   ______                            _   __      __
  / ____/___  ____ ___  ____  __  __/ | / /___  / /____  _____
 / /   / __ \/ __ `__ \/ __ \/ / / /  |/ / __ \/ __/ _ \/ ___/
/ /___/ /_/ / / / / / / /_/ / /_/ / /|  / /_/ / /_/  __(__  )
\____/\____/_/ /_/ /_/ .___/\__,_/_/ |_/\____/\__/\___/____/
                    /_/
                         This Week's Contents:

My Notes:
1) New Format? Sound off!
2) The Winner of our CDROM this Issue is . . .

Columnists' Corner:
1) Doug Reed Shows us a Sneak Peek of a Java Book!

News:
1) IDT Buys Genie!
2) IS Professional's Salary Survey is Out!

Reviews:
1) ABC Graphics Suite by Micrografx
   Reviewed By: Doug Reed <dr2web@sprynet.com>
2) The Corner Drug Store
   Reviewed By: Russell G. Johnston <gray@internext.com>
3) Book: INSIDE LINUX, A Look at Operating System Development
   Reviewed By: Gray Johnston <71533.712@compuserve.com>
4) Microsoft Office 95 Professional Edition with Bookshelf 95
   Reviewed By: Doug Reed <dr2web@sprynet.com>

Web Sites:
1) Windows NT Support on the Web <http://ntsolutions.cmp.com>
2) WorldAirGames Site! <www.worldairgames.com> 

Interview:
1) None this week!

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date : September 3, 1996|CompuNotes is a weekly publication available
Issue: 52               |through email and many fine on-line networks.
------------------------|We cover the IBM computing world with
CompuNotes is published |software/hardware reviews, news, hot web
B440,                   |sites, great columns and interviews. We also
1315 Woodgate Drive     |give away one software package a week to a
St. Louis, MO 63122     |lucky winner for just reading our fine
(314) 909-1662 voice    |publication! Never dull, sometimes tardy, we
(314) 909-1662 fax      |are here to bring you the way it is!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Backroom Workers:                     |We are always looking for
Patrick Grote, Managing Editor            |people to write us with
<pgrote@inlink.com>                       |honest, constructive
Doug Reed, Asst. Editor / Writer Liaison  |feedback! We need to hear
<dr2web@sprynet.com>                      |from you! Please take the
Judy Litt, Graphics Editor/Web Master     |time to send us your
<jlitt@aol.com>                           |opinions, comments and
------------------------------------------|criticisms. Some of our
I am looking for a collection of shareware|better features have
reviews I put out in the 87-88 timeframe  |actually come from our
under my handle of NEVER BEFORE. I think  |readership! Thanks!
they started as NB*.ZIP. Can you look     |---------------------------
on your local BBS? THANKS!                |      Go St. Louis Rams!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Every issue of CompuNotes ever published can be found at the following
ftp site: ftp://ftp.uu.net:/published/compunotes. Thanks to UUNET!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Our Web Site is at http://users.aol.com/CompNote/ 
Please Add Our Link to Your Homepage!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
To subscribe, send a message to notes@inlink.com with the command
subscribe compunotes in the subject.
To unsubscribe, send a message to notes@inlink.com with the command
unsubscribe compunotes in the subject.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
SYSOPS READ HERE!

Wanting to make CompuNotes available on as many BBS as possible, we
can't afford to call everyone's BBS every week. What we would like to
do is send those interested sysops a UUENCODED version for posting on
their BBS. If you can volunteer to receive the UUENCODED version, turn
it into a ZIP and upload it to your BBS, we'll list you in our sysops
directory.

If you are interested, fill out the following lines and send them
back to notes@inlink.com with SYSOPS.

We'll list your BBS in our SYSOPS LIST which will be included in
each version of CompuNotes we ship out. If you have a WWW link we'll
throw that up on our page.

BBS NAME:
BBS SYSOP:
BBS NUMBER:
URL:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Patrick's News
Being The Publisher and Managing Editor Has Its Perks!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
NEW FORMAT? |
-------------
As our subscription ranks grow I'd like to ask if anyone has any 
comments on the layout of CompuNotes? Is there a better format we can 
borrow from another ezine? Do you have any ideas? If so, send them on to 
me at notes@inlink.com. Thanks!

------------------
WINNER IS . . .  |
------------------
The software package being given away this week is HOME SURVIVAL TOOLKIT 
CDROM by Books that Work! Our winner is:

paul.thomson@mbbs.com

Send them a congratulatory email!

