Backup drive keeps files safe, sound
Under Microsoft Windows 95, the drive can even read old tapes in QIC-3020, QIC-3010, QIC-80, TR-3, TR-1 and QIC-3095 formats. The stated backup rate is 60 megabytes/sec for the internal drive and 40 megabytes/sec for the external drive, which fits a parallel port. Although the documentation indicated the unit would run under MS-DOS, my test failed for lack of memory on a 66-MHz Compaq Computer Corp. Deskpro XL 566 that had 16M RAM and an
Logically speaking, MindWizard isn't for everyone
MindWizard is an artificial intelligence program that's supposed to simulate your own reasoning powers. It could give a hand to engineers, accountants, analysts or anyone else who makes forecasts. AI programs often fall short in emulating the human thinking processes. MindWizard's developers recognize this. They promise future application-specific templates and macros that would make the package take off.
BioMouse fingerprint ID system digit-izes PC access
On the screen, a dialog box asked for my user name. After I entered it, the software displayed a crosshair and invited me to place a finger on the BioMouse's red scanner. When I pressed down my left thumb, a clear fingerprint image appeared along the bottom of the screen, so I moved my thumb closer to the center of the sensor window. Almost instantly the security window disappeared, and I was in.
Firewall Guard Dog barks at cookies, viruses and dubious pages
Guard Dog has lots of optional tools to block various Net threats such as cookies, which are files sent to your computer by many of the Web pages you view. Cookies speed access to desired information, but they also store data about your PC and files, track sites you visit, and send this information back to the operator of the Web site that originated them--or to any other site that requests them.
Canvas delivers crisp technical drawing tools
The package can do basic desktop publishing or photo editing, but its strength lies in technical drawing tools you sometimes don't get even in computer-aided design software. The program comes on multiple CD-ROMs with 20,000 images, 5,000 symbols and hundreds of pages of documentation. It is a technical graphics publisher in the same sense that Adobe PageMaker is a text publisher.
Voice Power lets users vocally guide commands on their PCs
It's handy for surfing the Internet and customizing application launches. You control browser features in Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator by speaking your commands. The package also has value for users with mobility problems or who are keyboard-illiterate. The package for Microsoft Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 comes with a comfortable headset, microphone and speaker. Providing a Sound Blaster- compatible sound card is up to the user.
The complex Mathematica now comes with a friendlier interface
Did you hate math in school but now need it at work? Mathematica is for you as much as for engineers and scientists who feel at home with numbers. Users have come to regard their PCs as word processors, database hosts or graphics generators. Most of us forget that computers were designed to be number crunchers. Wolfram Research never forgot. I would not have recommended Mathematica for mainstream professionals until this version.
Disk Mapper does spring cleaning of your hard drive, anytime
As hard drives clog up with ever-larger files, it's getting to be a real challenge to clean them out properly. Disk Mapper shows all your files graphically, so you can pinpoint the largest ones for deleting or compressing. It has handy management tools for large and small files, too.
Print Studio beats office suites at some office tasks
It pays to buy a package that duplicates capabilities you already have--if it's much easier to use. Micrografx Inc.'s Draw6 Print Studio falls into that category. A Corel Corp. or Microsoft Corp. office suite can make World Wide Web pages, calendars, certificates and everything else Print Studio can make, but not nearly as fast or easily.
MathWork's math tool requires advanced programming skill
There are two kinds of advanced math programs for PCs. One kind has an interactive, graphical interface with a programming language hidden underneath. The other kind is mostly just a programming language. MatLab falls into the second category. It's easy for mathematicians, engineers and programmers to learn, but hard for nontechnical users. Although you can solve problems interactively at the command line, MatLab's strength is its powerful, C-like language.
PIM shares project info and databases
There are two broad PIM categories: those focused on contact management and those that help people organize their work. The first group structures data rather rigidly. The other, including Info Select, is more flexible about storing and retrieving information. So-called executive PIMs aren't just for the suits; they're for everyone who deals with a range of information on a nonrepetitive basis--anyone from engineers to technical sergeants to executive assistants.
