Lotus articles from June 1990

Lotus archives from June 1990

Welcome to the LOTUS of the 1990s. (Lotus magazine) (Staff Letter) (editorial)
June 1, 1990... Welcome to the LOTUS of the 1990s Graphics is no longer the awkward stepchild of personal computing. Primitive bar and line graphs and the plain-Jane XY axes have matured into colorful pictographs, on-screen slide shows, and dynamic...

Software licenses under fire; new furor over the one-copy, one-computer policy. (Ideas & Trends)
June 1, 1990... Software Licenses Under Fire Ever head home at night with a copy of your software and an unfinished report? Do you load a laptop with your office software before you go on the road? If you copy your office software for use on a nonoffice...

An end to printer hassles? Vendors battle over printer languages and font standards. (includes related article on PostScript-emulation software)
June 1, 1990... AN END TO PRINTER HASSLES? Font wars started in earnest this year. The stakes are high: the display on your computer screen and the output of your printer. Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Apple, and a host of other companies are the...

1-2-3/M: glue to hold corporations together? (mainframe spreadsheet)
June 1, 1990... 1-2-3/M: GLUE TO HOLD CORPORATIONS TOGETHER? When Lotus recently introduced the mainframe version of its microcomputer spreadsheet, 1-2-3/M, the reactions ranged from "Who needs a mainframe spreadsheet"? to "Why is Lotus putting its PC...

Sex, drugs, and death threats. (simulation software to deal with angry customers) (Shorts)
June 1, 1990... Sex, Drugs, and Death Threats Wisdom Simulators (Cambridge, Mass., 617-491-4437) specializes in software that helps executives deal with angry customers, problem employees, and technical snafus. In fact, a recent release, Hold Your Fire,...

Before the audit. (TaxInterest 2.1 from TimeValue Software) (Shorts)
June 1, 1990... Before the Audit The deadline for filing a 1989 income tax return is past, but your business with the IRS may not be over. If you underpaid or filed late, you may owe interest on additional tax, and you may have to pay a penalty. ...

But can it type? (Duplex Dictation System from BCB Technologies) (Shorts) (product announcement)
June 1, 1990... But Can It Type? From the solution-looking-for-a-problem file: Duplex Dictation System, new from BCB Technologies in Bolton, Ontario. This system's two boards, one for recording and one for playback, turn a PC into a dictation system....

1-2-3 gets spreadsheet publishing. (Lotus 1-2-3 3.1 spreadsheet software) (product announcement)
June 1, 1990... 1-2-3 Gets Spreadsheet Publishing Lotus recently announced that 1-2-3 Release 3.1, an enhanced version of 1-2-3 Release 3, will ship in the third quarter of this year. This Release 3 upgrade incorporates the Impress spreadsheet-publishing...

An inside look at the Lotus-Novell deal. (merger with Lotus Development Corp.) (interview with Lotus CEO and Pres Jim Manzi) (interview)
June 1, 1990... An Inside Look at the Lotus-Novell Deal On the morning of April 6, Jim Manzi, the president and chief exeuctive of Lotus Development Corp. announced an agreement in principle to merge with Novell, the leading provider of system software for...

Customer-service clarification. (Lotus Development Corp. will not merge customer service operations with Novell Inc., WordPerfect Corp.)
June 1, 1990... Customer-Service Clarification About a week after Lotus announced the Lotus-Novell merger, the Wall Street Journal reported that Lotus, Novell, and WordPerfect Corp. had combined their customer-service operations. In a clarification issued the...

900-number support. (Lotus Development Corp. customer service number: 900-454-9009)
June 1, 1990... 900-Number Support In March we reported that Lotus was testing the feasibility of a 900-number telephone-support line. The test is over, and you may now call the following 900 number to get answers to your questions: 900-454-9009 The...

Lotus ships 1-2-3 for VAX/VMS. (Lotus Development Corp.) (product announcement)
June 1, 1990... Lotus Ships 1-2-3 for VAX/VMS A month after announcing it, Lotus shipped 1-2-3 for VAX/VMS, a version of 1-2-3 for Digital Equipment Corp.'s VAX/VMS computers, from single-user VAXstations to VAX 9000 mainframes. French, German, and Italian...

