PiTamai Edisiat require an fB,VJ nr ceniyatibli- PC mth 5UK RAM f64DK reivm- mnUed), DOS 2.U OT highir jjmJ a hard dniv. Muiisf siipfwrttif hut not reiptiTai.Raiiiirps 2MB i^ hard disk space. IVorferntfrnf/moni- tonmdpritilers.mcludinji Pcstsotpl' prinlcrsorifjurmpni^hick.

Addresii_

Cily_ Stale

Daj Phone (

Evening Ptione(_

_Zip_

_L

Disk Size: J 3-1/2" Q 5-1/4" Quaniiiy

Mcttiod of Fajment; □ Clicck or Money Onler U COD LJ MasleiCard □ Ameiic;in Express U Visa U liisCDVcr Cjrd » Exp.

□ Just send II1C your FREE software catalog!

rPARSONS

m- TECHNOLOQY Om Parsons Dmr • ro Bm (l*)" HijwjiJia. U S2233-0I00

' Your priority code is 1437221 J q

TEST LAB

used. Editing control points on curves is tedious in most pro- grams. Double-clicking on a node in CorelDRAW! pops up a button palette from which any node attribute can be selected with one mouse click, simultane- ously adjusting the node and re- moving the palette.

This streamlined approach is re- flected throughout. The toolbox contains only nine tools, making program functions easy to com- prehend and learn. Through fly- out (horizontal) tool strips and menu and dialog box choices, the Spartan toolbox offers rapid access to the program's depths. Extrusion, envelope, and perspec- tive editing are just three exam- ples of this deeper power. With them, you can strap an object on- to a stretchable surface; twist. pull, and distort it; and then pro- ject the result into three dimen- sions. It's that easy.

CorelDRAW! deals with type in- geniously. All its fonts are curves, transformable with any modification tool. Use kerning, tracking, and leading with this kind of text simply by dragging handles on chunks of text or indi- vidual letters. It's fast and pre- cise, so users can concentrate on how type looks, rather than wor- rying about dialog boxes or menu choices. For completed illustra- tions, CorelDRAW! offers a rever- sal of the widespread conversion of text into curves. If matching Adobe fonts are available in the

22 COMPUTE SEPTEMBER 1992

IBM PC and comiiatlbles (80386 or taster), 640K RAIW, graphics standard tliat supports Windows, hard drive, pointing device, Win- dows 3.0 or 3,1— S695 for disk- based version, S795 for CD-ROM- based version (Contact Corel for information about upgrading)

COREL SYSTEMS T600 Carling Ave. Ottawa, ON Canada K1Z 8R7 (716)423-8200

printer, a click on the All Fonts Res- ident option quickly builds type di- rectly from printer fonts.

CorelDRAW! also supports what it calls paragraph text — small text that might follow a care- fully designed large headline. Op- tions include column formatting and export and import of copy. Significantly, CorelDRAW! can merge external text into design work, just as you might use your word processor to fill in the blanks of a form letter with names and other information from another file. If you design a certificate for the local soccer team, for example, you can use names from your word processor or database to fill in the blanks on the certificates.

Other programs in this genre support a system of layers. Instead of merely allowing chang- es in objects' stacking order, as CorelDRAW! does, they enable the user to create separate levels into which drawing components can be grouped. The stacking or- der of these layers can be changed, as can object order with- in each layer. Such layers may sim- plify the composition of complex drawings, but the trade-off is that confusion often moves from the screen into the designer's brain. Not one art staffer where I work uses layers on a regular basis. I prefer CorelDRAW! 's technique of highlighting objects under ac- tive editing.

CorelDRAW! isn't capable of di-

rect editing in full-color preview, but I've never seen any software speedy enough to allow realtime color editing of an illustration. You can be glad of the minimal disci- pline CorelDRAW! imposes by re- stricting work to a wireframe view. Because you edit the outline dis- play and update the colored pre- view only when desired, you're hours closer to finished artwork.

CorelDRAW! is at work in hun- dreds of thousands of real-world situations, and it's supported by an expert technical staff, I've used CorelDRAW! for more than 272 years, and its high-quality out- put appears almost daily on the imagesetters where I work.

Keep in mind, however, that it's pnmarily an illustration and de- sign program. Users who have overwhelming concerns about ac- curate dimensioning for work with a highly technical content may want to consider other pack- ages. In my experience with Co- relDRAW!, the only problem has been a tendency for the program to create complex objects that don't print readily at high resolu- tion (1270 dpi and above). This snag is not unique to Co- relDRAW!, and the current ver- sion includes many controls for dealing with it.

CorelDRAW!'s user interface and operating methodology are deliberately sleek and stream- lined. The approaches taken by other programs often prove pon- derous and confusing, especial- ly where these programs offer fea- tures that look better in advertis- ing copy than in daily use. Fur- ther, Corel Systems' commitment to its product remains outstanding. The new CD-ROM version I tested forreviewcontains enough addition- al material (52 new fonts and over 10,000 pieces of high-quality clip art) to support the most demand- ing user for years. CorelDRAW! should be the first quill In any PC illustrator's inkwell. It will certainly be the most used.

LEE NOEL JR.

Circle Reader Service Number 307

"What I needed were sales letters with color graphics, a bunch of different typefaces,

great print quality, and a little peace and quiet."

got It. The new Citizen GSX-240.

The GSX-240 gives you everything you're looking for in a printer. It's fast, reliable, inexpensive and versatile. With optional Color On Command'" and built-in scalable fonts, the GSX-240 wi enhance the looks of any document you create. And with Citizen's patented C.A.T. Citizen Acoustic Technology'" it will do it all, quietly. In fact, the GSX-240 is among the world's quietest printers.

Command-Vue IV"; our patented control panel, allows you to control over 100 printer functions at the touch of a button. The CSX-240's 360 x 360 high resolution insures crisp, clean output every time you print. To see the latest in dot matrix printing technology call 1 -800-4-PRINTERS for an authorized Citizen dealer near you.

Vie Citizm GSX-240. It only prints e\'erytlmg you need.

^CITIZEN'

»e paOS^TtaiV of Itif Csisvn Wtlctt Ca LTD

ClTcie Reader Service Number 166

TEST LAB

DESIGNER 3.1

"Get Designer." That's what everybody told me three years ago as I worked on a book, I need- ed something that was CAD-ish, but not exactly CAD, as CAD has traditionally lacked a few features that paint programs all have.

Well, at the time, Designer 1.0 ran on Windows 2.11, a painful platform if ever there was one. But Designer made the best pos- sible use of it, and it has contin- ued to do that as Windows has evolved. CorelDRAW!, its major competitor, has always focused on flashy text effects, but person- ally, I've not had much use for that, which is perhaps one reason why I get along with Designer.

Until the latest release, Design- er has never been very good at handling text — it's been slow and inflexible — but it's always been great at drawing things. Design- er's power lies in letting you put a line just exactly where you want to. Designer 3.1 builds on that power, but it also addresses the text problems with the addi- tion of Adobe Type Manager and Text Align. Adding ATM was an excellent move on Micrografx's part, as text handling is much fast- er than before, and the Adobe text-alignment program almost bringsDesigner'stext-handling ca- pabilities up to Corel's.

I've always iiked Designer's large 54-page canvas, space enough to try out alternate ver- sions of a diagram. Its zoom allows you to see the level of definition that you need to get a job done.

Technical drawing often in- volves moving objects around

NEXT MONTH:

LOW-COST

LASER PRINTERS

24

COMPUTE SEPTEf(^BER 1992

IBM PC snd compatibles (80286 or faster); 1MB RAM (2MB recom- mendeit); EfiA, VGA. 8514/A, or otiter graphics supportlns Windows 3.0; hard drive (20MB or larger); minting device or digitizing pad; Win- dows 3.0 or higher— $695; upgrade from 2.0— $99

MiCROSftAFX 1303 Arapaho Rd. Richardson, TX 75881 (BOO) 733-3729 X.S05Q

and aligning them with each oth- er; here, Designer shines. You can designate any object a "snap" point, making it quite easy in a diagram to draw new lines that connect exactly to existing ones. And if you need to place one object atop another. Design- er allows you to fine-tune an ob- ject's position with the right mouse button — someone finally found a use for that thing! Along the same lines, Designer offers power in its abundance of object- selection tools.

One way to build a diagram of an object is to draw its parts and then assemble them as one unit. Block-selecting some items and not others has always been a prob- lem with other draw programs. With Designer, you just give all of the desired components similar names, like PIECE01, PIECE02, and so on. Then, you just block- select PIECE", and the deed is done. And once you've got your di- agram built, just about any piece of software around should be able to use it, as fvllcrografx includes fil- ters for PCX, TIF, CGfVl, and many more file formats. If you plan to use the export feature, however, stay away from built-in printer fonts like "lineprinter" on the Hewlett-Pack- ard printers; they don't render well in bitmap forms.

As powerful as it is, Designer's not an unalloyed jOy. It has always been plagued with bugs and insta- bility, and Micrografx technical sup- port is sometimes great and some- times not so great.

ff

M 1 C R O C S^ ^ ' ^

ESIGNER

I recently tried to export a draw- ing to a Windows Metafile format and got an Unrecoverable Appli- cation Error (UAE), so I called fvll- crografx. The tech-support per- son told me to reinstall Windows and Designer, so I did — a fairly lengthy process. The UAE persist- ed, so I called back and was told to remove Adobe Type Manager. I did that and still got UAEs. The third phone call connected me with a different tech-support per- son, one who knew the answer be- fore I finished the question. "Yup," he said, "that's the old Win- dows fi/letafile problem. That's been around for quite some time. Here's a work-around. . . ."Most an entire day.

Keep in mind that you should save a drawing before trying anything new in Designer, be- cause Designer's usual response to a low-memory condition is the UAE. And Designer is firmly root- ed in two dimensions, so mechan- ical drawing with perspective is rough to do. That's a shame, as adding the simple ability to draw boxes with one or two common vanishing points would be fairly easy to do and would enhance De- signer's drawing abilities.

Those problems aside, it's still the tool that I find best fits my hand. Give it {or its little brother, Windows Draw!) a try. The learn- ing curve is a bit steeper than with less powerful programs, but the end result is well worth it.

MARK Mir>IASI

circle Reader Service Number 308

These days, $4.95 doesn't take you far -especially in ttie world of pricey PC products. But when you go online with GEnie® Sen/ices, $4.95 gets you unlimited non- prime-time use of over 100 ser*/ices -for an entire month*

This innovative pricing program is called GEnie'Basic, and it delivers the best value of Annerica's major online ser*/ices. CompuServefs'and Prodigy® simply can't match it.

GEnie*Basic access includes a vast range of general interest bul- letin boards, electronic mail, news services, stock ciosings, travel services, an encyclopedia, single- player games and much more. All for an amazingly low $4.95 month. We're so confident you'll find

libraries, computing and gaming bulletin boards, information ser- vices, online classes with live instructors, amazing multi-player games, vendor support areas and more.

In short, among major online services, GEnie offers incredible depth and incomparable value.

PC Power Users

Whatever your PC interests or level of experience, you'll discover plenty to inform and challenge you on GEnie.

Expiore our bustling Round- Tables for IVIicrosoft software, desktop publisliing, CADD, IVIIDI, and hundreds of other computer- related subjects - not to mention online access to dozens of lop hardware and softv/are vendors.

nie: Going online without going off your budget.

GEnie*Basic an unbeatable value, m guarantee it. If you're not com- pleteiy satisfied, we'll refund your first month's $4.95 fee.t

Beyond GEnie*Basic, you'll continue to find more dazzle for your dollar. Our standard rate of $6 per non-prime hour (for baud rates up to and including 2400) gives you access to software

Nearly every RoundTable fea- tures a software library brimming witti thousands of files you can download. With a dazzling array ol freeware, shareware, pictures, sounds, fonts and new product demos available, you'll soon wish you had a larger hard drive.

The GEnie RoundTable for IBM PC's provides a vast, lively bulletin board section. You'll get quick answers to your toughest technical questions by posting a message here. And if you'd like some refreshingly honest reviews of hardware or software before you buy, as)< away. Our users are anything but shy about sharing their opinions.

Bulletin board messages are divided conveniently into a wide variety of categories, such as video and imaging systems, beginning and advanced pro- gramming, operating systems, networks and interconnectivity.

We Play Games

All work and no play make Jack and Jane very dull people, indeed. So GEnie offers you plenty of ways to lighten up.

For pulse-pounding excite- ment, experience the hottest graphical multi-player games around: Air Warrioi<^, a dogfight simulator, and multi-player Battletech™, based on the Mech Warrioi^' Game.

For role-playing fans, there are multi-player scenarios like Feder- ation II, the adult space fantasy. Gemstone II and Dragon's Gate provide complete role-playing environments of their own.

IVlatcb wits with GEnie users from across America in multi- player games such as poker, chess, trivia. Stellar Emperor™ and Galaxy 1.

Join GEnie Today

Because special front-end soft- ware isn't required, you can start getting more bytes for your buck on GEnie right now. Here's how.

Set your modem for half duplex (local echo), and 300, 1200 or 2400 baud, Dial 1-800- 638-8369 (in Canada, 1-800- 387-8330),

Upon connection, enter HHH When you see the U#= prompt, enter XTX99341,WELG0tvlE then hit<RETURN>.

Have a major credit card handy. (In the U.S., you can use your checking account number).

If you have any questions about GEnie, please call 1-800- 638-9636.

'Applies only in the U.S.. Mon.-Fii , 6 p.m.- 8 a.m. local lime and all [lay Sat. Sun,, and s«lecl- ed holidays Pritne-lime houdy rale SIB up to and including 2400 baud. Not applicable wtien accessed al 9600 baud. Some leatures are 5ut> jecl 10 surcharge and my not be available outside ttie U.S. Pfices and products listed as ol June 1 , 1992, and are subiect to change. Telecommu- nications surcharges may apply.

tCEnie'Basic guarantee is limited to one per customer and applies only to first month's use.

circle Reader Service Number 234

Ffonn (he mulli-player game Kesmai Air Warrior.®

TEST LAB

HARVARD DRAW FOR WINDOWS 1.0

Software Publishing Corporation (SPC) is certainly no stranger to computer graphics — its Harvard Graphics presentation program has been an industry leader for quite some time. Harvard Draw for Windows 1 .0 is a welcome ad- dition to the SPC family. It has many of the features of its com- petition {Arts & Letters, Designer, and CorelDRAW!) and adds a few of its own.

During installation of the pro- gram, you have nearly complete control over which filters, fonts, and clip art are installed. Through- out the process, you get a run- ning tally of required and availa- ble disk space. Harvard Draw shares filters and fonts — freeing up valuable hard disk real es- tate— with other SPC programs, such as the Windows version of Harvard Graphics.

The easy tutorial in Harvard Draw walks you through most of the program's features. As with the documentation for so many other draw programs, however, Harvard Draw's documentation falls short in its coverage of ad- vanced topics, such as process color separations, knockouts, traps, and halftone screens. If you're unfamiliar with these prepress topics, you'll have to look elsewhere.

