FOR THEim^ fanatic

EXCLUSE

BEgHEBSjiilBl

. ^ jjj 0 d a JiJ:
-pi-.
H V. .

Futute^
57 m and
Releases P/Reviewed:
•Toshiba Infinia PC
•Lucus Art's Jedi Knight
•Huge 24-Inch Monitor
from Sony
•GrabIT vs. Snappy 2.01

8 Pages of Step-by-Step
Oigtal Image Editing i
Tricks and Techniques

iniagine
wwwJootnet.Gom
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nOA MOH inJ3ilV} 38
 WHY TAKE A CHANCE?
Choose wisely.
With aD the computers there are to choose from, we can understand your frustra
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• Toohfiee minilower or desktop > pa 64-bit 3D video, MPEG, 4MB EDO RAM
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• 12X EIDE CO-ROM drive, 3.5" floppy drive • 12X SCSI CD-ROM drive, 3.5" floppy drive
•16 bit stereo sound & speakers • 16 bit stereo sound S speakers
•PCI 64-bit 3D video, MPEG,4MB EDO RAM • PCI 64-bit 3D video, MPEG,4MB EDO RAM
• Tool-free minitower or desktop • Tool-free minitower or desktop
PENTIUMsPRO
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5-veof/3-year Micron Power* wotranty • Microsoft Office Pro 95 S Bookshelf 95 CDs
if • 5-year/3-year Micron Power worronty
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Bu5. leM $75/rao.
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Product Information Number 232
 p/revlews
bootWorthy: Big, Beautiful Monitors
A roomy monitor, with tack sharp resolution and a
rock-solid refresh rate, is al| we ask.
18 nuggets
• ViewSonic P815
The finer points of the world,
explained in vivid RGB terms.

bootWire
L' bootWorthy p.64
• Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 91TXM
• Sony Multiscan 20se II
• Nanao FlexScan FX2-21
• NEC P1150
News that matters. A major breakthrough in copyright-protection
encryption throws open the doors for the much-anticipated next
step in storage; DVD. Look for the mega-media and the drives to Previews and Reviews
hit shelves any day now; and while we're speaking of much- Come and meet 57 debutante products, including:
anticipated technologies, boot has discovered that the millions the world's first 200MHz notebook PC; the premiere
of installed Win95 users will not be able to upgrade to. USB desktop PC from Toshiba; intergalactic war games
with Star Generat, Compaq's svelte 3020 desktop PC;-
I peripherals any time soon... unless they buy a new PC.:
4 football sims fece the ultimate grognard;/^rs
idea of the "complete communications solutioh"; *
natural media meets vector editability with Fractal
Design's Expression; Toshiba introduces-the^ first ?•
12x CD-ROM drive; and more to turn yotir;head...
PURE PC POWER

Alps MD-4000 p.Ill

I departments
8 Comm Port
Readers tell us what's what via e-mails,
faxes, and postcards from prison.

voices bootDisc and bootNet

fp it in, boot it up. and check it out.
5 Editor's Words . ■ s month's bootDisc contains demos of
bootChief Brad Dosland serves up a the software see^Jn the pages of boot,
steaming hot heapin' of blather. \nc\u6\n^Madden ilFL '97, Expression.
NCAA Ch^mpipnWtp Basketball. Star
General, Oil Change, After Dark Online.
27 Game Theory Return Fire, Ecstatica 2, and Amok. Plus
Columnist T. Liam McDonald explains, how
you'll find the demo versions of Adobe's
MMX technology will make games unreal.
Photoshop software, so you can try the
killer techniques discussed in our "Reality
29 On the Line Manipulation" image-editing feature.
Columnist Shel Kimen pulls the cork and
recommends seven sites for sipping.
24 Pure Lust
Qur finger on the digital pulse.
1 31 Fast Forward
Columnist Tom Halfhill has no love for
I j-mail. And suggests a plan for thwarting it. 12-Step Program
star General p.97
This month; Do you dare enter the dark
119 Glitch world of overclocicing your CPU? We walk
Columnist jon Phillips shares the envelope: you through the valley of motherboard
warning from his latest disc purchase. death to a land where speed rules.

115 bootRadar
Making known all. new products on the
PC.horizon.,
 Now
You Can Bat

Introducing Connectix Color QuickCam",

Those Baby Btues the camera and software that lets you
use your computer in fun ways at home,
business and on the net. Send personalized
cards. Add images to business reports.
All Over Videoconference with additional
software. Spiff up your web site.
Get Color QuickCam for under $200'.
Just plug it in, install the software and
start taking brilliant color pictures
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Now You CanWith Color QuickCam A

For Windows and Mac platforms. Available wherex'cr computer products are sold. Oi/'CKUvi
1.1 rli.ii

Product Information Number 111

The Pure Power Preview p.50
boot
P:It se ms everyone's
january 1997

Best Served Hot

EDITORIAL

Editor In Oilef: Brad Dosland

Senior Editor: Michael Brown
News Edlton Bryan Del Rizzo
boot is the only one delivering 100 percent
Technical Editor: Chris Dunphy
Reviews Editor: Andrew Sanchez starting to realize the of your daily PC needs.
Production Edlton Ingrid Bush same thing; boots Readers are recognizing this and migrat
Contributing Editors: Tom HalFhill, Shei Kimen,
T. Llam McDonald. David Pescovitz, Ion Phillips not like all the other ing to boot. Sure, some are scared away by a
Contributing Writers: jay Boor, lee Buchanan, magazine that doesn't explain how the CPU
Sean Cleveland, Brad Craig, Dan Doemer,
Marshal M. Rosenthai, William Trotter ' Simply flipping is the "brain of the computer" every time it
Disc Editor; Sean Downey through an issue of mentions a motherboard. Others take the
Spider Boy: Daevid Vincent
^ ' boot reveals the challenge and step up. Ultimately, this dis
ARI
essential differences. tinction allows us to take our coverage one
Art Director: Laura Morris
Associate Ait Director: Inka Petersen ^ ' boot isn't for just step further. We look at every component of
Contributing Artist: Becky Alber, Lou Beach, jan Koehler anyone. We are dedi every system we review. Our editors take it
Contributing Photographers: Aaron Lauer, Mark Madeo
cated to the hardcore apart and put it back together again, and
PRODUCTION
Production Director Richard Lesovoy PC fanatic, the one then drive the beast 'til it either drops or
Production Coordinator: Ken Brandow who wants the best box possible rumbling earns our respect. That's part of our secret.
WyERTISJNG on their desktop, boot readers want the Our review labs aren't stocked with techni
National Advertising Manager Angela Mueters
Regional Advertising Manager Chris Coelho high-octane components that will translate cians in white lab coats, packing clipboards.
Regional Advertising Manager juanlta Nesslnger directly into the benchmarks that leave other The bootLab is nirvana for anyone who's
Marketplace Account Manager julianne Counter
Advertising Coordinator lennifer Barbeau
machines sitting at the starting line. really got the love for PCs. Our editors roil
Marketing Manager: Angela Bennett To this end, we made a conscious deci up their sleeves and get hands-on vrith the
CONTAa sion regarding the coverage in boot. Instead latest and greatest gear, running it through
boot
150 North Hill Drive, Brisbane, CA 9A005
of wasting your time, and our pages, with the same paces you'd use your PC for.
URL www.bootnet.com vacuous rundowns of every single monitor Even the PC industry is reading boot. We
Subscriptions phone: 41S.468.4869
Subscriptions e-mail: [email protected]
or modem or whatnot that appears on the get calls praising our frank and insightful
Advertising: 415.468.4684, ext. 110 shelves of a computer warehouse store, we coverage from engineers and product man
Editorial: 415.468.4684; edltor^bootnet.com
focus our attention on the good stuff. We agers at the companies pushing the enve
FAX: 415.468.4686

gRCUlATION
call it "the short-list." Yeah, we check it all lope, and calls damning our honesty from
□rculation Manager: Tina Rodich out, so we absolutely know what's what. But vice presidents of marketing at major manu
FulfUlment Manager judy Apostol
Newsstand DIredor: Bruce Eldridge when the ink hits the page (and the HTML facturers trying to rest on their laurels.
Newsstand Manager: Thea Seiby hits the WWW), we've done our job: giving Don't worry. At boot we'll always call 'em
Newsstand Analyst: Terry Lawson
Qfculation Consultant: Gail Egbert
you the rundown on the cream of the crop. like we see 'em.

IMAGINE PUBUSHING, INC

Our bootWprthy department is a great Bottom line: boot's a hotblooded maga
Publisher Matt Firme example of this philosophy. Every month we zine for PC owners who care about high-
Director of CD-ROM DevelopmerR: Thomas Hale
New Media Business Development Manager: Mary Hoppin approach a specific category of gear—be it performance hardware and the software that
Senior Software Engineer Kurt Cagle 3D accelerator cards or speakers or moni fuels it. We're unabashed about our feel
Chief Information Officer John Montgomery
Creative Director Laura Morris
tors—and provide a convenient shopping list ings: We're stoked about PCs. Today's PCs
Vice President of Circulation: Holly Klingel for the discerning buyer when it comes time rip any other digital experience—bar none.
Vice Presldent/CFO: Tom Valentino
President: Chris Anderson
to upgrade. You can rest assured that the And with technologies such as DirectX,
IMTERNATIONAL LICENSING REPRESENTATIVE short-list we provide won't lead you astray. DVD, MMX, USB, and FireWire beginning
Robert j. Abramson and Associates, inc.
720 Post Road, Scarsdale, NY 10583 When people are trying to understand to bust wide open, our jonesing's just gonna
VOLUME 01. ISSUE 05 just what boot is about, they invariably ask get worse. Based on the letters, faxes, e-mail,
boot (ISSN #10^-5439) is published monthly by Imagine
Publishing. Inc., 150 North Hill Drive, Suite 40, Brisbane, CA which other magazines we consider our and psychic memos we've received from
94005, USA. Periodical class postage paid In Brisbane, CA
and at additional mailing offices. Newsstand distribution is competition. There's just no pat answer. you, we know you're hot for the same thing.
handled by Curtis Circulation Company. Basic subscription
rates: one year (12 issues) U.S. $3950, Canada $5350. Nobody else has devoted themselves to you So keep 'em coming, keep on reading, ajid
Canadian price Includes postage and GST (GST #128220688).
Postmaster: Send changes of address to boor, P.O.Box and your ambitious desires. One magazine we'll keep giving you what we all love:
51479, Boulder, CO 80322-1479.
Bulk Rate. U.S. Postage Paid. attempts to be all things to ail people, giving Piure PC Power!
Waseca. MH, Permit No. 350
Standard Mall enclosed in the following editions: A3, B, up five or 10 pages a month to the coverage
Bl, B2. CPC int'l Pub Mall # 0781029. Outside the U.S. and
Canada, price is $53.95, U.S. pre-pald funds only. For customer
that matters to you. Another magazine is
service, write boot, P.O. Box 51479, Boulder, CO 80322-1479, content to talk down to the casual PC
boot, 150 North Hill Drive, Brisbane. CA 94005. Imagine
Publishing also publishes PC Gamer, Next Generation, Mac owner. Some magazines are focused on
Addict, Game Players and The Net. Entire contents copyright
1996, Imagine Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. business issues and applications to the
Reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited. Imagine
Publishing, Inc. Is not affiliated with the companies or exclusion of all others. At the end of the day,
products covered In boot.
boot JAN 97
PRODUCED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A wild
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Hummer