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Columnists' Corner - We bring you a different person each week!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Reed's Corner <dr2web@sprynet.com>|
-----------------------------------
Welcome y'all to my little corner of the world! I intend this column to 
be a semi-regular feature, wherein I will talk about a wide variety of 
topics, from changes in the way we do reviews to sneak peeks of upcoming 
releases and tidbits from my impending second career as a web site 
designer. This week I'm presenting a sneak peek at a new book appearing 
shortly in hardback by O'Reilly & Associates. Enjoy! 

Sneak Peek: JavaScript: The Definitive Guide by David Flanagan. 

Probably the most unique feature about O'Reilly's newest book for 
programmers is that it isn't even a book - yet. In a unique twist, 
O'Reilly is offering JavaScript: The Definitive Guide for purchase on 
their website, where purchasers gain immediate access to the 'beta' form 
of the book on-line; said purchasers will receive a hardcopy version 
once the book is released this fall. Why is this book being offered in a 
'beta' form? Two reasons: first, it allows readers to provide feedback 
on the various sections prior to the book's actual release, in essence 
acting as beta testers for O'Reilly, and second, JavaScript itself is 
still in beta form, although the latest version of Netscape's Navigator 
(3.0) will supposedly contain JavaScript 1.0 (yes that's right - if 
you're using Netscape Navigator 2.0 you've been using a beta form of 
JavaScript - which was quite a surprise to me!). 

Having immersed myself rather deeply into programming on webpages using 
JavaScript, I know that for many what they consider to be the definitive 
book on the subject was published a few months ago by IDG- Danny 
Goodman's JavaScript Handbook. For JavaScript: The Definitive Guide to 
be a success, it is going to have to tackle Danny Goodman head-on. And 
from the sneak peek I've had of what is currently in the book at 
O'Reilly's web site, Flanagan has done an admirable job of writing a 
book that not only equals Goodman's book but surpasses it in several 
areas. 

First, I should mention that I think the world of Danny Goodman's book - 
it is the book that essentially taught me JavaScript. Flanagan's book, 
however, not only presents JavaScript well to non-programmers, but also 
presents 2 chapters of subjects not even mentioned in Danny Goodman's 
book. The first is a chapter on LiveConnect - establishing communication 
between Java applets and JavaScript, something which was essentially 
lacking in Navigator 2.0 but should be in full-form by Navigator 3.0. 
The second is a compiled list (but by no means complete) of bugs found 
in JavaScript (beta). In addition, future versions of the book will 
include discussions of server-side JavaScript, which appears to be 
slated by Netscape to replace CGI. So, right away, there are several 
reasons to consider this book over Goodman's JavaScript Handbook. 

Now, this is simply a sneak peek, so I won't go into a lot of detail of 
how the book is laid out and what is covered - but suffice it to say 
that from what I have read so far, the writing is easy to understand. 
Plenty of examples are included for the reader to type in and try at 
home. In a move that may shock some programmers, the first program 
example in the book is not a "Hello World" program ;^). I have the 
suspicion that JavaScript: The Definitive Guide will very quickly be 
side-by-side with O'Reilly's other must have for web designers - HTML: 
The Definitive Guide (reviewed in issue 49A by Bob Johnson, and 
wholeheartedly endorsed by myself). 

O'Reilly & Associates
http://www.ora.com
101 Morris St.
Sebastopol, CA 95472
707-829-0515

----------------------------------------------------------------------
NEWS OF THE WEEK| This section is dedicated to verified news . . .
All News (C)opyright  Respective Owner - Will Only Reprint
----------------------------------------------------------------------
IDT BUYS GENIE!|
----------------
HACKENSACK, N.J., Aug. 19 /PRNewswire/ - IDT Corporation (Nasdaq: IDTC) 
one of the nation's largest Internet service providers and a leading 
provider of international telephone service, announced today it has 
purchased the Genie Online Service from Yovelle Renaissance Corporation. 
Genie, the online service formerly owned by General Electric, provides 
multi-player gaming, interactive chat, and bulletin board services to 
20,000 customers in the U.S. Terms of the transaction were not 
disclosed. 
           
As part of the transaction, IDT has gained the rights to the GENIE name 
as well as over 100 gigabytes of content from the Genie online service. 
This content will be incorporated into IDT's Internet-based online 
service Genie Interactive - a new service designed to compete with 
America Online and Compuserve by offering flat-fee unlimited access to a 
wide range of value added content. In addition to the extensive Genie 
content and discussion groups, Genie Interactive will provide users with 
customized news, stock quotes, travel information, and audio/video 
conferencing capabilities as well as access to popular multi-player 
games. 
       
The acquisition will allow for the continuance of the Genie online 
service, currently under IDT's management, and provides for long-term 
access to the General Electric Information Services technical 
infrastructure to support the online service. The arrangement also 
amicably resolves all formerly reported differences between the 
privately held, New York based Yovelle Renaissance and General Electric. 
            
Genie online service currently has 20 employees in its Rockville, Md. 
facility and has over 60 system operators moderating discussion groups 
and adding to its special interest bulletin board services. The new 
Genie Interactive service will be run from IDT's New Jersey 
headquarters. 

-------------------------
IS Salary Survey is Out!|
-------------------------
FRAMINGHAM, Mass., Sept. 3 /PRNewswire/ - Nearly all computer 
professionals have drawn bigger salaries in 1996, with largest increases 
going to top positions in information systems (IS), according to a 
survey conducted by Computerworld, the leading newspaper for IS 
professionals. 

Computerworld conducted a nationwide survey of more than 1,100 IS 
managers to determine the annual salaries, salary increases, additional 
compensation, and turnover for IS personnel. The survey found that 
computer professionals in the hardware and software industries 
experienced the greatest salary increase this year at plus 10.65 
percent, followed the banking industry with 6.31 percent, the 
transportation industry at 6.23 percent, business services at 5.93 
percent, industrial equipment at 4.50 percent, and the media at 4.40 
percent. 

The Computerworld survey also revealed that pay for computer 
professionals varies greatly according to industry. For instance, a 
chief information officer (CIOs)/vice president of IS working within 
business services can earn an average of $178,192 annually. Meanwhile, a 
CIO/VP of IS within the education industry earns $101,000 less, at an 
annual salary of $76,919. Lower- level computer professionals such as 
LAN managers can earn an average of $55,989 yearly in the insurance 
field while that same position within the non- profit sector earns 
$36,091. 

Computerworld further found that the gap is widening between the bonuses 
being given to top-level professionals and those bonuses handed out to 
lower- level computer professionals. At the top of the scale are 
CIOs/vice presidents of IS who are earning bonuses averaging $11,061 
annually. In contrast, lower-level positions like micro managers/end-
user computing managers are earning about $2,349 in bonuses. 

"We found that nearly all computer professionals are drawing bigger 
salaries and bonuses," said David Weldon, senior editor, Computerworld. 
"However, the greatest increase has been with IS managers, who, many of 
our respondents indicated, appear to not always be sharing the wealth 
with their staffs." 

In addition, the trend toward pay-for-performance is gaining momentum. 
Such compensation tied to agreed-upon performance goals is also 
absorbing a larger portion of overall compensation. According to Alan R. 
Earls, author of this year's survey report, "Even as computer 
professionals continue to gain increased compensation, they must contend 
with the likelihood that even more will be demanded from them before 
they secure significant pay increases." 

----------------------------------------------------------------------
REVIEWS OF THE WEEK | Interesting software/hardware you may need . . .
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Product: ABC Graphics Suite
Reviewed By: Doug Reed <dr2web@sprynet.com>
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The ABC Graphics Suite is the latest killer Suite of applications for 
Windows 95, bar none. Micrografx has combined upgraded versions of 
Designer and Picture Publisher with ABC Flowcharter and the ABC Media 
Manager to create what they think is THE solution for graphics in 
business, scientific, and Internet applications. And you know what? They 
did. 

The ABC Graphics Suite comes on 3 CDROM disks; one contains the various 
applications while the other two comprise a wide variety of fonts, 
pictures and clip art ready to use. Installation is easy and 
straightforward but definitely on the slow side. You will almost 
certainly want to do a custom install: the 'typical' install amounts to 
85 MB of hard disk space! Fortunately, 35MB of this is clipart and 
pictures that can be left on the CD. The applications disk also includes 
a 'freebie' called Instant3D which can create 3-dimensional text and 
images. More on that later. 

ABC Graphics Suite comes with 2 manuals. The first gives an overview of 
each of the applications and how to use them both individually and 
together to create the images you want. This manual is exceedingly thin 
but does manage to cover the basics of each of the programs fairly well. 
If you've ever used a graphics program before you should be up and 
flying in no time. If you never used one before it may take a little 
longer but fortunately these programs have a short learning curve and 
come loaded with lots of on-line help. The second manual shows visually 
all of the various pictures and clipart stored on the two CDs. Suffice 
it to say that there is a ton of artwork here! 

As mentioned above, both Picture Publisher and Designer are included in 
the ABC Graphics Suite. Both have been upgraded to 32-bit applications, 
including support for long file names, background printing, and multi- 
threading. Both programs retain the look and feel of previous versions, 
but with significant enhancements in speed and stability. Particularly 
impressive was the ability to open several images at once in Picture 
Publisher while printing and modifying others. Also included is ABC 
Flowcharter, Micrografx's solution for creating flow charts for business 
needs. Micrografx has also added a new program, the ABC Media Manager, 
which allows you to manage graphics files and quickly move them from one 
application to another. The entire package has been made not only 
Windows 95 compatible but also Microsoft Office 95 compatible, which 
means that you can use the Office toolbar and binder for documents 
created with the ABC Graphics Suite. Another nice integration with 
Office 95 is the ability to drop and drag artwork from the Media Manager 
directly into Word and Excel (it can be added as a toolbar button). 

Picture Publisher is probably the most well-recognized of the programs 
in the ABC Graphics Suite. Picture Publisher has been considered for a 
long time to be the standard in the importation, handling, and 
manipulation of photographic images. Files from a number of different 
formats can be opened, modified, converted, cropped, and otherwise 
altered to your heart's content. One of the funnest features of Picture 
Publisher is the ability to modify the picture with various effects. Not 
only can you sharpen or smooth or remove any blemishes, you can also do 
some wild things like Ripple (which makes the picture look as if it has 
a ripple in it). This latest version of Picture Publisher loads much 
faster than previous versions and appears to be far more stable than 
before (in over a month, it has never crashed on me, a record for a 
graphics program). Particularly nice is the ability to print or 
implement effects in the background while opening and modifying other 
pictures at the same time. 

Designer has also been updated. While not as well recognized as Picture 
Publisher, it is probably the closest competitor to Corel Draw (I prefer 
Designer, simply because I have found that in previous versions it was 
more stable and more flexible). Put simply, Designer is used to create 
vector-based graphics for business and technical documents. Very little 
is changed in the look or interface since Version 4.1 (the last version 
for Windows 3.1). However, Designer does run much faster as a 32-bit 
program and various features such as importing files have been much 
improved. 
     
ABC FlowCharter is simply that - it creates flow charts for use in 
business. A wide variety of flow chart images are included with the 
program, so in no time at all, you can create a impressive flow chart 
showing anything from a project outline to a family tree. The manual 
includes a section on using FlowCharter to create a family tree, 
including multimedia elements like pictures, sounds, and even video 
files. 

The Media Manager is what ties the various applications together. All 
graphics images can be loaded as thumbnails in the Media Manager, and 
can be dragged and dropped into the different ABC applications as well 
as Word and Excel for use in a document or modification to create new 
pictures. Media Manager can be loaded in each of the different 
applications, or loaded by itself and scanned. Media Manager will browse 
not only your hard drives but also your CDROM and floppy drives (it also 
keeps a record of files found on various floppies and Cds). A very handy 
tool for rapidly bringing in new graphics and creating impressive 
documents filled with pretty pictures. 

The ABC Graphics Suite has also been oriented towards creating graphics 
for the web. An entire chapter in the manual is devoted towards teaching 
you how to create HTML icons, transparent/interlaced GIF files, and even 
image maps. Using Picture Publisher, you can quickly find the co-
ordinates of a map in order to create the clickable map for use on your 
web site. Be sure and visit Micrografx's website so that you can 
download two free additions to the ABC Graphics Suite. The first is 
WebCharter, which works with FlowCharter to create a flow-chart view of 
your web site so you can see and test various links. If that wasn't 
enough, Micrografx has created a free plug-in for Netscape called 
Quicksilver (Internet Explorer fans do not despair: an active-X version 
of Quicksilver is in beta testing and is available from Micrografx). 
Quicksilver allows you to display vector-based graphics on the Internet 
as well as raster-based graphics. The advantage? Vector-based graphics 
will load faster because generally they are much smaller than raster- 
based graphics. In addition, the Quicksilver plug-in allows you to use 
Designer and Picture Publisher to create graphics with controls (like an 
onClick control). 

If you haven't guessed, I love this collection of applications. In my 
mind, if you use graphics in your work, ABC Graphics Suite is a must- 
have. Having at one time or another used most of the different graphics 
programs on the market, I can safely say that you will probably not be 
able to find a better, faster, and more stable collection of graphics 
software which can meet all of your needs. 

Micrografx Corp.
1303 Arapaho
Richardson, TX 75081
214-234-1769
http://www.micrografx.com

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Product: The Corner Drug Store 
Reviewed By: Russell G. Johnston <gray@internext.com>
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"The Corner Drugstore" is an encyclopedic look at prescription and over-
the-counter drugs. The information is drawn from two drug hand- books, a 
drug-interaction software package, a medical glossary, and video clips 
from a syndicated TV series, "The Corner Drugstore." Sounds boring, huh? 
But the intuitive interface and the hypertext links help you through the 
arcana. Most of this could be replaced by four years at Harvard Med, but 
that would really be boring. 