Paper chase 101: take your model from screen to printed page. (includes related article on what to do when Lotus 1-2-3 fails to print) (tutorial)
June 1, 1990... Paper Chase 101 One great advantage of an electronic spreadsheet is that it lets you build a model, test an assumption, and make a change without wasting reams of paper. There comes a time, though, when you want to commit your worksheet...

Macros in space; Release 2.2's Macro Library Manager opens a new dimension for 1-2-3 users. (tutorial)
June 1, 1990... Macros In Space 1-2-3 users have long coveted Symphony's Macro Library Manager add-in, which lets you store worksheet areas--specifically macros--in RAM, independent of any worksheet. But these users need no longer envy their Symphony...

Pay less by buying more? A worksheet determines if a volume discount really represents an attractive deal. (tutorial)
June 1, 1990... Pay Less By Buying More? When a commercial sales representative offers to drop the price of a product 5% if you buy an extra 100 units, you may wonder if the volume discount is really worthwhile. The per-unit cost is lower, but what about...

Determining reorder points; a simple but functional worksheet helps you avoid stock-outs without overstocking. (tutorial)
June 1, 1990... Determining Reorder Points Imagine that you own a pizza parlor. In this pizza parlor you always use exactly 10 cans of tomato sauce per day, and it always takes exactly 10 days to get a new shipment of tomato sauce. To determine the...

Can 1-2-3 save Fidelity Bank? (Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet software, First Fidelity Bancorp)
June 1, 1990... Can 1-2-3 Save Fidelity Bank? If ever an executive information system was needed, it was at First Fidelity Bancorp., a bank holding company formed from the 1988 merger of Philadelphia-based Fidelcor (Fidelity Bank) and Newark, New...

Presentations with panache. (overview to four articles on graphics software)
June 1, 1990... PRESENTATIONS WITH PANACHE Flip through the pages of time, watch the CBS Evening News, or attend your company's annual meeting and you're likely to see a bold, colorful graphic, such as a profit-and-loss bar chart, that presents a clear...

Check out the new look of graphics. (includes related article on mixing text and graphics)
June 1, 1990... CHECK OUT THE NEW LOOK OF GRAPHICS When it's time to let the boss, the staff, or the customers know what's happening, too much information may be worse than too little. No one is interested in reading a 20-page report that lists every...

Creating effective charts: a few simple guidelines for better presentations. (tutorial)
June 1, 1990... CREATING EFFECTIVE CHARTS Agood business-graphics package transforms raw data into graphic shapes that an audience can quickly grasp. Enter the data, choose a chart type, and the software composes the chart automatically. Best of all,...

The new picture show: it's not expensive or difficult to create presentation slides with your PC.
June 1, 1990... THE NEW PICTURE SHOW You've mastered your graphics software, zeroed in on the information you want to convey, and perfected your presentation technique. You could get the message across on overhead transparencies, but to really wow the...

Turn your PC into a slide projector. (includes related article on creating an on-screen slide show on Lotus 1-2-3) (tutorial)
June 1, 1990... TURN YOUR PC INTO A SLIDE PROJECTOR General Parametrics Corp. popularized the idea of electronic presentations when it introduced VideoShow in 1984. The VedeoShow system could create an on-screen slide show from a set of graphic images....

Turbo-charge your batch-file commands. (tutorial)
June 1, 1990... TURBO-CHARGE YOUR BATCH-FILE COMMANDS Whatever its specific function, a batch file has one general purpose: to automate a process, thereby saving you time and keystrokes. If you've been working with a PC for a while, you've written and...

911 for 1-2-3: Release 3 delivers quick assistance with (at)functions and macro commands. (Lotus 1-2-3 3.0 spreadsheet software) (tutorial)
June 1, 1990... 911 for 1-2-3 Like the bicycle rider who yells, "Look, Ma, no hands," you may brag that you never use software manuals or help screens. But even if you coast through most worksheet tasks, you're probably more cautious with @functions and...

Who's on first? Chain of Command, Corporate Ladder and Org Plus Advanced help identify corporate players. (Software Review) (evaluation)
June 1, 1990... Who's on First? The days of revising organization charts with scissors, tape, and a copy machine are gone. Org Plus Advanced 4.0 ($99.95), Corporate Ladder 1.1 ($79.95), and Chain of Command 1.0 ($149.95) are designed to make organization...

