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= Preproduction product reviewed.
Products ranked on a scale of 1 (worst) to 5 (best).
| Product | Publisher | Price | In brief | Issue reviewed | Box score |
| GRAPHICS | |||||
| 3-D Design Extreme 3D |
Macromedia 800-326-2128, 415-252-2000 | $699 | Add depth to both Director and Authorware. | April 96 | 4.5 |
| Charting, Entry Harvard ChartXL 2.0 for Windows |
Software Publishing Corp. 800-336-8360, 408-537-3000 | $149 | Outstanding for creating business, financial, technical and statistical graphs. | December 95 | 3.5 |
| Charting, Professional Visio 4.0 |
Visio Corp. 800-24VISIO, 206-521-4500 | $149 | Assign data to objects, summarize numbers and use MS Office 95's binders. | October 95 | 4.0 |
| Desktop Publishing PageMaker 6.0 |
Adobe Systems 800-42-ADOBE, 206-470-7000 | $895 | Frame-free layouts, new drawing tools and mouse-activated controls. | October 95 | 4.0 |
| Draw/Illustration CorelXARA 1.1 |
Corel Corp. 800-772-6735, 613-728-8200 | $289 | Bitmap support and unique special effects. | March 96 | 4.0 |
| Multimedia Authoring Macromedia Director 5 |
Macromedia 800-326-2128, 415-252-2000 | $850 (street) | The premier multimedia authoring program. | May 96 | 4.5 |
| Paint Fractal Design Painter 4 |
Fractal Design Corp. 800-297-COOL, 408-688-5300 | $549 | The most innovative natural paint program on the market. | March 96 | 4.5 |
| Presentation, Entry ASAP Word Power 1.95 |
Software Publishing Corp. 800-366-8360, 408-537-3000 | $99 | Great presentations without the pain. | March 96 | 5.0 |
| Presentation, Professional Lotus Freelance Graphics 96 |
Lotus Developmenet corp. 800-343-5414, 617-577-8500 | $355 (street) | Sleek and powerful presentation graphics package. | September 95 | 3.5 |
| Video Editing Adobe Premiere 4.2 |
Adobe Systems 800-642-3623, 415-961-4400 | $795 (street) | A must-have for heavy video in multimedia authoring. | June 96 | 4.5 |
| OFFICE AUTOMATION | |||||
| Forms OmniForm 2.0 |
Caere Corp. 800-535-SCAN, fax 408-354-2743 | $349 | A must-have for heavy video in multimedia authoring. | March 96 | 4.0 |
| Groupware Collabra Share 2.0 |
Netscape Communications 800-474-7427, 415-528-2555 | $995 | Uses installed VIM or MAPI e-mail system to create a group environment. | January 96 | 4.5 |
| OCR OmniPage Pro 7.0 |
Caere Corp. 8408-395-7000 |
$499 | The best interface and a clever wizard. | July 96 | 3.5 |
| Spreadsheet Microsoft Excel for Windows 95 |
Microsoft Corp. 800-426-9400, 206-882-8080 | $339 (street) | Wizards and more smarts make it a pleasure to use. | September 1995 | 4.0 |
| Suite ClarisWorks 4.0 for Windows 95 |
Claris Corp. 800-544-8554 | $49 (street) | Full-featured database, word processor and spreadsheet. | February 96 | 4.5 |
| Suite Microsoft Office for Windows 95 |
Microsoft Corp. 800-426-9400, 206-882-8080 | $499 (street) | Takes advantage of the best of Windows 95. | September 95 | 4.0 |
| Word Processor Microsoft Word for Windows 95 |
Microsoft Corp. 800-426-9400, 206-882-8080 | $339 (street) | Spell check on the fly, and customize to a fare-thee-well. | September 95 | 4.5 |
| Word Processor WordPerfect 6.1** |
Corel Corp. 800-451-5151, 801-226-6800 | $395 (CD-ROM) | Superior file handling and a great user interface. | March 95 | 5.0 |
| UTILITY | |||||
| Antivirus Dr. Solomon's Antivirus Toolkit for Windows 95 |
S&S Software International | $125 | A healthy dose of preventive medicine. | January 96 | 4.5 |
| Backup Seagate Backup for Windows 95 |
Seagate Software 800-327-2332, 407-333-7500 | $99 | Supports long file names, and backs up the registry. | March 96 | 4.5 |
| batch/Macro Keyboard Express 1.1 |
Insight Software Solutions 801-295-1890 | $24.95 | Generates editable keystroke file that can be played back at the touch of a hot key. | July 96 | 4.0 |
| File Compressioin MicroHelp Zip |
MicroHelp 800-777-3322, 770-516-0899 | $29.95 | Makes easy work of creating and viewing archived files. | September 96 | 4.5 |
| File Conversion KEYview 5.0 |
FTP Software 508-685-4000 |
$49.95 | Excellent on-the-fly file viewer and extractor; many Internet features. | September 96 | 4.5 |
| Print ColorFast 1.0 |
LaserTools Corp. 510-420-1319, fax 510-420-1150 | $40 (street) | Replacement drivers and excellent color control for HP and Canon printers. | May 96 | 4.0 |
| Voice Recognition Kurzweil Voice 2.0 |
Kurzweil Applied Intelligence 6517-893-5151 |
$695 (street) | Includes system navigation as well as dictation, for virtually keyboard-free computing. | September 96 | 4.5 |
| System Enhancer PowerDesk 1.0 |
MicroHelp 800-777-3322, 770-516-0899 | $49.95 (street) | Puts menus, apps and monitors within easy reach on a Windows 95 desktop. | January 96 | 4.5 |
| Uninstaller CleanSweep 95 |
Quarterdeck Corp. 800-354-3222, 310-309-3700 | $29.95 (street) | Lose unwanted files easily. | January 96 | 4.5 |
**Available only as part of the Corel WordPerfect suite.
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