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fender 90

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 ONUing physics for each uehicle
plus 9 camera views. Powerful 3D engine
Keeps the action moving at blazing speed!

iJcr—

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^j'lilJjj]£Jii£|«Aii;i-.Ll5A!iilJ SDdijy us (ihhf): //'iwi.wv/r--1 1'I ri

Tosl Drive Is a ImdemarkolAccolade, inc.01996 Accolade lr<c. Ail agnts reserved, psveloc«dt>y Ellis
Syelcms. Tns Land Rover Natae and Logo are tradamadis of Rover GroupUmitediissd under ircenso.
Hummer and Huiwee are tire rogislered trademarks of A.M. Genorsl CorDoralion. JEEP and Joop grille
design are reglStered.lra^rnaiks of Cfirysler Corporaiion. U.S A. and are used under license.
-t> CHBVSLER CORPORATION 1996. Cfiavroret K-1500 2T1 and Body Design are ireCemarks of
Clwvrolai Moior DaWon. General Moto|s Corporation, used under licenss to Aecolada. Inc. Ucensad
By Sony Computer Enlartaieiport'AllilMji'lutMuyKgi die PlSyStation game console.fdayStaoon and
|g*SJgSiauop towa^ttaSir^ of Sony Com^jflPereeBaiwnotTf'litKTT^ icon Is a regls-
TW»flTOtewiCSWW»reiSfv»4J(0(laJ Sotiware Association. THIS SOFTWARE tS COMPATIBLE
WfTH PLAreTATlBN GAME CONSOLES WITH THE NTSC U.-C DESIGNATION.
Product Information Number 62
 LETTERS TO THE EDITORS

KIck-Ass magazine powerful enough to run the damn disc. It's Boo... Hiss...
boot Magazine is a definite Kick-Ass product good to see a magazine catering to the high- I have now received two copies of boot maga
because you guys KICK ASS!!! end PC market, rather than the "I only have a zine, and all I can say is that I hate it.
Garrett Bart/ey 486" market. Keep up the good work. In the first two issues, you had NO
Thanks, and keep the magazines rolling reviews about any educational software for the
Director's cut off the press. Millions of readers and I rely on younger folks, but instead seem to be focus
ioolDisc02 blew my sorry ass away! I had it to keep in touch with the high-end products ing on some cult group out there in techno-
never previously bought a magazine on/y for the PC. nerd land...
for the free disc, but when "Macromedia's Don't get me wrong... I am one to adopt
Marc Poijson
Director" caught my eye (I've been wanting new technology first. 1 have five PCs at home,
to try it out), I yanked out the eight bucks Disc Editor Sean Downey replies: Ask and ye and some of the latest and greatest gear, but
for your wares. shall receive. A new 1 demo is on the bootNet
the stuff you are covering is not real-world for
I have since been booted and rebooted, web site (www.bootnet.com) as I write. Check most homes.
and now have more demo software installed out the Kick-Ass game, 'cuz it's a blast!
Caesar Snee
on my surprised PC than I will be able to
handle for quite some time. By the way, you Don't forget us ladies I Want my 3D
also have a new subscriber. I'm impressed with Boot's emphasis on new First, let me say that I think your magazine is
John Ingram technology and I appreciate the more exten great, especially with regard to reviewing new
sive articles, but it seems that the flavor of the products. I had been waiting for months for
Letter from
magazine is geared to the male population. the Compaq Presario 8710/12 to come out.
an English teacher
For example,"Should we start getting super Your magazine's review about the sound card
When I saw boot on the rack at the grocery problems was right on target.
store, I thought: "Great, another highly visual, models to pose for our covers.'"(ljoot 02);
what exactly is that saying to all your female In the 'Editor's Words'(boot 02), you
content-laddng magazine for Pentium-powered, mention a previous issue's coverage of
subscribers? And so far all your software
Win95/NT-running,app-jamming, tedi-heads 200MHz systems with dual 3D accelerators.
who spend their waking hours concocting reviews have been for twitch games that any
10-year-old kid can master. Where are the I didn't see this issue, and I can't seem to
'kewl' ways to express themselves." retrieve it from your web site. Was there a
reviews for the adventure games where one
1 guess I'm not a power user. 1 run a review ofthese systems (like the one due out
actually has to think to play? Please don't
486DX 33/66, a 2x CD-ROM,8MB of RAM, from NEC called PowerPlayer 2020)?
leave us ladies out in the cold. Believe it or
and a 14.4 modem.To beat it all, I have a 14-
not, there are those of us who are interested iorry Kurdek
inch monitor connected to an 8-bit video
card. What's my point.' Speed does not get in technology and expanding our minds with Dual 3D 200MHz monster systems were fea
what's new in the industry. tured in the premiere issue of boot. Look under
me racing. The only time speed comes into
HoUy S/wrt
play is when I boot. And that's like saying I Previous Features on the bootNet web site.
need an Indy car to drive to work. Editor in Chief Brad Dosland replies: boot is
I am an English teacher and usually read not geared toward any particular gender, boot With all this talk about upgrades to 3D sound
a magazine in about 45 minutes. With com is geared toward all people with a love for and 3D graphics, 1 am feeling behind the
puter magazines, I want items I can use, spec- PCs. We cover more than twitchware, recently times. I currently own a P133, and would like
to upgrade my graphics card to a 3D card.
However, my graphics chips are mounted
if you are still at a command line, 1 commend you for standing directly to my motherboard. Any sugges
up to Win95, and you can say what you want. we've looked at tions for upgrading without changing my
multimedia, utility, motherboard and computer case?
ifically the discs. 1 make software purchases and yes, adventure apps. The super model Cbris Wolfi
based on the demo versions found on CD- quip was a gag, but still, traditional women's Tech Editor Chris Dunphy replies: Some mother
ROM samplers. The disc is boot's strong point, magazines (Vogue, Cosmo, Women's Home boards with onboard graphics chipsets have
although the interface is dark and cold, belong JournaU all put super models on their covers, jumpers to disable the video and allow an
ing in the gothic movie "Batman Computing." as right or wrong as that might be. Obviously upgrade card. Others (such as the PowerPlayer
If you maintain the trend of presenting boot will never do something as superfluous 2020) detect new graphics cards and automati
thematic discs (multimedia, HTML,or what as that. BTW: Does Teri Hatcher qualify as a cally disable themselves. You'll have to try it
ever) in which I, the non-power using, non- super model? on your machine to know for sure. If it doesn't
Generation X reader am truly interested, 1 may disable or have jumpers, fire off an angry letter
do something that no other computer maga Macs aren't so bad to your computer's manufacturer cursing them
zine has propelled me to do. I may subscribe. Your mag kicks ass, but I have noticed a very for their shortsightedness.
Joel E. Mayer sad fact: The readers are way too anti-Mac. 1
Patch It up would pick a PC over a Mac any day, but people Your preview of future 3D-graphics
1 recently bought boot 03, and when I tried to slam Macs for no reason. Anti-Mac-ers need accelerator cards in boot 02 was just
run the game Zfrom my computer,it wouldn't to learn that all computers have their place. what I was looking for. I sent e-mail to
work. The demo was looking for a subdirectory A PC's place is at the top (ofcourse). A Mac's Sierra (some oftheir future software
on the main directory rather than the subdirec place is in the hands of graphic designer looks hot) and they wrote back saying
tory in the Zdirectory. I was wondering ifyou wannabes and other cheap people who can't they like Rendition. Will there be other
were going to post a patch on your web page, get an SGI or Sun. If you are still at a com Rendition cards and will they come with
because I would really like to try the game out. mand line, 1 commend you for standing up different types of RAM? I'd like 4MB of
On a different note, 1 really like your to Win95, and you can say what you want. VRAM or better in my new card.
magazine, and I am glad 1 own a computer Space Cowboy Thomas A FoHand ► 11
 REAL SOUNDS.

Sound Blaster® audio cards include

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Creative communications let you

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Product Information Number 116

