A few of our favorite things: the editors point to 21 products that make their work easier

Home Office Computing, Dec, 1990 by Steve Chen, Crystal Waters, David Hallerman, Ted Stevenson, Lance Paavola, Bernadette Grey, Steve Morgenstern, Henry F. Beechhold, Edward P. Stevenson

For example, I use Agenda to keep my master to-do list. I can look at just what needs to be done today, of this week. I can view the list by project, or by priority level, or by location where each task needs to be carried out. Underneath any task I can "hide" extensive notes that I'll need when I get to that item. It's easy to send data back and forth to a word processor, and Agenda also communicates with databases. My one complaint: I put so much information in Agenda that some operations are slow, even on a 386. (The new version, 2.0, adds some nice new features and greater flexibility, but my list runs even s-l-o-w-e-r . . . probably because converting the file to 2.0 format added 25 percent to its size.)

Working with Agenda requires me to (or lets me) think about projects and collections of data in a new way. It took some adjusting, but once I got the idea, I found flexibility and potential that just aren't available with any other type of software.

--LANCE PAAVOLA

SUPERCHARGE YOUR PC

Multisoft PC-Kwik Power Pak ($130)

(MS-DOS utilities)

MultiSoft; (503) 644-5644

Need to speed up your computer? Is your hard-disk drive slowing you down? Want to speed up your display? The MultiSoft Power Pak can do all this and more. When I added the Power Pak to my old 8-MHz 286, it added the enough spark to allow me to delay my upgrade plan. And Power Pak adds gusto even to a 386 or 486.

Power Pak is actually five utilities in one--a disk cache, a RAM disk, a keyboard accelerator, a screen accelerator, and a print spooler. The Power Pak shares memory (extended, expanded, or conventional memory) among all the different utilities. This memory-saving feature can take a load off the RAM-cram problem. Power Pak didn't give me a brand-new computer--but it didn't cost as much, either.

--STEVEN C. M. CHEN

I CAN NUMBER-CRUNCH CLEARLY NOW

SeeMore ($100)

(MS-DOS spreadsheet add-on

Personics; (508) 897-1575; (800) 445-3311

One of my biggest problems working on a Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet is the shortage of information on screen at any given time. The normal text resolution of 80 by 25 characters is fine for word-processing or database work, but not for a large spreadsheet. For my large spreadsheets, one screen represents only 5 percent of a worksheet. Entering data or making changes routinely requires scrolling through many screens. I get lost and need a printout to find my place. SeeMore solves this problem by displaying more information in one screen (it's not compatible with Lotus 1-2-3- 3.0).

Depending on your display system, SeeMore can display as many as 160 by 60 characters on the screen--four times as many as you regularly see. Normally, I find 128 by 53 characters to be perfect on my Zenith monitor (SeeMore works with all the current graphics display standards, from Hercules Graphics to 8514/A). Working on a spreadsheet is a pleasure now. I find I can get the job done in less time, with less frustration.

--STEVEN C. M. CHEN

MY IN-HOUSE DESIGNER

Bannermania ($35)

(Letterhead/banner maker)