With Harvard Draw it is possi- ble for you to view and edit multi- ple views of the same drawing, so seeing the overall effect of chang- es you've made in magnified view is much easier. You can add and edit text directly onscreen, without opening a separate dia- log box. Harvard Draw's 16 lev- els of undo give you the freedom to experiment, without worrying about altering previous work. And, as you reverse actions, the Undo option on the Edit menu tells you which step you're about to undo next.

fvlany graphic artists and tech-

26 COMPUTE SEPTEMBER 1992

IBM PC and compatibles (80286 or lasler, 80386SX recommended), 2MB RAM (4MB recommended), EGA (VGA or SVGA recommended), hard drive witti 10MB tree (30MB recommended), windows 3.0 or 3.1— $595; upgrade from Harvard Graphics (DOS or Windows)— $149

SOFTWARE PUBUSHINS

3165 Klfer Rd.

P.O. BOX 54963

Santa Clara, CA 95055-0883

(408) 986-8000

nical illustrators will appreciate the layering feature in Harvard Draw. Your drawings can contain as many as 99 layers, which can be named for easy selection, hid- den to get them out of the way, and locked so that they cannot be moved or edited. You can copy attributes from one layer to another.

Most common text-manipula- tion features — such as fit to path, skew, and rotate — are supported by Harvard Draw, as are pat- terns, graduated fills, and radial fills. The radial fills dialog box al- lows you to assign shapes such as contours, circles, boxes, and multiple-point stars to fills. You'll find extensive control over the ap- pearance of graduated and radi- al fills as well as support for up to 999 gradient steps. For further control of special effects, the pro- gram lets you designate which step to start and end fills on. Gra- dient step controls can also help avoid unsightly banding.

Harvard Draw comes with 12 preset color palettes of 150 col- ors each. You can modify exist- ing palettes or create your own. Print drawings to any Windows- supported output device for col- or separations, Or Harvard Draw will automatically size them for printing on a slide recorder. How- ever, Windows' printer drivers aren't always adequate when pre- cision separations are called for. Unlike other programs in this class (FreeHand and Designer,

Harwd Draw

'orMmtibits

for example), Harvard Draw doesn't provide enhanced Post- Script printing.

Although Windows' 16.7 mil- lion 24-bit colors are supported. Harvard Draw doesn't allow you to calibrate your monitor. Colors can vary greatly from system to system. To ensure that what you see on your monitor is as close as possible to what rolls out of the printer (or off the printing press), your display and software should be calibrated, Pantone fvlatching System (Pf\/IS), the printing indus- try standard for spot color, isn't supported, either. Any high-end draw program with a $600 price tag should support monitor cali- bration and PfvlS.

Perhaps unique to Harvard Draw is its script (or macro) lan- guage. With it you can automate time-consuming tasks, such as creating 3-D effects or assigning repetitive patterns and fills to ob- jects, f^acros are especially help- ful for re-creating effects that you use often, without having to re- member steps or wade through multiple dialog boxes.

One of my major concerns about this program is the limited supply of fonts and lack of support for type managers such as Adobe Type Manager or TrueType. In- stead, Harvard Draw uses Bitstream's Speedo typefaces, which are somewhat limiting if all the fonts you own are from some other vendor, such as Adobe or Ivli- crosoft. Harvard Draw's font col-

PUN-MAKING SOFTVKARE: #

Abracadata

the source al plsn-makmg software

DESIGN YOUR OM HOME

Final. II lliur Fl -i 1' I n Ji rf

'TM

;?^

^*3 ,- :. .

^

-J

\ GRAPHIC VEGETABLE GARDEN DESIGN

^t^

ARCHITECTURE

Everything you need to draw archileclural plans, from floor plans to structural details, is now available at ttie click of your computer mouse. This object oriented program features auto dimensions, pre-drawn objects, plan layering, and printer support,

il- i ,.JH ■ ■ .J.4.!Ut'..H

^:5Syr^**w^^Tfl'*-

r»-..m.' nif.'f! j^-^ ",

y i

i

SPROUT! is a complete

planning too! for vegetable

gardeners. Its unique planting

tool produces a graphic,

scalable garden plan with

correct plant and row spacing.

In addition, SPfiOf/H contains

a tuily editable database of vegetables for 7 climate regions; and it

prints out garden layouts, calendars, shopping lists, and reports.


	mm
■ \ij€:^	ij:.z^J^.:^.'--~}^.
'i •	k '-^	■::;-
1 -"^^i^^	S.\|
\f	"K	S
¥ '':^		w
1 "^	^'?""*	^
^1 ,«&' :r^fl^'

INTERIORS LANDSCAPE

Draw room plans, arrange furniture Create complete landscape plans, and explore color schemes. Great age plants to determine correct for liitchen and bath design! placement, and prepare shopping

list for your trip to the nursery.

MacConnection Price Per Program ■^59 '"'

PC Connection Price Per Program ^49 ""

MacConnectian . . .

$4j 00

PC Connection . . . $3500

E]/ERYBODTS PLANNER' DESIGN YOUR OWN RAILROAD'

. r„ tl.. IhiIi,^

»r.l^ *r^ 9^ tilI-L

". . . our low-priced favorite"

Eric W, Skopec and Laree Kiely, Taking Charge: Time Management For Personal And Professional Productivity {'^Q^^ Addison-Wesley Publishing Co,, Inc.).

Everybody's Planner

is an affordable and easy-to-use project manager which contains two complete programs. SCHEDULES creates critical-path-based P.E.R.T. charts and calendars, providing 7 text reports and 2 graph (Gantf) reports. FLOWCHARTS uses 19 rotatable shapes in 9 sizes, vertical and horizontal labeling, and color to depict flow.

*PC Connection ^49""

For FREE Color Catalog from Abracadata: Call: 800-451-4871 or FAX: 503-683-1925

I lA, |M|U II

L.

'*' '^Hsjcunn ia»

TT8ifl*~>'M II II

w •'« A^ *IF

Hill'TMii-mh—l-l'IMIIP ■■■!'<■

Design precision, to-scale, (HO, N, Z, 0, S, G) layouts and run ^

rCioliciid^ roilrrtoW cimiilatinnc "S

realistic railroad simulations.

*PC Connection $39 ^^ I

* Not currently a vailable lor Macintosh |

PC Connection" 800-800-6823 I

MacConnection- 800-800-6827 I

TEST LAB

lection is passable, especially for a first version. But I would like to see more decorative fonts, such as Park Avenue or Dingbats. SPC says that it plans to add more type- faces in future versions, and sup- port for type managers could also be in the works.

It's hard to beat SRC's techni- cal support, vi/hich is free and readily available. When I called, my questions received prompt at- tention, and the technician knevi/ Harvard Draw inside out. Font woes and other minor problems aside. Harvard Draw for Windows 1 .0 is a competent program suit- able to all but perhaps the most stringent prepress applications. It's particularly well suited for cre- ating full-color drawings for slides or monitor screen shows.

WILLIAM D HARR=L

Circle Reader Service Number 309

WINDOWS DRAW! 3.0

If Windows Draw! 3.0 is intended as a low-end, easy-to-use version of Designer 3.1, a natural ques- tion would be. Why would some- one not prefer to buy Designer? There are two legitimate reasons: The interface isn't as effective as it could be, and the price is a little high. There aren't many other things to complain about. Windows Drawl, however, offers a low price and has an interface anyone could love. There's a trade-off in features,

2B COMPUTE SEPTEMBER 1992

fBM PC and compatlliles (80286 or (aster, 80386 or (aster recom- mended); 1MB RAM (2IVIB recom- mended); EGA, VGA, 851 4/A, or other graphics supporting Windows; hard drive; pointing device; WincJows 3.0— $149.95; upgrade (ram Draw Pius-~$79.95

MICROGRAFX 1303 Arapaho Rd. Richardson, TX 75081 (800) 733-3729 X.5050

which might be significant, depending on how you use the product; but it's not surprising that Windows Draw! doesn't have a features list identical to that of a product that costs more than four times as much. You won't be able to trace bitmaps for use with a vector program or print color separations. Windows Draw! doesn't support layers or allow you to draw on a drawing sur- face larger than a single page.

But it does offer just about eve- rything else you could ask for in a vector program. It can blend one object into another by succes- sive approximations. It can bind text to a curve, causing the text to follow any contour. You have access to all of the fonts availa- ble in Windows, and the text han- dling is WYSIWYG— the text ap- pears right on the screen while you're typing. Most draw pro- grams make you enter text in a di- alog box and place It on the screen only when you click on the OK button.

Windows Draw! can import and export files in virtually every popular format: Micrografx's DRW, ZSoft's PCX, TIF, ANSI text, Windows Metafile, Adobe Il- lustrator, EPS, CGM. WordPer- fect's WPG. and others.

You can name symbols so you can keep track of individual items by name rather than trying to re- member what each individual com- ponent looks like. The interface has an onscreen palette. You can fill objects with a gradient, a

bitmap (which you can edit), or a vector pattern. And there's a large clip art file, complete with a well-designed clip art manager that makes it easy to find the art you need at the moment. (Inciden- tally, the Windows Draw! clip art manager will soon be ported to De- signer and Charisma.) The clip art is vector art, so you can alter it to suit your immediate needs.

You also can create pie graphs with a drawing tool that dis- plays onscreen what the percent- age of the current slice is as [ you're drawing it.

One of the strong selling points of this package is the interface. It places all of the tools onscreen in a logical way. If you want to draw, click on a pencil icon, which calls up a menu full of drawing tools at the top of the screen, including the canned shapes — rectangle, el- lipse, and so on— as well as the pie chart tool, arcs, Bezier curves, and so on. In other words, the main icon bar is the key to a more detailed icon bar.

The palette is onscreen all the time (similar to CorelDRAWl's). The color selector is quick and easy to learn, allowing you to se- lect fill and outline colors (as well as foreground and background col- ors for patterns and gradients) with two mouse clicks and no think- ing, which means that it's miles beyond Designer.

Also, like Designer and unlike CorelDRAW!, Windows Draw! has one screen that displays the drawing — not a drawing screen and a preview screen. This makes drawing much simpler in the Micrografx products.

If tracing weren't so important to me, I'd recommend Windows Draw! without hesitation, Even without tracing, though, the pro- gram is fun to use and will suit the needs of most people who need a vector program to produce text effects and drawings for use with a word processor or a desktop publishing program.

ROBERT BIXBY

Circle Reader Service Number 310

PC Productivity Manager

Work at your peak potential! Break free of cumbersome MS-DOS restrictions and limitations!

Single keypresses or mouse clicks do it ait for you with COMPUTE'S super new PC Productivity Manager.

Packed with 38 PC batch-file extensions and power utilities, this easy-to-use disk includes individual help menus for every program. You don't have to be a computer maven — just press F1 for Help anytime!

The power utilities alone are worth many times the cost of this disk. Imag- ine! Programs to speed up your keyboard, edit disk files, edit and search memory, find a specific text string in disk files — plus memory-resident programs such as a pop- up calculator, a programmer's reference tool, an editable macro key program, and a graphic screen-capture utility, and more ail included on this jam-packed disk.

Our batch-file extensions add new com- mands to standard batch-file language. Now you can easily create menus, draw boxes, and write strings in your choice of colors anywhere on the screen — all with simple, easy-to-use commands. Then, add some zest to your batch files with a command that lets you play a se- ries of notes!

Plus handy system tools let you delete an entire subdirectory with one command, find out if the system has enough memory for an application before it runs, cause the computer to remember the current direc- tory so that you can come back to it later, and much, much, more.

1 QRtiERYOUl PC PRODUCTtWrY MANAGER TODAY!

CiriUf^lffAlc*^


n

	htCDlm
f :■,'■■' S p	CiSc tos^-.a
	HUyLl^iL^lLl;^
Qilt l\|Clr aut Ufi l> lk« IVi > IK 7 « ) /	lurialt Mm Uie Hbcse Colftrt Akorl SelKtIn
in	f ■"■ 1
ni-tuit uikiui
	t" J 1

ckuM tie atari letan net tut tg tk km niRtlgu

^.

DYES! Please send me _ 5V4 inch disk(s) ($14.95 eacli) _ VA incli disk(s) ($15.95 each).

Subtotal

Sales Tax (flesidents of NC and NY please add appropriate

sales tax for your area.Canadian orders, add 7% goods and services tax. )

Stiipping and Handling (S2.00 U.S. and Canada, S3.00 surface

mail, S5.00 airmail per disk.)

Total Enclosed

_ Check or Money Order _ MasterCard _ VISA

(MasterCard and Visa accepted on orders witti subtotal over $20.)

CiEdit Card Ho. . Signature

Oaytirrw Telephore No. .

MiJress. City.

State/ Province _

ZIP/ . Postal Code .

Send your order to COMPUTE'S PC Productivity Manager, 324 W. Wsndover Are.. Suite 200, Greensboro. NC 27408.

I I I I I I I I

TEST LAB

1 DRAW SOFTWARE FEATURES
	Aldus FreeHand 3.1 for Windows	Arts 4 Letters Apprefiticel.0	Arts & CorelDRAW! Letters Graphics 2.01 Editor 3.1	Designer 3.1	Harvard Draw tor Windows 1.0	Windows Draw! 3.0
1 GENERAL
Number oi fonts included	13'	25	80 1 53/253 ^	30	47 + 13 type 1	50
Number of clip art pieces included	484	3000	5000 40OO+/10,OOO+	100+	1000	2600
Edit multiple files	■ (up to 16)	a	a 3	■	n	0
Customrzable toolbox	n	a	a 3 3	■	n	3
Max number of pages per document	1	6	1 1	54	1	1
l^umber of layers	unlimited	1	1 1	64	99	1
Set measure units	■	a	■ ■	■		■
Macro capability	o	0	3 a	a		n
Script capability	a	a	3 a	D		n
Bitmap tracing	■	0	m m	■		D
Output color separations	■	■	m m	■		n
1 DRAWING TOOLS 1
Polygon	o	□	m a		■
Polyline	■	a	m 3'		a
Arc	3	■	m 3-1		■
Rectangle	m	■	■ ■		■
Rounded rectangle	■	■	■ D'-		M
Circle/ellipse	■	■			■
Parabola	0	□			3
Freehand curves	■	■			■
View cofilrol points, tangents	■	■			3
Automatic smoothing	■	M			3
TEXT TOOLS 1
Type sizes supported	0.1-3000	4-3200	4-3200 0.7-1440	unlimited	2-1000	1-144
Text editing onscreen	■ ^	■	■ 3		■	■
Convert text to cun/es		D			■	■
Indent text		■			■	n
Justify text		■			■	3
Word wrap		0			□	■
Control kerning		a		a	■	■

30 COMPUTE SEPTEf^BER 1992

	Aldus FreeHand 3.1 for Windows	Art3& Letters Apprentice 1.0	Arts& Letters Graphics Editor 3.1	CorelDRAW! 2,01	Designer 3.1	Harvard Draw for Windows 1.0	windows Draw! 3.0
MANIPULATION TOOLS \|
Rotate	■	■			■	■	■
Stretch	■	■			■	■	■
Envelope	■	D			■	3	3
Vferp	□	n			□	3	3
Skew	■	a			0	■	■
Extrude	3	a	3		3	3	■
Perspective	0	3	■		a	3	□
IMPORTEXPORT	I ;:..					J ■ ' 1 cJ^>.i!J5-^ ; , c*v ",	_ .. ' -..^^^
CGM	1	E	E	IE	IE	IE	IE
GEM	a	0	□	IE	E	3	IE
HPSL	1	E	E	1 E	E	3	E
HPGU2	1	E	E	na	na	3	3
PIC	1	1	1	IE	1	E	IE
Pict	a	n	3	IE	IE	3	1 E
SCODL	n	E	E	E	na	□	3
WMF	IE	IE	IE	E	1 E	IE	IE
EPS	IE	E	IE	E	1 E	E	E
EPS [VWth TIFF header)	1 E	E	IE	E	E	E	E
Al	IE	E	IE	1 E	E	IE	IE
GIF	a	a	IE	a	na	a	3
PCX	1	fi	IE	IE	IE	IE	IE
TIF	IE	E	1 E	1 E	IE	IE	IE
COLOR
RGB	■	■	a	■	■	■	3
HLS	■	a	B	■	■	■	m
CMYK	■	■	■	■	■	■	3
Pantone	m	D	□	■	optional	a	3
■ —yes a— no E=exporl l=imporl na=not applicable or information about this feature not available. ' Fonts are included with Adobe Type Manager 2.0, which is included with the product. 2 Left figure is for disk-based version; right figure is for CD-HOI\/l version. 3 Supports 2 toolbox sizes. Tools' are customizable, ^Not a drawing tool by name bul you can use other tools to create 5 Or In text box.