-© e^TigH« ChsadVe iKhnolog^ IJd Soond Bhtrt«SouhdBI&wO»co>cty C."0 Jinrf^e
'TW'noJogy Sottinl Blasic^WE.-Graphlcsmaiter andlnirmct of Ctcative TcchnoloRV Kirf.
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 AbsolutepoWER.
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Voodoo Graphici~ on a PC luppom MS-DOS'Windowj* 95, md ii ihe uJiimiic Microiofl* DiiccOD- game accelciiior. Bat None.
Product Information Number 371
 should look for a GeoWorks users group. all ofthe men who were available to serve.
I can't believe hoot is finally out! The first and
Morgan Nebon Were all of the "dodgers" equally useless
second issues really blew me away. You guys
and/or cowardly? Or does this only apply to
know what you're talking about. Please, Preguntas para ustedes, Democrats? Or perhaps just to Bill Clinton?
please, please award a Kick-Ass award to at gracias Patrick]. Keating
least one of the 3D accelerators. Which do I must say, your magazine is one of the finest
you think is better? available, boot kicks it! I receive five computer Editor in Chief Brad Dosland replies: The
Kenneth Loo
magazines every month, and I read boot cover comment was clearly intended as humor.
Comments regarding public personalities, such
Senior Editor Mike Brown replies: Sierra likes to cover.
1 do however have a couple of questions. I as the president and Madonna, do belong in
Rendition because their own Screamin' 3D card
plan to purchase a new computer when boot, because it is a magazine rooted in the
is based on the Verite chipset. Of course, it's
real world.
one of our current Kick-Ass award winners too MMX and DVD come out. My questions are:
(because of its great 20 drivers), aiong with 1) Can I run DOS games under NT Work Requesting reference
the Voodoo Graphics cards from Diamond station? I must say that I love your reviews. The sheer
Muitimedia (Monster 3D) and Orchid Tech 2) What do you think of OS/2 v.4? number of them says a lot about your staff.
nology (Righteous 3D). All of these cards use 3) Which is faster, a 686 or a Pentium with Personally, 1 am one ofthe people who spend
EDO DRAM, if you must have a VRAM-based MMX? between 51.000 to $1,500 on their system
every year; and I was wondering ifit
As for your implication that the only people who like Wings are a would be possible to list—in a
easy reference format—^the
"lesser" breed of user, you are merely numbing the pain of your own benchmarks for your various
ignorance. You made a choice—as did millions of Wings users I tests (on the bootDisc, bootNet... wherever.)
' A reference such as this would make
—you just made the wrong choice. One ofthe things that I look at my life much easier when it comes time to
in purchasing a new computer is upgrade (which seems be all too often—but
card, look for our upcoming review of 3D graph upgradability, not esoteric looks. If I want to I need the speed baby!)
ics accelerators using the new ViRGE VX chip. add 16 more megs, I don't want to have to Aaron Wilson
call a tech. or take the system to pieces. Up
Photo feedback Editor in Chief Brad Dosland replies: The sheer
gradability should be a strong component on
Mark Madeo's work on the cover ofthe pre your rating system. My current computer has number of boot's reviews also says a lot about
miere issue of boot is a welcome mix of fantasy been upgraded three times now. the condition of our staff: exhausted! But the
and reality. He cleverly combines two seem Josh Javage
next infusion of cutting-edge goods always
ingly incongruous elements to create a seam seems to perk them up. We are building a
less expression. It deserves to be reprinted on Tech Editor Chris Dunphy replies: We do place benchmark reference library for our bootNet
an uncluttered page, or even shrunk and used a strong priority on upgradability. See this web site as i write this.
as an ongoing moniker. It seems to accurately month's Pavilion review on page 100 for a
Matrox vs. imagine
depict "the boot mission." graphic example. In answer to your questions:
Just wanted to take some time to thank the
Paul Griffith 1) Some DOS games run under NT, but don't mothers who create this magazine. You guys
get your hopes up. Unless the game touts NT are the best. When I first saw your mag on
Editor in Chief Brad Dosland replies; Madeo's work compatibility, dual booting into DOS or Win95 the newsstand, I thought to myself and said,
for boot has been outstanding, particularly the is a better option. "Nice cover, but probably contains the same
great portraits he's contributed for the Up inter info as the other 20 mags." 1 took the chance
2) OS/2 v.4 is a fine OS, but IBM has ceased
views. We'll look into the possibility of making a and purchased it. To my surprise, I feU in love
development of it. it is a dead end and only
poster out of the premiere issue cover image. and called for a subscription. Besides lusting
viable as a curiosity.
(BTW: Kudos to our Art Director Laura Morris for for your mag and wishing it was biweekly, I
her excellent concept and digital compositing of 3) We haven't gotten our hands on an MMX thought the article about how to construct
that striking image.) system yet, but our guess is that the Pentium your own powerful PC was great. This article
MMX will leap ahead of Cyrix 6x86 in perfor shows that this mag is directed toward the
Warp speed
mance. Of course, Cyrix has their M2 preparing hardware junkies as weU as the casual read
To begin with, let me state that I love boot] It
for liftoff... ers. Also I'm about to build my own PC. Tell
is a wonderful mag with a great future.
I would like to reply to Jonathon Wool-, Outrageous comment me which video card to pick; the Matrox
ridge who wrote about OS/2 Merlin. The "He's about as useful to his unit as Bill Millennium or the Imagine 128.
reason OS/2 Warp is a failure is that it will Clirtton would have been to his." Jerry Eng
always be an "also ran" OS because it has to I'm sorry folks, but I can't get the above
be Windows compatible. Unfortunately it is quote from T. Liam McDonald[Game Fantastic! That's what I think about
not Win95 compatible and cannot run the Theory, boot03] out of my head. Is he saying your magazine. 1 just bought my
bulk of"Designed for Windows 95" software. the president is a coward, or just generally first issue and I love it. I sub
It may be a more technically superior OS, but useless? Didn't it occur to anybody that a scribe to several other maga
it is not a successful OS. direct insult to the president ofthe United zines, but none of them come
As for your implication that the only people States does not belong in a computer gaming close to giving me what I am
who like Win95 are a "lesser" breed of user, magazine? really looking for. Until now!
you are merely numbing the pain of your When Bill Clinton was young he dodged What did you do? Take the
own ignorance. You made a dioice—as did military service. Does this really make him best people from all the other mags
millions of Win95 users—you just made the useless or a coward? The war was a relatively and put them together to create this one?
wrong choice. If you want company, you small one and did not require the services of I have been trying to decide what ► 12
LETTERS TO THE EDITORS

kind of video card to buy for several weeks Conspiracy theories loaded with 8MB, each of these can do
now. After reading your review ofthe STB 1 loaded MJE3.0 from a disc that came with a 1600x1200 with 24-bit color very nicely.
Lightspeed 128, 1 have my answer. You have magazine I bought when I purchased Novtg-
shown me that it has just what I need. atorS.0. 1 loaded them both. Novigotor beat Rocky Mountain high
MIE at getting to any site I tried. (It was from Out of all the useless computer garbage in
Steve McCuilougit
seconds to minutes faster.) But, MIE3.0 vio print, I've seen it all. Your magazine is differ
Senior Editor Mike Brown replies: While both ent, perhaps the best computer magazine I've
lated my system, and most of the "Prime Dir
are solid cards, we use the Matrox as our refer ever seen; with useful stuff and a disc filled
ectives" Miaosoft has issued to anyone out
ence. based on its high-speed performance in with cool demos. Where do you get your
side of Redmond, Wash. MIE stole the book
both Windows and DOS. it's a great card for information? It's a fresh perspective never
marks out of Navigator, and then erased them
gaming and creative apps. perceived before. You guys know your stuff.
in. MIE was very nosy, intrusive, and not as
easy to use. When uninstalled, it deleted .dll's I have been reading computer magazines,
Guts tech briefs, web pages, etc. for too many
I just picked up boot 03. It's nice to find a that forced me to reload other programs.(Tsk,
tsk.) Lastly, there are quite a few suspicious years, and I have never seen a $6,000 video
computer mag with some guts. The others card, or even knew they made one. You test
would never say "slower then a slug,"
for fear of losing advertising. Any magazine stupid enough to pour two gallons of gasoline on a
Please keep telling it like it is.
We don't need another mag dozen Duraflame logs, expecting to put out the resulting conflagration
fill] of"everything is wonder
ful" reviews followed by fliO-page ads for the files that M/E left with a 20 pound fire extinguisher has my vote!
behind after the
product reviewed. stuff that has never been tested,(maybe that's
uninstall.
Tom Smith
If it has anything to do with Netscape, why the magazine costs $8). Anyone who
Advertising Director Angela Mueters replies: Microsoft has a monkey wrench, and usually tests their products to the extreme of nearly
Not that we wouldn't accept full-page ads of in the back alley from behind. burning down a parking lot deserves a
every product reviewed... Rosemary Dugan
reward. Thanks! Oh, yeah, where are you guys
from? 1 see some addresses from the state of
MMX counterpoint Colorado, is that where you're based?
Oh come on. Once again you go off bombing
Regarding your article about Intel's delayed Chad Keep
MIE. with your web site's little "Microsoft's
MMX chip["MMX and USB Delayed," hoot Internet Explorer has Buggy Java Script..." tag.
03), there are a number ofimportant points Please! Why don't you mention some of Nsv- Editor in Chief Brad Dosland replies: Thank
which need to be addressed: igotor's bugs, such as no ActiveX support, you! Actually, our offices are located a sfone's
■ Intel is leading consumers to believe that lack of proper HTML 3.0 support, etc. Does throw ffom Candlestick (ne 3COM) Park, just
the new MMX Pentium will "do all things for someone at boot have something against south of San Francisco. Although some of those
all people." However. Boca Research believes Microsoft or do they have some stock in longballs launched out of Coors Field have
that specialization and discrete components Netscape? Be fair and do tell about the short landed in our parking lot.
still have their place. comings of Netscape too.
■ Performance is compromised when too William Frisbee
Firel Firei
many functions are bundled onto one chip. I've enjoyed your magazine since the first
While the processing needs for modular func Build to suit issue, but I still wasn't sure I wanted to invest
tions (video, fax, modem,etc.) have signifi 1 read in boot that the ViewSonic Professional in a subscription, until reading Pure Lust
cantly increased during the last three years, Series P8I0 monitor was tested with the (Fire! Fire!) in boot 03. Any magazine stupid
the CPU's power has not achieved the same Number Nine Imagine 128 Series 2 graphics enough to pour two gallons of gasoline on a
quantum leap processing improvements. card. I am having a computer built to replace dozen Duraflame logs, expecting to put out
Thus, the greater demands ofCPU process my recently failed one and selected the P8I0 the resulting conflagration with a 20 pound
ing, video, wavetable audio, and then trans monitor. 1 didn't have the P810 in mind fire extinguisher has my vote! I like the con
mitting via modem will be too much to simply when 1 chose the Diamond Stealth 64 graph tent, style, and tone ofthis rag. My request
bundle onto one barely enhanced Pentium. ics card and was wondering if I should for a two year subscription has been transmit
■ Flexibility is also greatly diminished when upgrade it to a 128-bit card. Did you run any ted to your subscription dept. Keep up the
bundling too many functions on one chip. tests with a 64-bit card, and if so, what per good work.
The adaptability for newer upgrades/versions formance degradation did you experience? Lany Burwell
of specialized functions is handcuffed by a Dan Brown
Editor in Chief Brad Dosland replies: Let me set
restricted—if not quickly obsolete—function Tech Editor Chris Dunphy replies: Excellent the record straight. I told them one or two .,
contained in the all-in-one CPU processor. choice of monitors—to match it, you really logs, (but they sell in boxes of 12).
The ability to purchase a state-of-the-art need a graphics card that can do 1280x1024 I never mentioned gasoline, (the
CPU processor, coupled with the freedom or, for a real treat. 2600x1200. And make sure photographer said it would make
to upgrade "bells-and-whistles" as newer you get this with decent color depth and solid the flames look better on Elm). And
and better adjunct processing techniques refresh rate. Currently. I'm using the Sierra a Ere extinguisher? Not my idea.
continue to come offthe production line is Screamin' 3D with my P810, because I don't
the most cost-effective and performance- want to sacrifice 3D game acceleration; but if i e-mail: [email protected]
driven design choice. were focusing on 2D only, I would go for a fax: 415.468.4686
Steve Mills paper: boot commport,
loaded Matrox Millennium or the TwinTurbo-
150 North Hill Dr., Brisbane. CA 94005
Boca Research Inc. 128P from Integrated Micro Solutions. Fully
 'W