Take the pain out of forecasting; Forecast!, ForeCalc, and TrendSetter Expert generate forecasts from your worksheet data. (Software Review) (evaluation)
June 1, 1990... Take the Pain Out of Forecasting IN BRIEF ForeCalc Version 1.01. Business Forecast Systems, 68 Leonard St., Belmont, MA 02178; 617-484-5050. Runs on the IBM PC, PC XT, PC AT, PS/2, and compatible computers. Requires 1-2-3 Release...

What's the best graphics program? (Software Review) (evaluation)
June 1, 1990... What's the Best Graphics Program? Looking for a presentation graphics program? Most computer publications that reviewed these programs over the past 14 months offer the same advice: Buy Lotus Freelance Plus ($495) or wait for Software...

AboveMem: more memory for 1-2-3. (from Above Software Inc.) (Software Review) (evaluation)
June 1, 1990... ABOVEMEM: More Memory For 1-2-3 Most 80286- and 80386-based computers have at least 1 megabyte of RAM:640K of conventional memory and at least 384K of additional, extended memory. But if you want to create or use a 1-2-3 Release 2.x...

Color Your Spreadsheet: more color for 1-2-3. (Lotus 1-2-3) (product announcement)
June 1, 1990... Color Your Spreadsheet: More color for 1-2-3 Here's a handy little add-in that does precisely what it claims to do--nothing more, nothing less. But that's enough. Color Your Spreadsheet is a 38K add-in for 1-2-3 Release 2.x that lets...

Collect real-time data in 1-2-3. (Lotus 1-2-3) (product announcement)
June 1, 1990... Collect Real-Time Data in 1-2-3 Two new add-ins let 1-2-3 exchange real-time data with other applications under Desquiew, the Quarterdeck Office Systems multitasking environment. They accomplish this through links to the Desquiew API...

A crystal ball for new businesses. (EntreQuik from Banyan Business Software) (product announcement)
June 1, 1990... A Crystal Ball for New Businesses EntreQuik is a 1-2-3 template intended to help those who want to start a new business. Based on information and assumptions you supply, the program simulates income statements, balance sheets, cash flow...

Inventory-planning template. (Inventory Analyst from Intex Solutions Inc.) (product announcement)
June 1, 1990... Inventory-Planning Template Inventory Analyst helps 1-2-3 users analyze, forecast, and schedule inventory. Working with up to 48 months of historical data, the menu-driven template can build forecasts by using time series,...

1-2-3/Symphony add-in makes backups automatically. (Guardian from Intex Solutions Inc. for Lotus 1-2-3) (product announcement)
June 1, 1990... 1-2-3/Symphony Add-In Makes Back-ups Automatically Guardian, an add-in for 1-2-3 and Symphony, backs up worksheet files in the background while you continue to work. I can make backups at regular timed intervals or after a certain number of...

Conversion utility for graphics. (Micrographx XPort from Micrographx) (product announcement)
June 1, 1990... Conversion Utility for Graphics Micrographx XPort, a translation utility for vector-based graphics, converts images to and from CGM, DXF, GEM, and DRW formats, as well as the Macintosh's PICT1 and PICT2 files. Although conversion speed depends...

Convert ASCII data to spreadsheets. (Prn2Wks from Leander Software & Consulting) (product announcement)
June 1, 1990... Convert ASCII Data to Spreadsheets Prn2Wks converts column-oriented reports and other tabular material from ASCII files into spreadsheets in 1-2-3's WKS or WKI format. This shareware utility was originally developed to transform data that had...

Drawing program imports PIC files. (PEP from Trionum) (product announcement)
June 1, 1990... Drawing Program Imports PIC Files Add some zip to your documents with PEP (for Picture Editing Package), a drawing program that includes such advanced features as multiple active editing windows, group and ungroup, snap to grid, arbitrary zoom,...

Create a slide show on-screen. (PC Screen Presenter from Disk-Count Software Inc.) (product announcement)
June 1, 1990... Create a Slide Show On-Screen Inexpensive, on-screen slide shows are easy with PC Screen Presenter. First capture text and graphics screens from other applications or create new ones. Then specify the sequence, timing, and transition from...