SEPTEfVIBER 1992 COMPUTE 31

NEWS & NOTES

Jill Champion

Another Time, Another Place

The history adventure game Time Treks puts you in a bat- tle of wits over the future of his- tory, where you must use your imagination, knowledge, and sleuthing skills to survive time bombs and booby traps, hunt for treasures, and ex- plore secret passages.

The program's built-in histori- cal archives make it unique among educational games, providing players of every age with instant access to a bounty of historical informa- tion. Journey in a time ma- chine that accesses 180 time

Take your health

In tiand witti a diet

and exercise

program overseen

by the DietMate

frand-held computer.

lines from 3400 B.C. to the pre- sent. There are thousands of historical facts to uncover and explore; 12 increasingly diffi- cult levels of play; plenty of sound effects, animation, and graphics; and hundreds of in- depth perspectives on sci- ence, wars, communications, religion, and exploration.

Time Treks is available for a suggested retail price of $59.95. For more information, contact Earthquest, 125 Uni- versity Avenue. Palo Alto, Cal- ifornia 94301; (415)321-5838.

Diet Right

Dieters who need that extra boost of motivation have a number of electronic "diet cen- ters" to choose from these days. DietfVlate, a hand-held computer from Health Innova- tions (12355 Sunrise Valley

32 COt^^PUTE SEPTEI^flBER 1992

Drive, Suite 200, Reston, Vir- ginia 22091; 800-543-3744), lets you create a diet and exer- cise program based on your age, sex, height, weight, activ- ity level, and dieting goals. At $295 for the DietMate comput- er, a return on your invest- ment should be all the motiva- tion you need to get in shape.

For dieting Windows users, DINE Right for Windows from DINE Systems (586 North French Road, Suite 2, Am- herst, New York 14228; 716- 688-2492) is a diet-analysis program that helps you lose weight gradually and keep the weight off by adjusting your food choices and portion sizes so they meet U.S. die- tary guidelines. The program's patent-pending DINE Score keeps track of your progress. Using the diet-, recipe-, and ac- tivity-analysis reports, which can be printed in chart, graph, and message form, you can improve your eating habits as well as your general health. The program retails for $149 — not a small fee, but v/orth it if you're serious about nutrition.

Nutridata Software's (223 Myers Corners Road, P.O. Box 769, Wappingers Falls. New York 12590; 800-922- 2988) Home Healtn Series con- sists of Diet Balancer and Cooking Companion. Diet Bal- ancer views the nutritional con- tents of over 1700 foods, in- cluding fast foods. Cooking Companion analyzes recipes for nutritional content. Diet Bal- ancer and Cooking Compan- ion retail for $59.95 each. Both are available as a pack- age for $99.00.

No More Mouse Fights

If you're tired of struggling with a long mouse tail, check out Mouse Control, a simple device that does wonders for getting that wire out of the way. Mouse Control holds

your mouse cord, eliminating tangled-up workspace. Inven- tor David Streeter of Ad- vanced Image says he got tired of fighting with the wire on his mouse and decided to do something about it. For now, the device is available from the company for $14.95. To order, contact Ad- vanced Image, 2 Route 13 South, Brookline, New Hamp- shire 03033; (603) 673-0212.

Computers on Consignment

If you're worried about doling out the dollars for a brand- new computer or if you're try- ing to unload one you can no longer use. Practical Comput- er Consignments, a new con- signment superstore located in Washington, D.C., may be your answer, PCC offers a con- stantly changing selection of new and used, surplus, over- stocked, closeout, demonstra- tion, and liquidated computer systems and products, includ- ing a wide variety of peripher- als, software, and accesso- ries, all bargain priced with discounts typically ranging from 50 to 90 percent. The idea is that cost-conscious consumers can take advan- tage of new and older-gener- ation equipment values at a fraction of their original selling prices — a sensible way to help buyers and sellers save and make money.

Practical Computer buys, sells, trades, repairs, and up- grades virtually any equip- ment related to IBM PCs and compatibles and Apples (in- cluding Macintoshes). It serves computer distributors, dealers, corporations, and fed- eral and local government agencies, as well as individu- al PC users. A free service. Practical Computer Exchange Fax Service, matches want-to- buy and have-to-sell listings for customers by fax. Any con- signment item purctiased from PCC receives a 30-day

With NRI hands- on training, you can expenence the rewards of a career in computer programming

Now you can gel the practical training and experience you need to succeed in computer programming, today's top- growth computer career field.

NRI at-home training gives you real-world programming skills in four of today's hottest computer languages: BASIC, Pascal, C, and COBOL. You gel hands-on training that now includes a powerful 386sx/20 MHz mini-tower computer, modem, and programming software ... all yours to train with and keep! Best of all, NRI gives you the programming know-how you need to succeed on the job, in a new career, or in a business of your

OWTl.

Job opportunities for the skilled computer programmer will increase by 71.7 percent over the next 10 years accordmg to Bureau of Labor Siaiistics forecasts. And now, with NRI training, you can be one of the increasing number of computer programmers using their skills to build a top-paying career • — even a business of their own — in this professionally and financially rewarding high-tech field.

▼ The only programming course that includes a powerful 386sx-based computer system and programming software you keep

Right from the start, NRI training gels you actively involved in the challenge of real- world programming. You learn how to create the kinds of full-featured, powerful pro- grams today's employers and clients demand.

And, unlike any other school, NRI lets you experience first-hand the power of an IBM PC/AT-compatible, 386sx-based computer system, complete with modem, a full megabyte of RAM, disk dri\'e, and monitor — all yours to train with and keep!

Plus you explore the extraordinary capabilities of not one or two but four In-demand computer

languages. You learn to design, code, run, debug, and document programs m BASIC, Pascal, C, and COBOL. In the process you become uniquely prepared for the wide variety of programming opportuni- ties available today.

T No previous experience necessary

Immediately, you stan getting the money-making job skills you need to secure a future in computer programming — no matter what your background. NRI's unique Discover)' Learning Method guides you swiftly from computer no%'ice to com- puter professional with step-by-step lessons covering program design techniques used e\'cry day by successful PC programmers.

You'll find no heav)' textbooks to plow through. No night classes to attend. Instead, NRI's ai-home, step-by-step training covers all the bases, guiding you

from the important fundamentals to real- world methods and techniques. Backed up throughout your course by your experi- enced NRI instructor, you quickly gain the skills you need to handle a wide variety of programming tasks with confidence. You even use your modem to "talk" to your instructor, meet other NRI students, and download programs through NRI's exclu- sive programmers network, PRONET.

T Send today for your FREE catalog

Now you can experience the professional and financial rewards of a career in computer programming. See how NRI al- home training gives you the know-how, the computer, and the software you need to set started in this top-paying field. Send today for your FREE catalog!

If the coupon is missing, write to us as the NRI School of Computer Program- ming, McGraw-Hill Continuing Education Center, 4401 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20008.

SFND FOR^Ol'R FRLF NRI CATAI OCi TODAY!

Schools

McGraw-Hill Continuing Education Center tjiffl

4401 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20008 lillll

_r Check one free catalog only

~ Computer Programming D Programming in C++ with Windows

Ll Microcomputer Servicing D Desktop Publishing iSr Design

n PC Applications Specialist D Bookkeeping and Accounting

Name

(please prim)

.Age.

Addn

I City

. State .

.Accredited McmlKr. Naiional Home Study Council

.Zip.

NEWS & NOTES

warranty, and the superstore will ship almost anywhere in the world.

To get additional informa- tion, contact Practical Com- puter Consignments, 5407 Port Royal Road, Springfield, Virginia 22151 ; (703) 321-3003 (voice), (703) 321-3053 (fax).

Mouse-Free Windows

Windows users looking for sometfiing "faster, more effi- cient, and more convenient than constantly reaching for the mouse" should be pieased to discover Softac's Keyboard User Interface, or K-U-i. This integrated set of keyboard-oriented functions gives users better control of Windows with hot keys and a command line interface inte- grated into a pop-up control panel. The program includes a keyboard- based mouse sim- ulation that lets mouseless lap- top users run Windows.

K-U-l lets you create hot keys that launch and switch between any number of Win- dows and DOS applications. It also lets you choose from a cursor set that's easier to see with your display (the small white Windows cursor can be hard to see on Super VGA and LCD displays). K-U-I's Lens lets you view WYSIWYG text or anything else on your screen close up.

Suggested retail price is $79.95. For more information, contact Softac, 23 Sunset Road, Winchester, Massachu- setts 01890; (617) 721-1010.

After Dark, the Sequel

Berkeley Systems recently re- leased version 2.0 of its pop- ular, hypnotic After Dark screen saver for Windows, now with more than 40 full-col- or, animated displays. New ad- ditions to the classic Flying Toasters and Tropical Fish in- clude Hall of Mirrors; a Swan Lake display with swimming swans and cygnets; and

bouncing, clacking Marbles.

The program also comes with Sound Palette digital sound that gives you realistic sound effects without addition- al hardware. You can hear a bubbling fish tank, howling coyotes, and screen-munch- ing worms, for instance, but if you're after even more realis- tic sound, the program sup- ports Sound Blaster and Micro- soft's Multimedia sound.

WallZapper, an instant wall- paper creator, automatically turns any After Dark display in- to wallpaper with a single key- stroke. The Amazing MultiMod- ule, one of the most popular features of After Dark's Mac version, has been added to version 2.0 for Windows. You can run several displays side by side or overlapping, either transparent or opaque, to cre- ate some unusual effects.

Suggested retail price for Af- ter Dark 2.0 is $49.95, with special pricing for upgrades. For more information, contact Berkeley Systems, 2095 Rose Street, Berkeley, Califor- nia 94709; (510) 540-5535,

Let the Computer Do It

MySoftware's newest pro- gram, MyQuickWriter, touted as "the word processor with a twist," is as simple as it gets. The program includes dozens of prewritten business letters — not just templates — that you customize to your needs. You simply load the document, ed- it it, and print it out.

MyQuickWriter includes sample letters; business letter style guides like Full Block, Semiblock, and Memoran- dum; and a QuickFax form, in which you enter your send-to information and a message, and the form prints out with your return address automati- cally entered.

The program has full word processor features such as a built-in spelling checker, search and replace, adjusta-

ble margins and tabs, and au- tomatic page numbering.

Suggested retail price is $24.95. For more information, contact MySoftware Compa- ny, 1259 El Camino Real, Suite 167, Menio Park, Califor- nia 94025; (415)325-9372.

This Program's for Hire

With unemployment still soar- ing and corporate layoffs be- coming the American way, an interview-clinching resume usu- ally means paying a premium to your local resume-writing service — unless you have the right software for the job.

Individual Software's recent- ly enhanced version of its pop- ular ResumeMaker for IBM PCs and compatibles is de- signed to help you present your credentials in the best possible way while organizing your complete job search, and it offers tips for interview- ing— much the same way a search agency or resume serv- ice does.

The program gives you three resume choices — cliro- nological, functional, and per- formance—with up to eight dif- ferent formats, so the resume presents your experience and strengths in the most effective and attractive manner suited to your line of work.

Suggested retail price is $49.95. For more information, contact Individual Software, 5870 Stoneridge Drive, Suite 1, Pleasanton, California 94588; (510) 734-6767.

Companies with items of inter- est suitable for "News & Notes" siiould send informa- tion along with a color slide or color transparency to News & Notes, Attn: Jill Champion, COMPUTE Magazine, 324 Hfes/ Wendover Avenue, Suite 200, Greensboro, North Caroli- na 27408. Although space is limited, all items will be consid- ered for publication. □

34 COMPUTE SEPTEMBER 1992

You Might Find an Onune Service for Less, But There Are Probably Some Strings Ateached*

^yrif^,

Special Trial Offer: 5 hours for $51

Downlotxiable

Programs

Some online services charsc a monthly fee for ^^

"unlimited access." This might sound lil<e a good deal. But take a closer look; the monthly fee doesn't include any of the services you want! All of the valuable features , like down- loadable programs, chat, and multi- player games cost extra-sometimes a lot extra. With DELPHI'S 20/20 Advantage Plan, you get 20 hours for only $20-that's 20 hours of real productivity and entertainment, using the features you expect from a quality online ser/ice.

^-'S^H

E-mail

Download from file

libraries with

thousand of

progtams. Join

groups for nearly

every type of

computer and

other special interests. Chat with

members from 'xX, around the

special

Interest Groups

even challenge

your skills in lively multi-player

games. And all within easy reach: just

connect with a local phone call from

over 600 cities and towns.

DELPHI

A service of General Videotex Corporation,

1030 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02 1 38

Phone: 1-800-695-4005

Circle Rsader Swvica Number 161

world. Send

unlimited electronic mail messages. You can

Trial Offer: 5 hours for $5!

Try DELPHI at $1 per hour. Join today and get 5 hours of evening and week- end access for only $5. If you're not satisfied, simply cancel your account before the end of the calendar month with no further obligation. Keep your account acdve and you'll automatically be enrolled in the 20/20 plan for the

next mondi. So don't be strung along by another online service-get it all for less with DELPHI!

Give DELPHI a tiy...Register Now!

Dial by modem 1-800-365-4636

Press RETURN once or twice At Password, enter COMPUTE55

Rates apply for evening and weekend access

from within tlic mainland US. There is a one- time enrollment fee of $19 when you join the 20/20 Advantage Plan.

ii ■<

Worldwide Chat Lines

FEBBACK

36

Old Enough to Know

I read your review of Once up- on a Time, and I disagree with several of your reviewer's statements, I'm 12 years old, and I enjoy writing. Your re- viewer said, "Kids that age don't want or need comprehen- sive features such as block move or search-and-replace." I disagree, I do want to search and replace. I've been using WordPerfect 5.1 ever since we got our comput- er a year ago. In my most re- cent story, a 160-page mys- tery concerning a polo pony, I found it easier to type in an abbreviation for a commonly used name, then search and replace it later. It reduced time-consuming repetition.

Why do you stereotype? N/laybe some people my age want simple programs, but not all.

