The Win 100 Software Awards

Windows 95 is a giant step forward for Windows users. Without sacrificing compatibility with existing Windows and DOS programs---or performance--Win95 users can enjoy the benefits of Plug and Play, long filenames, 32-bit preemptively multitasking apps and a wildly superior user interface. Though not without its faults, everything about Win95 is dramatically better: working, game playing, multimedia, networking, Internet-working, mobile computing and more. And it's easy to install, configure and use to boot. This year it's no contest: Windows 95 is the hands-down favorite for the WINDOWS Magazine Product of the Year.

Microsoft Corp., 800-426-9400, 206-882-8080.

This high-end accounting package from Acropolis is lightning-fast and sturdy enough to analyze reams of data, but it doesn't bury you in tedious detail. Its ease of use and flexibility will increase productivity. Also available are Network Manager modules. An Import/Export module helps transfer opening and historical balances, outstanding transactions and other data.

Ease of use and customizability are the hallmarks of this full-featured, high-end accounting system. The complete package includes the Progression Series (General Ledger, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Bank Book and Currency Manager) and the WindowsPlus System. WindowsPlus features a link between the General Ledger and a Microsoft Excel, Lotus 1-2-3 or Quattro Pro spreadsheet.

Managing a small business needn't give you nightmares. M.Y.O.B. is self-customized upon installation, based on your Interview six step answers. The program then launches you into the Command Center, an easy-to-navigate center of operations for all your basic accounting needs.

Small companies can toss their paper scraps and bulging files and move to high-tech accounting with QuickBooks Pro. The Professional version includes QuickBooks' traditional functionality and adds time tracking, estimating, job costing, accounting and payroll functions. Seventy-five reports and six graph types let you put your information into usable forms.

Borland covers the desktop and client/server environments with Delphi, which combines Turbo Pascal language's best features with a graphical development environment surpassing that of Visual Basic. Delphi uses a native code compiler and an automatic "make" program, resulting in fast compiling and shortening the time from development to test.

Never miss an important date again. Calendar Widgets' 16- and 32-bit OLE controls (OCX versions) and 16-bit VBX controls let you add a pop-up calendar or a custom control for your appointments. Display a year at a time, up to three consecutive months or any weekday. Add a Today's Date button to jump to the current date, and VCR-style controls to flip through months and years.

Creating install programs isn't just for professional software developers anymore. Installigence lets you write an install program in about the time it would take to write instructions in English for installing a compressed binary file. Now, if you can write a Word or Excel macro, you can write a slick-looking install program.

Symantec gets an A+ for its latest version of C++, which was developed for a wide range of platforms, including 16-bit Windows, Win95, NT and Win32s, OS/2 and DOS. The debugging function provides numerous options for checking your work. Edit, compile and test DOS or Windows programs directly inside the Integrated Development and Debugging Environment.

The Visual Basic programming language's simplicity has made it a favorite with shareware manufacturers and custom applications developers. Version 4.0 continues the tradition and includes new enhancements like the ability to develop 32-bit apps, long filename support, and nearly-identical code for both 16- and 32-bit apps.

End users and application pros alike will appreciate the features in this update of the popular database. It's equally easy to point and click your way to a new application or to revel in code. New and improved Experts have you covered for building tables, forms, reports, labels and more.

Business Plan Pro offers a combination of word processing, spreadsheet and charting capabilities. It guides you through creating professional business plans, walking you through each step by using a series of suggested topics and standardized tables.

The personnel-management tools in Manage Pro can enhance your organizational skills and effectiveness. ManagePro's tools let you set goals, manage staff and track details.

If employee reviews top your procrastination list, Performance Now 2.0 just might help you get a handle on things. Five predesigned review forms help you get started and keep your thoughts organized--or you can design your own form. Rate the employee on a list of performance criteria, and the program writes the review for you. Specific suggestions are made for improving performance or developing various abilities.

ExpensAble takes the agony out of expense reports. The program uses an envelope metaphor to make sure nothing slips through the cracks. Whenever you spend money, jot it down and drop it into the envelope. You categorize expenses as reimbursable, non-reimbursable or personal. The program knows a company-paid expense is not reimbursable, and it remembers items you've keyed in to speed data entry.

Don't let dread of that expense report ruin your trip. When you get home, use QuickXpense to type in your expenses--in any order--and the program sorts them for you, converting foreign currency, breaking down complex hotel bills, and differentiating among cash, check and credit-card transactions.

Although AutoCAD is billed as a "lite" version, it's outstanding drawing features are virtually identical to those of AutoCAD Release 12. AutoCAD LT's commands for modifying existing entities are also top-notch. For a top-of-the-line CAD tool, AutoCAD Release 13 is a must. Its impressive interface enhancements include a floating command window and a multitude of tool palettes.

