Labels:text | screenshot | majorelle blue | electric blue OCR: Software - An Editorial by Tony Curro "You don't always get what you pay for," could apply to this article. We see ads in magazines; we see programs in stores, and hear the salespeople talk about them. Most times we buy them. They sound so appealing, and will do so much. At times we are disappointed. I am no different from anyone else. Sometimes, knowing about the new software out there, I can be worse. I must admit I am an 'addict.' I am hooked on both ends, software and hardware, of the computer spectrum. We do have some help. It's the shareware market. This is a wonderful concept. It is like going into a store, buying a program, and then returning it if you're dissatisfied. Shareware takes this one step further. You don't even go to the store. Just call up your favorite BBS, and download whatever tickles your fancy. If you do not like the program, you can just delete it. When you find a program you like, you try it for FREE, after which you are required to register it. Most programs allow you to use them for 30 days. This should be ample time for most people to decide if the program is right or them. Shareware usually carries a smaller price tag than commercial software, although those prices are also on the rise. If you are an individual or a small business who cannot handle the price tag of say, 1-2-3 or MS Excel, there is a shareware product for you. It's called "AS EASY AS." This is a 1-2-3-type clone, which at last look, went for around $50. Much smaller than the $340-475 price tags for its commercial ounterparts . There are shareware products for just about any use. Jim Button, maker of PC File, was a shareware author for a long time. Recently Jim went commercial with his product, which sells for about $90 through mail order . Still a good buy. Procomm 2.4.2 was the first communications program used. It was shareware. When Procomm Plus was released, DataStorm took it commercial. The latest to cross into the commercial field was QModem. Mustang Software bought both QM and Silly Little Mail Reader, and combined both these shareware products into one package. Today when you buy QModem in a store or through mail order, you also get OLX (renamed, and reworked version of SLMR), as part of QM. You may have noticed that I do review shareware. I have been using QModem since it very early days, and will not switch. I have tried commercial packages, but were not satisfied. For logging on to a BBS I think that the shareware communications packages, or those whose roots are there, are the best around. For this magazine, as for about 65% of what I type, I have used QEdit. I have since switched to Boxer. Both are shareware products, and both do a good job of text editing. Boxer has a few more features found in word processors that QEdit does not have. PCWrite is another shareware product that is actually a word processor . A few readers have mentioned using it and finding as good as the high-end commercial products at a fraction of the cost. Another fabulous program that I have found is a program called EDC, EasyDosCommander. It is a program that will copy/move/delete files. Delete FULL directories and ALL subdiretories below them. It has a calendar, calculator, ability to edit text files, a search utility, and more. All in a file of around 70K. Several people whom I have told about this program were very happy with it. There are a few things that it cannot do, which PC Tools might be able to do, but it also takes a lot less disk space than Tools will. This is not to be construed as a put down of commercial software. There is quite a bit excellent commercial software out there. The example above of spreadsheets is one case. AS EASY AS, while an alternative, can not replace a high-end program, like 1-2-3 or MS Excel. On the same side of the coin, MS Works, Lotus Works, and WordPeferct Works, are all integrated products that have spreadsheet, database, and word processor. They also will not replace the high-end WP, dBs, and SS, but is a good medium for the small business, who again cannot afford the high price tags of several of these high-end packages . You have to be a frugal shopper. Think about what you need before ou go out to shop. Look around on the boards. You might find what you need aroun
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