Two variety packs for Windows - Software Review - Microsoft Works for Windows and Spinnaker Software's PFS: Windows - Evaluation

Home Office Computing, March, 1992 by Jack Nimersheim

AT A GLANCE: Integrated program with word-processing, outlining, graphics (draw and paint), spreadsheet, charting, database, and communications modules. What sets it apart: an electronic address book and label printer.

DOCUMENTATION: Well illustrated, organized, and complete.

ERROR HANDLING: No trouble here.

EASE OF USE: Easy to learn and use.

SUPPORT: Free support with tool call.

VERSION REVIEWED: 1.0

LIST PRICE: $200

STREET PRICE RANGE: $140-$179

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: 1MB IBM compatible; hard-disk drive; VGA; mouse recommended; Windows 3.0 and DOS 3.01 or higher

PUBLISHER: Spinnaker Software, 201 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02139; (617) 494-1200

READER SERVICE: For more information, circle Reader Service number 69

Microsoft Works for Windows

Rating:

AT A GLANCE: Integrated program with word-processing, outlining, graphics (draw and paint), spreadsheet, charting, database, and communications modules. What sets it apart: preprogrammed macros for fast and easy productivity; very good word processor.

DOCUMENTATION: Clear, complete, and well organized. ERROR OF HANDLING: No problems encountered. EASE OF USE: Easy to learn and use. SUPPORT: Free support with toll call. VERSION REVIEWED: 1.0 LIST PRICE: $200 STREET PRICE RANGE: $140-$179 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: 1MB IBM compatible; hard-disk drive; VGA; mouse; Windows and DOS 3.1 or higher PUBLISHER: Microsoft Corp., One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052; (800) 426-9400 READER SERVICE: For more information, circle Reader Service number 70

If you're like most people, you'll outgrow Windows' bundled applications (Write, Cardfile, Calculator, Terminal, and the like) within weeks of installing them. When this happens, you could spend a bundle buying more powerful, stand-alone programs to replace them. Or you can accomplish the same thing for less than $200, by picking up a copy of Spinnaker's PFS-Window Works or Microsoft Works for Windows.

Window Works combines word processing, spreadsheet, charting, database management, and a telecommunications module into a single, tightly integrated package. Window Works even has a couple of extras: an electronic address book and label printer.

Window Works delivers power far beyond its price. The word processor includes a spelling checker and thesaurus. Thanks to Windows' WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) design, it can even double as a competent desktop publisher. Because the individual components of Windows Works are fully integrated, generating mass mailings is a simple matter of combining a word-processing document with information stored in a database file.

With the recent release of its Solution Series for Windows, the Microsoft Corporation seems poised to launch a major offensive to dominate the home-office and small-business markets. At the heart of this corporate strategy lies Microsoft Works for Windows.

Like the company's popular DOS- and Macintosh-based integrated package bearing the same name, Works for Windows is a solid and utilitarian, if uneven, lineup of applications.

The Works for Windows word processor is an enhanced version of the Windows Write module. An on-screen icon bar, similar to the one found in high-end Windows word processors like Ami Pro and Word for Windows, transforms many common formatting operations--line spacing, setting margins and justification, selecting fonts, and the like--into simple point-and-click mouse commands. Works for Windows includes a 120,000-word spelling checker and a 190,000-synonym thesaurus. Preprogrammed macros (called Wizards in Works vernacular) let you create form letters or labels easily, using information pulled from the program's database module. The word processor is unquestionably Works for Windows's strongest module.

Handling numbers and data. Window Works' spreadsheet module should suffice for all but the most demanding number crunchers. The spreadsheet supports 25 mathematical and statistical functions (AVG, SUM, and so on) and six logical operators (greater than, less than, and so forth). The Window Works charting module easily converts your spreadsheet calculations into attractive charts and graphs. Spinnaker simplified life for milions of current Lotus 1-2-3 users by endowing the Window Works spreadsheet with the ability to import and export data using Lotus WKS and WK1 file formats.

I was particularly impressed by how Window Works was able to link data dynamically in its various modules. After importing a chart based on some spreadsheet calculations into a text file, I went back to the spreadsheet and changed the values in several critical cells. When I dod so, my modifications were immediately reflected in the word-processing document.

Least impressive is the Window Works database. Although easy to use, it's also somewhat limited. In addition to lacking useful features such as lookup tables and an easy way to structure multiple-field search queries, it places a seemingly arbitrary ceiling of 32,000 records on each database file. That may sound like a lot, but you'd be amazed at how quickly even a relatively common task such as tracking multiyear inventory records can cut that number down to size.