VRCreator helps novices, experts create virtual-reality scenes at a low price
VRCreator lets you design World Wide Web pages, online presentations or training programs in which users can walk through and manipulate objects. VRCreator follows the Virtual Reality Modeling Language 2.0 standard. A VRML tool is to virtual reality as word processing is to text reports with embedded graphics, or as Hypertext Markup Language programming is to hypertext documents.
Software glitches mar performance of Omniwriter - Loading the CD-RW recorder'ssoftware is a laborious task, complete with mystifying error messages
CD-recordable drives can make CD-ROMs but can't erase or reuse them. CD-rewritable drives make disks that are reusable for nonarchival storage or backup. The Omniwriter reads and writes both these types of disks as well as reads ordinary CD-ROMs. But it's not yet an all-purpose CD resource. Because recent GCN surveys have shown that almost half of federal desktop PC users still use Microsoft Windows 3.x, I decided to test the Omniwriter CD-RW kit's Windows
Downloading makes the Web go around
Internet newcomers are usually astonished to discover they can get almost anything on the Net, much of it for free. They find it a challenge to efficiently locate just what they need. Many managers think the only free software on the Internet is shoddy or undesirable--for example, arcade-style games. But good applications, utilities and other tools abound on the World Wide Web in the form of freeware, shareware and full commercial releases.
The AJ-D200 digital videocamera archives and edits like a pro
There's no comparison between the resolution of a $5,000 digital still camera and the far better resolution of a good $500 single-lens reflex film camera. The bother of paying for film and processing, then scanning images into a computer is what makes the digital still camera's extra cost and lower image quality acceptable to buyers.
Animation packages deliver the message with graphics, images
As the government perceived even then, animation sometimes is the only way to make a point succinctly. What explains a structure better than an animated walk-through? How else could you train workers to maintain aircraft that's still in the design stage? We're not talking about World Wide Web animation but about animated sequences that enliven presentations, help engineers visualize their work, and train workers for tasks that couldn't be described in a million words, let
Prepare for the DVD onslaught with DynaTek kit
Although there are few DVD titles, the drives are beginning to appear on the market after years of wrangling over standards and copyright protection for DVD movies. A DVD looks like a CD, but its data is recorded more densely by a shorter-wavelength laser beam. The shorter wavelength means that smaller data bumps are detectible, and the bumps are closer together.
Bryce 2 graphics program sees 3-D picture, gives realistic look
A powerful, easy-to-use 3-D graphics program, it is equally good for architectural backgrounds or low-level satellite fly-bys of an imaginary planet. Anyone can use it to do photo-realistic terrain sculpting. Although it's a Microsoft Windows 95 and Windows NT program, its interface is unlike Windows. But it's easy to learn and use.
The eyes have it: Extron screen checker scores big
This device, the size of a pack of cigarettes, can measure the scan rates of any CRT monitor or television screen. To activate it, just pull out the plastic strip protecting the factory-installed internal batteries. That's all--no calibration needed. Once you pull out the isolator strip, the device will run for about a year before it needs new batteries.
Jot notes, check e-mail, travel light with MessagePad
If you liked the earlier Newton except for its slow response, you'll love the MP 2000. Its 162-MHz reduced-instruction-set-computing processor operates much faster than other personal digital assistants (PDAs). Newton Inc., Apple Computer Inc.'s newly spun-off subsidiary, has targeted four markets for the MP 2000: health care, sales, service and delivery workers.
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active
We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.
Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies
Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link
If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.
Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.
If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.
Cookie List
A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:
Strictly Necessary Cookies
We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.
Functional Cookies
We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.
Performance Cookies
We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.
Sale of Personal Data
We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.
Social Media Cookies
We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.
Targeting Cookies
We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.
Help us tailor content specifically for you: