GEnie Livewire e-zine/LW9412MM.ZIP/IBM.TXT

Text File | 1994-11-27 | 9.3 KB | 223 lines

Now is a great time to renew acquaintances with
GEnie's IBM-Compatible Computing RoundTables. With
old friends finding new homes and new members of the
community moving in, you're sure to discover
something exciting.

WordPerfect RoundTable
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With Borland's sale of the popular spreadsheet
applications Quattro Pro for DOS and Quattro Pro for
Windows to Novell's WordPerfect Group, support for
these products has relocated to a new home in the
WordPerfect RoundTable. Quattro Pro for DOS is
discussed in Bulletin Board Category 3 while the
Windows version is covered in Category 4.

You'll find ready help for your questions from
experts Kevin Hull and Steve Fischkoff, who have
migrated over from the Borland RoundTable, as well as
tips and advice from fellow GEnie and Quattro users.

In addition to Quattro providing information in the
Bulletin Board, the WordPerfect RoundTable Library
now includes some great Quattro-related files
containing things like technical notes, utilities and
add-ons. The latest ODBC (SQL) drivers for Quattro
Pro for Windows v6.0 are in Library File 5440
ODBC.ZIP. File 5343 QPWUTIL.ZIP is a set of add-on
utilities for Quattro Pro for Windows. A similar set
for Quattro Pro for DOS is available as File 5336
QPDUTIL.ZIP.

Of course, the WordPerfect RoundTable continues as a
prime resource for all WordPerfect products. Files of
particular interest to users of WordPerfect products
for IBM-Compatibles include File 5438 ENVOY.ZIP, an
interactive brochure and demonstration program of
WordPerfect's exciting electronic document exchange
system. File 5437 WWORKS.TXT and 5436 IC11PR.TXT are
press releases describing the latest versions of
WordPerfect Works for Windows and InfoCentral. Owners
of WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS should check out two
freeware sets of keyboard macros, File 5372
WPMFRE24.ZIP and File 5371 WPKFR24.ZIP.

The WordPerfect RoundTable is located at GEnie Page
521. You can get there using the keyword WP.

Microsoft RoundTables
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On Wednesday, December 7, at 9:30 PM Eastern time,
Luisa Simone, author of the Microsoft Press book
"Microsoft Publisher by Design," will be the special
guest at the Microsoft Press RoundTable's Real-Time
Conference. Several autographed copies of the book
will be given away to lucky conference participants
along with a Microsoft Publisher add-in pack.

Luisa will be the first guest in the brand new
Microsoft Press RoundTable, located at Page 960. The
MSPress RoundTable will be the place to learn about
new offerings from the publisher, communicate with
the authors, download sample chapters, and get
advance notice of corrections and new information.

As for Microsoft's many software products for
IBM-Compatibles, look to GEnie's Microsoft RoundTable
at Page 505 (keyword MSRT) for technical support,
late-breaking news of new programs and updates, and
the latest drivers, replacement and enhancement files
and add-ons. Noteworthy among recent additions to the
Library is File 5602 VFW11D.EXE, the latest revision
(version 1.1d) of Microsoft's Video for Windows
Runtime.

There's live help available in the Microsoft
Real-Time Conference area every evening between 9:30
and 10:30 PM Eastern time, and on Saturdays and
Sundays from 2:00 to 3:00 PM, as well.

Windows RoundTable
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The Windows RoundTable is still the best place online
to get and share information about all versions of
Microsoft Windows, past, present and future. Quench
your thirst for news about the long-awaited release
of Windows 95 -- including the pros, cons and what to
look forward to and watch out for -- by joining the
lively discussions in Category 2 of the Windows
Bulletin Board.

You'll also find great advice and suggestions there
about working with your Windows applications. "I've
been a GEnie member for over a year, and I am still
amazed at how helpful people are here," says GEnie
member Vicki Wood. "My monthly dues are paid back
many times over, through problem solving, tips, etc.
But always, people are generous with suggestions and
offers of help. It's not something you can buy."

You'll also find terrific public domain and shareware
programs to try in the Windows Library. Looking for
an alternative to PC Aladdin or GEnie for Windows?
Consider AutoComm, a new front-end for GEnie that has
extensive automation capabilities, and an integrated
text editor. AutoComm is a new shareware effort by
GEnie member Kurt Johmann, available as File 3366
AUTOCOMM.ZIP. Try it and let him know what you think.

