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PCPAINT.TXT
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1988-08-15
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Review of PC Paintbrush +, Version 1.50
Copyright 1988 David W. Batterson
PC Paintbrush from the booming software company, ZSoft Corporation, is one
of the most popular graphics programs in existence. I'd be happy as a pig in
chiffon if I had $.50 for every copy sold. The PC Paintbrush family of
products have more than 800,000 customers so far!
PC WORLD readers in 1987 voted PC Paintbrush a WORLD CLASS award for best
Graphics/Drawing program.
So founder/Chairman Mark Zachmann and his staff of wizards must be doing
something right! Briefly, let's digress and take a look why ZSoft is so
successful, as it's a lesson for other software companies in how to get and
KEEP customers. It's not very complex, but so many software companies FAIL to
play the game right.
Software companies must, of course, produce a product better than the
competition has, and keep the price reasonable. Installation and configuration
programs must be easy to use. There must be free technical support available
from competent people (and enough tech support personnel so the phones aren't
busy all the time!). Since no software program is EVER perfected, it must be
improved on a regular basis, and update information must be sent to all users
automatically. Documentation must be clear, concise and well-printed.
Ideally, manuals should be 5 1/2 " by 8 1/2" and NOT bound but instead put
in a 3-ring binder. [When changes are made to the manual, new pages can be
sent and inserted; pages fold FLAT for easy reading.] The writing style should
be simple and friendly, not full of "computerese." There must be lots of
"screen shot" illustrations, revealing exactly what is going on. [Stock photos
of disk drives and keyboards can be left out, thank you!]
A regular newsletter would be nice too, with tips and information for
users. And last but not least, the company must LISTEN to its customers--often
the BEST ideas come from users--and respond by USING the good ideas they
receive. ["Gee, you mean customers might actually think of an idea that we
didn't think of?"--YES, that's correct!]
Now how many software companies can you think of that follow these
policies? [We'll give you some time here, so pause a minute to come up with
your candidate............("Tick, tock, tick, tock....the clock is running....]
OK, how many did you name?--ONE.....two....17....NONE? So what does that
tell you about the software industry being "in search of excellence." In my
view, ZSoft has succeeded immensely because it does ALL of the above.
Since many of you are already familiar with the original PC Paintbrush and
similar programs, let's see what new features are included with PC Paintbrush
+, Version 1.50 (November 1987).
Major updates to the program include: improved installation procedures to
conserve disk space, gray scale video display and scanning capabilities,
grayscale to black & white conversion during printing, speeded-up printing, IBM
VGA display support, optional removal of Frieze (the "snapshot" feature) from
memory after exiting PC Paintbrush +, and direct use of EMS memory.
"We decided to support gray scale after a number of requests from our more
active users," says Zachmann. See, I told you they LISTEN and respond to
users! A gray scale scanned image contains four times the information of a B &
W picture, and thus the resolution is four times better. This results in
beautifully-detailed screen images.
Keep in mind that the gray scale images are memory-hogs. A 16 level gray
scale page will take up about five Mb of memory, and operations take four times
as long too. Furthermore, there are no current printers which can print true
gray tones. However, Zachmann says he has "seen a board that will drive a
Canon CX laser engine with gorgeous halftoning by using dot manipulation."
So right now printing capabilities haven't caught up with current video
display improvements. But when they do, PC Paintbrush + is already configured
for it. Now that's an example of smart planning, and great programming.
Don't let your Macintosh-user friends tell you that you need a "Big Mac"
for graphics, since Mac's predominance in graphics and desktop publishing is
about to be eclipsed by accelerating MS-DOS hardware/software technology.
By the way, contrary to what a misinformed salesman at an Apple dealer
told me recently, you CAN use a LaserWriter with an IBM or compatible, and you
DON'T need an SCSI port! The serial port is all you need. So if you can
afford a LaserWriter, don't let an Apple dealer pressure you into buying a Mac
also, by this reprehensible ploy!
###
David W. Batterson writes computer articles, reviews and commentary for various
publications. He used to run a BBS which featured graphics files. And he has
no intention of ever buying a Macintosh! Your comments are appreciated so send
them via MCI Mail: DBATTERSON. [NOTE: CompuServe subscribers can now send to
MCI Mail users, and vice versa.]