The 5.0s and three players in the PC Software world<\/p>\n
By Zatni Arbi<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): When the race in the word processor arena
\nreached its hottest period late last year and earlier this
\nyear -- with the releases of the latest Winword and WPWin upgrades,
\n6.0 seemed to be the magic number. In the spreadsheet circuit,
\npeople seem to believe that 5.0 would bring the most luck.
\nSuperstition aside, even Lotus has just joined the Club of
\nVersion 5.0s by releasing its upgrade from the already popular 1-
\n2-3 for Windows Release 4.0.<\/p>\n
However, the hot race in application software fields seem to
\nbe too heated for newcomers to enter. In many cases, we're left
\nwith only three big, old though powerful players. In the word-
\nprocessing arena, for a really long time our players have been
\nAmi Pro 3.01, Winword 6.0 and WPWin 6.0. On the spreadsheet
\ntrack, we see nobody but Excel 5.0, Quattro Pro 5.0 (now owned by
\nNovell-WP), and 1-2-3 for Windows. In the Windows database part
\nof the world, we have Lotus Approach 3.0, Microsoft Access 2.0
\nand Borland Paradox for Windows 4.5. For heavy-duty database
\nmanagement tools, the leaders seem to be Microsoft FoxPro 2.6 or
\nthe newly-arrived Borland dBASE for Windows.<\/p>\n
Version numbers have changed, but the top players have
\nremained the same. Where's everybody?<\/p>\n
I've been asking myself, have the barriers to new entrants
\ninto these fields become so steep now that we no longer see new
\nand promising programs as we do in the field of computer graph
\nics? In the graphics field, despite the fact that Adobe Photoshop
\nhas been holding the supremacy title, we still see newcomers such
\nas Fauve Matisse enter the field and create waves.<\/p>\n
Old as they are, the new versions are here with rejuvenated
\nfervor. So, let's have a very brief look at some of the new
\nversions.<\/p>\n
1-2-3 Release 5.0<\/p>\n
This latest upgrade of the most widely known spreadsheet
\nprogram features SmartMaster Templates, which is a collection of
\nready-for-use templates. Drag and drop capability between
\nworksheets has been improved, as have E-mail connectivity. Close
\nintegration with Lotus Notes allows you to zip a section of your
\nspreadsheet via the network to a colleague, let him fill the
\ncells with data, and zip it back to you and attach it to your
\nexisting one as a new version.<\/p>\n
Its strongest point is perhaps the tight integration with
\nApproach 3.0, which is Lotus' product for the end-user database
\nmarket. Bubble help is now available, too, as well as a multipage
\nprint preview and multiple file opening. Also, if you classify
\nyour data according to regions, you'll like Release 5.0's mapping
\nadd-in, which will allow you to represent data in different
\ncolors. Furthermore, some of Improv's capabilities are also
\nincluded to make 1-2-3 more competitive against Excel 5.0 and
\nQuattro Pro for Windows 5.0.<\/p>\n
And who says DOS is dead? Although we wonder who would be
\ninterested in another heavy-duty DOS-based program nowadays, 1-2-
\n3 for DOS Release 4.0 is now available and is joining WordPerfect
\nin extending the life of this operating system. Long live DOS!<\/p>\n
By the way, if you'd like to have more information on the
\nproduct, you're in good luck: On Sept, 6, 1994, (tomorrow) at
\n9:00 AM, Lotus will give a presentation of 1-2-3 Release 5.0,
\nRelease 4.0 for DOS and Approach 3.0 at the Le Meridien Hotel,
\nJakarta. Don't miss it. Be there!<\/p>\n
dBASE for Windows<\/p>\n
Finally here comes that program that we even began to think
\nwould never come. Fully compatible with the ever-popular dBASE
\nIII+ and successor dBASE IV, the new version has been written
\nentirely for the Windows environment.<\/p>\n
New features of dBASE for Windows include a Navigator, a
\nSpeedBar, a SpeedMenu, Object Inspectors, a visual design tool
\nthat automatically generates dBASE codes for application
\nbuilding, new field types, a Form Expert, a Form Designer, a
\nVisual Query Designer, supports for Windows API and DLL, direct
