Your CD-ROM library - 20 CD-ROM reference titles of interest to small business owners - Buyers Guide

Home Office Computing, Dec, 1996 by Dennis Eskow

CIRCLE 134 ON READER SERVICE CARD

Home Office Assistant

Rating: ***

WIN 95 / WIN

Home Office Assistant has too much of everything, which makes it a memory bog and an occasionally overbearing application. But some small-business users will appreciate the huge helping of features that comes with this product. A collection of above-average video clips trains you in every aspect of business, from marketing to organizational skills. Hear business guru Nancy Merrit lecture on the attitude of corporations toward home businesses. Or select legal tips, a telephone directory, an almanac, and a utility to let you print business cards. None of the elements is particularly outstanding, but what a pile of help for a small-business owner! What isn't found on the CD-ROM can be fetched from the Internet. But make sure you have the power to run this program: It needs at least 16MB of RAM. Mindscape, 415-897-9900, 800-234-3088, www.mindscape.com; $35

CIRCLE 135 ON READER SERVICE CARD

Business Lawyer 4.0

Rating: ** 1/2

WIN 95 / WIN

Any defendant who tries his own case has a fool for a lawyer. Laws vary from state to state and attorneys derive huge settlements on tiny technicalities, so you can't buy a package like this as a substitute for legal expertise.But this program does have its charms. The menu is visually pleasing and uses pushbutton metaphors to give you the legal forms you seek. Push the Basic Agreements button and you get a list of different contract forms necessary for running a business. There are buttons for a dozen legal forms including Family, Real Estate, and others. Click into the form and you get a dialog box that guides you through the details. Each step of the way, you get a little hint as to what that blank space covers. If it were this easy, law school would be a summer affair and the bar exam would be given by mail. This is a great package to have before you go to a lawyer. E-Z Legal Software, 954-480-8933, 800-822-4566, www. e-zlegal.com; $29.95

CIRCLE 136 ON READER SERVICE CARD

Incorporation 4.0

Rating: ** 1/2

WIN 95 / WIN

As with E-Z Legal's Business Lawyer 4.0 product, Incorporation should be used with a truckload of salt. It's a good package if you want to run through all the aspects of incorporation before you visit a lawyer. But it is no substitute for a lawyer. It provides excellent forms, including some basics. For example, click on the Corporate Minutes button and you get a blank minutes form onscreen. It walks you through the minutes process with a series of dialog boxes that explain what you are doing as you fill in the blanks. The standard help file also includes a tutorial on incorporation, providing a good explanation of what incorporation is, how it works, and who you need in the way of officials to make it legal. Forms for issuing stocks are also helpful, but we wouldn't count on them being legal within different states. Once again, caveat emptor: Buy Incorporation only if you want a strong tutorial on the subject. Otherwise, hire a real attorney. E-Z Legal Software, 954-480-8933, 800-822-4566, www.e-zlegal.com; $29.95