ALICIA GRAINGER POWAY, CA

Upgrade Blues

I have a 286 machine original- ly loaded with DOS 3.3. It has a 40fv!B hard disk. This disk was partitioned for 32MB, which was the limit of DOS at the time, I've upgraded to DOS 5.0, which isn't limited to 32MB, but I still can only use 32IV1B of my disk space. How can I get access to the other 8MB?

HAROLD HOROWITZ BROOKLYN, W

This is a somewhat complex problem, but it's easily over- come. Begin by completely backing up everything on your hard disk, using DOS's BACKUP program or the PC Tools PCBACKUP program. Now format a floppy disk with the /s option to transfer your system files to the floppy. Copy your AUTOEXEC.BAT, CONFIG.SYS. FOR-

MAT.COM. and FDISK.EXE files to the floppy. Make sure a copy of your backup pro-

COMPUTE SEPTEMBER 1992

Kidding around

with computers,

removing tfie

partition, graduating to

a 386, avoiding the

bugs in BASIC, learning

the difference

between a 386 and a

486, accessing

executables, and

starting a shareware

company

gram and C0MMAND.COM are on the floppy Next, boot from your floppy disk and run FDISK.

Warning: FDISK irretrieva- bly removes everything from your hard disk. You can't get it back — ever — no matter how hard you try. That's why it's so important to back everything up before starting this proce- dure.

FDISK will ask you how to partition your hard disk. When you've finished provid- ing this information, FDISK will create the partitions you re- quest. Next, run FORMAT with the /s option to format your hard disk as a system disk. Copy all of the files from the floppy back to the hard disk and use your backup pro- gram (or RESTORE) to restore the previously existing subdi- rectories and files to your hard disk. When you're fin- ished, you should have 8MB more than when you started.

Captive Audience

I'm an engineering student at a technological institute where each student is re- quired to own a computer. Two years ago, as a fresh- man, I purchased an AT&T 6286/EL {12,5 MHz, 1MB RAM) from the school, and al- ready I feel as if I have an ob- solete computer. There's a lot of software I can't use, I was told to wait until f graduate be- fore making any changes. Is there anything I can do for now?

DEAN LAVDAS DOUGLASTON. NY

The 80286 processor Is be- coming a dinosaur, sadly We assume that the software you're having trouble with is Windows or some other soft- ware that makes use of extend- ed memory and protected mode. To make full use of these products, you really need to upgrade to an 80386.

We checked with your school and were told that it will prob- ably be selling 386 comput- ers to the freshman class en- tering in the fall but at this time there are no plans to as- sist with upgrades of current students' machines.

For most people running word processors, communica- tions programs, or spread- sheets under DOS. your com- puter has plenty of horsepow- er, at least if it has a reasona- bly fast hard disk. On the oth- er hand, if you're running cer- tain software — concurrent Win- dows applications, AutoCAD, or a database server — you 7/ need at least a 386. Some pro- grams, such as AutoCAD, re- quire a math coprocessor If you can't use certain pro- grams because they require a 386 or coprocessor, you're out of luck until you replace the motherboard or buy a whole new machine. But the single most cost-effective way to achieve a dramatic perform- ance improvement would be for you to purchase an extend- ed memory board and four to eight megs of RAM. Your sys- tem will fly.

BASIC'S BLOAD Bug

I recently modified an old GW- BASiC program to use BLOADs from a RAM drive to load menus and workscreens to the video storage area (&HB800), Everything worked beautifully until my program en- countered a series of LPRINTs. After the LPRINTs and upon encountering a BLOAD, I got a file already open error message. Since my program had not issued any OPEN commands, and BLOAD and LPRINT contain their own built-in OPEN and CLOSE, I was mystified. To solve the problem, I eventual- ly inserted a plain CLOSE com- mand after each series of LPRINTs, and the error mes- sage disappeared. What's go-

JOIN THE COMPUTE SEARCHSTAKES

YOU ilflAY WIN STAR'S

LASERPRINTER 4 STARSCRIPH

DIAL 1-900-454-8681!

Cost for call $ 1 .50 first minute, $ 1 .00 each oddHional minute. Must be 18 or older. Touch-tone phone required

Star's LaserPrinter 4 StarScript is packed with all the features to bring true desktop publishing into your office! With an expanded scalable font selection, two megabytes of memory, and the creative powers of PostScript, the easy-to-operate LaserPrinter 4 StarScript offers unlimited possibilities in a desktop printer. And now it may be yours!

IT'S GRAND TO WIN

Every month, from now until November, you'll have the chance to win fabulous prizes by playing the Compute SearchStakes. You'll also have the chance to win the SearchStakes Grand Prize by submitting the solution to any two monthly SearchStakes, plus the solution to the Grand Prize SearchStakes, to be featured in our upcoming December issue.

IT'S FUN TO PLAY

Each of the six picture disks displayed below is a portion of a photo or illustration taken from an ad in this issue. To

solve the September SearchStakes, locate the ads from which these disks were taken and note the page number for each. If the ad has no page number, simply count that page or cover as zero. Then add up all six page numbers. That is the solution to this month's SearchStakes.

IT'S EASY TO ENTER

Once you find the solution, you may enter the September SearchStakes automatically on a touch-tone phone by calling 1-900-454-8681 by 10/30/92. The cost for the call is $1.50 for the first minute, $1.00 for each additional minute. Average call is estimated to be 2-3 minutes. Callers must be 18 or older. You may also enter by mailing your answer on a 3" x 5" piece of paper, along with your name, address, and phone number, to: "September Compute SearchStakes," 324 West Wendover Avenue, Suite 200, Greensboro, N.C. 27408 by 10/30/92. No purchase necessary. For more information on how you may win this month's prize, valued at more than $1,995, turn to page 38!

Sponsored by Compute Irvt'l Ltd., N.Y., N.Y.

COMPUTE SEARCHSTAKES!

Ho purchase or phone call required. For aulomalic entiy, call 1-9(XMS4-8681 on a louch-tone phone. The cosf for the call is Si .50 for Ihe first minute and S1.00 per minute thereafter; average call is esBmaled to be 2- 3 min'ites. Chaiges for calls to ihe above number will appear en your phone bill. Callers must be W or older. To enter June SeamhStakes draivinq call from 9 A.M, EOT on 4/26^ through n-idrught EDT 7/31/92. to enter Jujv SearchStakes drawing call from 9 A.M. EDT on 5«&92 through midnight EDT Ml/92, to enter August SearchSlakes dfawirigcall from 9 A.M. EDT on 6'2&92 through midnight EDT 9/'30,'92. to enter September SeartfSlates drawing cail from 9 A.M. EDT on 7f2S/32 through midnight EST 10/30/92, to enter October SeaidiS&kes drawirtgcall from 9 A.M. EDT on 6/2m2 Ihfough midnight EST 1 1/30/92,lo enter November SeanaiSlakes drawingcall from 9 A.M. EDT on 9/26B2 through midnight EST 12/31/92, to give your name, address, telepFione numl>sr, Ihe Compute issue dale (month), and the solution for tfie month you select. To enter the Grand Prize drawiria call from 9:00 A.tkf. EST 12/1/92 through midnight EST 1/29/93 10 give your name, address, telephone number, the solution to tfie Grand Pnie SearchStakes plus the solution to any two of the previous monthly SearchSlakes. All call-in entrants will receive a SS.OO savings coupon toward caller's choice of: (1) Kalhy Keelon's newest book, Longevity, or (2) a two-year subscriptkjn to Compute. Mulfiple coupons may not be combined on a single book or subscription purchase. Coupon expires 2/15/g3.Call as often as you wish; each callis a separate entry. Cail-in entry option is void in GA, LA, fiAN, OR, fil and vihem prohibited. Alternate Entry Method: Print your name, address, and phone numtieron a 3" x 5" piece of paper. (1) To enter the monthly drawings, print ttie Compute issue date (month) and solulionTor that month on your entry and address your envelope to include the issue data (monlh), for exarnple: "June Compute SearchSlakes." (2) To enter the Grand Prize drawing, print the words Grand Prize," ttie Grand Prize solution, plus the solution to any two previous monthly SearcTiStakes on your entry. Adciress your envelope: "Compute SearchStakes Grand Prize." Mail all entries, addressed as directed above, to: 324 West Wendover Avenue, Suite 200, Greensboro, N,C. 27408. Enter as often as you wish; each entry must be mailed separately. All write-in entries must be postmarked bv 1/31/93 and received by ai5/93.

For the soiution(s}, complete nites, and detafled description of prizes including prize values, serid a self-addressed stamped envelope (0 Compute SearchStakes Solutions, Dcpl. RRS,1965 Broadway, NY.N.V, 10023-5965 by 12^/92; no return postage requinsi for residents of VT and WA. Solutions and prize information will be provided through the issue date In whk:h the request is received.

Odds determined by number of entries received, lor example, W.OOO entries make odds 10,000 to 1. Prizes/Values: Grand Prize (1). minimum value S15,000-maximum value $40,000. Iiflonthly prizes (6), one lor each of the following Compute 1992 issue dates: June, July, August, September, October, and November, minimum value SI, 500- maximum value $7,500. jvlaximum total prize value: $85,000, A description of each prize, including its approximate value, will appear in Compute prior to the first entry date for that pnze. Prizes are not transferable or redeemable for cash. No substilution of prizes except as necessary, due to availability. Licensing, transportation, registration, and dealer charges, if applicable, are winner's responsibility. Winners may be required to pick up some prizes from the nearest dealership. Travel prizes must be from a major airport nearest winner's home and must be usee! within 12 months of award dale. Additional restrictions may apply, i.e., local ordinances. Taxes are the winner s responsibility.

Open only to U.S. residents 18 and older, except employees and their families of Compute IntI Ltd., POWER GROUP, INC., their respective subsidiaries, affiliates, and advertising agencies. All federal, stale, kxaJ laws and regulations apply. Void where prohWed. This program is sponsored by Compute Infemational Ltd., 1965 Broaaway, NY, N.Y. 10023, (212) 496- 6100. tvlonlhly winners will te selected at random from among alf eligible entries received by the iudoes by the followinq drawing dates: June issue-7/3lS2, July issue-8/31/92, August issue-9/30/92, September issue-1 0/30/92, October issue-1 1/30/92, November issue-12/31/92. Grand Prize winner will be selected at random from among all eligible entries received by 2/15/93. Winners will be selected by POWER GROUP, INC., an independent judging organization whose decisions are final. Winners wjllpe notified by mail and required to execute ard relum an affidavit of eligibility and release within 21 days of date on notification letter or alternates wilt be selected at random. Limit one winner per household. This sweepstakes is subject to the Official Rules and Regulations. For a list of winners, send a self- addressed stamped envelope to: Compute SearchStakes Winners, Dept. RRW, 1965 Broadway, NY, N.Y. 10023-5965 by a'31/93. Requests will be fulfilled after the sweepstakes ends.

FEEDBACK

ing on? This was a repeatable error and did not occur until 1 added ttie BLOAD instructions.

JEHRV L. POHTERFIELD OlvlAHA, NE

Microsoft admits that tliis is a bug in tlie BASIC Professional Development System version 7.0. it was corrected in version 7. 1. Ttie fixes ttiey give include the one you already discovered. In addi- tion, they suggest that you try the fol- lowing.

t Open the printer as a device and send output to the printer using the PRINT #file number statement instead of the LPRINT statement.

2. For an executable program, com- pile the program with the Near Strings option.

Don 't forget that upgrading to 7. 1 is a feasible option, too. It wouldn't hurt to tell Microsoft why you're making the up- grade.

On a related note, remember that the BLOAD address would be &HBOOO on a monochrome system.

486 Instruction Set

I know the 80386 and 80486 have dif- ferent instruction sets. Every program I've ever seen comes with the same package, however, whether you have an 8086 or a 486. Do any programs ac- tually take advantage of the 486's su- perior instruction set? If not, then a 386 running at 33 MHz should be the equiv- alent of a 486 running at 33 MHz, shouldn't it? Or does the 486 process information more efficiently than the 386?

JASON LEWIS ASCUTNEY UT

Your letter Is Insightful and contains al- most all of Its own answers. The 8086 (which has the same Instruction set as the 8088) was succeeded by the 80286, not counting a few oddballs such as the 80186 and 80188. The 286 has a few additional instructions that work in real mode (Its 8086 emu- lation), and a lot of instructions that work only in protected mode. There- fore, any software that uses protected mode (for example, OS/2 and DOS ex- tenders) uses these extra instructions.

Likewise with the 386, but it has even more new instructions for protect- ed mode. The 486 has the same instruc- tion set as the 386 in the CPU. but it has a math coprocessor built in, mak- ing its instruction set equivalent to a 386 plus a 387.

l-lowever — and your letter touched on this — many operations on each suc-

EdilDr

Sefilor Art PIraclor

Art Director

Managing EditDr

Features Editor

Revrews Editor

Editor, Gazette

Editor, Amiga Resource

Copy Editors

Ediloriai Assistant Contributing Edttora

Clitlan i<^rnQs

i^wayr^e FJinchum

Robin C Case

David English

Roben Bixb/

hAMe Hudnall

Tom Neisei

Denny Alkin

Karen Huftman

Margaret Ramsey

Polly Cillpam

Sylvia Graham, Eddie Huftman.

Gregg Keizer. Tony Roberls.

Karen Siepak

Danielfe Best, Tracy Mygranl

AHT

Assistant Art Director Kenneth A. Hardy Designer Jo Boylfin Copy Production Manager Terry Casli Copy Produelion Assistant Katie Taylor

PRODUCTION Production Manager De Poller

Traffic Manager Bartjaia A Williams

PROGRAMMING * ONUNE SERVICES Manager Troy Tucker Programmers Bruce M. Bov/den Sieve Draper Bradley M. Small

ADMINISTRATION

President, COO

Eneeulivo Vice President.

