Source: PC world – June 1993

June 1993 was the month and year I graduated high school. I would buy my first “PC” (I had a Commodore 64 at the time) a couple of months later, right before going off to college. The June 1993 ‘Lotus Edition’ issue includes a special Lotus 1-2-3 insert with articles that I assume Lotus paid for. The normal contents of this issue includes:

Cover Story

• 486s for $1250 – Budget 486 systems reach new low prices. Current best buys include the Micro Express ME 486DLC/40, Acma 486SX-33 VESA, Blackship BLK 486DX/33 LB, USA Flex 486SX/25, and Diamond DT 486DLC/40. There are also categories for best price, best service and support and best performance. A total of 25 486 based systems are reviewed here.

Spreadsheets

• 50 Spreadsheet Tips – Tips and tricks for using Excel, Quattro Pro and multiple versions of Lotus 1-2-3.

Windows

• Windows NT: The New DOS? – Windows NT may be the future of PCs. Ultimately that would prove true when Windows XP took over circa 2001…but not in 1993.

• Word Processor or Desktop Publisher – A comparison of Word Processing software vs. Desktop Publishing software. Software in the comparison includes Ami Pro, Microsoft Word for Windows, WordPerfect for Windows, Publish It, Express Publisher, and Microsoft Publisher.

• Databases Come to Windows – A look at Database software for Windows including FileMaker Pro 2.0, AceFile 2.0, DataEase Express 1.0, Superbase 2.0, Microsoft Access 1.0 and Paradox for Windows 1.0.

Top of the News

• 1-2-3 Leapfrogs Excel and Quattro – An overview of the latest release of Lotus 1-2-3 (version 4.0 for Windows). Supposedly it offered more features and usability than Excel and Quattro Pro at the time.

• In Touch on the Go – A look at the new HP 100LX palmtop/PDA which features an 80C186 processor capable of running DOS applications (up to 300K in size), a CGA black and white screen, and more.

• HP’s LaserJet 4L Makes Itself at Home – A “low cost” $849 laser printer.

• cc:Mail for Windows Plays by Your Rules – A look at cc:Mail 2.0, an e-mail system designed for local area networks (Internet e-mail wasn’t yet a thing for the vast majority of people).

• How to Survive If Your PC Maker Doesn’t – There used to be far more major computer manufacturers and a seemingly unlimited number of smaller computer builders in the 1990s. However, it wasn’t uncommon for smaller computer makers to come and go, potentially leaving you without support.

New Products

• Zeos Contenda and Micro Electronics WinBook notebook PCs – A look at the new Zeos Contenda notebook featuring a 25 MHz 386SL processor, backlit VGA screen, 2MB of RAM and a 80MB hard drive for $1495 and the Micro Electronics WinBook featuring a Cyrix 25-MHz 486SLC CPU, 4MB of RAM and a 120MB hard drive for $1699.

• CompuAdd 450SLC2 486 desktop PC – This PC features a 486SLC2-50 CPU and 4MB of RAM for $1695.

• Pinnacle RCD-202, RCD-200 CD ROM recorders – What would eventually be called CD-RW drives were not really affordable/popular until around 1998 or so (even then they were pretty expensive). However, they were available much earlier. Here’s a couple from Pinnacle Micro for a mere $4095 and $4195 (five years later such drives would be priced in the hundreds of dollars).

• Packard Bell 486 PCs – In the Pentium era, Packard Bell developed a very poor reputation. However, before that I think there hardware tended to be more standard and more reliable. In 1993 they introduced a whole new line of 486 PCs.

• Maxtor MXL-105-III – Tiny PCMCIA based 42MB and 85MB hard drives for $475 and $600. I have a 1GB IBM PCMCIA hard drive lying around somewhere…

• Adobe Photoshop 2.5 for Windows – Photoshop used to be a Mac only program. Not anymore…

• MapInfo Maps&Data – Presentation/mapping software designed for things like illustrating layouts of sites for new proposed commercial buildings and such.

• Microsoft Visual C++ 1.0 – A much easier way to develop Windows apps than there had been up to that point.

• Serif PagePlus 2.0 desktop publisher – A desktop publishing package that would have competed with things like PageMaker.

• Asymetrix Compel 1.0 presentation software – Presentation software with new features such as video, sound and animation. Would have competed with software like Lotus’s Freelance and of course Microsoft’s PowerPoint.

• Polaris PackRat 5.0 – A personal information manager with features such as a calendar, tools to organize your documents, and more.

• askSam for Windows – A database management program with a friendly user interface.

• Artisoft LANtastic 5.0 – Software for setting up a local area network which includes software and features for voice chat, sharing text/graphics/sound via the Scrapbook, sharing files (of course), support for 500 users, and more.

• Quick Takes – A brief look at new products including Searcher 3.0 (Windows file manager), Strategic Mapping’s Eurostat Editions (mapping software), Diamond Stealth Pro VLB and Viper VLB video cards, FilemakerPro Translator (translates Symantec’s Q&A database format to FileMaker Pro), Matrox MGA Impression video cards, and more.

Here’s How

• Help Line – Questions answered from readers including tips about terminal auto-dialing in Windows, using Print Screen, choosing an on-line service, using XCOPY, and more.

• Spreadsheets – Questions answered about spreadsheet programs including using edit, search and replace in Quattro Pro, hiding and formatting columns in Excel, using macros in Excel, book recommendations and more.

• Word Processing – Word processing question answered about changing the font in WordPerfect 5.1, temporary files in WordPerfect for Windows, converting documents from WordPerfect 5.1 to Ami Pro 3.0, and more.

• Windows – Windows questions answered about drag and drop in Windows 3.1, using file manager, removing Norton Desktop (I loved this program back in the day), managing postscript fonts, and more.

• Data Management – Database questions answered about printing and dBASE III Plus, saving deleted dBASE records, counting records in Paradox, formatting Paradox 4.0 reports, and more.

• Publishing & Presentation – Publishing and presentation related questions answered about backgrounds in Harvard Graphics 3.0, creating fractions in PageMaker, and printing transparencies in CorelDraw 3.0 (another program I loved though I may have had 3.x or 4 .x).

• Communications – Telecommunications questions answered about Internet access and e-mail addresses and hanging up in Procomm Plus for Windows with a Zoom modem.

• Hardware – Hardware questions answered about upgrading hard drives, upgrading 486 CPUs to clock doubled models and dead batteries.

• Star-Dot-Star – Miscellaneous questions answered including questions about importing data into Lotus 1-2-3 from comma delimited files, dialing a modem direct from DOS, and more.

• Instant Reference Card – Detailed reference cards for Microsoft DOS 6.0.

Departments

• Letters – Readers write in about organizing your hard drive, tax software, multiboot in DOS 6.0 and DR DOS 6.0, shareware, and more.

• Consumer Watch – Mail order company BCS violates FTC rules, Dataworld disappears, Bulldog Computer Products fails to deliver, and more.

• Real Problems, Real Solutions – Linking remote offices via a dedicated data line offers solution to inconvenient faxes, phone calls and overnight delivery of documents.

• Business Fixtures – A look at Improv, a simplified spreadsheet program from Lotus.

• Games: Break Time – A look at some recent PC games including Ultima Underworld II – Labyrinth of Worlds, Contraption Zack, David Leadbetter’s Greens, and Links 386.

• Home Office – A look at a few programs for Windows that help to make sure all pieces of uninstalled software are really gone. Software examined includes Uninstall for Windows, The Uninstaller, and System Engineer.

…and more!