Amiga Computing - Commodore Is Awesome

26
SOFTWARE
ots of people have good ideas for
making money, but very few of
us actually do anything about
them. How many of us, for example, have
heard about a new product or service and
cried plaintively: 'Hey, that was my idea
Getting a dream idea off the ground
will take drive, imagination,
hard work and
persistence, and unfortunately
your home
computer will be no
help whatsoever in
these departments,
However, organisation
and presentation are
equally Important ingredients
in the recipe for
success, and in this
respect the Amiga
could be invaluable —
even if you are starting
on a shoestring.
The three major packages available are
not new products, but they can now be
picked up at cheaper prices than ever
before making them worthy of consideration
for anyone taking their first tentative
steps into the world of small business.
ASSESS YOUR NEEDS
The PC has become such a common
feature in the workplace you'd be forgiven
for thinking that starting a business without
Microsoft's Windows is like deep diving
without an air supply. Yet these
machines are expensive; even if you get a
cheaper (and consequently less reliable)
make with all the software bundled in, its
a big financial commitment to take when
initially testing the
water for your project's
viability.
Whether you start
out with one of the
all-in-one packages
reviewed, or choose
pricier but more professional
options like
x
Wordworth 3.1 and
TurboCale, the Amiga's
virtues as a machine
for small business
should not be overlooked.
Remember, many business needs can
be catered for very cheaply: Advertising
leaflets, business correspondence,
client
databases or spreadsheets
need not always
be flashy to be effec-
• • • • - I k e el •
tive or efficient. What's
more, even it your business
outgrows your
software's capabilities,
these packages will
already have paid for
themselves within the
t few months.
Amiga Compati•g
MAY 1995
Europress's Mini-Office carries the distinction
of being the only truly integrated business
package of the bunch — the rest are
really composed of separate programs
thrown together into a bargain bundle.
It's also the most comprehensive product
of the lot, thanks to the fact that it
included the five most commonly needed
types of business program, all accessed
from one main menu.
The word processor is more capable
than might be expected at the price.
There's a 50.000 word dictionary, the
option to import ASCII text, the basic text
formatting facilities, and wrap-round text.
Alongside Digita's Wordworth SE it may
look rather unsophisticated and lacking in
advanced features, but it makes a good
account of itself as part of the overall
package.
Databases are an equally indispensible
pad
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Colourful ,con a onci or, integrated xystom
make Mini Offi ce the moat enjoyable
package to work with when it cornea to
mwapping between programa
type of business software, so its gooi
news that this one is easy to use with a
the standard sorting functions included.
less obvious but undoubtedly useful inclu
sion is the disk utilities program which act
as a basic file manager so you can keel
ffiCE
The main strength of Disc Company's Horne Office Kit has got to be the inclusion
the highly respected Maxiplan 4. For a long time the unchallenged leader in its fiek
this feature-packed spreadsheet analyser would still be many Amiga accountant's fir!
choice.
Considering the price, Maxiplan is amazingly powerful and flexible. Allowing user
to create spreadsheets of more than 500 columns and 65,000 rows, and featurin
extensive linking, analysis and import/export facilities, it is a must for anyone requirin
advanced lunctions at an affordable price. The availability of Macros to automat
repetitive tasks is also a definite boon_
Maxiplan includes a colour chart creator, which means that as well as crunchin
numbers it can present your data professionally. This aspect of the software
admirably simple, as usually you can select a range of data and a type of chart an
the program will do the rest automatically.
Kind Words, by comparison, has fared less well with time. Inferior to Digita'
Wordsworth 1.1 when it came out a
those years ago, it certainly can't con
pete with the power of the budge
WordWorth SE released recently.
That's not to say it's worthless —
your word processing needs are basi
it will probably prove perfectly ad(
quate• Though it's a bit long in th
tooth, it does use Digita's Hume
Interface Protocol. which in Englis
No one's preleodine spreadsheets are
*lolling, but at least Maxiplan denvers
a bunch of powerful pr t a t i o n tool.