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?