Master of Your File Domain

Home Office Computing, Jan, 1999 by Geoff Hollander

DiskJockey 98

Score: 7.5
V 8
P 7
E 8
S 7
Requirements        WIN 95/98, 16MB of RAM, 15MB of
                    hard-disk space
Est. Street Price   $30, $55 professional edition READER
                    SERVICE 112
Publisher           Clear & Simple Software, 888-658-1204,
                    www.clear-simple.com

EVEN IN TODAY'S PLUG AND play, wizard-driven world, a good file manager is still the ultimate survival tool. Unfortunately, using Windows Explorer is like hunting elephants with a BB gun. So users looking to ferret out files and tame a tangled desktop will appreciate DiskJockey 98.

Clear & Simple Software's utility lets you organize your files and, better yet, view the contents of most file types without launching their parent applications. You can configure its opening window to display local as well as network drives and directory trees in adjoining windows. The toolbar contains buttons for such functions as copying, deleting, printing, and more. There's even a JukeBox icon for listening to music CDs.

Whether archiving, finding, or configuring files, DiskJockey 98's dialog boxes are straightforward, with basic and advanced options readily available. Its file viewer displays more than 200 file types including over 50 image formats (a $55 Pro Edition also lets you copy to the Clipboard or print).

We were able to easily convert several types of documents and spreadsheets by pasting the viewed document's contents directly into our word processor. And if you work with a gallery of images, you can easily view a large version instead of the skimpy, unrecognizable thumbnail display in Windows 98 Explorer.

Except for missing the ability to create self-extracting archives for sending to people who don't have decompression software, we appreciated DiskJockey 98's PKZip-compliant Zip and UnZip services. You can easily display the contents of a compressed archive as well as the contents of individual files within an archive without having to unzip it. To unzip, simply specify the target folder, and DiskJockey 98 decompresses in the background.

PROS Managing files has never been easier

CONS Adds yet another toolbar to our software

RATINGS

HOME OFFICE COMPUTING'S product scores are weighted averages of 1- to 10-point ratings for: Value (30 percent of total), Performance (30 percent of total), Ease of Use (20 percent of total), and Suitability for Home Office Use (20 percent of total).

KEY

V = Value

P = Performance

E = Ease of Use

S = Suitability for Home Office Use