Is this a useful thing? Let's contrast drug buying with and without the 
program. In the case of OTC drugs, like cold remedies, the label goes 
something like this. "Active ingredients: long, unpronounceable name, 
more of same. Inactive ingredients: something, something acetate. 
Precautions: Blah, blah, uninformative disclaimer, prepared by legal 
department." In the case of prescription drugs, the doctor's 
instructions are more to the point: "Take these." or "Take these until 
they're gone." 

If instead you load "The Corner Drugstore" into your CD, you are 
confronted with a well-organized interface much like that of Encarta. 
You can choose the source book (OTC or prescription), then select from a 
list of drugs to bring up a text window with a description. Since the 
list is long, a "quick scan" feature saves you digging through all the 
names. A "speaker" button pronounces the term. If there is a video 
concerning this type of drug is available, a "camera" button provides a 
link. Hypertext links in the drug descriptions reference the medical 
glossary and video library. At the bottom of the screen a feature bar 
includes an "interactions" button where the possible interactions among 
drugs in a list are enumerated. The program takes into account any 
allergies you might have, and dietary data (such as the beer you used to 
wash the stuff down). 

Over-the-counter medications for colds, hay fever, etc. are usually 
combinations of things. Herein lies a potential for side effects. Which 
cold remedies contain aspirin? This is useful information for the ulcer 
patient. How many sinus medications contain phenylpropanolamine? 
Patients with high blood pressure should avoid those that do. This kind 
of information is easy to find by reviewing various cold preparations. 
In this case a video on this general topic is available. 

The video library is a large collection of brief episodes of a 
syndicated TV series featuring Dr. Schueler himself discussing various 
types of drugs, and other drug-related topics. Dr. Schueler's style and 
delivery make often complex information accessible to the 
layman/laywoman/laybeast. 

Now a few words from my geek side. The program is variously described as 
"Windows 95 Ready" or "Windows 95 Compatible." Those of us who don't 
publish software needn't concern ourselves with exactly what that means. 
But on my computer, running Win95, the installation went flawlessly, 
partly because the installation program did not automatically install 
"Video for Windows." Windows 95 doesn't support the 3.1 application, and 
it can cause problems. If you are running 3.1 and don't have it, you can 
install "Video for Windows" separately. Changing screen resolutions 
didn't cause problems either. There is no uninstall program for the 1.5-
meg hard disk footprint the installation leaves. No doubt this is part 
of the reason for the absence of the honest-to-gosh "Designed for Win95" 
imprimatur. Nevertheless the "The Corner Drugstore" didn't crash or lock 
up Win95, more than I can say for many other programs in my possession. 

Multimedia software with its video and sound files takes up a lot of 
space. In the case of "The Corner Drugstore," the program occupies 4 CD-
ROM's. We're talking 2.4 gigabytes, roughly the size of the hard drive 
on Jerry Pournelle's PDA. The new CD formats now appearing will hold 
this much data on one disk. But for now the frequent disk switching will 
bring back memories for those of you who trace your computer careers to 
the days of the 320K floppy. At your age you should find a drug 
reference handy. 

Pixel Perfect Software
P.O. Drawer 410129
Melbourne, FL 32941-0129
Tel 407.779.0310
Fax 404.777.0323

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Product: Book: INSIDE LINUX, A Look at Operating System Development
Reviewed By: Gray Johnston <71533.712@compuserve.com>
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Inside Linux, A Look at Operating System Development" is published by 
SSC, whose titles include several other Linux, Unix, Internet and C 
references, as well as the "The Linux Newsletter" and "WEBsmith", a web- 
publishing journal. The constellation of topics: server operating 
systems and the Internet explains why I believe this book deserves a 
wider audience than Linux users and theorists or hobbyists. 

I recently learned that I didn't understand the plot of "Rear Window", 
one of my favorite Hitchcock movies. It seems the various scenes played- 
out in the apartment windows viewed by Jimmy Stewart represented his 
misgivings about marrying Grace Kelly. (That part I still don't 
understand.) I probably could have made it through life with this 
limited insight, so long as I held my tongue at cocktail parties. But 
where computers are concerned, in this age of Internet connectivity, it 
is becoming more difficult to get by with limited knowledge. For the 80% 
of PC's used only for word processing, even new word processors are 
integrated with web access and HTML conversion programs. 