Opemtiona

Ediloriai Director

Operations Manager

Office Manager

Sr Administrative Assistant

Administrative Assistant

Receptionist

Kalhy Keelon William Tynan

Karth Farrell David Hensley Jt. Sybil Atjee Jufia Fleming Lisa Williams LeWanda Fox

ADVERTISING

Vice President, Peter T. Jnhnsmeyer Associate Publistier (2t2| 496-6100

Vice Presidenl, James B Martise Sales Deveiopmertt

ADVERTISING SALES OFFICES

East Coast FuJI-Rage and Standard Display Ads— f^ter T Johns- meyer, Ctiris Coeirio; COMPUTE Publications International Ltd.. 1966 Broadway, tvlew York. NV 100S3, (212) "ige-eiOO Souttl- easl— Ha/riei Rogers, 503 A Si.. SE, Washington. DC 20003- (202) 546.5926, Florida— J M. Remer Associates. 33DO NE 192nd St .Suite 192. Aventura. FL 331 BO: (305i aSS-UeZ, (305) 933-8302 (FAX). Midwesi— Full-Page and Standard Display Ads— Slarr Lane. National Accounts Marngm: 1 1 1 East Wack- er Dr., Suite SOB, Chicago, IL 60601 ; (312) sisogOO, (312) 819- 0813 (FAX) Northwesl— Jerry Thompson, Julas E- Thompson Co., 1290 Howard Ave.. Sij.|e 303. Burllngarae, CA 9a010; (415) 34B-8222 Lucille Dennis. (707) 451-8209. Southwest— Ian Ling- wood, 6728 Eton Ave., Canoga Park, CA 91303; (818) 992- 4777 Product Marl Ads— Lucille Dennis, Jules E Thompson Co.. 1290 Howard Ave, S;jHe 303, BurIingame,CA 94010; (707) 451 .8209. u K & Europe— BBveriy Wardale, i4LisgarTorr , Lon- don W14, England; 011-441-B02-3298. Japan— inlergroup Coni- muncalions. Lid : Jifo Semba, Presidoni; 3F Tiger Bidg 5-22 Stii- ba-koen, 3-Chonne, Minato ku, Tokyo 105, Japan; 03-434- 2607 Classified Ads— Maria Manaseii. i Woods Ct . Huntington, NY 11743: (TEUFAX) (516) 757-9562,

THE CORPORATION

Bob Gucclone (chairman and CEO)

Katny Keeton (vico-chairman)

David J- Myerson (president and CEO)

William F, Warlieb (president, markeiing, sales and circulaiion)

Paifick J. Gavin (senior vice president and CFO)

Anthony J. Guccione (secretary and Ireasurer)

John Evans (president, loreign editions and manufacturing)

Jen Winston (senior vice president, administrative services)

AOVERTiSiNO AND MARKETING

Sr. VP/Corp Dir.. New Business Development Beverly Waroalo; VP/Dir, Group Advertising Sales: Nancy Keslonbaum: Sr, VP/Souihern and Midwest Adverlising Dir: Peter Goldsmittl. Oflices New York: 1965 Broadway. New York. NY 10023.5965. Tel- (212) 496-6100. Telex 237128 Midwest: 111 East liVacker Dr. Suite 508. Chicago, IL S0601. (312) 818-C900, (312) 819- 0813 (FAX) South: 1725 K St NW. Suite 9CB, Washingron, CC 20006. Tel, (202) 728-0320. West Coast: 6728 Eton Ave, Can- oga Park. CA 91303. Tel (818) g92-<l777. UK and Europe 14 Lisgar Terrace, London W14, England, Tel 01-828-3336. Japan: intergroup Jiro Semba, Telex J25469iGLTYO. Fax 434-5970, Ko- rea: Kaya Advlsng.. Inc . Rm 402 Kunshin Annex B/D 251-1, Dohwa Dong, f/apo-Ku, Seoul, Korea (121), Tel 719-6906 Tel- ex K3214dKayaad

ADMINISTRATION

Sr VP. CFO: Patrick J. Gavin; Sr VP/Administrative Services; Jeri l/Vinston; Sr. VP/Arl & Graphics: Frank Dcvino; VP/ Circulaiion: Marcia Orovitz; VP Director Sales Promotions: Bev- erly Grelper; VP Production; Hal Halpner; Dir. Newsstand Cir- culaiion Paul Rolnick; Dir. Nowssiand Operations Joe Gailo, Dir, Subscription Circulation Marcia Schultz; VP Director of (Re- search: Robert Raltner; Advertising Production Director Char- lene Smith; Advertising production Traffic f.1gr,: Wark Williams; Tralfic Dir, v/illiam Harbuti. Production Wgr: Tom Slinson; Assi Production Mgr.; Nancy Rice; Foreign Editions hAgi.. Mi- chael Stevens; Exec. Ass! to Bob Guccione; Diane O'Conneli; Exec. Assi- :o David J. f^yerson: Teri Pisani; Specif Asst. !□ Bob Guccione: Jane Homlish.

3S COMPUTE SEPTEMBER 1992

ceeding chip have been improved in efficiency. That's why real-world tests show that a 33-MHz 486 is around 20 percent faster than a 33-MHz 386. not including vast speed improvements in code requiring a numeric coprocessor. And having the coprocessor on the same chip speeds math up substantial- ly, simply because there's less hard- ware for the Instructions to travel through and less communication re- quired between the chips. Concerning software specific to these chips, all compilers worth their salt, such as Borland C++ or Microsoft C, can gen- erate 286- or 386-speciflc code. Even so. few packages support two or more different versions of the software. Why? Thinl< about it from the vendor's per- spective. If your program requires, for example, a dozen 5V4-inch or ten 3V2- inch floppies, would you want to dou- ble or triple that figure by including duplicates of everything for 286 and 386 versions?

All out of Proportion

What's the difference between EXE and COfVI files?

SHAWN BOWER COLUMBIA. MO

To you as a user, there's no difference. To DOS, the difference is great A COM file must be loaded into memory all at once and only at a fixed location In mem- ory. It must also be short, with all its components lumped together into 64K or less (there are some exceptions).

An EXE file contains a great deal of information about itself, and DOS can perform numerous feats of memory man- agement trickery on it, such as allow- ing overlays that trade memory usage for disi< access time. This lets EXE pro- grams leave parts of themselves on disk while leaving in fV^M only the ex- ecuting portion at any given time.

The richer EXE format requires at least 512 extra bytes per file, and some- times much more, to keep track of eve- rything. So a COM file would necessar- ily be smaller than the equivalent EXE file. On the other hand, software has reached the point that it's rare to find a main program smaller than 64K; there- fore, COM files are generally reserved for quick little utilities, sometimes typed in with the use of DEBUG.

Thank You for Sharing

I'm seriously looking into the possibility of starting a shareware business, but I haven't any idea where to begin. Whom can I contact to get accurate informa- tion? I feel I have the right equipment. Are there any publications on the mar- ket that explain the tricks of the trade? The location we're looking at is ideally

suited for a business such as this.

JAMES A, HAMSDEN DUNEDIN. FL

We're not sure whether you're a soft- ware author or you want to become a disk vendor We'll cover both.

To become a disk vendor, you'll need a supply of up-to-date shareware. You can get this from other shareware vendors, but the best place to look is on GEnie. CompuServe, or local BBSs spe- cializing in each category of shareware you carry. That's because It's important to get the latest version, which you might not get from other vendors. Then join ASP, the Association of Shareware Professionals (545 Graver Road, Mus- kegon. Michigan 49442; 616-788-2765 fax). The best way to learn about ASP is with GO ASPFORUM on CompuSen/e. ASP membership isn't free but will result in a deluge of free disks from hopeful shareware authors and access to sev- eral publications on shareware business- es. You can get great practice by vol- unteering to be the club librarian for your local user group.

If you write softA'are and want to mar- ket it yourself, read Writing and Market- ing Shareware by Steve Hudglk. pub- lished by McGraw-Hill.

The Turbo User Group (P.O. Box 1510, Poulsbo, Washington 98370; 206- 779-9508) has an excellent $39.95 vid- eo featuring Rob Rosenberger of Barn Owl Software. It covers virtually every as- pect of becoming your own shareware publisher and costs less than many books on the same subject. Although TUG Is nominally a programmer's group, this video is for anyone with share- ware to publish, programmer or not.

In both cases, follow these tips:

• Order catalogs from successful shareware vendors (they're the ones who regularly run full-page ads In maga- zines) to see how they organize and write the descriptions.

• Find a local disk duplicator.

• Be sure your phone lines are an- swered consistently at specified times.

• Don 't bother to rent office space un- til business gets big. This is the ideal business to run from your home-

Readers whose letters appear In "Feed- back" will receive a free COMPUTE'S PC clock radio while supplies last. Do you have a question about hardware or software? Or have you discovered something that could help other PC us- ers? If so, we want to hear from you. Write to COMPUTE'S Feedback, 324 West Wendover Avenue, Suite 200, Greensboro. North Carolina 27408. We regret that we cannot provide person- al replies to technical questions. □

World acclajmedl Reviewers rave u about pre-release ULTIMiBp Underworld™!

Tltinm Vmk>)tt'(frUt %

Ihe pfcmier dungeoli

gcimi.' ever mail^

/vrioJ. Erci-lk'ntji

wilbi/ut cquulff

fCnnipuliT Game"

Review. ll„S,i

"Ifvoii'iv gid II PC. Ihcn t^n 'rvfiol to hiitc ^L'lttnm Undfrworid . . 1(9 inti.-ilerjMXi'. " tAf.E, Eiiplantli

^iniSi! >!,..'. ioiiiul ... ibe irholc c.xiKiiieiKV Is loiiillv line of j hi'in.v: Ihere '. " JPCGume.s iMus, Ausiraliii)

^Ifthc /relecuu'dlganie u; a/uiilly ivalisiic. i'"?/ can nihyoin iMiiiii--- in anlicipn/ion .. nhirl^ ytniv aiieiidiir... (ASM. German y)

"Fruni tioif on. iie'U

jaSk aljfju! l)ffow-

iXirid and oftcr-

Vndenrorld...ihe

^n'OSL'Sl and ll.ic fines!

fitimeo/lbeyvar."

I'ili .VlaL;;L/ine. Frriiia.O

Imagine wfiat th©y1l I say when they see the Feal ihingt

'!/■.

w a reloiler near you or coli

1-800-999-4939

for MC/VISA.

- CiiiivTisihi ly^I iiJIHilS SiWBW. Ine- lliln.* 1^ i «iiisi««d

Circle Reader Service Number 192

POINT & CLICK

Clifton Karnes

TEN TIPS TO SPEED UP WINDOWS

Here are my

top ten suggestions

to boost

Windows' speed.

40

COMPUTE

Windows has never been crit- icized for being too fast. It's a simple fact that to accomplish Windows' GUI magic, the op- erating environment must jump through hoops while jug- gling an assortment of diverse elements. This hoop jumping and juggling takes time, most- ly in memory access, disk ac- cess, and pixel pumping. Most of us have looked for ways to improve Windows' per- formance. Here are my top ten suggestions to boost Win- dows' speed.

Upgrade your software. Up- grade to DOS 5.0 and Win- dows 3.1 . The latest version of DOS was designed with Win- dows in mind, and the two work very well together. If you upgrade your Windows ver- sion to 3.1, you'll get faster disk I/O, faster video drivers, faster printing, and generally snappier performance

Upgrade your hardware, If you don't already have a 386, get one. And upgrade your memory to at least 4MB. With memory weighing in at $40 a megabyte, it's an inexpensive option.

Upgrade your hard disk to a 1:1 interleave, 100MB or larg- er drive, with an access time of less than 15 ms. Windows applications are large and they access the disk often, so the larger and faster your drive, the happier Windows will be.

If you're using 3.1. run Fast Disk, Windows 3.1's new 32- bit disk access driver. Setup may install this for you if you have a Western Digital or com- patible controller, but you can check by running Control Pan- el and clicking on the 386 En- hanced icon, followed by Vir- tual rvlemory and Change.

SEPTEMBER 1992

UseEMM386.EXE. Use the latest version of EMrv1386.EXE, theWindows/DOSmemory man- ager, and configure it correctly.

If you're not running a PS/2 or a monochrome monitor, give EMM386 some extra UMBs by including the mem- ory addresses EOOO-EFFF and B000-B7FF. And if your DOS apps don't need expand- ed memory be sure to use the NOEMS option. With these par- ameters, your EMM386 line would look like this:

EMM386.EXE l=E000-EFFF l=B000-B7FF NOEMS.

If you're using an expanded or extended memory board, con- figure the board for all extend- ed memory, and use EMM386 to emulate expanded memory. Use SMARTDRV.EXE. Ver- sion 4.0 of SMARTDrive, which comes with Windows 3.1, is a real cache, and it's fast. The default is for SMARTDrive to cache writes (which will give you the great- est speed increase). If you have 4-8MB of RAM, use the following parameters:

SMARTDRVEXE 1024 1024.

Note that you install this ver- sion of SMARTDrive in your AU- TOEXEC.BAT file, not in CON- FIG.SYS, and note that it loads high automatically.

Fine-tune CONFIG.SYS. In addition to your EMM386.EXE line, make sure your CON- FIG.SYS contains the follow- ing lines:

HIMEM.SYS DOS=HIGH,UMB FILES=40 BUFFERS=10 SHELL=COMMAND.COM /E:512/P

If you're on a network, use FILES=60, BUFFERS=10 as- sumes you're using SMART- Drive or another cache.

Use a permanent swap file. The only reason not to use a permanent swap file is if disk space is at a premium. A per- manent swap file must go on a physical volume — not a log- ical one {such as a Stacker or network drive). If you have a choice of physical drives, put your permanent swap file on your fastest drive, and make it 4096K or larger.

Optimize regularly.

SMARTDrive's performance will be impaired if your disk is fragmented. Optimize your hard drive once a week.

Fine-tune SYSTEM.INI. To make sure your apps run as smoothly as possible, put the following lines in the 386 en- hanced section of your SYS- TEM.INI:

SysFileChange=NO NoEMMDriver=YES.

Use a low-resolution, low-col- orgraphics mode. In Windows, the higher the resolution and the greater the number of col- ors, the slower the display.

A resolution of 640 x 480 is much faster than 800 x 600, which in turn is much faster than 1024 X 768.

With colors, the difference in speed is even more dramat- ic. A 16-color mode runs rings around 256-color modes. If you must run in high resolu- tion, high color, or both, use a software speed-up, such as WinSpeed (Panacea: $79.95), or get a graphics accelerator card.

RTFM. Read the Friendly Manual! After you've used Win- dows 3.1 for a couple of months, start reading the man- ual. After you've finished, start reading the Microsoft Win- dows Resource Kit (Microsoft; $19.95). It's a book (of over 500 pages) and disk combo that features comprehensive technical information on al- most every aspect of running Windows. n

Rex Nebular Is For Hire!

And the spaceways will never be the same!

Sure, he's for hire. But if he doesn't pull off this job. Rex Nebular's reputation as an interstellar adventurer and womanizer will take a bruising, if that's still possible.

All he has to do is retrieve a priceless vase for

a really ticked-off Colonel Stone. It should be easy... NOT!

Especially when this Cosmic Gender Bender gig

has enough traps to send Rex to his grave a

thousand times over.

Rex will have to locate a cloaked planet Survive

the grotesque Gender Bender machine. Negotiate the perils of a vast

underwater world. And tear himself away from legions of sex-starved

aliens. Some of whom would like nothing better than to use our hero as

breeding stock!

And Rex thought women only wanted him for his mind!

Save Rex Nebular from himself. And save the universe from Rex Nebular. Get your copy of Rex Nebular And The Cosmic Gender Bender today at your favorite retailer.

■ STIMULATING state-of-the-art graphics and animation!

Thousands of MIND-BENDING PUZZLES TO UNLOCK!

• TITILLATING rotoscoped art!

■ EASY, HARD, and ADVANCED modes!

■ AROUSING INTUm VE INTERFACE light years ahead of any other!

To get our free catalog, call 1 -8()0-879-PLA Y.

|Mon.- Fri.. 8:30 am-5:00 pm EST.)

Or fin out (lie coupon and mall It to: MicroProse Software, Inc. 180 Lakelront Drive • Dept. D- !0 • Hunt VaUey, MD 21030-2245

Name_

Address.

Cltv

State

_Zip_

Telephone (

.GAAJ

Mf^D PROSE

E r4 ; E R I A I N 1,1 L rj I . i O F I W A R £

Seriously Fun Software

Circle Reader Service Number 222

PROGRAMMING POWER

Tom Campbell

QuiGkBasic

comes with an

interpreter

and a tnie compiler

ttiat creates

faster-ninning EXEs.

SHOPPING FOR BASICS

This month we'll look at some of the burgeoning Microsoft BA- SIC world, Microsoft now sports at least half a dozen ma- jor dialects of BASIC, half of them mostly incompatible with the others. If you're shopping for a new programming lan- guage, this column may help.

