Amiga Computing - Commodore Is Awesome

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24
SOFTWARE
A joint project from
Active Software and
Ground Zero, Zoom
is a new release
that claims to feature
their best PD
from over the past
six months. It distin•
guishes itself from
other geneial,collections,
however,
by an impressive
2oom
looking interface that promises the sort of ease of use that
Amiga CD needs.
When it comes to the crunch, however. Zoom fails to
beat the Aminet CDs that have set the standards in accessibility.
One major reason for this is that most (if riot all) of the
files are archived using DMS. which means they have to be
extracted on to floppy disks.
In practice this means that when it comes to using the file
you've extracted you have to leave the interlace and go to
the workbench. Though this is not really much of a problem
with files that fit on one floppy, it becomes off-putting
when dealing with larger programs — especially since it's
impossible to know which are worth the effort.
EXTRACTION
In contrast, Aminet predominately features LHA files
which require less trouble to extract. This weakness on
Zooms part is a shame because in other respects the package
works very well. It's large contents summary box is one
good idea, for example, that would make a welcome
addition to other collections in the future.
Unfortunately, the actual contents aren't on a par either.
There are huge amounts of babe pictures padding the CD
out, and though these are Obviously popular sellers, they're
of little use for anything computer related Games take up a
significant proportion of the disk, with around 70 card sets
for use with Klondike III patience included as part of the collection.
Considenng the amount of space available on CD, it
would have been nice if these hadn't been compressed so
they could have all been used directly from CD.
More serious users will at least find some interest in the
Ground Zero Imagine 3D collection, and there's also some
20Mb's worth of Magic WS data to choose from. DTP users
will find the addition of themed mono clipart another
worthwhile addition.
What finally undermines Zoom, however, is the fact that
desprte its competent interface, the disk contents have Dot
been organised into helpful categories. In fairness, the CD's
fun emphasis and colourful front-end do make a welcome
change, but the flaws mean it doesn't make the top league.
the bottom line
Product: Zoom
Price: E1999
Supplier: Active Software
Tel: 01179741462
Ease of use 7
Implementation 7
Value for money 8
Overall 7
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Amiga Computing
OCTOBER icmc
ta5er g
Image collections on CD have
been popular from the outset, but
Giga Graphics gains an instant
edge by virtue of its sheer size, For
just over EX the package comprises
of four CDs packed with more than
10,000 pictures plus a few handy utilities
to allow buyers to Make the most of its
contents.
Considering there's over 2Gb of information
here to search through, it was to be hoped
that there would be proper categonsation of
the images. It's unfortunate, then, that the
images are simply organised alphabetically,
which as usual makes for an almost hopeless
mix-up of subject matter.
To give an idea of the problem, out of one
of the randomly chosen 'C drawers came
these pictures which followed one after the
other: a fantasy painting of a woman, Captain
Kirk from Star Trek, Capital Hill and a rendered
car. In other words, finding what you
want isn't always easy; on the other hand.
guessing why some of the pictures are in a
particular location makes for an entertaining
game when bored.
Thankfully, the collection Is largely
redeemed by the inclusion of a thumbnail preview
catalogue, so though the pictures are
rather jumbled, at least skimming through the
disc contents is greatly speeded up.
Given the product's size, a fair assessment
of all the contents is impossible in the space
available. However, it quickly becomes cleat
that the breadth of subject matter covered is
very wide ranging indeed. Whereas many
collections have concentrated too much on
V
a
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