288 lines
14 KiB
Plaintext
288 lines
14 KiB
Plaintext
RAndY's RumOR RaG
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September 1992
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NEWS IN YER FACE
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Microsoft has finally released their Windows 3.1/DOS 5 bundle
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which includes a one-step setup procedure. Suggested list price is
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$199.95.
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And speaking of bundles, it's rumored that Microsoft is
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considering adding Access (the home-grown database) to its Office
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suite. Lotus is rumored to be prepared to counter with a database
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in SmartSuite (Acefile?).
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By the end of Microsoft's fiscal fourth quarter, they claim to
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have shipped more than 3 million retail copies of Windows 3.1.
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I hear that Microsoft is working on a Windows 3.1 "lite" that
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could run decently on 286 systems. The reason behind this much
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denied product is so that Microsoft could penetrate non-US markets
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where 286-based computers are plentiful (Spain, for example).
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Word has it that Computer Associates and Micrografx are both
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looking at buying out Software Publishing.
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Apple Computer Inc. will include direct access to Kodak Photo
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CD systems in the next version of QuickTime. While the Photo CD
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imaging currently requires a workstation, by mid-1993 Kodak hopes
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to bring the capability to the desktop using the Macintosh.
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You've no doubt read about Wang filing Chapter 11. My only
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question is why did it take so long?
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Here is a partial list of their creditors and the amounts
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owed, just in case you were wondering:
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IBM Credit $2.7M
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Microsoft $2.1M
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Seagate $2.1M
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Hewlett-Packard$1.9M
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Panasonic $1M
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Intel $992.8K
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Canon USA $770.9K
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Hewlett-Packard is introducing a product called Dashboard for
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Windows. It's designed like a car's dashboard and gives users
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precision control over the Windows desktop.
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Borland is working on getting a surprise upgrade to dBase IV
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1.5 out the door this fall. Meanwhile, don't expect to see dBase
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for Windows before June 1993.
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Novell has introduced an enhanced version of NetWare Lite and
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will bundle it with DR DOS.
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Demand for the Cyrix 486 chips is far exceeding demand. Once
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Cyrix's second source agreement with Texas Instruments kicks in
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later this month, more product should be available.
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By the time you read this, Intel should have announced the
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66MHZ 486DX2 processor. This is the high-end speed doubler and
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Intel hopes to ship 20,000 initially. Volume shipments are not
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expected until September. A number of major hardware vendors have
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lined up to support the new chip. Running Windows, it is expected
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you'll see a 30% improvement over a 486DX-50.
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Recently, the HST Dual Standard modem was shrunk to fit in a
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smaller case. Now, they've added faxing capabilities. If you own
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a Dual Standard, call US Robotics Customer Service for information
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on how to upgrade. Basically, you send your modem in and they send
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you a new one - oh yeah, it costs $299 (depending upon the vintage
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of your old modem). Seems kinda pricey when I can buy a plain fax
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card for less than half that. I'll have to think about it.
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Things may heat up when Borland gets more into Windows
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applications. Borland lacks a word processor to bundle in a
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package (like Office and SmartSuite), but there is speculation that
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they may offer a DOS version of Quattro Pro with the Windows
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version, calling it a "transition pack". A source close to Borland
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said, "that's vintage Philippe because it would tick everyone off."
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MULTI-TECH FIGHTS HAYES
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You've probably seen advertisements in the magazines
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concerning Hayes' Test Kit which checks to see if your modem uses
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proper escape sequences (some don't). Basically, you transfer a
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test file and if it aborts, your modem has a problem with escape
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sequences.
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On July 29, Hayes received an order from a Minneapolis court
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in response to claims by Multi-Tech that Hayes' recent campaign and
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the related Test Kit are causing Multi-Tech to lose sales. Multi-
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Tech claims that if a modem is set to recognize the TIES escape
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sequence, the data file contained in the Test Kit will cause the
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modem to escape into command mode, the transmission of the data
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file will stop, and the computer user will think that the modem is
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fatally flawed. Hayes was surprised to learn that Multi-Tech had
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abandoned the proven, reliable escape sequence technology that has
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become a "Hayes" standard.
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The court refused to stop Hayes advertisements, but issued a
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ten-day order stopping distribution of the Test Kit.