\naccess into Paradox files, and SQL support. It really seems that
\nBorland is targeting both application developers and end-users
\nwith this program.<\/p>\n
Paradox 5.0<\/p>\n
As if to make it more complicated to zero in on one database
\ndevelopment tool for your organization, Borland has also released
\nParadox 5.0 for Windows. New features include full OLE 2.0 sup
\nport to allow in-place editing, close integration into Novell-
\nWP's Perfect Office as well as Microsoft Office, built-in
\ncomputer-based training (CBT), workgroup and E-mail support, as
\nwell as wizards and experts.<\/p>\n
It seems that Borland aims at Microsoft FoxPro users with its
\ndBASE for Windows and at Microsoft Access users with its Paradox
\n5.0 for Windows. So the database wars are really being waged.<\/p>\n
Sidekick<\/p>\n
Borland Sidekick was one of the first programs that opened my
\neyes to the breadth of the possibility of what I could do with a
\nPC. Back in 1988, when I was still using a 8086-based PS\/2 Model
\n30, I really enjoyed using the first generation, which was very
\npopular indeed.<\/p>\n
In the old DOS days, when the fonts were the same and when the
\nmonitor could display only 80 characters per line and 25 lines
\nper screen, Sidekick was just a Terminal and Stay Resident (TSR)
\nprogram; it was called during boot-up, and it sat in the
\nbackground faithfully until I pressed its hot-keys. That would
\nenable me to call up a calculator, or a notepad, or a day plan
\nner, and all really helped me organize my work.<\/p>\n
However, it was the second generation--Sidekick Plus--that I
\ntruly couldn't live without. During those beautiful student days,
\nI used electronic mail a lot. So, in the middle of my WP 5.0
\nsession, Sidekick Plus allowed me to log on to the mainframe
\ncomputer on my campus and send questions to my classmates should
\nI have needed additional information for my term papers.<\/p>\n
The arrival of Windows 3.0 kicked Sidekick aside. However, now
\nSidekick has returned, entirely written for the Windows
\nenvironment. The reborn Sidekick is fast and has three principle
\nmodules: A cardfile, a calendar and a notepad. The search facili
\nties are complete, and the notes created in the notepads can be
\neasily transferred to any other applications. Like many other
\npersonal information management (PIM) tools, Sidekick can also be
\nused as a Windows shell--replacing Program Manager. Watch out,
\nLotus. It may be your Organizer that will be kicked aside this
\ntime.<\/p>\n
Photoshop 3.0<\/p>\n
Not for the unjaded, the upcoming upgrade of Photoshop is
\nmeant solely for the graphics professional. While it still can
\nrun on a high-end PC with 8 MB of RAM, a configuration with 16 MB
\nis the prerequisite for serious jobs.<\/p>\n
Among the most notable addition in Version 3.0 is the layering
\ncapability, which will allow you to superimpose an image with
\nanother without destroying it. Other improvements include better
\nretouching tools, 3-D lighting effects, a customizable command
\npalette, a new tool called the Sponge, Preview windows in most
\nfilters' dialog boxes, and the Adjust Selective Color command for
\ncolor correction.<\/p>\n
In short, Photoshop 3.0 has the tools that only true
\nprofessionals can use. If you're one, then this upgrade is for
\nyou.<\/p>\n
And more ...<\/p>\n
Look for these other new upgrades if you're not fully
\nsatisfied with their current versions. As space is limited, I can
\nonly list some of them here: OS\/2 Performance Beta (requires only
\n4 MB of RAM), Windows NT 3.5 (requires 12 MB of RAM), Aldus
\nFreeHand 4.0 for Windows, Harvard Graphics 3.0 for Windows, and
\nAdobe Type Manager (ATM) 3.0. And, oh yes, I was so lucky I never
\nhad the money to buy Toshiba's Portege T3400, as this leading
\nnotebook maker has just come up with a much better version: the
\n50Hz, i486DX2-based T3600CT. Isn't it true that being always
\nshort of funds for a new computer can be a blessing too?<\/p>",
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