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Cfealed By Shiny Entertainment, inc. ©^996 Shiny EntertaJnmenl Inc. MDKIsa trademartotShlny Entertainmeofi mc; All fights resen/e
Artwork and design © 1996 Playmates Interactive Entertainment Inc. PIE is a registered tracemark of Pfaymates Interactive Entertainment Inc. All nghts r
•. -3 "■ Nui^r ^ "liri^llTT"'
 f#
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the

Every month, toof magazine delivers

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Feature: Pure Power Preview

Each of the spinning planets is linked to a hot new technology
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REE ISSUE CCB-Sn

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bootWire features the latest news;
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Of course all this cutting-edge tech ihr >10/

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The site is graphics intensive, and you'd COMMPORT:
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Want to contact us?
than a 28.8Kfaps modem if at all possible— We want to hear from you.
now's a good time to get that ISDN line. This section is the most
If you're always climbing to the pinnacle interactive part of boot's
of the fest-paced tech', world, you probably
web site. It has letters to the
have access to these basics; if you're editor, and a profiles section
standing still, get your boots on!
introducing our staff. Plus a
list of advertisers' links so
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bootWARE: VOICES:
Gel your grubby 111' hands on the latest Columns by boot's connected writers, a few
downloadable drivers, patches, and coolest words from our editor, and some special guest
demos around. contributions.

bdUl JAN 97 • IB
 m

©1996 Microsoft CorporilioD. All tights reserved. Microsoft, Where doyowumnl logo lodayT iti WiodowsitE registered tndcmirksof Itlicrosofl Cotpontion.
 Captain Mathis knows how the love of flight can take hold and
make you want to roll your plane, he ^ust feels it's best to save stunt
flying for your Extra 300S acrobatics plane.
The sensation of piloting your own aircraft is now attainable
in the time it takes to pop in a CD and click a few buttons.
The Microsoft® Flight Simulator for Windows* 95 intuitive
interface, flying lessons by a virtual pilot instructor, and multimedia
demonstrations get you up
and flying your first time at
the controls. Master flying basics and then,
after logging some time, take on some
of the more advanced challenges in any of
the six planes in your fleet.
You'll soon come to believe that the Golden

Gate Bridge was erected just so you could

loop around it. Take off from Paris in your commercial Boeing 737-400:
instruct your passengers to look out the left side of the plane to sec
the gardens at the Palace of Versailles. Or take your private Lcarjet 35A
to Vegas; read the marquees on The Strip before landing. Microsoft
Flight Simulator for Windows 95 graphics gives you geographical and
scenic detail just that vivid (assuming you're not flying into a fog bank).
To view a 60-second sample video of true simulator flight that's as real as
it gets, buz2 us at www.microsoft.com/gamcs/fltsim/

Microsoft
Where do you want to go today?*

Expansion Pack luith southern California scenery, challenges, and adventures available soon.
 i^GETS
Nintendo 64
Commodore 64
VS.
Apple Moves Into Black
Now that Nintendo has finally released
Sleight of hand can't hide the company's troubled situation
and spld out of their long-awaited 64-bit
gaming platform, we thought It might be Beleaguered Apple Computer Inc. stunned enhancements that you have asked for, such as
interesting to see how it compares with the world by announcing a profit of $25 the delivery ofa new kernel, I/O system, and
the other 64 on the block- the million in its most recent quarter. To accom file system, remain active projects." But dosed
Commodore 64.
plish this feat, Apple has laid off900 workers, with a pessimistic,"At this point it's not possible
and will kill off another 600 positions to try to make statements about delivery schedules of
and keep the company in the black. these spedfic components."

C64 N64 Mere weeks later, Apple announced it was

abandoning its next OS,Copland. In a letter to
its developer community, Ellen Hancock,
With the announcement, former Apple
Chief Technology Officer Jean Louis Gassre's
BeOS remains the leading contender to nm
INSTALLED BASE Apple's Chief Technical Officer said,"The the Macintosh machines ofthe future.

Nearly 30 million Less than a

C64s and 01285 million.
sold.
Microsoft Continues Quest Let's
SOFTWARE LIBRARY
for World Domination Talk
More than Three to five
Software company establishes its own currency About
10,000 titles. games.

Microsoft has recently begun to issue their

ME!
own currency: MSOollars. So far, they're the straight from the
AVAILABILITY
only ones to accept the bills, but if the Let's Talk About ME!
Check your Sold out. You spread and standardization of DOS and press release:
attic/garage/ can't buy it. Windows is any indication, the U.S. "Finally, the quintes
closet. Government may be in deep trouble. sential CD-ROM for
girls has am'ved!
Ever wonder what ifs

$15 at your local $199 with no Panasonic's Close ~ like to pick out your
garage sale.
Games: six for
games. Games:
$60 or more. •
Brush with a Touchy Subject outfits for the week—
on your computer?
a dollar. New products would put the "personal" back into PCs This interactive com
puter program covers
when Panasonic launched a new titled "Internet Pecker." The a wide variety of top
SOUND
line of home PCs with touch day before the product was ics from fashion to
Three voice SID Dual digital screen capabilities in Japan, it fig to be formally announced,
chip with built-in sound channels, horoscopes, diaries
ured a woodpecker would be the an American woman at the
sound filters. No filters. to dreams, and
perfect mascot for the hunt-and- electronics giant noticed the
answers to females'
peck web surfer. So the company double-entendre and alerted
spent big bucks promoting the management. The name was challenges of adoles
GRAPHICS
product, which they named subsequently changed to cence." The product
16 colors, 2D Millions of "Touch Woody." A bundled utility "Woody Touch Panel" at the will be available from
scrolling, raster colors. 3D for downloading home pages was last minute. Simon & Schuster.
effects. geometry
engine.
Netscape Kills Off Navigator
Clearly, the C64 is the far superior Netscape revealed it intends to dump Netscape Navigator \n favor of a new product called
machine. Sure the N64 has a slight edge Netscape Communicator. In addition to a core WWW browser, Communicator viiW allow users
in graphics and sound, but it's gameplay to share data over networks, conduct audio conferences, and improve e-mail exchange.
that really makes a system. Paradroid, Communicator w\l\ also include new tools for web development, group messaging, and real-time
Archon, and M.U.LE. as well as thou collaboration. Communicator w\\ be available for $49 and can be downloaded off the web.
sands of other classics are easily the Netscape's plans to integrate support for Microsoft's ActiveX in future products, indicate it
equal to Mario. Better luck next time is finally acknowledging the existence of Microsoft; and Microsoft, for its part, has already
Nintendo. announced plans to integrate Java in its suite of products in 1997. '

1B • boot JAN 87
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' v/v/v/,gttnieracli7e,cf)m "MS-Op^''^ is 8 f(^lsterw> Iracteffiark of Miririjsofl Corporation. Alt oiler tr30effl3d<s ai«'B» ptbperty ol thefrVespeclitfecompanKfe.;
Product Information Number 152
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Holden: No. It was just that our implemen

USB Will Not Woric tation allowed us to build everything once

for both devices. The first implementation
will be Win95, and the second implementa
tion will be Windows NT, which will be

With Pre-1997 released in the fall of'97. Traditionally,

ISVs [independent software vendors) and
IHVs [independent hardware vendors] have
to write multiple software drivers for their

Versions of Wln95 devices, depending on which Windows

operating system they want to work on.
People that are making hardware compo
nents, such as USB peripherals, would pre
Microsoft wifl not support universal bus standard until release fer to write only one. The concept behind
of Memphis OS in late '97 WDM is they can write one software driver

boot recently discovered that the much-

anticipated USB universal peripheral
for both Win95 and NT. We launched this
initiative earlier in the year at oxir hardware
developers' conference, and it got a lot of
standard will not be compatible with praise, but we are just starting to deliver
existing versions of Windows 95 (OSRl). An software components,
updated version ofthe OS with USB drivers boob Will hardware manufacturers be able
will be shipping to OEM vendors by the start of Phil Holden, to add value to fheir product's driver?
Product Manager
1997, so those machines will support the stan for Windows at
Holden: Yes, and that's by extending the
dard. But anyone who currently owns a PC Microsoft says class driver. They can build an extension
with USB ports, such as Toshiba's Infnia line, current PC own specific to that device. If a class driver, for
ers will not be
or plans to upgrade with a PCI-based USB able to upgrade example, defines 10 functions, and their
card is out ofluck until Microsoji ships their to USB until the product happens to support 15, they can
next OS, code named Memphis, slatedfor mid- next major OS extend support for those additional things.
release.
to late-1997 delivery. We talked to PhU Holden, These extensions they develop are called
Product Managerfor the Windows Product boob So current PC owners won't be able Mini Port drivers, and that Mini Port driver
Team at Microsoji, tofind out the whole story. to upgrade to USB until the final release is the extra stuff to differentiate them from
of Memphis? other vendors in the marketplace,
boob What are the advantages of USB? Holden: Correct. And, to be honest, there boob Where does a peripheral manufacturer
Holden: From a consumer standpoint, sim aren't a lot of USB devices currently out who has no eiqierience in USB or the WDM
plicity. You can purchase any piece of hard there. One of the benefits we have in model go for assistance?
ware with a USB port, and you won't have to making this available through retail is test Holden: We have all the development tools
do any hardware maintenance to the computer. ing. We need to do a huge amount of and guidelines on the web. We also have a
USB is also fast, and an industry standard, broad-based testing on these devices, and number of specific conferences, such as the
boot; Is Microsoft planning any USB sup there aren't enough devices available right Professional Development Conference, which
port for OSRl consmners? now to do that. are focused on software development. And in
boob Is Micro April ofevery year we have WinHec,our
The only way to get USB Is through purchasing a soft moving hardware development conference, targeted at
toward one the hardware companies. There are also sup
new machine from one of our OEMs,
unified operating system? port forums on the web, which are marmed
— Phil Holden, Product Manager
Holden: We will definitely see a merger of by our support people and developers,
Holden: No. The only way to get USB is the technologies. For example, NT 4.0 and boot: Does Microsoft offer support for driver
through purchasing a new machine from Win95 now share common technologies. development^
one of our OEMs. This will continue with the next products, Holden: We do, yes.
boot: How do PC owners with OSRl get NT 5.0 and Memphis. The complete merger, boot: So you actually have stafffor support?
upgraded to USB? however, is probably three to four years out. Holden: Yes, very much so. They are a
Holden: At the moment, they don't. boob To diat end, Miaosoft is phasing out very critical part of our staff. One of the
Unfortunately, they'll have to wait until the Win95's VXD drivers and will only integrate models we continually pursue is to help
next major OS release, Memphis, which is USB via NT's WDM (Windows Driver developers build applications for Windows.
expected to go beta in the first quarter of Model) drivers. Has the integration of WDM It's extremely important for us to help the
'97. That's when we'll start to make USB and USB impacted tihe delivery date of USB developer community.
devices available in retail. in any way? — Bryan Del Rizzo

boot JAN 97
DVD Breakthrough Announced
After more than a year of gridlock, the revolutionary storage medium will finally hit store shelves