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WORDPERFECT NEWS
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Last month I reported on the new DrawPerfect packages that are
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in the works. Now they've changed the name, and Drawperfect will
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be called WordPerfect Presentations. They're now saying that the
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DOS version will be released in early 4th quarter of 1992 and the
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Windows version will be released later in the 4th quarter. One of
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the features I just noticed is banner printing (might be for
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networks though). The product will support 20 popular sound cards,
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contain over 100 MIDI files of music clips, and lets you record and
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playback both WAV and VOC files.
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The DOS English-Canada version of WordPerfect 5.1 is now
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shipping an interim release dated 3/9/92. It corrects some minor
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problems with the software and includes a new macro.
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Expect to see the debut of WordPerfect 6.0 for DOS at Fall
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Comdex. I don't know anything about features, but officials say
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that a beta version may be available by then. I wouldn't be
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surprised to see them do like Microsoft did with Word and produce
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a DOS word processor that looks like the Windows version.
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BORLAND NEWS
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The ship date for Quattro Pro for Windows has slipped by
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several more weeks. Borland denies that the removal of the lotus
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slash-key interface was to blame. (Borland removed the Lotus-like
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segments following the recent court ruling that Quattro Pro for DOS
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infringed on Lotus' copyrighted menu command structures.) Borland
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insiders say that this ruling may get the product out faster since
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the 1-2-3 compatibility would be removed and not require testing.
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They also claimed that the 1-2-3 compatibility layer was removed
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because it was "obsolete" and "no longer needed . . . because users
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are used to a graphical interface." Another problem is pulling all
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references to the 1-2-3 interface from the documentation.
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I'm glad that Borland's not bitter over this court decision.
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Said Spencer Leyton, senior vice president of business development
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for Borland, "If Lotus had an operating system, my bet is they
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wouldn't want anybody to support it."
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Beta testers continue to say that some features of Quattro Pro
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for Windows are superior to Excel 4.0.
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By the time you read this, Paradox 4.0 (DOS) should be on the
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shelves. Support for multimedia objects, event trapping, faster
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query performance, and extended PAL commands are among things to
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look forward to.
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VENTURA UPDATE
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I tried the Ventura for Windows 4.0.1 update. This update is
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supposed to fix some problems in the initial release and speed
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loading of the program. It now takes longer to load than before!
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First I tried loading one of the example files and it locked up the
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computer. Next I reloaded the program (after rebooting) and it
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locked up before the program was loaded. Third - DEL *.*
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Why did Ventura Publisher for Windows ship with a version of
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ATM that will not work under Windows 3.1?
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MS GOLF FOR WINDOWS
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I haven't played golf since about 1971 - and don't intend to
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begin in the near future. I've played golf on computers, but the
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realism has been lacking.
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Microsoft's new golf game for Windows is definitely something
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new. The game features photo-realistic backgrounds in 256-color
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VGA. While they're not full of detail, the effect is excellent.
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If that's not enough, there are about two dozen WAV files
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containing sounds of the club hitting the ball, the ball going in
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the cup, hitting a tree, going in the water, birds, frogs, you name
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it. These sound effects work best with a sound card, but most can
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be played without one through a specially designed driver for your
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PC speaker.
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You can play with up to eight partners and the options for
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setting up your shots are plentiful. Before playing a round, you
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can practice at the driving range or on the putting and chipping
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greens. At the end of the game, you can even print out your
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scorecard.
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My favorite feature is that the game allows "mulligans" (take
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another shot without a penalty) and "gimmie's" (counting a putt as
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in when you're close enough to make an easy shot). Additional
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courses are available from Access Software with a wide variety to
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choose from. Included in the package is an offer to purchase a
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special course developed by the folks at Microsoft (only $9.95).
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Suggested price is $65, but street prices will probably be
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about $45.
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NEW IBM DOS?
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IBM is working on a graphical interface for DOS that gives the
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same look and feel of OS/2's Workplace Shell. This new OS/2 "Lite"
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may fit on 3 disks and carries hardware requirements of a 386 with
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2 MB of memory and 10-14MB of disk space.
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This new DOS will be able to run DOS and Windows applications,
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but they've left out HPFS, the mini-apps that come with OS/2, and
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some other extras. IBM is also looking at a version of OS/2 that
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would be completely bootable from a single disk. Don't expect to
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see any of this until sometime in 1993.
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Said one IBM official, "Our goal is to keep DOS small and
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fast." I guess they've got a sense of humor after all.
