Nov 95 Letters

Our coverage of Windows 95 and Microsoft drew fan mail from some readers and flames from others. But it looks like we really hit the mark with our Web page and CD-ROM, which won lots of praise.

You're missing the point in your coverage of Windows 95. Neither Microsoft nor WINDOWS Magazine will devote the time required to retrain a small business staff through the grief inherent in a new operating system. "Gee-whiz" features don't matter. The fact is, no one in a small office has the time to learn a new system like Windows 95.

For Mr. Elgan to allege that the user will move from Windows 3.1 to Windows 95 (The Explorer, August) is to place a lot more faith in the technical prowess and desire for new toys of the average business user, who is more concerned with getting his job done with whatever tool works than having the latest, greatest, fastest, best software or hardware.
James M. Hare
via the Internet

After reading Mike Elgan's column (The Explorer, August), I can't help but wonder if WINDOWS Magazine is partly owned by Microsoft. Windows 95 may be better than sliced bread (I doubt it), but to espouse wholesale adoption of Windows 95 based on preview betas and promises of great things to come is exactly the line that Microsoft would have all magazine writers take. I'll continue to use OS/2 and Windows NT (and UNIX), which are more robust and powerful operating systems.
Winston M. Llamas
via the Internet

[Editor's reply: WINDOWS Magazine has no connection whatsoever to Microsoft. Our opinions and recommendations are based solely on our staff's hands-on experience with Win95 over many months. We have repeatedly pointed out the problems and shortcomings in beta versions, most of which have been corrected. We firmly believe Win95 is the best operating system currently available for most users. --Eileen McCooey]

I disagree with the "conventional wisdom" Fred Langa mentions: that "Microsoft has gotten too big, too proud, too arrogant and needs to be taken down a few pegs" (Win.INI, July). It's time we look back on where we would be without Microsoft and the technology that it has developed. I am a Microsoft supporter and proud of it. This country was founded on free enterprise and any company should be allowed to get as big as it can.
Scott Wardrop
via CompuServe

I've been following the coverage of Windows 95 and Microsoft for some time now and have been confused by the constant and seemingly endless complaints and reported shortcomings. Let's give credit where credit is due. Microsoft, IBM and a handful of other companies have taken computers out of the hands of engineers and mathematical wizards and put them into millions of homes and offices. They have changed the way we communicate, carry on business, play, draw, write and create.

If there is anyone out there who can do any better, please do so; we're waiting.
Jeff Bilen
via the Internet

I really enjoyed your discussion of backup applications (Product Comparisons, July), but you didn't discuss what I consider a serious flaw in Windows 95: the backup applet. If you check out the Windows newsgroups, you will see nothing but horror stories from users unable to either back up or retrieve data. Someone needs to hold Microsoft's feet to the fire on this.
Jim Adams
via the Internet

Recently I was searching for an article by Karen Kenworthy in the March issue of your magazine, but I had misplaced it. I went to your Web page and in less time than I could have found the magazine and article, I had downloaded it. I was impressed. This was the first truly useful piece of information I had ever obtained off the Internet and I was able to get it in minutes.
Peter L. Studt
via the Internet

Is this magazine becoming a word-of-the-month club? If I counted correctly, at least two different editors used the word "ubiquitous" four times in your last issue.
Craig Wagner
via the Internet

[Editor's reply: You're right. The word is ubiquitous.--Mike Elgan]

Thanks to Robert Lauriston and Karen Kenworthy for the tips they provided (World-Class Tune-Up Tips, June 20). My computer is 47 percent faster overall, and my online and Internet stuff screams. In the past year I upgraded chips, drives and modems, and added RAM. These improvements don't compare to what I was able to achieve after one hour of tweaking the system. Finally, I have the computer that I set out to buy.
Ron Williams
via the Internet

The notebooks section of "Hardware Heaven" correctly advises notebook users to run an antivirus program regularly. However, the story omits a leading anti-virus scanner, Dr. Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit, from one of our clients, S&S Software International. The Toolkit is the leading antivirus software in Europe, and there are nearly 3 million users worldwide.
Steven J. Leon
Technopolis Communications
via the Internet

I disagree with reader John Obeto (Letters, August). Dilbert is the best thing to happen to the computer and engineering world in a long time. It is scary how accurately Scott Adams depicts this industry. Please keep Dilbert around (for those who need a daily fix of Dilbert: http: //www.unitedmedia.com/comics/dilbert/).
Jeff Heidel
via the Internet

For a while, I bought every computer magazine I saw, until I noticed I was reading less of each publication's contents while I kept reading WINDOWS Magazine cover to cover. I learned more and tended to refer back to articles to get me out of a jam or improve system performance. I was about to put your magazine in a database so it would be easier to find what I was looking for when the corner store received your CD-ROM. It's a fantastic product that I will continue to buy.
Keith Panter
via the Internet

Extolling the virtues of video mail over e-mail (Windows at Work, August) just doesn't make sense. The problem isn't with e-mail itself, but rather with the thoughtfulness and writing skills that go into it.
Edward Bauman
via the Internet

I wish to clarify a statement Jim Forbes made about the RCA Digital Satellite Signal (DSS) receivers ("Picture This: PCs as Entertainment Centers," NewsTrends, August). In stating that

"DSS has yet to achieve significant penetration" he must have been unaware that RCA alone has sold over a million DSS receivers in less than a year. Not a bad milestone for new technology considering the original IBM PC sold 800,000 units its first year (according to Fred Langa, Win.INI, August).
Jim Foster
via the Internet