If you'd like to get more out of the personal finance
program Quicken for Windows, GEnie Quotes for Quicken
(GQQ, File 3394 GQQ404.ZIP) provides an interface
between Quicken for Windows version 3 or 4 and GEnie
Quotes. With the press of a button, GQQ will retrieve
your portfolio from Quicken, connect to GEnie,
download the latest quotes, and then update Quicken
with the new prices.

"On This Day" for Windows (File 3346 WOTD_20.ZIP)
answers the question "What happened on this day in
history?" Its databases contain birthdays of famous
people, interesting events, world-wide and religious
holidays, and more. Hebrew, Islamic, and Julian
calendars are supported in addition to our Gregorian
calendar.

Another great addition to the Windows Library is Metz
Phones 5.50, available as File 3362 METZPH.ZIP. METZ
Phones is an address and telephone manager for
networks and individual users. "METZ Phones 5.50 has
the 'look and feel' of the Microsoft Office Suite
with similar commands, menus and toolbars," says Art
Metz, GEnie member and President of METZ Software.
"By standardizing on a common interface, we are
helping to reduce overall support and training costs
for corporate customers. And because it's a network
product, workgroups can easily share contact
information."

O/S2 RoundTable
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The classic DOS game SimCity is now available for the
32-bit OS/2 platform! It's fully threaded and
multimedia-compatible with great MIDI background
music and neat WAV sound effects. Get your
fully-playable demo at the OS/2 RoundTable by
downloading File 3193 SCDEMO21.ZIP.

While you're in the neighborhood, check out some of
the other recent additions to the OS/2 Library. Want
a preview of the new "Warp" release of OS/2 3.0? It's
available as a screenshot in BMP format in File 3164
FINALBOX.ZIP, or in GIF format in File 3163
FINALBOX.GIF. If you're trying to decide on an
upgrade path, take a look at File 3156 OS2CHG_L.EXE.
It's an in-depth technical comparison between OS/2 v3
and Chicago (Windows 95). It examines the features,
abilities, and problems differentiating the two
operating systems.

The OS/2 RoundTable is located at GEnie Page 1400.
Type M1400 or the keyword OS/2 at any GEnie prompt.

IBMPC RoundTable
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XL2001 is the program Writer's Digest Magazine called
"A great choice when you want high-impact screens
with special fonts and displays -- the electronic
equivalent of a full-color magazine." The program
creates on-screen books, magazines, newsletters,
catalogs, and brochures in dazzling color. It offers
auto-scroll, mouse-scroll, special fancy text fonts,
and icons. Professional jumbo fonts are used for
titles and headings. This is truly one of the most
attractive on-screen display programs around, and
you'll find it in the IBMPC Library as File 36423
XL2001.EXE.

A couple of hot new card games are among other recent
uploads to the IBMPC Library. ROYAL VIDEO POKER (File
36395 ROYPOK31.ZIP) is a full-featured draw poker
program that has Jacks or Better, Joker Poker, and
Deuces Wild. It also offers High/Low double up and
Triple Draw options. Music and speech are available
to those with Sound Blaster-compatible cards, and
anyone can save multiple game and play statistics. It
requires a 512K SVGA graphics card.

File 36365 CANASTA.ZIP is a four-handed game of two
opposing partnerships, combining elements of Gin,
Pinochle, Bridge with the deception of Poker. You and
your computer partner play against another computer
partnership or with a second human and computer
partner. Through Draws, Melds, and Discards, both
offensive and defensive skills are needed to build
Canastas and score 5000 points. Canasta features high
resolution VGA/EGA animated color graphics.

File 36366 FSTDIR.EXE, FastDir 2.0, is the quickest
way yet to jump between directories and issue
commands. You can configure FastDir with up to 63
directories, each with its own set of DOS commands.
You then select directories, switch between them, and
run programs, all with just a few keystrokes.

Finally, users of Stacker 4.0 should download the
update patch available in File 36385 S4UP.EXE. This
Stacker 4.0 Update contains everything you need to
update your system. It includes reduced memory
footprint if you are using QEMM 7.5, complete Windows
for Workgroups 32-bit file access compatibilty, and
an improved Stacker Optimizer that uses extended
memory while defragmenting.

The IBM PC RoundTable is at GEnie Page 615. You can
also use the keyword IBMPC to get there.

In the coming months, look to LiveWire for the latest
news about additions and developments in GEnie's
IBM-Compatible Computing RoundTables. In the
meantime, Happy Holidays and Happy Computing to all
of LiveWire's readers!