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MULTIMEDIA UPGRADES
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Have you ever used a CD-ROM equipped computer? If not, then
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you're missing out on plenty.
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Many companies are offering multimedia bundles, usually
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consisting of a sound card, CD-ROM drive, necessary cabling, and an
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assortment of CD software. The pricing of these bundles can be
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quite reasonable.
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My recommendation is to check out the offerings of Media
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Vision. (I think their products are superior to Creative Labs.)
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They offer several different kits at a variety of prices.
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I recently installed a Pro Audio Spectrum Plus Upgrade Kit and
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the procedure was relatively painless. Once the card and drive are
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installed and all the wires connected, it's a simple matter to run
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the enclosed software and reboot.
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I was amazed at the speed of the CD drive. After reading
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countless articles about the slowness of CD drives, I was expecting
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the worst. However, loading a clipart image from the Corel CD
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seemed to take no longer than loading from a hard drive.
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There are lots of software titles being published on CD with
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more being added daily. With CD drive prices coming down, expect
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to see an explosion in this area.
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I find the caddies a nuisance but it looks like everyone uses
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them. (A caddy is a plastic box that houses the CD when you insert
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it into the drive. I'm told that the reduction in moving parts
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makes the drives last longer.)
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With the exception of encyclopedias and some business and
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reference materials, the price of CD software is getting quite
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reasonable. There are plenty of excellent titles available for
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under $100. Expect more of the big companies to be releasing CD
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titles in the near future. Remember, as today's programs get
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larger and larger, distribution on CD doesn't seem such a bad idea
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anymore.
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MICROSOFT SURPRISE
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Microsoft will soon surprise everyone with the October release
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of Windows for Workgroups. This bundle of Intel 16-bit Ethernet
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cards and a special version of Windows was originally scheduled for
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release in 1993.
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Windows for Workgroups contains coaxial Intel EtherExpress 16
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cards bundled with a special version of Windows 3.1 which has
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built-in peer-to-peer functionality, electronic mail, and
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scheduling applications. A good guess for the list price is about
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$500. Expect an upgrade offer from Windows 3.0 or 3.1 in the range
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of $60-$100. Also part of the product is networked DDE capability,
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so you can run DDE applications across several machines
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transparently.
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PRINT SHOP DELUXE
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It's been a couple of years since we saw an update to the
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popular Print Shop program.
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Broderbund is back with a new DOS version which is much more
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flexible in layouts. Included are over 300 graphics covering a
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wide variety of subjects. There are 30 fonts that print out
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without the jagged edges commonly associated with Print Shop.
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The Print Shop Deluxe includes full page designs and borders
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and layouts to help you design whatever you're creating. Graphics
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can be converted to EPS, CGM, PCX, and TIFF for use in other
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programs.
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You now need at least a 386SX to run this program along with
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1 MB of memory, a hard drive, and VGA. Upgrade from an older
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version is $39.95. You may want to wait until October when a
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Windows version is released.
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NEXT MONTH
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Well, I'm still waiting for Sierra On-Line to release Pinball
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for Windows. I've had it on order for months and they keep pushing
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back the ship date. Who knows . . .
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Expect some talk about CD software, in particular Microsoft
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Bookshelf and other popular titles. Other than that, we'll just
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see what happens.
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=================================
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DISCLAIMER
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RAndY's RumOR RaG is published on a monthly basis by AINSWORTH
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COMPUTER SERVICES and is available on various local BBS's, GEnie,
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and America Online as well as in Modem News.
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In case anyone cares, RAndY's RumOR RaG is produced on a DTK
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386-33 with 16 megs of memory, Cyrix Fasmath co-processor, ATI VGA
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Wonder+ card (1 MB), 105 MB Toshiba IDE hard drive, Teac 1.2 MB and
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1.44 MB floppies, Hitachi 3750 CD ROM drive, Sceptre SVGA display,
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Microsoft mouse, WordPerfect for Windows and transmitted through a
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US Robotics HST Dual Standard modem.
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Opinions expressed are those of the author. Comments should
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be addressed to Ainsworth Computer Services on GEnie, America
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Online, phone, analog mail, or whatever method makes you feel good.
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AINSWORTH COMPUTER SERVICES
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605 W. Wishkah
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Aberdeen, WA 98520-6031
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(206) 533-6647
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GEnie Address: RAG
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America Online: RumOR RaG |