General & Business Applications - April '98

Productivity trialware and shareware for Windows 95, 3.1 and DOS. See also Internet applications for business collaboration tools and more.

Windows 95

iPublish calls itself "desktop publishing for the rest of us" and that's precisely what it is. You simply focus on the text, whether you're creating a newsletter, a brochure or a Web site. Once you've created your text, and gathered your graphics, open the program and choose one of the many templates. Then drag and drop your text and graphics into place. iPublish instantly transforms your text into a professional result. Try another look: a single click moves graphics, changes fonts, adds columns etc. When completed, your print publication can transform into a Web site, or an online presentation. Conversely, change your Web site or presentation into a flyer or brochure, again with a single click.

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Scrapbook Plus stores text items and images. You can add your items to categories and can give them descriptive titles. Effective search and filter commands let you retrieve items for printing or exporting into other programs. In addition, stored images can be linked to text items for quick reference. This program is easy to use, and makes an excellent mini-database for students or for home use.

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IrfanView is a brilliant free graphics viewer that allows you to not only view your graphics files (in most popular formats), but also to perform many operations on them. For example, you can copy/convert/print/create slideshows, set as wallpaper, perform colour manipulations, resize, and much more. Many graphics viewers don't handle all graphics formats with equal ease, but IrfanView does.

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If you use Microsoft Word 97, you may have noticed the restricted drawing options. Draw 98 is a Word add-in which makes handling illustrations in Word simple. The features include an AutoShapes library, with many styles, and the ability to add shadows to text and graphics, as well as various 3D options. Although not as complete as a stand-alone drawing program, Draw 98 is both fast, and if you know Word, intuitive to use.

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Joggler is a very simple program, much like a kitchen timer, however, it has many more options. You can set the various options to control including the alarm message; the intervals in hours or minutes; whether the timer is set to count down or to count up; whether the timer is a single instance or a repeating option; and the alarms' sound -- or no sound if you wish. You can use the program in many ways -- to time tasks, time your exercise sessions at the computer (if you suffer from RSI), and to set general alarms (to attend a meeting, make a phone call etc).

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Visual Business Cards is a simple way to create your own business cards with colourful graphics. You can choose from dozens of backgrounds for your cards, and insert your own logo and clipart. The program even includes its own mini-drawing module, so that you can make charges to your artwork right on the card.

Windows 3.1x

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This program could improve your chances of winning Lotto-style games. It predicts the numbers which will come up based on past results. It works on games in which you pick from 3 to 7 numbers, and you can include any bonus or Powerball-type numbers. Included with the program is a database of US and international drawing results, to give you an idea of how it works. However, you'll have to enter the winning numbers of your own selected games over time. Don't bet your pay cheque, but at least you'll have a system.

DOS

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Tired of the DOS system font? Font Factory lets you create your own new fonts from scratch, or modify the fonts you already own, by using your mouse or the arrow keys on your keyboard. The program includes a utility that enables you to load the new character set from the command line. The program also includes a comprehensive manual.