With astonishing specs

(4.7GB storage, 4.69Mbps
since its incep
tion, but the
i$lun^dosg Nf— 0.74 spacing

transfer rates, Dolby inevitable drag-

AC3 audio, etc.) and a competi and-click theft
tive price point (roughly that of presented a new
today's CD-ROM technology, once threat to the
commonly implemented), DVD movie industry.
seemed like the promised land Duping VCR cas Kinmum

for PC users when a unified settes was an

standard was first introduced arduous task
back in 1995. Toss in backward and resulted in
compatibility with the burgeoning a copy with
library of CD-ROM titles available degraded qual DVD discs look like traditional CDs,(both are silver) and even have the same 4.75-Indi diameter dimension.
and the medium seemed des ity. \Whereas To Inaease storage capadty, the data on the DVD disc Is recorded using smaller pits and a tighter spiral
DVD data can also be recorded on four layers, two on each side of die disc.
tined for success. writable digital
Then someone had the idea formats meant fast, easy copying established by the CPTWG, so have no titles in development
to put movies on the discs and with no loss of quality. it seems probable that there will [for the DVD format], but that
everything fell apart. This monkey wrench threat be two distinct varieties of DVD can all change based on the
The completely digital DVD ened to stop the progress of DVD drives: those that can view acceptance, and mass market of
format can play full-length fea dead in its tracks, until recently, prerecorded movies and those this new standard."
ture films with a resolution of when the multi-industry Copyright that cannot. industry analyst
720x480 (the same resolution Protection Technical Working "Equipment man- DVD hardware Access Media Inter-
used by Digital Satellite Systems) Group (CPTWG) announced a ufecturers who wish sales will reachI national projects that
and delivers color, sound, and scrambling scheme based on to have their a majority of
clarity surpassing the quality of encrypting prerecorded movie machines play $1.28 billion, with an DVD-ROM
today's laserdiscs. disc content. The data-scrambling encrypted DVD-video installed base of hardware sales will
The computer industry has algorithm was initially proposed will be in a position I come from
had to cope with software piracy by the DVD Consortium that to get a license to seven million unitsI upgrade kits
initially announced the do so," says co- by the year 2000 through mid-1997
format. Representatives chair Chris Cookson with sales of $194
— Industry Report,
of Intel and other com of Warner Brothers. million expected
Assuming the Access Media International in 1997. AMi pre
puter companies were
concerned about the licensing has a strong impact on dicts that DVD-ROM hardware
impact descrambling DVD hardware pricing, many PC sales will reach $1.28 billion,
would have on computa owners may opt for DVD drives with an installed base of seven
tional power. The DVD unable to display commercial million units by the year 2000.
Consortium implemented movies. But for anyone who By the end of the year we'll
a modification proposed dreams of watching Terminator 2 see more computer manufacturers
by IBM that reduced that on their i7-inch monitor, don't adopt DVD drives in their new
burden substantially, despair. A large library of MPEG MMX machines. IBM, Compaq,
without compromising movies are available on CD-ROM Sony, Toshiba, and NEC are all
copy protection value. at prices roughly equivalent to pre planning to ship DVD-equipped
IBM's Alan Bell, who recorded videotapes. systems in '97. In November '96,
co-chairs CPTWG's sub While a huge fection of Holly Diamond Multimedia Inc.
committee for DVD, says, wood and Silicon Valley is be announced an agreement with
"Most importantly, it is an hind this new emerging standard, Toshiba to deliver the first line of
effective method that will (primarily because of its superior DVD solutions for personal com
not undermine consumers' performance and low manufactur puters. Diamond's DVD drives
enjoyment of the product." ing costs), not everyone in the will feature decoders for MPEG-2
The optional decryp software industry is jumping on video and Dolby AC-3 digital
tion technology will be the bandwagon. audio, and are expected to cost
licensed from an indepen Phil Adam. Vice President of between $600 and $1,000.
DTO drives should be hitting shelves now. dent non-profit entity Interplay stated, "At present, we — Brad Craig

boot JAN 97 • 23
HIGH-TECH TOYS AND TOOLS WITH THE RIGHT STUFF
Make your point
The OPTI K laser pointer from Lyte Optronics would impress even Ronald
Reagan. The engravable sleek silver aluminum body houses a 4.5 milliwatt
laser with two lenses for projecting either a solid red dot, blinking dot, or a continuous
straight line so you can underscore with finesse. The pointer even features a low-battery indi
cator so you know when it's time for a new AAA. With a range of up to 400 yards, the $99
OPTI K is ideal for making big presentations or annoying the people in the next building.
Lyte Optronics: 800.255.9133

!toob daeR
Forget about those subliminal self-help tapes you picked up at the New Age bookstore—
who knows what you're really being programmed with. A much better tool for subliminal
Let me give you my card suggestion is the Power Pyramid. Simply speak your affirmation-of-choice into the
Those plastic business card albums are so...
Pyramid's microphone and it will be played back 180 times an hour at a volume just below
analog. But who's really going to spend time
conscious perception. The message can be changed as often as you like and the pyramid
entering 200 people's stats into a database
even monitors the room's ambient sound to automatically adjust its loudness to the ideal
after a big trade show? That's where Pana
subliminal programming level. More
sonic's CF-CRIOO NeoFile comes in. The
than 100 fun-to-read sample affirma
$399.95 unit scans and stores information
tions are provided. (Example: "1 am
from up to 500 cards that can then be
comfortable in an airplane. Airplane
retrieved by name, title, or any other contact
travel is the safest way to travel. I
information, Weighing less than a pound, the
am in control of my fears. I am safe
hardcover book-size NeoFile can easily be
in an airplane.") Does the $79.95
stuck in a briefcase when traveling. Once
Power Pyramid really work? Well, as
you return to the office, the CF-CMIO inter
the instruction manual says, "What
face (sold separately for $124.95) enables
hard, scientific proof do we have that
you to download the NeoFile data into Lotus
prayer works?" Good point.
Organizer or other PC software applications.
Slater Technologies Inc:
Panasonic: 201.348.9090;
702.597.1688
www.panasoniccom

Watch the skies

Remember the days when satellite dishes took up half
your back yard? Weil, the neighbors won't complain
about Sony's SAS-AD2 Digital Satellite System. The
18-inch DSS dish is easy to install thanks to an
LED Indicator that flashes when you're receiving
the satellite signal. Once you're ready to watch
some TV, the system's Express
Like to watch? Navigator System, quick as a
Peeping Toms and wannabe James 32-bit microprocessor, lets you
Bonds take note: The pocket-size surf through 201 channels in
Moonlight Mini Scope will give you night approximately 3.1 seconds. The
vision without weighing you down. Only 5.5 Enhanced View Thru Menu
inches long and 8.6 ounces, the $379 scope fits in the palm even lets you see what else is on
of your hand and features a built-in infrared illuminator so by showing a translucent schedule that
you can even peer into completely dark environments such doesn't block what you don't want to risk
as caves, You'll be able to see plenty with a focus range of missing. The 5AS-AD2 will make the
eight feet to infinity, a maximum relative viewing range of ultimate couch potato happy for $849.99.
150 feet, and a field of view of at least 37°. Powered by two Sony Electronics: 800.222.7669; www.sony.com
AAA batteries, the Moonlight Mini Scope comes with a case
so you can strap it to your utility belt.
Moonlight Products: 619.525.0300; members.aol.com/nlghtvis

compiled by David Pescovitz

 I said five more minutes!!!
Snooze-addicts will get a kick out of the Voice Clock, the first travel clock with voice recognition technology.
Not only can you set the time, day, date, and alarm simply by speaking, but saying "snooze" when the alarm
interrupts your dream shuts the thing up. For $75. the Voice Clock also features an alarm that gets steadily
louder, reducing the pain of being woken and a backlit display allows Insomniacs to watch the hours tick by.
Battery powered and weighing only five ounces, the Voice Clock is perfect for bouncing between time zones.
Voice It Worldwide inc.: 970.221.1705; www.voicelt.com

Talk isn't cheap

Form and function went hand in hand when
Denmark's Bang & Olufsen designed the
Beocom 2400. The base of the phone is trian
gular, the keypad curved, and the handset juts
up from the side for easy grabbing. A two-line
LCD screen is used to display names and tele
phone numbers you've listed in the 121-entry
memory, a call timer, and menu for controlling
volume and the other programmable func
tions. The $249 unit also features
four ringing tones, micro
phone muting, and a Small radio, big sound
hands-free function. This thing is tiny] Just a bit bulkier than a Zippo
Available in black, blue, lighter and weighing less than two ounces. Aiwa's
green, or red to fit any CR-A05 AM/FM radio is simple, effective, and
office, or spaceship decor. almost invisible. With Super Bass for kicking lows,
Bang & Olulsen of America: you won't have to limit your listening to tinny
800.323.0378
tunes either. One AAA battery powers the $49.95
CR-A05 for many hours and the in-ear pipe phones
won't mess up your coif. Keep one of these in
your pocket at all times for those headache-
inducing bus rides or to tune in to the ballgame
Secret Service style.
/Uwa America, Inc.: 800.289.2492; www.alwa.com