But is it necessary to know anything in particular about Unix, in its 
various incarnations to get along in the world of computers? Certainly 
when I sat tapping on my 8088 PC in 1984, sorting out DOS, WordStar, and 
BASIC qualified me as the neighborhood geek. However Dr. Bentson makes a 
point early in "Inside Linux",. Computing systems can be divided into: 
"..large scale systems run(ning) expensive operating systems requiring 
support staff..the workstations run(ning) some flavor of 
Unix..administered by a small staff, or an experienced user..(and) the 
personal computer..run without management" He points out that, "The 
boundary between these categories is changing due to encroachment from 
below..characterized as 'the attack of the killer micros'". Because of 
the Internet, with its connection of computing systems of every stripe, 
general understanding of operating systems and networking is more useful 
to computer users today. 

So the full title of "Inside Linux, A Look at Operating System 
Development" is significant. I don't anticipate becoming involved in 
operating system development. My knowledge of the C language is on a par 
with the French I have learned from old Maurice Chevalier movies. But 
the information in "Inside Linux" can often enlighten the reader who 
uses Windows (especially the 32-bit incarnations), OS2, or the Mac. 

The book covers in some detail Linux, a free variant of Unix, concocted 
in 1991 by Linus Torvolds as an investigation in how to implement task 
switching on the Intel 386 processor. By searching Usenet news groups 
one can see the interest in the OS, both among developers and users. Dr. 
Bentson briefly follows the history of computer operating systems, then 
concentrates on Linux as a specific instance of a modern O.S. He 
examines how an operating system accomplishes the basic tasks of file 
system implementation, support for processes (interaction between 
instructions and data, yielding desired results), and allocation of 
memory. 

The book considers the operating system from the point of view of the 
user, then goes on to examine the requirements of the system kernel. 
Later sections of the book examine the system from a programmers 
perspective. The chapter detailing the user interface is excellent. The 
"over a dozen" shells available for Linux obviously present a more 
varied interface to the user than what appears on a Mac or DOS/Windows 
system. But command line interface exemplified by the Bourne and C 
shells, have their counterpart in DOS: Command.com and the more capable 
4DOS. Likewise the graphical interface of Windows and the Mac have their 
counterpart in the X Windows System. 

Throughout the description of the command line shell, details of parsing 
of the command line and use of environmental variables recall the DOS 
interface. The X System appears to present a more complex interface to 
the user than Win95 or the Mac. The consumer-oriented OS presents a 
"user-friendly" interface. But anyone who has worked to untangle a 
difficult memory problem on a desktop systems knows that such niceties 
represent a thin veneer over a complex system. 

I received two impressions after reading what is, at time, a rather 
technical book. First, as desktop hardware becomes more capable, the 
operating systems come to resemble Unix, or more properly, come to 
resemble each other. Though the GUI masks complexity, the integration 
into the OS of multitasking, networking and security functions cause the 
O.S. to be increasingly complex. Second, as with most intricate 
subjects, much of my confusion about Unix stems from jargon overload. 
Dr. Bentson does an admirable job of defining terms, clearly explaining 
the more arcane concepts. 

Still, using Linux as a reference model has its disadvantages. If the C 
code examples and the references to Unix utilities confound you, many 
sections of the book fail to enlighten. You will search in vain in the 
bibliography for "Unix for Idiots", etc. But, is there an alternative? 
If a simpler operating system, such as DOS (or even CPM) were used, the 
book would shed little light on modern systems. If a purely conceptual 
discussion were presented, the overall effect would be that of 
woolgathering. 

Specialized Systems Consultants, Inc. (SSC)
PO Box 55549
Seattle, WA 981550549
Tel. 207.782.7733
Fax 207.781.7191
E-Mail: sales@ssc.com
URL: Http://www.ssc.com/

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Product: Microsoft Office 95 Professional Edition with Bookshelf 95
Reviewed by: Doug Reed <dr2web@sprynet.com>
----------------------------------------------------------------------
There is little doubt that Microsoft is the leader in bundled business 
applications (collectively called Suites). Office 95 was introduced 
last year at the same time as Windows 95 as a complete upgrade of all of 
Microsofts business applications to 32-bit programs fully optimized to 
handle all of Windows 95s bells and whistles. Office 95 comes in two 
flavors, the Standard edition and the Professional edition: the primary 
difference between the two is that the Professional edition includes 
Access. Both editions include Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Schedule+. 
This review covers the Professional edition, although the only 
difference is the additional software (it even includes the same 
manual). Each of the various applications included could be covered in 
their own separate reviews, so instead I wont review each of the 
applications but instead focus on the whole package and how the 
difference applications interact with each other. 