Graphics designers have been using Cadkey since the early 1980s. The first 32-bit Windows version has a comprehensive feature set for 2-D drafting and 3-D modeling. The Cadkey Advanced Design Language (CADL) lets you create scripts with any text editor.

Toss the T square. This low-end, two-dimensional CAD product does everything from drafting to landscape design. Essentially a trimmed version of Drafix CAD Professional, QuickCAD offers a mature interface and a comprehensive toolset. A new scalable toolbar switches between Beginner, Advanced and Expert modes, and an AutoScale feature sets up a standard scale based on your input about your objects' aspects.

AllClear's text-based scripting facility lets you build a flowchart based on an outline, but also lets you use more traditional graphical tools. The program gets you started with three chart templates--for a process tree, a decision tree or organizational chart, or a fishbone diagram. You can also choose a generic template. You can reposition elements while maintaining their links. Multiple objects can be scaled simultaneously.

Create sophisticated, high-quality charts, diagrams, tables, timelines and calendars with a few clicks of your mouse. For inspiration, tap into the program's library of 2,000 pieces of clip art, symbols, and chart and diagram styles.

This is a business-centric, object-oriented drawing package with panache. DiagramIt lets you design everything from flowcharts to forms to family trees, using preformed objects and easy-to-find formatting tools.

Whip up a masterpiece of a chart with this outstanding graphing program. More than 300 chart types--for business, statistical or technical graphics--are available for displaying your numbers in palatable fashion. Choose from bar, pyramid, ribbon, candlestick, boxwhisker, scatter, polar, vector, XY--you get the idea.Harvard ChartXL is feature-packed and easy to use.

Get two for the price of one. Visio 4.0 ships with both Windows 95 and 3.1 versions. Win95 users will appreciate the slew of new enhancements, from 32-bit performance to support for Microsoft Office 95's Binder. The update also offers better templates, easier data assignment to objects and a summation tool for quick totals of numbers associated with selected objects.

Send a fax, peruse the Internet, cruise an online service and connect to a bulletin board with Delrina's all-inclusive communications package. CyberJack, the Internet component, provides access to all key Internet services, while the WinComm PRO module includes terminal features like a scroll back buffer and screen capture to a file.

Automatic modem settings, easy Internet access, the ability to share modems across a network and support of all the major communications protocols make HyperAccess 2.0 the comm program you'll definitely want to connect with. Its proprietary protocol delivers the goods fast, sending and receiving files at breakneck speed. Bonus accessories, like a connection with the government's atomic clock, give HyperAccess a touch more flair than the average communications program.

LapLink 6.0b cuts file-transfer time dramatically (by both parallel and serial cable) with its SmartSync technology, which sends only the changes in large files. The program's remote control functions let you control a PC from just about anywhere. You no longer have to panic when you and your files are separated by distance.

Whether you're a sophisticated cybernaut who loves scripting or a point-and-click cyberspace connector, QmodemPro has something for you. This 32-bit app supports multitasking and multithreading, enabling you to download while other Win95 apps continue their own work. If you're downloading a lot of files, track them with the File List Clipboard.

Getting better and better every year, the first multimedia-only encyclopedia is content-rich, offering 2,000 audio clips and 26,000 articles. The interface is easy on the eyes and while the content is interesting enough to engage a seventh-grader it's still meaty enough to give a business professional the info he needs.

A sort of conceptual thesaurus, Writer's Edge will help you hurdle even the most mind-numbing cases of writer's block. It dishes out synonyms and offers thousands of linked concepts, phrases and words related to any word you enter.

The "experience designer" Peter Gabriel has entered a new medium with this CD-ROM. The disc is filled with warm flashes of Gabriel's childhood, backstage antics at the Grammys, the secrets behind the performer's music videos, and searing images of torture and execution from Amnesty International. It's a new type of experience for fans and techies alike.

An impressive combination of features marks the Win95 version of this popular database. When creating crosstabs or reports, you can use new grouping features, such as breaking groups of data based on up to the first five letters of the field's value. An Assistant lets you sort data fields by day, month, quarter or year by right-clicking on the field.

Share your database files with the Mac users in your office--over the network and without conversion. Claris' flat file database combines a strong engine with an amiable user interface. Its ability to operate both as a standalone database and as a front end means it supports most popular file formats and allows you to import many graphic file formats.

Whether you're doing a search or creating a special report, this database is easy to use. The CD version provides a video introduction, an electronic user manual and context-sensitive online help. The program's interactive Coaches will give you an abbreviated tutorial. Paradox's flexible GUI is powerful enough to serve as an SQL database front end.

This greatly expanded version of Q+E can maximize the information it gleans from your corporate database. With its compliance to the ODBC standard, Q+E can access more than 30 databases right out of the box. Build charts and reports in a few simple steps, regulate data access on the network and execute tasks such as a data merge automatically.