Set for stun

Afraid to walk to your car at night? The Air Taser is a hand-held non-
lethal self-defense system that uses compressed air to launch two
wired probes 15 feet and into an attacker's clothing, zapping them
with an electrical impulse that jams the nervous system. The result?
The attacker's body goes limp for up to 15 minutes. And the new
laser sight module makes aiming a no-brainer. With two air cartridges,
a nine-volt battery, training video, practice target, and carrying strap,
the Air Taser w/Laser Sight Kit sells for $399.95. A small price to pay
for peace of mind and body. (Illegal in some states.)
Tubeless tube Air Taser Inc: 800.978.2737; www.aittaser.com
Making multimedia presentations to a group huddling around a note
book PC is a drag. But if you're ready to invest $8,995, you can
have a super bright LCD projector that's directly compatible with
your PC (and VCR for those Blockbuster nights). Sharp's XG-EIOOOU
delivers SVGA (800 x 600) resolution signals and uses the company's
Super High Aperture technology to project an impressively bright
image, even at its maximum screen size of 500 diagonal inches.
Weighing in at 33.9 pounds, the XG-ElOOOU doesn't take your high
school AA^ crew to lug it around either.
Sharp Electronics: 800.237.4277; www.sharp-usa.com
 Digital precision. Deadly accuracy
Ir:agir.e scorching -jQur enesaes v.-ixh rasor-saarp
precision. With, the world's first digital-optical
joystick, the Sidewinder'" 32 Pro, you'll balance
0^
complex moves with maxim,tm control to get the .ulti 10 Pr®
mate in responsive game play. You won't have to
recalibrate, even after hours of play. And every
handle rotation instantly chMges your viev/point.
Digital Overdrive lets the joystick communicate ■
more efficiently with your Windows^ 95—based games.
All the better to singe your competition. Microsoft
Where doyou want togo today? w«vw.microsoft.com/s{dewlnder/

S'lVli MScTOSoft Corpsrstiwi. A)I rigftti ratrt'^. RJCf<'56?l aM aifi^SKS rtgHtifea trtiemrkK C« yse mot go '.tasfJ SlieWirtef srt trjs«arks ef Hlzrc&aH CW!>»rati«
 GAME THEORY WITH T. LIAM McDONALD
VOICE

every leap forward in game technol

ogy only has us looking for the
addition, there are instructions provided
to perform packed logical operations (such
can morph into them. More than just an
action game. Unreal wiU have some strong
next one. We have Quake and as "and" and "or" statements), arithmetic content. And, for a twist, the lead charac
Duke Nukem 3D, so all we can talk about operations, data conversions to and from ter is a woman.

is Prey and Unreal. We have Pentium the packed data format, and 64-bit data The benefits of MMX are clear to Rein:
200s, but we'll be grousing because MMX transfers to and from the MMX registers "The learning curve for developing for
isn't here now. We're not satisfied with and host memory. MMX is really small, and the payoffs are
what we have, so we must pine after what Once SIMD instructions are integrated big. It's just been a matter offiguring out
we can't have; like a schoolboy mooning into existing
over a leggy redhead. code, perfor
Well, if you weren't early adopters, you mance in

wouldn't be reading boot, would you? So,

chances are you've heard of Unreal and
MMX,but do you know what they mean
for 3D graphics, computer environments,
and gaming? Read on.
these apps
improves
up to 400
percent.
Developers
INSATIABLE
HOW MMX AND UNREAL WILL CHANGE THE WORLD
When a new generation of processor simply use their own enhanced subroutines how to best make use of it. The biggest
hits, it means the technicians at Intel have or call on MMX drivers and routines thing we've been seeing with MMX is the
found a way to squeeze yet more speed through APIs that are currently under ability to mix colored lights, something
from conventional architecture through development. The result will be more effi computers usually aren't too good at. With
conventional measures. Clock frequencies cient simultaneous processing of multiple MMX we've upped the sound engine to
are goosed using micro-architecture tech functions (such as extensive soimd effects, 44KHz. I'm not 100 percent sure what all
niques such as superpipelining, branch music, 3D graphics, and an Internet con the final benefits will be, but right now it
prediction, and superscalar execution. nection). As a result, games will be able to enables us to do 24-bit color with colored

In developing MMX,Intel added some use 24-bit true color at 30fps and multiple lights at the same frame rates we're get
57 new instructions to the architecture. sound effects. Since it's just more instruc ting with 8-bit color."
These new instructions speed up those tions, it also retains complete backward The major benefit of MMX is the]
processor-intensive loops that bog apps compatibility. The Pentium Pro version high frame rate at higher resolutions.
down. While they only account for some of MMX,code named "Klamath," is clock "That's one of the things that makes
10 percent of the coding, these dreaded ing in at 232MHz and is already ramping Unreal different from Quake," Rein
loops can chew up nearly 90 percent of up for release. says."In Quake, you run around and|
the processing time. A few developers are coding their new kill everything. But in Unreal, since
Intel took a long, hard look at the video, titles to take advantage ofthis performance the visuals are so much clearer due
VR,3D, audio, data compression, and boost. Last month boot spoke to Fabrice to the higher resolution, you spend
speech recognition applications being Valay about his racing game POD,but more time looking around and hunt-|
the most antici ing for things. You'll be involved in
"YouMl be involved In the scenes rather than just pated the scenes rather than just running
running through them."- rnrkPem, president ofEpic MegaGames applica through them."
developed and discovered certain similari tion of MMX will be Unreal, the Quake- Unreal was written for Win95
ties: they use small integer data types; killer from Epic MegaGames. Mark Rein, from the ground up,so strong nadve
much of the code runs in parallel; and President of Epic MegaGames, says he TCP/IP support gready eased the
they require lots of calculations. So Intel first learned of MMX while shovdng challenge of developing multiplayer
created Single Instruction Multiple Data Unreal to Intel about two years ago:"When support for the Internet. As Rein
(SIMD)techniques, to enable programs to they saw what we were doing, they obvi observes,"Anyone still writing for DOS T. LIAM

crunch multiple data elements in parallel. ously thought it was something that could has to be foolish." MCDONALD
is the nil-
This means that multiple pieces ofdata make use of MMX,because we were using MMX is not something people are
knowing god
can be "worked" with a single instruction. a software-only tenderer." necessarily going to run out and buy the of c)nmIn<1.
He also
With a single MMX instruction, up to The Unreal environments are stunning, minute it becomes available, but Intel's
writes about

eight integer pairs can be added together in fully-realized worlds far more elaborate plans for it are comprehensive, and by computers,
literature, and
parallel. The MMX instruction set was spec than the dungeons of Quake or the cities 1998 there should be enough MMX mach horror for

ifically designed to take advantage of16-bit of Duke. Game levels are actual buildings ines around to make it an essential market numerous

mags.
integer math operations. Four integer adds, (a castle, a temple, a mine), linked by hills for game developers. And, as Rein says,
subtracts, or multiplies can be processed and landscape. About 20 fully-animated "Developers who get ecperience with it now
in parallel using MMX technology. In monsters populate this world, and you are going to be in a good position later." 0

boot JAN 97
 Check It out now
rtuiiiiv ^1 j Download the Atomic3D Starter Kit at...

Animation Broadcast System www.atomic3d.com

Find out how you can create your own 3D
For The Internet characters that move and speak in real time on the
Streams animation and audio
Internet with

Sorry, due to circumstances

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Consumer and corporate inquiries welcome
r-mall your inquiry to salesvaatomic^cl.com
AlOMICiD is brought to you by NL'Cl.riiS INllRACTIVE,(310)140-1600
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 ON THE LINE WITH SHEL KIMEN
VOICE

now that al the holiday hullabaloo

is over, we can get on with our
access to the the BugNet BugMaster data
base of thousands upon thousands of
tool applets, and info about the mother of
all applets, the Java Etch A Sketch, you
busy busy lives. More meetings, bugs and how to fix 'em. The link list is cannot go wrong. There's lots to see and
more deadlines, and more more more super nice too. learn, and of course, mucho to play with.
time to surf the web. Yippee! And with
more time to surf away the snow/sleet/ PBS History of the Internet Christine.com
fog/rain blues (depending on what part of www.pbs.org/intemet/history www.christine.coni
the country your modem is connected to), Telling the tale from the I960's paranoia Still a young site, Christine dot com is the
make sure you get to the required sites. about how the U.S. government would hot spot for client/server advice and soft
Required? Yes, required. This month I've communicate after a nuclear war to a ware development questions. Sponsored
by Christine Coma-
ford, a leading soft

SEVEN SITES A-SAIUNG

POINTS OF INTEREST ON THE PC SEAS,,. PLUS A PDA BONUS STOP!
ware development
consultant, this site
is packed with tricks
of the trade, "cool
free stuff'(tem
compiled a list of seven sites you must 1996 whiz-bang multimedia World Wide plates to analyze work flow, consulting
visit weekly, if not daily. Some ofthem webolution, this site kicks axe with great issues, power point lectures and studies),
may be familiar, others may not. historical information. The pages are well and, of course, hundreds of insightful
designed, the related links are uber-cool, columns. The quickie interview with
Upside and the timeline is concise enough, yet Mark Andreesen is way cool.
www.upside.com delightfully complete, to manage in a
Upside is ready, willing, and able to guide single sitting. Did you know that the word Menuez Digital Art
you through the world of corporate high "Internet" was first used in 1982? Well, I www.menuez.com

tech moguls; tell you where they sleep, doubt that, but it's a good place to start. A photographer for Time, Life, Newsweek
who they vote for, what their net worth is, et al., Doug Menuez has spent too much
and how long before they go public. It's a Build Your Own PC of his life since 1987 taking MOMA-quality
print magazine for executives and entre www.verinetcom/pc snapshots of the business and technology
preneurs, and the online offerings are Yep. And it's right on. It's ripe and drip world. While most of this site is riddled
fabulous. Check out the Editor's Choice ping with hardware info-bytes. It has with Mac and Newton history, you'll find
section to catch a glimpse of the top 200 cvcnlhing, from which components you'll some non-Apple goodies too, such as a
public companies, 100 pri With 425 links for need (motherboards, disk snap of Adobe founders Chuck Geschke
vates, and all-star best drives, cases, and sotmd and John Wamock chuckling, and the
executives. Dig through
multimedia applets, cards) to where to get ubiquitous Billy Boy Gates. The works are SHEL KIMEN

the reader forums to chat 710 links for database them (phone numbers, stunning and a refreshing landing spot
about finance, marketing, and development addresses and links, oh my!). after you geek out on all the other PC »pent more

tool applets, and info What's most impressive

time ocilitio
or recruiting in the silicon web wonders.
Jhnn Is
surf. Or just wallow in is that if the author doesn't reaHOnably
about the mother know enough information n«3lthy lor one
insightful articles about person and
the likes of Andy Grove of all applets, the about a specific section— http://www.piloLorg/ dreams

and other tech honchos. Java Etch A Sketch, which is rare—he bravely This is a MUST for anyone suffering from to nYfferie/it.