Installation of Office 95 in Windows 95 is a snap -just as it should be, 
considering that both were designed by the same company. Installation of 
Office 95 can be to either your master hard drive or to a slave drive, 
however, a fair number of files are required to reside on the master 
drive: expect to lose between 80 to 100 MB hard drive space. Once 
installed, the computer is rebooted and final configuration changes are 
made while Windows 95 is reloaded. Once finished, the only noticeable 
change is the presence of the Office 95 Toolbar on your desktop. The 
Toolbar is noticeably changed from Office v4.3 (the last Windows 3.1 
edition). Gone are individual icons for each of the various apps; the 
Toolbar highlights Microsofts new documentcentric approach. What this 
means is that no longer do you load an application and then start a new 
file; you choose the document type you wish to create and the 
appropriate application is then loaded. This means that everything you 
do is centered around the document and not the application required to 
create the document. While this is hardly an original concept, it is 
nevertheless well implemented in Office 95. Another nice new feature to 
the Toolbar is the Binder. Documents located in a Binder are not 
necessarily located in the same directory but are related (for example, 
a scientific paper containing the written portion of the paper in a Word 
file and the data in an Excel worksheet). Using the Binder you can flip 
from one file to the next, establishing links and even printing the 
contents of the Binder all at once without loading each individual file. 
My only complaint with the Binder is that it can be a little slow 
switching from one file to the next since the application for each file 
must be loaded (if not already active). 

All of the applications in Office 95 have been updated for use under 
Windows 95, and it shows. All can handle long file names, a very 
pleasant change. It is so much easier to identify and locate files when 
you are longer restricted to the old 8.3! Background printing is fully 
supported, as is multi-threading, enabling even a outdated dinosaur like 
my 486 to open a large number of files and switch back and forth with 
little or no loss in speed or performance. OLE is fully integrated into 
the applications and is at the heart of how the different applications 
interact with each other. It is now fairly easy, straight forward, and 
much faster to be able to set up true OLE. Without reading the manual, I 
was able to quickly create a graph in Excel and import it into Word. 
Since I had imported it as a linked object, all I had to do was select 
the graph in my Word document and the correct file was automatically 
loaded in Excel for editing. Changing the graph in Excel resulted in 
automatically updating the graph in Word (you can toggle this so that it 
is either done automatically or is only updated at your request). I am 
very impressed with how well Office 95 appears to handle OLE between the 
different applications. It appears to work equally well with Office 95 
compatible applications (for example, Picture Publisher and Designer, 
two applications in the ABC Graphics Suite from Micrografx). 
     
Another nice feature is the inclusion of better and more useful Wizards. 
In particular, Word comes loaded with Wizards. The Tip Wizard not only 
suggests a tip when you load Word but watches what you do and suggests 
ways to speed up or simplify various routine tasks (like creating a 
numbered list). There is also the Answer Wizard where you can type a 
question and the Wizard attempts to find a solution. The Answer Wizard 
will basically point towards help topics that can give you the answer, 
but it cant tailor the help to suit your question. 

Finally, the Professional Edition of MS Office 95 comes loaded with 
Bookshelf 95. Bookshelf is a collection of references, including a 
dictionary, thesaurus, almanac, and other resources. These can be 
browsed or incorporated into Office documents. I personally had a lot of 
fun with the quotations from famous (and not-so- famous) personalities, 
although it was lacking in some regards (there were plenty of quotes 
from Teddy Roosevelt, but not one from George Patton, who gave us more 
than a few good quips). The Bookshelf can be useful and fun but is 
hardly necessary, which makes it all the more nice that it runs off of 
the CD and does not occupy much of your hard drive. 

The manual that comes with MS Office also deserves some mention. In a 
time when manuals seems to be shrinking into non-existence, the MS 
Office manual is a big, beefy manual that is well thought out and 
arranged. Instead of a dry, press this key to do this approach, the 
manual takes a mission-oriented approach (for example, it shows you 
how to use Access to create a address book). The manual also covers (in 
a very basic manner) how to create your own custom applications in Excel 
and Access using Visual Basic for Applications. 

If you have Internet access, Microsoft has released a set of Internet 
Assistants that work with each of the various Office applications. With 
these Assistants, you can easily create HTML documents for the Web, or 
compress a file and send it over the Internet to a contact. I am in the 
process of constructing a web site, and found the Assistants to be very 
helpful. I especially like the Internet Assistant for Access, which can 
create ready-made tables of data in html format. The best thing about 
the Internet Assistants is that they are free. One special item of note: 
Microsoft has been leaking information about Office 97 in recent weeks; 
in particular, this newest version of Office will offer tighter 
integration between the applications, Visual Basic for Applications for 
all Office apps, and Internet Assistants built into the different apps. 