First, let's examine some terms. A BASIC that makes stand-alone programs allows you to distribute programs you've written so people with- out your version of BASIC can still run them. Ones that are ex- tensible let you add to the lan- guage via assembly {or, in the case of Windows, DLLs). Mod- ular BASICS let you break a program into separate files.

QuickBASIC— almost as big as Elvis. Despite Visual Basic's strong showing, Quici<,- BASIC 4.5 is arguably Micro- soft's flagship BASIC and cer- tainly one of the most popular languages anywhere. It runs under DOS, comes with an interpreter and a compiler, makes stand-alone programs, is extensible, and is modular. A very good general-purpose language, it laci<s only the pointers and dynamic memory allocation of C. Each can be made up for with assembly extensions and a copy of Ray Duncan's Advanced MS- DOS, and you can sometimes fake it with the very useful CALL INTERRUPT, which lets you get at MS-DOS internals without resorting to assembly.

QuickBASIC is rare among development environments be- cause it comes with an interpret- ed development environment and a true compiler that cre- ates faster-running EXE pro- grams that don't need the inter- preter. Version 4.5 is inexpen- sive, and though it's several years old, it's great for creating nearly any DOS application. It's

almost as popular as Elvis and deserves to be, although new versions have been as elusive as the King.

QBASIC— free and worth eve- ry cen). QBASIC runs under DOS, comes with an interpret- er, but lacks a compiler. It elim- inates the dreaded line num- bers and turtlelike pace of the old GW-BASIC that probably came with DOS when you bought your computer. A stripped-down version of the QuickBASIC interpreter, QBA- SIC doesn't make stand-alone programs, isn't extensible, and isn't modular. I feel it's hideous- ly scarred by not supporting CALL INTERRUPT but since many people still don't have DOS 5.0, maybe that doesn't matter. QBASIC is still better than GW-BASIC, with its vastly superior editor and one of the best help systems around.

Visual Basic — incompatible and worth it. Visual Basic is a spanking-new version of BA- SIC for Windows, That's the good news. The bad news is that it's not compatible with QuickBASIC, so there's a huge amount of rewriting to do if you want to port your QB ap- plication to Windows.

The loss of seemingly criti- cal standbys such as INKEYS and BLOAD may seem crip- pling. Actually, it's liberating — but plan to spend a fair amount of time learning VB.

Most disturbing about VB is that it isn't as good for devel- oping serious Windows pro- grams as QB is for DOS; it lacks support for fundamental Windows building blocks such as callbacks. Plus, it lacks a true compiler, instead requiring you to include a sep- arate 270K runtime interpreter with your applications. No big deal, but the EXE that VB makes still retains your subrou- tine and variable names — a no- no for users who need to pro- tect every aspect of the source code. Still, VB makes

stand-alone programs, is exten- sible, and is modular; its strengths far outweigh its few weaknesses.

PDS 7.1— not for pros only. The BASIC Professional Devel- opment System runs under DOS, comes with an interpret- er and a compiler, and is an awesome package with the CodeView debugger, built-in support for a proprietary but flex- ible and fast code generator, size and speed advantages, and everything QuickBASIC has besides. It makes stand- alone programs, is extensible, and is modular. The most expen- sive ($400) of Microsoft's BA- SICS, it's well worth its price.

GW-BASIC— still good for a gee-whiz or two. GW-BASIC, usually sold with computers that run DOS 3.0, is actually quite substantial. It comes with an interpreter, but it lacks a compiler, its editor stinks, it relies on line numbers, and it doesn't work well with sepa- rate files. It doesn't make stand- alone programs and isn't mod- ular, but it is extensible. If you got it free and you're not a pro, it can teach you a lot. But plan to graduate to QBASIC orQuick- BASIC ASAP

Word BASIC— YAB. Word BASIC comes only with Word for Windows and is a YAB (Yet Another BASIC), but it's a god- send to word processor pow- er users. It's extensible and in- cludes an interpreter but not a compiler, tt doesn't make stand-alone programs and isn't modular. Still, it's much bet- ter than any other word proces- sor's macro language and lets you create sophisticated fea- tures like dialog boxes quickly and easily. It's also incompati- ble with Visual Basic (ouch!).

To be announced. Microsoft has threatened for years to re- lease a Windows batch lan- guage founded on BASIC. No doubt it's in the works, but for now you'll just have to get in- fected with VB. □

42 COMPUTE SEPTEMBER 1992

%^'-

ft legendary year in the history of naval conflict has returned.

s^f^Si^sagfflS'g^J^rts 1942. Settingfor a series of naval confrontationsithQt would change the course of V^rl^jj^AiSar 11: And the setting for the first in a new - - -^ri^. series of spectacular PaclficKWar simulations from MicroProse.

cruisers, and battleships against aggressive enemy|£

South Pacific,

■yte"*^

'^No detail has been overlooked in this poinstal<ingly reseci^l;iedjai!ii"^ ""^ simulation. Torpedo wakes. Thrilling night combat. BlindfHg^e^fet©rt&; Flares. Even harsh weather conditions. All presented in

breathtaking realism.

Issue commands to ships ond convoys. Fire torpedos into enemy ^

^i^jbacksides. Control crucial battle positions. Shell enemy targets, "_" Confront enemy ships head-on. And, if you choose, lead the Japanese forces into battle. V^L'

Task Force 1942 from MicroProse. It's the only way to experience the thrills.,, and risks.. .of naval combat in World War II. To order, visit your nearest retailer or call 1 -800-879-PLAY. Call today.

Actuol screens

SURFACE NAVAL AtlnOH IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC

CNTEHtAINMENT • SOFIWARE

1B0 LoVefront Dfii/e. Hunt Volley, Maryland 21030-2245.

For IBM-PC/Tandy/compatlbles.

Circle RwKJef Service Number 224

INTRODOS

Tony Roberts

PLAY IT AGAIN, SAM

DOSKEY's macros

may be lacking,

but don't miss its

command

iine power.

One of the highly touted fea- tures of DOS 5.0 when it hit the streets a year ago was the macro-handling ability of DOS- KEY— DOS 5.0's command line retriever. Now that all the hoopla has died down, DOS- KEY's macro function is all but forgotten.

Chances are you've experi- mented with DOSKEY's mac- ros and quickly moved on to more interesting pursuits. If so, I hope you haven't given up on DOSKEY itself. The pro- gram's command line retriev- al and editing functions are a substantial power boost for anyone who's not insulated from the command line.

Let's get DOSKEY running and see what it can do. If it's not already installed, enter the command DOSKEY at the prompt. If DOSKEYCOM is on your system's path, it will exe- cute with no problem. If DOS- KEY doesn't run, locate the pro- gram and execute it by includ- ing the entire path in the com- mand line,

DOSKEY's most obvious be- nefit is that it permits you to repeat and edit previously executed commands without retyping. To do this, you press the up-arrow key or the down-arrow key to cycle through old commands. When you find the one you want to reuse, you simply press Enter to execute it.

The default startup mode for DOSKEY is overstrike. When you edit a previous com- mand, the characters you type replace those already on- screen. If you find it more con- venient to edit connmands in in- sert mode, execute DOSKEY again, but this time add the in- sert switch: DOSKEY /INSERT. In either case, you can toggle manually between insert mode and overstrike mode

anytime you like by pressing the Insert key. In overstrike mode, the cursor appears as a solid block; in insert mode, the cursor is an under- line character.

By default, DOSKEY allo- cates 512 bytes of memory to hold your command iine histo- ry. If you use up all that availa- ble space, new commands will replace the oldest com- mands in the buffer,

If 512 bytes isn't the appro- priate amount of space for you, change the buffer size as needed, using the bufsize switch. The command DOSKEY /INSERT / BUFSIZE=256. for example, would place DOSKEY in insert mode and would create a 256- byte buffer for the command line history.

There are several shortcuts available for using the com- mand line history. At the out- set of any computing session, when only a few commands have been issued, you'll find that scrolling through the his- tory with the up and down ar- rows is a fast, efficient way to locate and reuse old com- mands. As the end of the day nears, however, and the buff- er is crammed with dozens of old commands, you'll need a faster way.

Use the F8 key to cut through to the commands you need quickly. If you know the command you're looking for starts with the letter p, for in- stance, enter p on the com- mand line, then press F8 to cy- cle through only the com- mands that begin with the let- ter p. If you can, be more spe- cific. If you want to repeat a copy command you issued ear- lier, enter COPY on the com- mand line and press F8 to see only the commands that begin with the letters COPY

Although F8 is my favorite DOSKEY shortcut, the F7-F9 combination comes in handy, too. Press F7 to see a list of all

the commands currently held in the buffer. Each command is numbered. Find the number of the command you want to reuse and press F9. DOSKEY will prompt you for a line num- ber. Enter the number for the command you want, and that command will instantly fill the command line and be ready for editing or execution.

Here are a couple of addi- tional DOSKEY tips. To clear the command line, press Esc. If you v/ant to zap the entire command line history and start from scratch, press Alt-F7.

Finally, having DOSKEY in- stalled permits you to enter and execute several com- mands on a single line. DOS- KEY gives you up to 1 28 char- acters with which to work, so you can load up your system before you head off to the wa- ter cooler.

To use this feature, just en- ter the commands on a single line, separating them with the Ctrl-T combination. This will ap- pear as a paragraph symbol (H) on your screen, Here's an example:

copy c:\letters\'.doc a: copy d:\l23\4qtr'. wkl b: pkzip archives c:Ve- portsV.may c:\report3\:jun

Once you get used to DOS- KEY, you'll want it running all the time. The best way to en- sure that it's always available is to insert the DOSKEY com- mand and any appropriate switches into your AUTOEX- EC.BAT file. The program and a 512-byte buffer occupy just over 4000 bytes. I think the ben- efits are well worth the small in- vestment in memory space.

Now, if I've offended any of you who really believe that DOS- KEY macros are indispensable, good. Drop me a note in care of the magazine or, if you have access to GEnie, pop into the COMPUTE RoundTable and take issue with me there. My ID on GEnie is TROBERTS. □

44 COMPUTE SEPTEMBER 1992

All right. So maybe there is one

flight simulator more thrilling than

F-15 Strike Eagleni.

Introducing F-15 Strike Eagle®III!

How could we possibly surpass the non-stop action of F-15 IT?

For starters, we've introduced a revolutionary new visual system. A system that creates dogtighting so realistic' you'll scramble for the eject button.

We've designed incredible ne\v photorealistic starting and endin" screens to surround you in the complete Strike Eagle experience.

And vou'll get to battle against modern high-tech opponents as ruthless as those real F-15 pilots face.

But, of course, the real test for any great flidit siniulator is how fun it is. And what could De more fun than blasting a friend out of the sky in our new head-to-head combat mode? Oi' flying with a

friend in our pi kit/ weapons officer mode? Or flying alongside each otner in our sensational two-plane mode?

We enhanced the gameplay of the F-15 to challenge even the most experienced pilots, too. But if you're not experienced, don't worry. Because we also worked to ensure that the easy-to-learn ciualities of the first two F- L"is remained intact, as well.

So blow the dust off your flight helmet and climb aboard the F-15 Strike Eagle Til! We're sure it will be the most thrilling flight simulator you'll ever pilot.

Visit \'oiir retailer or call 8:30 -5:00 EST).

1-800-879-FLAY (Mon. - Fri.

' ' W-S'. ,\.s .1 rogi-stered ouiicr of F-13 II, I \v,int to pre-ordcr

i my !--15 111 Jor tht.' speci.il upgiMLle price ot S?-'^>.'-^5 (if you

I haven't regislciwi, ni.iii us the title pnge of your I--13 11

' mnnuai) alonj; n ith chfck or credit card inforniation.

I MD rosiik'nts adi.1 5"ij sales lax.

1 n YHS! Send me the ne-.v 1- 1 .=i ,11 1 Strike.Eagle for just S79.95,

! when it's a\ ailable (e'itiniated release date is Sept. .iO, 1992).

; DiskSiw: 1 1.''2- ^ 1/4"

Name.

Address- Citv

_ Stall

-Zip

L^

Day f-'hosie (

Cheek Eiidosed (no COD or pureh.iSL- orders)

Card # . Exp. date .

SiKnature

Mail to: .MiLTiirrose Software, Inc.

18i:> L.ikLlrenl Drivo • Hunt Volley, \1D 21infl-224n

n>M.['C/T.injv/ ti'inj',ilibK*>. 3Sn min requirt'd -frtOK nun, exp,3nd<.'ii nwniory. I .ir \ r,,\ oniv .'KcImsc da<c subject lo ctiangf. Offer expires 12/1/92.

lei _ . . Matyfand 25030-2246

O 1992 M(C(OP;ose Soriwate, inc Alt SIGHTS RESERVED.

G17

J

circle Reader Service Number 205

TIPS & TOOLS

Edited by Richard C. Leinecker

Overwrite deleted files, hide your

mouse away, and edit your batch

files created with COPY CON.

Secure Deletes

It's easy to delete a file from your hard disk, but it's not al- ways easy to make sure it's no longer readable. There are plenty of utilities that recover erased files. And once that's done, in most cases, the file is as good as new.

The solution is to destroy any information contained in the file before deleting it. I wrote a special program called Cfeandel that zeroes all data in a file before delet- ing it. Even if it's unerased with a disk utility, it won't con- tain any useful information (ex- cept the information that some clever person zeroed the data before deleting the file).

You can type in Cleandel us- ing the DOS DEBUG com- mand. Make sure the DOS pro- gram called DEBUG is in your path or the current directory In these examples, the italic text is what the computer prints; the roman text is what you should type. One way to be sure you get these pro- grams exactly right is to have someone read the numbers to you as you type them in. An- other way suggested by one of our readers is to read the numbers into a tape recorder and then play them back as you enter the program code.

DEBUG CLEANDEL.COM File not lound -e 100 8c c8 Be cO be 80 '6 1 08 0a cO 74 5f ac 3c -e 110 5a 3c 20 74 t7 8b -e 116 ac 3c Od 74 04 3c -e120(7 c6 44 ff 00 8b -e128 6f 01 2b cO bg 00 -e130ab b8 02 3d cd 21 -e 138 2b c9 8b d1 b8 02 -e 140 21 8b f2 8b 18 2b -e 148 !t1 b8 00 42 cd 21 -e 150 01 b9 00 02 b4 40 -e 158 81 ef 00 02 83 de -e160ed b4 3e cd 21 8b -el 68 41 cd 21 b4 4c cd -RCX CX 0000 ;6f

-W

Writing 0B6f bytes

-Q

If you have the Checksum pro- gram from the July 1992 is- sue, you can easily check your typing. Type CHECK- SUM CLEANDEL.COM. and if you have typed the file in cor- rectly, 224 will appear.

To use it, just type the com- mand with a filename as a pa- rameter: CLEANDEL file- name. It ignores system or hidden files.

RICHARD C. LEINECKER MIAMI, FL

Hide Your Mouse

You're getting ready to run a program that you love, but the mouse support is weak, and you'd rather not have an active mouse when it runs. You could edit your startup files and reboot. Or you could run the following pro- grams, Hidemse and Show- mse. Hidemse disables your mouse driver. Any program that runs after Hidemse won't know you have a mouse {with the possible exception of Win- dows or other programs that have their own mouse driv- ers). After you're done and want your mouse restored, you just type SHOWMSE.