a curious and addictive Pilot (that adorable

you cannot go wrong. asks for reader help, and
BugNet the readers give it. It's a little PDA from US Robotics) fetish. Sift
www.bugnetcom wonderful creation for any gadget hack. through miles of Pilot applications (in
This site's name is nothing shy ofendear cluding the 3D Pilot animated logos, Tetris,
ing. Sift through BugNet for the latest Gamelan and Black Jack); keep tabs on Pilot in the
reports about system and software bugs, www.gamelan.com news; read interviews with Pilot and palm
hacks, glitches, "and their fixes"! Some of If you are hot and heavy on the Java band top pioneers; and add your name to a
the content is free,(such as regularly wagon and haven't seen this yet, put this monster list of current Pilot users (so you
updated features), but for a fee (ranging magazine down now and log on. Gamelan can exchange mail with others obsessed
from $29 to $150 depending on which is an amazing resource for Java applets. like yourself). Joking aside, if you ever
services you want) The BugNet Bummer With 425 links for multimedia applets, had a question about your brain-in-a-
and The New BugNet Alert let you have 710 links for database and development pocket, go here. It's a great resource. 0

boot JAN 97
 www.syncronys.com
■
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Incroducing

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 FAST FORWARD WITH TOM HALFHILL
VOICE

hereare someexcerptsfrom afew

messages recently waiting for
me in my personal e-mail account;
tight little neighborhood that didn't need
any govemment interference.
If it sounds like I'm nostalgic for
$500,000 for postage, paper, printing,
and labor costs.
A better solution to the problem of
■ "Hello, 1 want to convince those days, guess again. The online com j-mail would require a little reasonable
you that we have the BEST munity of a decade ago was like a hum regulation—and some more technology.
PSYCHICS available." drum rural town; today it's Times Square. Technology is cool. It always creates
■ "Discover how you can manage your The net has grown into a honky-tonk new problems, then lets you attack the
own/child's disorder—alternatives to a boulevard with bright lights and diver problems with more technology. Of
lifetime of prescribed drug therapy—on sions to satisfy every taste. course, the new solution creates yet
the free audiocassette 'GOD's RECIPE.'" But now we have big-city problems. In another problem, but hey, engineers have
■ "Earn $10,000 in the next 30-60 days, a small town, everyone knows everyone to pay for their Spam,too.
$2000+ per week thereafter. All cash else, and the threat of being ostracized is In this case, we pass a law requiring
business—paid directly I usually enough to keep that all j-mail carry an identifying
to YOU—no waiting for everyone in line. In big tag in the subject header or mes
company checks." cities, anonymity is a shield. sage. For example, the tag could be
Ah, the joys of modem You can spray-paint <JUNK>. If the marketing types
technology. There were 14 of graffiti or even knock object, it could be <UNS0L1CITED>
those messages in my e-mail over an old lady for her or even <OPPORTUNITY

box that day. Plus one letter purse while bystanders KNOCKS>.

from a friend, and a gentle look the other way.(I It doesn't matter, because frien
reminder from my editor that do it all the time.) So your e-mail software could scan the
this column was due. we have to pass strict incoming messages and delete all
I call this stuff "j-mail": . and delegate enforce the j-mail. Or, you could specify how|
junk e-mail. Most net users ment to professionals. many j-mails may flow into your
call it "spam," but I see no reason to That's what some politicians and frus mailbox each day. A companion law
cast aspersions on a perfectly good trated users are demanding for the net. But would require that every j-mail offer
processed food product that has staved I don't want to burden the net with oner an Unsubsaibe option that takes you
off hunger for millions of students and ous regulations or outlaw j-mail altogether. off the mailing list, so the net won't
bachelors. "J-mail" is a much more J-mail only becomes a problem be clogged with messages you'll
clever term (coined by Arlan Levitan in when there's too much of it. J-mail is never read.
It's not like we're running the mar HALFHILL j
the early 1980s). Yes, there was j-mail a marketer's dream because it's practi
is 3 senior
even in those ancient days of 300bps cally free—it costs about the same to keters out of business; we're just giving editor at Bylc

modems and rubber acoustic cups. The send a thousand messages as it does to people a way to tell j-mail from e-mail by magazine and
the author ol
volume may seem trifling compared to send one message. When you consider glancing at the envelope, just as you do two computing

today's deluge, unless you take into that a response rate exceeding three when sorting through your paper mail. beaks. He
first becami:
If the j-mail is inlcrcsfcd in

marked, the filter computers

THE J-MAIL DELUGE

during the
ing technology disco era.

would be trivial to
implement. Yeah, I

AT LONG LAST, A SOLUTION FOR THE FINE ART OF SPAMMING, ROOTED IN THE
VERY SAME TECHNOLOGY THAT MADE THIS ABOMINATION POSSIBLE "' "
claim they can fil
account how long it took to retrieve percent is enough to give a direct-mail ter your messages by analyzing the con
e-mail with a cranky 300bps acoustic marketer an orgasm, it's easy to see tent. But they don't catch all the j-mail,
modem. Online charges were much why they love j-mail. One company in and sometimes they delete your wanted
higher then; $14.50 per hour on Philadelphia has reportedly sent as e-mail. The only sure method for identify
CompuServe, and no flat-rate access. many as 700,000 messages a day to ing j-mail is with a standardized tag. We
A few lengthy j-mails could really rip America Online subscribers. This com could even define a bunch oftags that let
your wallet. pany even offers to piggyback your own you selectively filter the j-mail by subject,
After widespread complaints, the early advertisement on its mailing list of 1.3 source, and estimated gullibility quotient.
j-mail subsided. This didn't require any million e-mail addresses for only $99. This seems to me like a perfectly
rules, regulations, or acts of Congress. To reach that many people by regular reasonable compromise. But ifyou dis
Back then, the online community was a mail would cost you more than agree, please don't send me h-mail. 0

boot JAN 97 • 31
 ' A<

S !.
 THE BOOT
INTERVIEW

boot Who is Alex St. John and how did he "No, I'm making grotesque money as a con
"Games are iL come to rule gaming at Microsoft.' sultant. Why would I do anything else?" He
St John: Well, 1 joined Microsoft as an oppo asked if there were any companies in the
important to go sing technology man. When that waned, it
struck me that Microsoft needed a solution
world that I would consider working for. I
said I might work for Adobe and I might
for gaming. There was tremendous opportu consider working for Microsoft. But. they'd
Microsoft because nity if we learned how to make references have to offer me a lot. And he went away,
and support games. So I asked if I could be and I forgot about it. He came back and he
responsible for games. A very good friend of had gotten me interviews at both companies.
mine, named Craig Isler, was a tool evange Microsoft sent a recruiter to talk to me.
list and he wanted to be the game evange I had no idea what to expect. You know, I
list. We competed and 1 was eventually have no college degree and no high school
hired, but Craig was very good about it. diploma. I was just a guy who happens to be
When I started, 1 realized it was just very technical, and so I had no idea what
ridiculous to think any games would ever credentials would be required. And,she
run under Windows. It was so screwed up basically said, "Well, tell me about yourself."
that it was almost a futile job and we needed I said, "I'm just a guy who does technology.
some technology. So we conspired to get I'm adventurous. I like getting in trouble.
Craig hired into the multimedia develop Whatever's new, I like to do." That's all she
IT vou can ment team to create a game SDK. People wanted to know.
didn't understand what we wanted to do. Around Christmas, I was getting kind of
We didn't have permission or support to go bored with consulting. And Microsoft kept
out and say. "Hey! We're building a technol pushing me to come to Redmond. Finally, I
ogy that's really awesome. Give us money did. I went through 11 interviews for a job I
and head count." That never happened. We didn't even want. In the evening, they invited
just said, "We're making a game SDK." It me to this party. They had the entire Seattle
wasn't until three months before the 1995 Center—seven halls—and they were all just
Computer Game Development Conference beautiful. One was just a balloon castle, hov
that we went beta. We went to Brad Silver- ering off the floor. They had a monster-mash
berg [Senior Vice President at Microsoft] room with a haunted-house theme. They
and showed him what we could do with it, had a game room with an arcade set up. They
and he said, "That's a good idea. I'm not had a I920's speak-easy where you made
going to fire you." And so that's how I got yottr own sundaes. They had a circus with
into game evangelism. carnival rides, and so forth. And after wit-
nessing this, I was
like, "Whoa! Any
company that
treats its employ

esslah
ees like this has
to be cool." The
fimny thing is: That
was four years ago
and it was the last
Christmas party
they ever did that
boot What inspired you to join Microsoft? way. That was actually a lot of my inspira
St. John: They dragged me here kicking and tion for some ofthe mad events I have done
screaming. I was making a lot of money in for Judgment Day. If they can get away with
the publishing industry because I had built this for a company party, I can get away
a postscript RIP interpreter. I had a friend with it for a developer conference,
who was a recruiter, who said "Well, can I boot What are you announcing this year at
get you a job somewhere else?" And I said. the Judgment Day developer conference?