The bottom line is that I love this collection of applications. A once 
die-hard Lotus aficionado, I stand converted. All of the different 
applications are quick and appear to be very stable. I have adapted 
Access to keep track of all of the software that has been or will be 
reviewed by CompuNotes. I find Word and Excel to offer comparable 
features to WordPro and 1,2,3, but are significantly better than the 
Lotus products since they are fully enhanced for a 32-bit environment. I 
especially like the way that all of the apps work very well together, 
making it very easy to create impressive documents and presentations. 
The applications also have a very similar look and feel between each 
other so that you can easily orient yourself and find common commands 
and functions. The whole Suite is geared towards insuring that you can 
maximize your time being creative and working instead of trying to get 
the software to do what you want. Microsoft has done an impressive job. 

Microsoft
One Microsoft Way
Redmond, WA 98052
800-228-6270
http://www.microsoft.com

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
WEBSITES OF THE WEEK! | This section is devoted to cool WebSites . . .
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Windows NT Web Support!|
------------------------
MANHASSET, N.Y., Aug. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- CMP's Enterprise Computing 
Group New Media Services announced today the launch of the CMP Windows 
NT Solutions Center, a Web site focused on getting key NT information 
into the hands of IS professionals. Located at 
http://ntsolutions.cmp.com, the site will cover essential NT 
information, product information, daily news and expert advice - Windows 
authority Fred Langa will be the first in a series of featured 
columnists. 

"We wanted to create a comprehensive, one-stop site for everyone working 
with Windows NT," said Suzanne Zellner, Director of New Media for CMP's 
Enterprise Computing Group. "Through CMP's high- tech media leadership, 
we are able to call on expert editors covering the topic to give advice 
to users and answer their e- mail questions. We've made it easy and 
comprehensive, a high quality product, and we're still offering it free 
to users." 

Fred Langa, named one of the Top 25 Most Important Computer Journalists 
by Marketing Computers two years in a row, will be the site's first 
featured columnist. A 23-year publishing veteran, Langa is widely 
recognized as an authority on Windows-related computing in the 
enterprise and will be discussing Windows NT vs. Win 95 in his first 
column for the CMP Windows NT Solutions Center. 

Targeted editorial found on the Web site includes:

NT Features/Opinions: Thought-provoking insights and tangible NT 
solutions and discussions from CMP's NT expert editors. 

NT News: Updated NT-related news reports with hyperlinks to companies 
mentioned in articles. 

TechSearch(TM): Access to CMP's vast editorial archive. 

You Tell Us: Interactive area where users can send e-mails to expert 
editors. Questions and answers are then posted to share NT issues and 
solutions with the enterprise community. 

Vendor Directory: More than 130 listings of NT vendors. 

Partner Pavilion: NT integration solutions from 18 vendors who offer NT 
products. 

------------------
Air Games Online!|
------------------
WASHINGTON, Aug. 20 /PRNewswire/ - While surfing the net, visitors can 
now soar on the World Wide Web by visiting the new AeroSports '97 - the 
1st World Air Games homepage. The homepage has brought parachuting, hang-
gliding, aerobatics and other exciting aerosports as close as the 
nearest computer. The site, dedicated to the largest competitive 
gathering of aerosport athletes in history, will provide up-to-date 
information about the games, competitors and the various aerosports to 
be featured. 

Designed to be both entertaining and educational, the homepage features 
exciting 30-second quick-time video highlights of popular aviation 
sports including parachuting, hang-gliding, paragliding, aerobatics, 
microlighting, helicopter flying, remote-controlled aeromodelling, hot 
air ballooning and general aviation. Visitors can also see full-motion 
video, photographs and a wide array of colorful graphics. This resource 
is intended for educating everyone, from the most hardcore aviation 
enthusiast to the unfamiliar sports fan, about the games and the 
thrilling world of aerosports. 

The homepage consists of ten separate categories with descriptive 
information of the lst World Air Games, the ten different aviation 
sports, the organizing committees (Federation Aeronautique 
Internationale and Turk Hava Kurumu) and general background information 
about the games. The site will be updated on a monthly basis and will 
contain information about participants, as they qualify in their 
national competitions, updates on the September 1996 Test Games, 
sponsorship information and much more. The World Wide Web Internet 
address is www.worldairgames.com. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
INTERVIEW WITH ????? | Weekly Interviews with the Movers and Shakers!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

No interview this week! We'll see you next week!

  --END OF ISSUE--