These programs also use the DOS DEBUG command.

00 ac
0d74	DEBUG HIDEMSE.COM
dG 4a	File not found
20 75	-elOOOc c8 8e dS 2b cO Be cD
ea bf	-elOSbf cc 00 26 8b 05 a3 50
01 f3	-6110 01 26 8b 45 02 a3 52 01
8b dS	-6118 26 8b 45 04 26 B9 OS 26
42 cd	-6120 8b 45 06 26 89 45 02 ba
cO Bb	-6 128 46 01 b4 3c 2b c9 cd 21
ba 61	-6 130 72 10 8b d8 ha 50 01 b9
cd 21	-6 138 04 00 b4 40 cd 21 b4 3e
00 73	-e140cd 21 b4 4c cd 21 4d 56
d5 b4	-6148 00
21	-RCX
	CX 0000
	:49
	-W

46 COMPUTE SEPTEMBER 1992

Writing 0049 bytes -Q

The checksum for this pro- gram is 126.

DEBUG SH0WMSE.COM

File not lound

-6 100 8c c8 8e d8 ba 34 01 b8

-elOeOO 3d cd 21 72 22 8b d8

-e1iaba 3e 01 b9 04 00 b4 3f

-e118cd 21 b4 3e cd 21 2b cO

-6 120 88 cO a1 3b 01 26 a3 cc

-e 128 00 a1 40 01 26 a3 ce 00

-e130b4 4c cd 21 4d 56 00

-RCX

CX 0000

:37

-W

Writing 0037 bytes

-Q

The checksum for this pro- gram is 97.

RICHARD C. LEINECKER MIAMI, FL

COPY CON Corrections

One of the easiest ways to write short batch files is with DOS's COPY CON capability To use it, just type COPY CON filename. Type the lines of your batch file, press F6, and then press Enter. The batch file will be saved to disk. This can be a lot easier than loading a word proces- sor or text editor.

One problem you might en- counter is getting to the end of a line and realizing that you've made a mistake to- ward the beginning of the line. You can backspace to the beginning of the line and retype v/hat you've done, but that's a hassle; now you have a choice.

If you'd like to change the line you're currently editing but don't want to entirely re- type it, press the F5 key. That'll place you on the next line. Press the right-arrow key until you're at the point that needs correcting. (Each time you press the right-arrow key,

monsters, sd|es

^'"''^Ipiots

-IVAnjiHlEATi

,^ ■ 1.

■/^

/ ■ X

..x^'

l^Z

■■""'""'•'".„,.-,

u or prosper;

,voureve5«"*'

Circle Reader Service Nuorti^J^ '.•'^•^•C'.-

>«"«Wv*,v.

l'-l-»-.1

TIPS & TOOLS

Substitute DOSKEY

scripts for batch

(ites, get more lines

on your screen,

and write beefier

batcti fiies.

48

another character of the pre- vious line will appear.) After typing the corrections, you can press the right-arrow key until you're at the end of the characters of the corrected line. Then you can proceed with creating the file.

WADE PORTER WORLAND. WY

Diskless Baftli Files

Before DOS 5.0, you could add commands by creating batch files that performed use- ful tasks and putting them somewhere in your path. The drawback was that they all oc- cupied at least one cluster. Small hard drives usually allo- cate 2K per cluster; larger ones usually allocate 4K. That's a high price to pay for a small batch file.

DOS 5,0 includes a special utility called DOSKEY. It has the ability to define simple com- mands that were previously car- ried out by small batch files. Such a command is limited to a single line, but in many cas- es that's all you need.

f^ake sure DOSKEY is be- ing loaded in. Check your AU- TOEXEC. BAT file, and if you don't see a line that says DOS- KEY, add it. Then define your macro commands like this.

doskey da=ecfia y I del a:*.* doskey db^echo y I del b:*.* doskey qform^format a:/t)/tJ

doskey tap=cd\ doskey gogames=cd NmystuflNgames

The first two commands are very dangerous because they will clear a disk of all the files in the current directory without asking for confirma- tion. Only enter them if you are sure you will never use them in error. You can change the DOSKEY list any- time you want just by typing in a new DOSKEY entry,

GREG SOMMERVILLE CHICAGO, IL

COMPUTE SEPTEMBER 1992

More Lines

If you have a VGA monitor, DOS 4.0 or above, and AN- SI.SYS installed, you can in- crease the number of lines dis- played by using the MODE command. Type MODE CON UNES=X where X is 25, 43, or 50. This is especially handy when you're viewing files from the DOS prompt. The additional lines might ena- ble you to see an entire large file in a single screen.

BEN SEREBRIN LAKELAND, FL

Batch File Hints

Here are several tips for writ- ing batch files.

If you'd like to display the date or time but don't want peo- ple to have to press Enter to go on, here's what to do. Type COPY CON ENTER and press Enter, Press Enter, F6, and En- ter, You've just created a file named Enter. This file can be redirected into DOS com- mands that need Enter before proceeding. The following two lines show the time and date from a batch file and don't wait for a keypress.

time < enter date < enter

You can copy or delete groups of files with a simple batch file that uses the FOR command. Here are two exam- ples that copy and delete groups of files. The first is COPYGRPS.BAT

echo off

If "%1"=="" goto usage

If "%Z"=="" goto usage

lor %%r in ( %2 %3 %4 %5 %6

%7 %8 %9 ) do copy %%r %1 goto end :usage echo To use this batcti file, type

copygrps followed by the echo destination and the groups

you want to copy, echo For example, to copy all of

the EXE and COM files to echo the directory

c:\work\fiackup, you'd type echo copygrps c:\worl^backup

*.exe '.corn, :end

The second example is KILL- GRPS.BAT.

echo off

if "%l"=:z:"" goto usage

for %%r In ( %1 %2 %3 %4 %5

%6 %7 %8 %9 ) do del %%r goto end :usage echo To use this batch file, type

killgrps followed by the echo groups you want to delete.

For example, to delete all echo of the EXE and COM files,

you'd type killgrps *.exB *.com. :end

Several of you have written batch files to change configu- rations. Then, you need to re- boot before they become ac- tive. You can write a special batch file that reboots for you. Here's REBOOTBAT

goto begin

res ffff rip 0000

g

:begin

debug < reboot.bat

RICHARD C. LEINECKER MIAMI. FL

If you have an interesting tip that you thinl< would tielp otii- er PC users, send it along with your name, address, and Social Security number to COMPUTE'S Tips & Tools. 324 West Wendover Avenue. Suite 200, Greensboro, North Carolina 27408. For each tip we publish, we 'II pay you $25- / $50 and send you a COM- PUTE'S PC clock radio while supplies last a

Select any 5 books for $^95

(Values

up to $169.75)

if Windows.

I — The Complete Reference =

SECOND EDITION

BSI747-XX S29.99 Counls as 2/Sollcover

3823 S29.95

ei654-xx s:9.9S

As a member of The Computer Book Club . . .

, . .you'll en|oy receiving Club bulletins every 3-4 weeks containing exciting oflers on the latest books in the lield at savings oi up to 50% off of regular publishers" prices. II you want the Mam Selection do nothing and it will be shipped automatically. If you want another book, or no book at all, simply return the reply form to us by the date specified. You'll have at least 10 days to decide, and if you ever receive a book you don't want, due to late mail delivery of the Bulletin, you can return it at our expense. Your only obligation is to purchase 3 more books during the next 2 years, after which you may cancel your membership at any time. If coupon 19 missing, write to: The Computer Book Glut}, Blue Hidge Summll, PA 17294-0820 ■? 1992 CBC

^ Special Book/Disk Offers ^

MS-DOS i'..Virii FlLi-

;or,i<A.\iMiX(;

aO'ie-XX S36.95 Cojnts 33 2

391S'XX $36.3S Counts .IS 2

36t7P.XX S29.9&

Courkts as. a'Sc!;ccvL'-

"' Blue Ridge Summit, PA 17294-0820

YES! Please rush me the books indicated below for just 34.95 plus ship- ping/handling and applicable sales tax. Enroll me as a member of The Computer Book Club according to the terms outlined in this ad. If not satisfied I may return the books within 10 days without obligation and my membership will be cancelled. A shipping/handling charge S tax will be added to each order.

f you selBCI a bcxjk that counls as 2 choices, write the book numbei in one box and XX in Ihe next

Name

Address

CityyStale

. Phone

L

Offer valid for new members only, subject to acceplance by CBC- Canada raiysr remit in U.S funds. Applicants outside tfiE U.S. and Canada will receive special ordering instructions All books are hardcover unless oltierwise noted. Publishers' prices shown. CMPTg92A

Circle Reader Service Number 21 B

HARDWARE CLINIC

Mark Minasi

FONTABCs

Here's how to take

some of the

mystery out of ushig

fonts on the PC.

50 COMPUTE

This month, we'll start looking at fonts on the PC, particularly un- der Windows, as the release of Windows 3.1 with TrueType has reopened a source of per- ennial mystery for a lot of PC us- ers. But before we get started, here's an administrative note.

I'm thankful for the amount of mail that this column gener- ates, and I want to answer all of your questions: Keep 'em coming. But if you need a re- ply, please don't send letters to me or COMPUTE without a self-addressed stamped enve- lope! I'm absolutely swamped at the moment working on two new books (one on OS/2, one on Windows) and a video script. So if I have to hunt around for an envelope and stamp in order to reply, thai let- ter just ends up in the do-lhis- sometime pile. On the other hand, if I can zip off a quick re- ply, drop it in a self-addressed stamped envelope, and post it, I'll get it done quickly. Thanks in advance— now on to the column.

Just a few years ago, no- body worried about fonts. The first professional computer sem- inar I recall doing was in 1982, on the subject of spreadsheets. The class and I worked from a course book consisting of sev- en Xeroxed pages of dot-matrix output. Nowadays, any instruc- tor working from material like that would get lynched. Then, like everybody else, I graduat- ed to laser printers, marveling at the crispness of letter quality (remember that term?) Courier type.

In 1985, really nice-looking stuff starting flowing out of la- ser printers attached to Macin- toshes. For the next few years, anytime I produced at- tractive-looking printouts, peo- ple would ask, "Did you do this on a Mac?" (I always an- swered, "No, I did it on a com- puter." Sorry, Mac guys — I

SEPTEr»/IBER 1992

couldn't resist.)

What was novel in 1985 be- came de rigueur by 1988. Peo- ple started asking when I would "desktop publish" my ma- terials. What they meant was, When will you stop using Cou- rier and go to Times Roman and Helvetica? One vendor sug- gested broadly to me in 1989 that course materials in Courier were too low-class for her com- pany. So in 1988, I changed my materials over to Microsoft Word, seeking Times and Helvetica. It was a nightmare.

Between 1989 and 1991, I struggled with a desktop pub-

ca? Take a look at figure 1, and you'll see the difference.

The words Times Roman are printed in the Times Ro- man typeface. The word type- face refers to how letters are formed. Note that the Helveti- ca lettering is simpler. The Times Roman lettering has lit- tle swishes called serifs at the edges of its letters (see figure 2). Helvetica doesn't, and it's called a sans-serif typeface for that reason.

Why are there different type- faces? Type designers are art- ists, and people who work with printed media know that

Figure 1

Times Roman

Helvetica

Figure 2

/.

serifs'

lishing system based on a mainframe language called GMLVScript. I still like it, but sad- ly, it's not supported on PCs anymore, so I was forced to switch. Then, fortuitously, Win- dows 3.0 came along, Now I use Ami Pro 2.0 and like it, ex- cept for its fatal flaw. Once you've gotten a document to look really nice, there's no way to reuse that document in an- other document, short of re- creating it. Because of all the systems I've used, I've ended up buying and rebuying fonts for every system. What I want to do here is make sure that you don't have to buy and re- buy.

Let's start off here with some basics. What, exactly, are Times Roman and Helveti-

a different typeface gives a dif- ferent mood to the printed page. Take, for instance. Times Roman. It's very legible and unobtrusive. You don't look at the printed page and say, "My, that's an interesting typeface." You just see the same old typeface that you've been looking at since you first read a newspaper.

Times Roman was devel- oped in 1929 by Stanley Mori- son and Victor Lardent for the Times of London newspaper. It gets its name from ttie fact that it was developed for the Times, and it's a roman face. Here, roman just means that it's not italic or boldface, so Times Roman is just the nor- mal text face used by the Times of London.

BUKD YOUR OWN AIRLINE!

_~^

• Develop youi own ^obal route network

Air Bucks is your chance to build an airline- it won't be easy, butifyoumakeittbeTewaids&re huge! Start with $100,000 and a DC3 in 1946, at the start of tbe air travel boom, Decide wbicbplaces to fly to, where to use as a bub, when to buy new planes and which ones to buy. New planes become available over lime, {rom a DC9 to Boeing's 747!But beware just because a plane is new does not mean it is right for you. You must also find tbe cash to pay for it; and planes don't come cheap! You are sure to need tbe help of yourfriendlybanksoonerorlater, or even to sell shares!

• Yoa can even set the luxury level on your fleet


	• Buy the l«te«t plaDes as new lecbnology becomei avulible.

• There's money to be nude in cor^ w well u puMiger flints.

■t-Ul'l'll!.,.HI f=

1

p

n?

• You deckle bow to fit out lU yaw

lto4 players (human or

computer)

Sophisticated economic

model

World map can change

every game.

Fleet size larger than you're likely to ever need!

Detailed Graph Chart and reprints

Hi-Resolution Graphics supported (IBM PC).

Easy to use point !d' dick interface.

;^->V:..J»4'

u.^^^\

ijia.g-^-^'1

• Will yoa beat your rivals to this and oilier taigetB.

YOURRUNWAY TO SUCCESS!

Impressions

Comadtted to Excellence m Strategy EnteTtainment

CIrcIa RMdw Sarvlca Numbw 188

HARDWARE CLINIC

When unveiling the new typeface, the 7/mes dubbed it Times New Roman. The A/ewis often dropped because one of the first versions available was of- fered by Linotype, which dropped New from the name. The version of Times Ro- man shipped with Windows 3.1 in- cludes New in its name. Times first saw print in 1932 and was used by the Times until November of 1991, when the newspaper replaced Times New Ro- man with a newly designed type called Times Millennium, As it turns out. Times Roman's popularity was its downfall in the eyes of its creators; The Times didn't want to look like everyone else, so the newspaper chose a slightly dif- ferent image.

Depending on whom you read, either Times or Helvetica is the best-selling and most used typeface in the world. Helvetica was born in 1957 to two found- ing fathers, Max Miedinger and

Edouard Hoffman, both designers for the Haas Typefoundry in Switzerland. Its original name was New Haas Gro- tesk, where Grotesk refers to an early term for sans-serif typefaces — gro- tesque. They were called that because, believe it or not, the whole idea of a sans-sehf typeface seemed ugly at the time (the early nineteenth century). Some printers in England still use the term grotesque instead of sans-serif. A Helvetica ships with Windows 3.1, but its name is Ariel.

When selecting a particular type of text to print your document in, you'll no doubt come up against a confusing item: typeface versus font. Since the ad- vent of laser printers brought typefac- es Id the PC world, most people have agreed that Times Roman isn't a font; it's a typeface. A font is Times Roman in a particular size, weight (is it bold or not?), and slant (is it italic or not?).

