The 5.0s and three players in the PC Software world

The 5.0s and three players in the PC Software world

By Zatni Arbi

JAKARTA (JP): When the race in the word processor arena
reached its hottest period late last year and earlier this
year -- with the releases of the latest Winword and WPWin upgrades,
6.0 seemed to be the magic number. In the spreadsheet circuit,
people seem to believe that 5.0 would bring the most luck.
Superstition aside, even Lotus has just joined the Club of
Version 5.0s by releasing its upgrade from the already popular 1-
2-3 for Windows Release 4.0.

However, the hot race in application software fields seem to
be too heated for newcomers to enter. In many cases, we're left
with only three big, old though powerful players. In the word-
processing arena, for a really long time our players have been
Ami Pro 3.01, Winword 6.0 and WPWin 6.0. On the spreadsheet
track, we see nobody but Excel 5.0, Quattro Pro 5.0 (now owned by
Novell-WP), and 1-2-3 for Windows. In the Windows database part
of the world, we have Lotus Approach 3.0, Microsoft Access 2.0
and Borland Paradox for Windows 4.5. For heavy-duty database
management tools, the leaders seem to be Microsoft FoxPro 2.6 or
the newly-arrived Borland dBASE for Windows.

Version numbers have changed, but the top players have
remained the same. Where's everybody?

I've been asking myself, have the barriers to new entrants
into these fields become so steep now that we no longer see new
and promising programs as we do in the field of computer graph
ics? In the graphics field, despite the fact that Adobe Photoshop
has been holding the supremacy title, we still see newcomers such
as Fauve Matisse enter the field and create waves.

Old as they are, the new versions are here with rejuvenated
fervor. So, let's have a very brief look at some of the new
versions.

1-2-3 Release 5.0

This latest upgrade of the most widely known spreadsheet
program features SmartMaster Templates, which is a collection of
ready-for-use templates. Drag and drop capability between
worksheets has been improved, as have E-mail connectivity. Close
integration with Lotus Notes allows you to zip a section of your
spreadsheet via the network to a colleague, let him fill the
cells with data, and zip it back to you and attach it to your
existing one as a new version.

Its strongest point is perhaps the tight integration with
Approach 3.0, which is Lotus' product for the end-user database
market. Bubble help is now available, too, as well as a multipage
print preview and multiple file opening. Also, if you classify
your data according to regions, you'll like Release 5.0's mapping
add-in, which will allow you to represent data in different
colors. Furthermore, some of Improv's capabilities are also
included to make 1-2-3 more competitive against Excel 5.0 and
Quattro Pro for Windows 5.0.

And who says DOS is dead? Although we wonder who would be
interested in another heavy-duty DOS-based program nowadays, 1-2-
3 for DOS Release 4.0 is now available and is joining WordPerfect
in extending the life of this operating system. Long live DOS!

By the way, if you'd like to have more information on the
product, you're in good luck: On Sept, 6, 1994, (tomorrow) at
9:00 AM, Lotus will give a presentation of 1-2-3 Release 5.0,
Release 4.0 for DOS and Approach 3.0 at the Le Meridien Hotel,
Jakarta. Don't miss it. Be there!

dBASE for Windows

Finally here comes that program that we even began to think
would never come. Fully compatible with the ever-popular dBASE
III+ and successor dBASE IV, the new version has been written
entirely for the Windows environment.

New features of dBASE for Windows include a Navigator, a
SpeedBar, a SpeedMenu, Object Inspectors, a visual design tool
that automatically generates dBASE codes for application
building, new field types, a Form Expert, a Form Designer, a
Visual Query Designer, supports for Windows API and DLL, direct
access into Paradox files, and SQL support. It really seems that
Borland is targeting both application developers and end-users
with this program.

Paradox 5.0

As if to make it more complicated to zero in on one database
development tool for your organization, Borland has also released
Paradox 5.0 for Windows. New features include full OLE 2.0 sup
port to allow in-place editing, close integration into Novell-
WP's Perfect Office as well as Microsoft Office, built-in
computer-based training (CBT), workgroup and E-mail support, as
well as wizards and experts.

It seems that Borland aims at Microsoft FoxPro users with its
dBASE for Windows and at Microsoft Access users with its Paradox
5.0 for Windows. So the database wars are really being waged.

Sidekick

Borland Sidekick was one of the first programs that opened my
eyes to the breadth of the possibility of what I could do with a
PC. Back in 1988, when I was still using a 8086-based PS/2 Model
30, I really enjoyed using the first generation, which was very
popular indeed.

In the old DOS days, when the fonts were the same and when the
monitor could display only 80 characters per line and 25 lines
per screen, Sidekick was just a Terminal and Stay Resident (TSR)
program; it was called during boot-up, and it sat in the
background faithfully until I pressed its hot-keys. That would
enable me to call up a calculator, or a notepad, or a day plan
ner, and all really helped me organize my work.

However, it was the second generation--Sidekick Plus--that I
truly couldn't live without. During those beautiful student days,
I used electronic mail a lot. So, in the middle of my WP 5.0
session, Sidekick Plus allowed me to log on to the mainframe
computer on my campus and send questions to my classmates should
I have needed additional information for my term papers.

The arrival of Windows 3.0 kicked Sidekick aside. However, now
Sidekick has returned, entirely written for the Windows
environment. The reborn Sidekick is fast and has three principle
modules: A cardfile, a calendar and a notepad. The search facili
ties are complete, and the notes created in the notepads can be
easily transferred to any other applications. Like many other
personal information management (PIM) tools, Sidekick can also be
used as a Windows shell--replacing Program Manager. Watch out,
Lotus. It may be your Organizer that will be kicked aside this
time.

Photoshop 3.0

Not for the unjaded, the upcoming upgrade of Photoshop is
meant solely for the graphics professional. While it still can
run on a high-end PC with 8 MB of RAM, a configuration with 16 MB
is the prerequisite for serious jobs.

Among the most notable addition in Version 3.0 is the layering
capability, which will allow you to superimpose an image with
another without destroying it. Other improvements include better
retouching tools, 3-D lighting effects, a customizable command
palette, a new tool called the Sponge, Preview windows in most
filters' dialog boxes, and the Adjust Selective Color command for
color correction.

In short, Photoshop 3.0 has the tools that only true
professionals can use. If you're one, then this upgrade is for
you.

And more ...

Look for these other new upgrades if you're not fully
satisfied with their current versions. As space is limited, I can
only list some of them here: OS/2 Performance Beta (requires only
4 MB of RAM), Windows NT 3.5 (requires 12 MB of RAM), Aldus
FreeHand 4.0 for Windows, Harvard Graphics 3.0 for Windows, and
Adobe Type Manager (ATM) 3.0. And, oh yes, I was so lucky I never
had the money to buy Toshiba's Portege T3400, as this leading
notebook maker has just come up with a much better version: the
50Hz, i486DX2-based T3600CT. Isn't it true that being always
short of funds for a new computer can be a blessing too?