Enhance Freelance Plus files for slide presentations. (SlideStop Freelance Express from Coddbarrett Associates Inc. for Lotus Freelance Plus 3.01) (product announcement)
June 1, 1990... Enhance Freelance Plus Files for Slide Presentations SlideStop Freelance Express enhances Lotus Freelance Plus images intended for an Agfa Compugraphic Matrix digital film recorder or thermal printer or an HP LaserJet Series II printer. The...

Symphony compiler lets you add new functions. (Composa from Sheng Labs Inc.) (product announcement)
June 1, 1990... Symphony Compiler Lets You Add New Functions Composa can compile Symphony worksheets into standalone applications that execute much faster than the original worksheets. Because the program compiles rather than interprets formulas and macros,...

Index reports and manuals. (IndexAid 2 from Santa Barbara Software Products) (product announcement)
June 1, 1990... Index Reports and Manuals Whether you index reports, manuals, periodicals, or books, IndexAid 2 can help. Unlike indexing utilities in work processors, which usually assemble an alphabetical list of entries, this product creates a true,...

Free up extra RAM on Novell networks. (AboveLAN from Above Software Inc.) (product announcement)
June 1, 1990... Free Up Extra RAM on Novell Networks By loading network drivers into extended or expanded memory, AboveLAN can recover 36K of conventional memory on each PC in a Novell network. The utility can also load and unload the NETBIOS driver...

700 Megabytes of DAT storage. (MegaDat from GigaTrend Inc.) (product announcement)
June 1, 1990... 700 Megabytes of DAT Storage Companies that have outgrown their network backup systems will be interested in MegaDat, a 4-millimeter DAT (digital audio tape) storage system with a 700-megabyte capacity. The product features automatic...

Toshiba laptop vs. Compaq LTE/286. (Toshiba America Inc.'s T1200XE) (product announcement)
June 1, 1990... Toshiba Laptop vs. Compaq LTE/286 Toshiba America has introduced its T1200XE, a notebook-size, 80286-based PC with a 20-megabyte hard disk and an internal 3-1/2-inch floppy-disk drive. Intended to compete with Compaq Computer Corp.'s...

Rewritable optical storage for PCs. (LaserVault 650 storage system from Tecmar Inc.) (product announcement)
June 1, 1990... Rewritable Optical Storage for PCs The LaserVault 650 storage system can store 650 megabytes of data from DOS-based, OS/2-based, and Macintosh computers on a single rewritable, removable optical disk cartridge. The system comprises a Sony...

Upgrades. (product announcement)
June 1, 1990... UPGRADES Transition imports data and graph settings from 1-2-3, Symphony, Microsoft Excel, and ASCII files into AutoCAD, FastCAD, EasyCAD, and other computer-aided-design programs that accept the DXF file format, in which you can create...

The Best of Shareware: IBM PC Utilities. (book)
June 1, 1990... The Best of Shareware: IBM PC Utilities The Best of Shareware: IBM PC Utilities, by Mark R. Sawusch. Describes 100 top shareware utilities. Includes free disk with 75 of the utilities. 224 pages, $29.95 (paper-back). Published in March,...

Networking with Novell NetWare. (book)
June 1, 1990... Networking with Novell NetWare Networking with Novell Netware: a LAN Manager's Handbook, by Paul Christiansen, Steve King, and Mark Munger. Describes NetWare's features and how to use them. Includes NetWare for VMS and third-party...

1-2-3 Money Manager. (Lotus 1-2-3 Money Manager)(book)
June 1, 1990... 1-2-3 Money Manager Lotus 1-2-3 Money Manager, by Stephen L. Nelson, contributing editor of LOTUS magazine, explains how to use the nineteen 1-2-3 templates for managing personal finances contained on the accompanying disk. The...

The war over interfaces. (Essay) (column)
June 1, 1990... The War Over Interfaces Excessive enthusiasm over new technology can cloud the mind. Consider the discussion at a press conference that Lotus Development Corp. held in January to announce 1-2-3 for Sun workstations. After Lotus President...