Thus, we generally don't say that Times Roman is a font, but rather that Times Roman in the normal roman face and 12-point size is a font. (Discussion of size, or points, will be coming right up.)

'/ou may recall that I discussed some of this a few months back, when I showed you how to make a LaserJet use a particular font. Why bring it up now? Because this terminology doesn't get used in the same way in the Win- dows world. There, if you open a dialog box controlling your printout's typeface, you'll see a list box containing all of your typefaces (Times Roman, Helveti- ca, or whatever), and the iist box will be labeled Fonts. For whatever reason, the folks at Microsoft have thrown us a bit of a curve, so when someone uses the word font, it can't hurt to double-check to find out what is meant. When 1 use forjt'm this column, I mean a particular

Links t386 Rivaled only

This all new LINKS 386 Pro version of our award-winning LINKS golf game offers many dramatic improvements that make playing LINKS 386 Pro more enjoyable - and gives you exciting new golfing possibilities.'

Super VGA Graphics and 386 Power!

The new LINKS 386 Pro. featuring Harbour Town Golf Links, is the first golf game specifically designed for the graphic capabilties and computing power of your personal 386/486 computer system. SUPER VGA2.i6-color graphics at 640x400 resolution display brealhtaking views of LINKS Championship Courses. Your friends won't believe that your computer looks so good!

.4 lot of listening went into LINKS 386 Pro.

Many of the new features and improvements were added in response to direct requests from LfNKS users like you! An exciting new feature is our Unique Computer Opponent. Play a round of golf and save your game. The new LINKS 386 Pro recorded every shot you made. Send your game off to your buddy atid he ciui play against you right on the screen, shot for shot, as if you were right there next lo him! We've also included pre-recorded games from worthy opponents, statistics, a variety of game play modes and much, much more.

()n>r345 combinations of Viewing Windows.

With the new LINKS 386 Pro you're not stuck with just one standard viewing window. With a few clicks of your mouse you can split the screen giving you a real-time reverse view of your shot lo

the green or add a scaleable top-view that displays the flight of your ball. Scorecard. club distance chart, terrain profile and other panels give you the flexibility |^-, to display what you want to view while playing and you can change your viewing setup ai anytime!

Circle Reader Service Number 227

Texturing (if fain^'iiys. rough, yarid. and other '^ surfaces adth un K'.xtra level of rctilism.

Mult' a/Ill ffimi/i- t^olfer.'i.

You can use any (if the 7 e.xistht^ U^'KS ((ftir.'^e.'i or up}iruife yaw favorite cour.u- to tfif Super VC'l version.

SOFTWARE INCORPORATED

4910 W. Ameha Earharl Dr.- SLC. UT 84116 (BOIjeOU3S9-2900- FAX (801)596-9128

ACTUAL SCREEN CAPTURES

combination of typeface, stroke weigfit, stroke slant, and size. I use type- face to refer to a particular type design, such as Helvetica or Times.

You're familiar now with what type- face means, but how about the other font-selection terms? Stroke weigt}t\s an- other important descriptor of a font. Strict- ly speaking, most typefaces offer only two weights: normai roman and bold. But others may offer varying degrees of weight; when you see extra bold, don't smile. Some font vendors also offer font packages with a light weight in ad- dition to a bold and normal. Stroke slant refers to whether or not the type- face is italic. It's important to under- stand that you must actually have the italic or bold versions of a typeface in order to use italic or bold attributes. The computer can't just lean the letters over to create italic; the italic version of the face must be designed separately

from its roman version. The same goes for bold. In fact, the bold versions of type- faces can look quite different from the normal roman faces.

Last on the list of font descriptors is point size. It refers to the height of the font; a point is a unit of measurement equal to V72 inch. By default, most word processors print in 10-point text. You may want to change that, depending on your audience. It's a little tough for far- sighted people to read 10-point type, and there are more and more of these peopie around, as the population is ag- ing. You'll find that 12-point type is con- siderably easier on the eyes, particularly if you're creating text that will be read by someone over, say, 35. I print my course books out in 12-point type and get positive comments about it all the time.

While we're on the subject of reada- bility, let me make one more point

about making text readable. Text lines that are squeezed too close together are a real challenge to read. If possible, open up the space between your text lines. The term for this is leading (pro- nounced so that it rhymes with bed- ding). Printers refer to it in combination with the text point size, as in a set of instructions to set something in 10 on 12 Helvetica, for example. This means to use Helvetica in a 10-point size with a total line height of 12 points — so there are 2 points left over for leading. Leading is vitally related to readability. Here's a leading tip you'll find useful. Most word-processing and desktop pub- lishing programs don't set leading cor- rectly, so don't trust the line spacing. Ami Pro, for instance, prints 12-point Palatine way too close together, a fea- ture I didn't notice until after I'd printed out my 200-page Windows manual and gotten copies made at the printer. 3

by the game itsel

Improved s^vinti indk'ttkir hi dlltfii for more ticcwtjii' pulling.

Satisfaction G uaranteed

We olTer free uniimiied lechnical support by plione. And if \'ou're not coiTiplctcly satisfied, you can return LINKS 386 Pro u ilhin 30 days for a full refund - no questions asked. So you've got nothing to lose, but so much coifing enjoymeni to gain. Try it out!

1-800-800-4880

24 hour Order FAX# (801)S96-9I28

Call loll-free. 2-i hinirs a day. 7 tinys a week. US. and Camdii or visit your local software dealer.

LtNKs686

Renl'tinif split screen views of your shot. Great for making your approach .^hol to the green.

New Features for Link.s 3S6 Pro!

•Seven diffrrcm v}cwmj> windows, with over 345 differciii iiimhiiialioiis. • Itiipivvcd cliih .seliriionfeaittrc. • Wide, panoramk viewn aivittg you a hvcr feel ftir the riwrse. • Slalislici recorded for each player, game ami eoiir.u: wilh uptiimal prim out. • .4 "Saved Shot" fciilitn: • Scalcohte " Top \ 'iew" . ' "Prnfde View" wliicli show.i cimiii'es in elcvaliim hclwecii the hall and llie pin. • Alt new .wiinds! Siippori.'^ SoiindBlamcr, SoimdBlasicr Pro, Adiib and other amtputibk sound cards & RealSoimd. • Improved swin^ indicator for mine radistk ptitlinf;. • Male or female jiiilfers. with 10 differeni shirt colors In choose from. • Speclucular te.xtiirint; offairiyays. rout^h. sand, wtiler not offered in other golf games.

YSS! I'm a rcEislored owner of LINKS and I warn to order my LINKS 3S6 Pro featuring Harbour Town for the introductor)' price of S39.95 including shipping in US and Canada. (If you own LINKS and haven't registered, mail or FAX us a eopy of the inside front cover of your LINKS manual along with your check or credit card inl'omiation.) Offer expires December 31. 1992.

UT & MN residents add sates tax. International shipping extra.

Egiii/f/iicn! required:

PC wilh .1X6 SX/16MH/. CPU or better. • 2 MB of memory- (K.\\\) • Hard disk drive with i} MB free. iLinks IKd Fro requires .^ MB and temporary playing files use up to 8 MB) • Mouse • Super VGA video card and monitor capable of 640x400 or 640x480 resolution in 256 colors.

' Yes ! Send mc the new LINKS 3S6 Pro wilh Harbour Town for the IB.M 386/4S6 computer for just S69.9.'i. If I'm not completely saiisfied. I can return it for a full refund. FREE air shipping wilhin ihe U.S.

Name

Address

C i ty State Zip

Day Phone

n Check enclosed Om cod or purcliiiM; ortkn)

□ Visa □ MasterCard □ American Expres,s

Card*

Exp. Date

Signature

Mail to: Access Software, Inc

49 10 \V. Amelia Earhart Dr. Sail Lake City. UT 84 116

ON DISK

Tony Roberts

Qfind [s a

fast and versatile

file-searcli

utility tor Windows

and 00$.

DOING THE IMPOSSIBLE

This issue, COIVlPUTE's PC Disl< lets you do tine impossi- ble. How would you like a con- figuration menu that lets you se- lect drivers on boot-up? May- be you want the data that's heading for LPT1 to end up on LPT2? Wouldn't it be conven- ient to pluck an address right off the screen and plop it down on an envelope?

Read on. This issue's disk has all of that, plus a quick file- find utility and a bonus Win-

i!JJS.i"9E!xl.

Cnnfrat Panel

III J^

9

tMs^		^^^^■l	-
1 MliJ
CpttodlaJai	fiM««ptUai	WlAidu^M	Wnlwadtlni	VWnfchiriM.li>i
lOhvUtl	AnicUni	ftuti-lm	CHp^t	CnBUnlM
	llfl»i\|rp.lrtl	Envriapctnl	l^tel.lra	rp/In.tnl
		KDfdtollHil	Pi.lnl
PraDin«n.\|nl		Otftuhdo.lni	nvtttlt«.Ifll	StdeisJnl
	Iyjie»lsi«.!n'		WlnJrrf	WiDdadrJnl
>Arnfc?JnS	Wulllc-Jsi	WlfiglLN
'.\ftiHifS!^j\iJi'iil\\
UiS	ItfllVlol
r.-v,vt?fiV3ra?i
Wfti^ttf^hl
JTtLEGACit
Fcsnb«r.lil
y.-^iVii(iU[

:W3i\
GHiJnJ

dows clock program.

Anyone who's gone be- yond the casual-user stage has wished for an easy way to store and select multiple con- figurations for the computer.

Randy Armstrong has ap- proached the problem differ- ently with his program, Multi- Config. With MultiConfig, all your configuration options re- side in your normal AUTOEX- EC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files. The solution is selective execution.

MultiConfig

Upon boot-up, MultiConfig of- fers you a menu of possible configurations. Select one of the offerings, and the appropri- ate drivers are loaded. If you like, you can specify a default configuration that will automat- ically be used if you make no

54 COMPUTE SEPTEMBER 1992

selection within a short period of time. Finally, for maximum control, you can have your CONFIG.SYS create an envi- ronment variable that can be accessed by your AUTOEX- EC.BAT file.

Armstrong created the pro- gram to assist in the develop- ment and testing of a variety of drivers. With MultiConfig, he says, he could always ac- cess a safe configuration if one of the drivers under devel- opment locked up the sys- tem. MultiConfig makes it easy to keep separate setups for DOS, f^icrosoft Windows, games, or disk defragging.

MultiConfig, made availa- ble as share- ware, carries a registration fee of $15.

Qfind

Qfind is a hard disk file-search utility that's both fast and versatile. Pro- grammer Jim Bell knew he needed a solu- tion when he found himself repeatedly trying to track down files on his two hard drives and eight network drives. Traditional file-search utilities were too time-consum- ing to use in such a complex environment.

It is inefficient to have the system rebuild entire directo- ries with every search, when very few of the files have actu- ally changed location. Qfind builds file directories only up- on request. Subsequent searches reference the data file created by the build mod- ule. An occasional rebuilding of the master directory is ail it takes to allow the Qfind search modules to do their work in a flash.

Qfbuild, which creates the master directories, is a DOS

application, but Bell provides both DOS and Windows inter- faces for the search module. The program can catalog sin- gle drives or combinations of drives. In addition, Qfind can catalog the files that are in ZIP and ARC files.

Qfind is shareware with a $10 registration fee.

SetEnv

SetEnv is a handy utility that permits you to change the con- tents of environment variables without retyping long strings or rebooting. This program is especially helpful in making quick, temporary modifica- tions to the PATH variable, which is exactly why program- mer Brian Nash created it,

SetEnv is quick and easy to use, with all the documen- tation you need included on the program's help screens.

SetEnv is freeware.

instantADDRESS

Here's a program to help brush away the envelope-ad- dressing blues. instantAD- DRESS lets you lasso an ad- dress on your computer screen and send it to your printer.

instantADDRESS is a TSR program that uses a meager 5.5K of memory. When you press its hot key it scans the screen and puts a frame around the first likely address it finds. You can either move the frame to another address, resize the frame, or press En- ter to send the address to the printer

The program works with dot-matrix and laser printers and, for maximum customiza- tion, allows printer setup strings to be sent to the print- er both before and after the ad- dress is delivered. instantAD- DRESS will only work with DOS text mode software.

Kai Laurinolli's instantAD- DRESS is shareware with a $20 registration fee.

SetEnv

instantADDRESS

Prindir

WinClock

Prindir

Prindir is memory-resident printer redirection software. The program allows you to re- direct output destined for one port to any other printer or communications port. Output also can be redirected to the screen or a file.

Prindir, a creation of fvli- chael A, Hotz, can be in-

stalled in conventional, ex- panded, or extended memo- ry. The program includes an in- visible mode that allows it to re- main in memory even when redirection is not desired.

The program is made avail- able as shareware with a $20 registration fee.

VPRIMT

VPRINT is a virtual printing util- ity created by David Whit- man. This utility captures print- er output in disk files, which can be viewed or printed out later. It can be used effective- ly with software that doesn't in- clude options for printing to disk. Instructions are included for using the utility under GEOS.

VPRINT can intercept the output to LPT and COfvl ports, and can actively moni- tor more than one port at a time. The program also in- cludes a filtering option that permits you to screen out car- riage returns or linefeeds.

VPRINT is shareware with a $20 registration fee.

WinClock

If anyone pops into your of- fice and starts singing 'Does anybody really know what time it is?', you won't be stuck for an answer with Win- Clock on your system.

First and foremost, Win- Ciock is a digital clock that can be positioned anywhere on your Windows display, but the program is more than just a timekeeper. WinClock also in- cludes an alarm system which can be programmed minutes or months in ad- vance to remind you of impor- tant appointments or events. At alarm time, you can have WinClock either sound an alarm, flash a message on- screen, or even run a speci- fied program.

David Feinleib's WinClock is shareware and carries a $15 registration fee. D

FOR SINGLE DISKS

YES! I want to power up my PC. Send me this issue's COMPUTE'S PC Disk. I'll pay S9.95 for each 5Vj-inch or 3V2-inch disk plus $2.00 shipping and handling per disk.

Please indicate how many disks of each formal you'd like:

S'/J-inch disks at $9.95 each

3V2-inch disks at $9,95 each

Subtotal

Sales tax (Residents of NC and NY, please add appropriate

sales tax for your area. Canadian orders, add 7% goods and

services tax.) Shipping and handling (S2.00 U.S. and Canada, $3.00

surface mail, $5.00 airmail per disk) Total enclosed

Send your order to

COtylPUTE's PC Disk

324 W. Wendover Ave., Sle, 200

Greensboro, NC 27408

SUBSCRIPTIONS

I want to save even more! Start my one-year magazine and disk sub- scription to COIvlPUTE's PC right away.

S'/n-inch $49.95 per year

3V2-inch $49.95 per year

For delivery outside the U.S. or Canada, add $10.00 for postage and handling.

Name.

Address .

Cily

State/Province ,

ZIP/PostalC3de. Total Enclosed _

Check or money order .

fulasterCard

VISA

Credit Card No, Expiration Date. Signature

(ReQuLfed)

Daytime Telephone No.

Send your order to

COf^PUTE's PC Disk PO. Box 3244 Harlan, lA 51539-2424

All orders must be paid in U.S. funds by check drawn on a U.S. bank or by mon- ey order. MasierCard or VISA accepted lor orders over S20. TTils otter will be </