Huzzah! 'Tis another glorious edition of the MacHome CD-ROM! Our bold new look, which is a kind of a "less is more" approach, continues this month, and will likely continue until, well, for a while longer anyways. After all, simplicity is where it's at. Especially when you're trying to navigate through a CD-ROM. So once again, we hope you like the non-fancy approach to our CD.
If you have any comments regarding this volume, please send them to editor@machome.com with the subject line "CD-ROM Report." We will try our darndest to respond to any such eMails, but the volume of correspondence we get is large so we can't guarantee a response. Nothing personal. But the point is, we're listening.
This CD-ROM is laid out just like the hard disk on your own computer would be. Simply navigate through the folders and install whatever floats your boat. If you enjoy any of the demos on this CD, please consider purchasing the full version of the product. And please pay your shareware fees if you find any of the shareware titles worthy. If you were writing software they'd do it for you.
Let Us Entertain You
This issue, the November issue, is our Mac Entertainment Extravaganza. Accordingly, you'll find that the Game Demos section of this here disc is packed with entertainment. Packed, I tell you. Just try using it and not having fun.
This month we're proud to include a new tool demo from Software Architects, called Great Photo! (The exclamation mark is theirs, not ours.) Software Architects has for many years produced professional-level products of various types; this is their first foray into the consumer realm. Great Photo! is an easy-to-use photo-editing program that uses handy radio-style dials for adjusting color, contrast and so forth. The full program costs a mere $80.
Also new is Strider Software's TypeStyler 3 demo. This program lets you stretch, tweak and transmogrify text into strange and compelling shapes, and apply lots of spacy special effects. It's $150 for the full version, but you can try it out here. Also, be sure to check out the review in this month's MacHome.
If you've ever felt that the odds are against the deer in most deer hunts, you're right. Turn the tables on the Hunters with Deer Avenger 2, where the hunters become the hunted! You'll find it, along with Pangea Systems' fabulous Bugdom, in the Game demo section.
And, even though that new Star Wars movie fizzled a bit, we still have Lucas Learning's Gungan Frontier demo in our edutainment section. It's sure to entertain young folks wherever they dwell - even if it's on a desert planet.
Less entertaining, and somewhat maudlin, is the continued lack of Apple software on this CD. As regular Read Me! readers know, Apple has asked us to stop including their software on this disc until such time as we have an official arrangement. And we're working on it. Oh you betcha. We look forward to a time where we can provide you with Apple's stuff so you don't have to deal with huge downloads, but for now you'll have to get them from www.apple.com/support.
Disclaim-o-Rama
Every now and then there can be problems. And sometimes they even have to do with computers. If you're having problems running anything on this disc, first check to make sure your computer can handle it. Some programs need an iMac or better to run, though the disc itself has been tested with a variety of systems, including iMacs, blue and white G3s, original beige G3s, clone systems, even an older Quadra using a pre-PowerPC processor, and these tests include OS 8.6, 8.5, 8.1 and 7.5.3. It's not physically or even psychologically possible for us to test the CD with every possible permutation of machine and system software, but we think these tests provide a good baseline.
Please note that we make every effort to ensure that our disc is virus-free, including running checks with the latest antivirus software and virus descriptions, but we can't assume responsibility if one should slip by us.
Also, whenever you install new software, there's also a remote possibility that you may experience extension conflicts - problems caused by incompatibilities among system software extensions that are installed by various programs. Casady & Greene's Conflict Catcher 8 (in Application Demos) is an excellent tool to help you diagnose and correct any extension conflicts. There's a demo of Conflict Catcher on the "Application Demos" section of this disc.
Now put away all potential distractions and swagger boldly forth into the rich pageant of digital delicacies that comprise our November CD.