FrameMaker 5 keeps pace with the times, letting you easily publish documents--particularly complex technical publications--on paper or online. Files can be distributed as Windows Help files, Adobe Acrobat 2.0 Portable Documents and HTML documents. FrameReader and FrameViewer utilities assist with electronic distribution. Multiple master pages, autonumbered headings, sophisticated table editors and conditional text are ideal for long DTP documents.

Adobe rewrote PageMaker for Windows 95 but retained its frame-free layout process. Enhancements to the desktop publishing software include timesaving features such as toolbars and mouse-activated menus. Welcome additions to the toolbox include a polygon tool for drawing symmetrical polygons and stars, and a freehand magnifying tool.

This update offers vastly improved output quality. You use Microsoft Word to edit large amounts of text, then reflow it into the document's columns and frames. Publisher supports OLE 2.0, so you can use in-place editing with other apps. The program also has some clever clip-art objects, which you can access by clicking on the Design Galleries button.

Paper may never go the way of papyrus, but Acrobat Pro 2.1 should definitely save a few forests. With improvements in both ease of use and performance, the program lets you create application- and platform-independent electronic documents. Its plug-in options let you link Acrobat documents with multimedia files and Internet Web sites. Ready to turn off that printer now?

If your scanning needs go beyond conversion, PageKeeper may do the trick. Once documents are scanned, faxed or sent via your VIM or MAPI e-mail system, PageKeeper will run them through OCR if necessary, then index them. When a document is indexed, PageKeeper performs near-instant searches. Documents are arranged and color-coded in a sensible ranking system.

PageOffice won't rid your desk of paper, but it will help you manage the information on that paper. This scanner/software combo includes a useful file-management program suite for both documents and graphics. Its OCR function is highly accurate. Turn type into editable text simply by dragging and dropping it to a word processor button.

Delivering e-mail is just one of FirstClass' many talents. It also offers groupware features, public and private conferencing, and forms processing. FirstClass uses a client/server architecture, and runs its server side under Windows NT 3.5x.

Microsoft has elevated the Win95 version of this previously so-so financial package to 32-bit status. From the well-conceived and eye-pleasing main screen you choose among the major functions of Accounts Register, Payment Calendar or Online Banking, as well as from subtasks like Account Manager, Investment Portfolio, Reports and Charts Gallery, Payees, and Categories and Planning Wizards.

Intuit found a way to make a good thing better. It's now easier to manage your money, bank online and access one-stop investment information with Quicken. The Deluxe version provides personalized advice from two financial experts, Jane Bryant Quinn and Marshall Loeb.

Want to follow trends for stock-market investments? Wall Street Analyst helps you track the performance of stocks, commodities and mutual funds, based on user-defined data or information downloaded from subscription services.

PerForm's smartly designed interface makes it simple to get great-looking output on your forms. It's fully integrated with WinFaxPRO, has no limits on the number of fields or objects per form, and contains the Delrina Experts for automatic form creation.

One of the DOS world's last holdouts finally made the jump to Windows, bringing with it increased functionality, a brand-new interface and a new centralized toolset.

Corel, the proverbial 900-pound gorilla, has just put on a few extra pounds with CorelDRAW 6. The newest version heaps together 32-bit drawing, painting, 3-D modeling and presentation graphics, along with utilities and thousands of fonts, clip-art images, digital photos and multimedia files. Version 6.0 is a suite deal for Windows 95 users.

Macromedia entered the Windows graphics arena with fists flying when it introduced FreeHand 5.0. New features include improved compatibility with third-party plug-ins, as well as drag-and-drop colors and styles, multicolored gradients, extreme magnification modes, better text handling and an enlarged pasteboard. Redesigned tools simplify repetitive production tasks.

Artists who have to make mathematical conversions to apply custom filter effects can put away their calculators. KPT Convolver (for Photoshop 2.5 or later) provides a staggering range of artistic variations. Explore lets you mutate an image as much or as little as you want. Design combines two different effects for results like blur/sharpen and hue rotation. Tweak lets you control effects discretely and preview the results in real time.

In this version, Painter gets a new interface, layering capabilities, an animation module and a palette replete with artistic effects. The Image Hose lets you spray an image onto a surface, and the concept of floaters--defined selections that act as layers--is carried over from the program's professional upgrade.

Speed demons will appreciate Picture Publisher's 32-bit version. The image editor provides significantly increased speed and the Image Task Manager keeps track of everything going on in the program.

Digital animators and rendering fans take note: trueSpace2 is hard to beat. With support for KPT and Photoshop plug-ins, the graphics are sublime, and you can skip the wireframe mode and go straight to solid-rendered objects.

Would you like to take a static blueprint of a home and walk through it? That's the concept behind Virtus WalkThrough, a program that renders a design's flat concept into a three-dimensional environment.