boot JAN 97
 St. John: We're going to be announcing time, so we may have a Win95 Quake tour one you played during "the wild days"?
several new initiatives, partnerships, and nament. Plus a bunch of other games, and St John: My chief role these days is as a
announcing the features for DirectX 5.0. We we'll bring all our other partners in and public figure or something. We had to do
have DirectArcade APIs. We'll be announc help them launch their new hardware and some radical things to make games happen.
ing DirectMemory. We'll be announcing so forth, Make a big deal out ofeverybody It wasn't just radical technology, it was radi
DirectMusic. We'll be announcing a lot of who's doing Windows stuff so that everyone cal attitude. To persuade the industry that
new online technology as well, such as new knows what to buy for Christmas. And of not only were our technologies good, but
that we understood what we were doing...
"When I started, I realized It was just ridiculous to think any we were all a little insane. I got my reputa
games would ever run under Windows. It was so screwed up tion doing these wild events and my role was
that it was almost a futile job and we needed some technology.' working with game companies and making
sure the technology was right, working very
DirectPlay strategies, and so forth... Then course have a wild time; and an excuse to closely with them to build the right thing.
we'll really launch DirectX 5.0 next year and spend $4 million. These days a lot of my role is managing the
that's when we'll put the new generation boot Are we going to see a new operating various evangelists. So, I don't get to go out
stuff in everyone's hands. We're making it system after Windows 95 or NT.> and work with developers nearly as much as
all work. We're finishing it; polishing; we're St John: Memphis is our next major one. I used to, which I miss a lot.
making it beautiful and adding the final fea Operating systems are funny things. Win boot Where do you see yourselffive or 10
tures that people really need; and integrat dows 95 and NT represent separate OSes yeare from now?
ing it well and making sure the documenta and we're about to split them and then St John: The funny thing is that I am an
tion is finally completed. Our developers remix the genetic material. And so the next engineer, but I keep saying these pretty
have asked for a lot more hardcore developer operating system is going to, hopefully, words, and they keep shoving me out in
support, so we're having a developer confer strongly inherit from the best of both. And public and I don't do code anymore. That's
ence for just the major adopters. And then whether you call that a new operating sys a shame, because having the great ideas is
we have all these titles for Christmas. We tem, or you call it NT with Windows 95 really exciting. The degree to which we are
want to promote them. And, of course, it's stuff in it or Windows 95 with NT stuff in managers is the degree to which we have to
just an excuse to throw an outrageous, it, is all kind of subjective. A lot of it is be to make cool technology. It is not the
expensive party—that's really the objective derived from the same code base; plus inte degree to which we want to be, It is really a
here. What can we get away with? And we're grating the browser, plus some new features, weird paradox. The reason why we are man
going to have another Doom tournament. boot So, you'll be making some major agers is really to keep fools from having the
We're going to have an online gaming tour announcements in the coming days. Whafs job. It is kind of painful to have to admit
nament. Hopefully Quake will be ready in your chiefrole here now, compared to the that. We want to be grunts working on the

their computer
for business
and education,
but they use the
computer for fun

boot JAN 97
 THE BOOT
N T E R V I E W

technology, but they keep putting morons in boot Describe your own personal computer.
charge if we don't take the management jobs. Tbe one you play games oil
Five years from now, I will be retired, very St John: Well, the machines I play on are
wealthy, and probably go into biotech. We here. I don't go home. I live here. This
have some interesting ideas for genetic engi Falcon is one ofour favorites. The PI33 32MB
neering research that haven't been done Falcon. It's got an AWE 32 sound card, and
before. That could be a very lucrative busi a Rendition 3D accelerator that we added,
ness because there are some problems out and a big hard drive, and a monster moni
there that people really don't know how to tor from hell. That's the cool thing about
solve. A little genius technology will fix this job. We see games no one else has.
that, no problem. We can figure out how When we get new Direct3D games, we play
to foolproofsome software. Don't trouble them on the MMX machine because it goes
your heads with that. In 10 years, God like 10 times faster than anything we experi
knows what. The getting rich thing kind ence right now.
of skews everything, boot: Ifyou were putting together a system
boot Well, what's next for you then? today, what components would you choose?
St John: I really miss evangelism. It's St. John: Well, obviously I'd want the latest
funny... DirectX was successful because we state-of-the-art Pentium. If 1 could get an
SL John imagines a future where he can walk Into the
loved the technology. We loved making it. Internet and shouL "I want a Hummer!" and start MMX machine, I would. If I were buying a
And the trouble is, with success come pro haggling price. 3D card, I'd probably get a 3Dfx-based one,
motions and other responsibilities, which or a Rendition-based one. Either is a very
you're not necessarily as good at as the And because it's a great new idea, it's not good accelerator solution. For joysticks,
things that made you succeed. We've ship something I can sit here and predict, because ThrustMaster is still it. The Microsoft joy
ped so many generations of DirectX by now nobody knows that. If I knew what it was. stick is also very good. For audio, I think
that we've saturated our developers. They I'd be making a million dollars publishing there's going to be another major leap pretty
can't adopt the technology as fast as we are it myself. The major thing is, with the mar soon, but the AWE 32 line with hardware
spewing it out. The problem is that when ket growing, there's a larger pool of compa acceleration for audio and extra memory on
DirectX started there was just an enormous nies out there competing for creative con the audio card is key right now because
amount of work to be done to make the tent. And that's cool, because in smaller when you're using a DirectSound game you
operating system work. A Herculean effort. markets your content stagnates. You go to can offload to the hardware. There are some
And that was our kind of thing. Just doing the arcade and all you have is fighting and new PCI-based sound cards coming out that
these outrageous things. Now it can be racing games, because there's only 100 titles really speed up audio playback,
managed. It's incremental releases. And each year, and those are known successes. boot AMD just killed oS"the Interwave.
that is not insane enough for us. So we have
"We had to do some radical things to make games happen.
a couple of proposals on the table for other
insane projects for us to work on. It wasn't just radical technology, it was radical attitude."
Everyone is so excited about the Internet If you're not a known success, you're losing What do you think that says about where
and it bores the shit out of us. It's like, "Let money,so you can't afford to be creative. In PC audio is heading?
me get this straight. I can view the same the PC market, people shipping creative SL John: Now see, that's a shame, because
brochures on my computer now at a tenth weird stuff can make money and as long as they didn't make the jump. Sound Blaster
of the speed that I could when there was a that's the case, we're gonna get cool, unique compatibility is going to cease mattering
wire attached to it.^" There are a million new content. And the next big thing will be next year. What's going to be more impor
people out there blindly fumbling around something that we don't know about right tant is just how fast your audio is. Can you
and browsing brochures and going,"We now, and thank goodness that's the case, do 3D positional audio? Can you offload the
can't talk to each other." I think that is a boot How many hours per wedc do you sound mixer? Do you have an audio cache
hoot. I can't stand the thing. So, we're spend playing games? and do you have PCI DMA audio, so you're
thinking about another project to just fix St. John: It's not like you have much time not loading the bus up? And ifthe answer
that thing. People don't understand what an around here. I used to play Ultima religiously. is "yes," then you have a great audio station.
Internet should look like. We're going to fix it. Now, games pass under my fingertips. I But with DirectMusic coming out next year,
boot Whafs the next great game going to be? don't get to sit down and consume any one it'll be a while before I'd make recommen
SL John: If you look at the top 10 games on of them. We just play the demo for 15 min dations. Still, if you have a good MIDI solution
the charts, there are two or three Doom-a- utes. The trouble is, the amount of time that can support dynamic MIDI-patching,
likes, right? And then there are games Microsoft consumes is so staggering that then DirectMusic will do that too. We just
that have no correlation with each other: you can't consume them all. I probably licensed the Roland MIDI set so that the
Command e[ Conquer, SimCity, Myst. And spend two or three hours a week playing default MIDl-patches for DirectMusic are
then there are WarCraJi-a-likes, right? Fun games, but I'm not enjoying them as much going to be rolling high quality audio,
damentally, a great game is either a great as 1 used to. Some of the people that work boot What else will be important for your
piece of technology—^it's the best Quake for me get to play a lot more often than I home PC,in order to maximize all these
engine essentially—or it's a great new idea. do. Apparently, they don't have enough to do. new technologies?

boot JAN 97 - 3S
St John: Having as much RAM as possible. Money will not be able to buy anything bet another game. It's a very masturbatory expe
RAM absolutely rules. Having the biggest ter. You're not going to get it in a console. rience. You do it by yourself. Even with the
cache possible helps a lot too. People don't You're not going to find it in an arcade. The network games built today, networking is an
realize that the size and speed of your cache very high resolution, very high color-depth, afterthought. A tiny number of Quake play
is very important for most 3D games. The 3D graphics, simultaneous voice/data over ers actually get on a network. About 95 per
other thing is the quality of the video card. the net, higher bandwidth connectivity is cent of them are going to play it by them
The number one question is, "Who's ship going to be on the PC. I would like to believe selves. And networking is just a nice added
ping the most stable DirectX drivers?" And that VR with stereo vision and headtracking feature that is good for marketing. Because
that, unfortunately, changes from day to are going to be a key part of those machines. of the work we're doing with DirectPlay,
day. It's really between the Rendition or the It's so compelling that you just have to games are going to be virtual worlds that
3Dfx or between a Diamond and a Cirrus believe that we can find a solution, exist on the net 24 hours a day. The game
and an ATI card. The differences in features boot Will televisions accessing the Internet client is going to be something that you give
and functionality are marginal compared to change the world? away. "Here, have a client, they're free!" The
the stabihty of the driver. The quality of the St John: Well, that's ridiculous. A lot of game industry is going to go from making
people smoking their own stash. There's a the money on the client to making the money
"You go show the reason why you use your computer monitor
for looking at text and that's because your
on expansion features. "Here, buy a better
weapon Idt if you really want to kick butt."
TV has no sharp masking. Let me get this Persistent personas in a virtual world
Internet people a little straight. The same people who demand the are going to be cool. Content generated by
highest, richest, most interactive experiences complex interactions with other people is
ball spinning on a web with games on consoles are going to be sat going to be the predominant paradigm, vs.
isfied slowly browsing the Internet with big the prerendered A1 that people used to
page and they're like fuzzy text letters the size ofcoconuts? 1 don't have, That's going to come very rapidly.
think so. You'd have to buy a new TV, and 1997 will be the year where it becomes obvi
'Oooo,. , Aaah,, . you can get a computer for the cost of a TV ous that's where it is all going. A lot of people
that's capable ofthat type of display quality. will be seeing a lot of light bulbs going on
So I think that's bullshit. It's actually been
Multimedia. tested before. Any ntimber of console-like
and realize what a powerful paradigm that is.
What just kills the hell out of me is when
devices that plug into yotrr TV have these
So, we just throw a little kinds of capabilities. No, they haven't been
we had a multimedia workshop and we
would compare it to Netscape. They'd go,
the Internet necessarily, but they've pulled "Look, we can play video on a postage stamp.
game technology onto from multimedia titles or encyclopedias or We have three more formats than they do.
they've done personal computers like the Here is a robo-whirl that runs at three
the net and everyone Commodore VIC-20 or the Atari. Those frames per second, cachunk, cachunk, isn't
machines died out. Those were great con that exciting?" That's multimedia on the
will be impressed sumer devices at one time. Why did they net. Then you launch WarBirds. And you hit
vanish? Because the uses for those machines 640x480,60 frames per second. No matter
driver is going to impact their gaming expe exceeded the display devices' capabilities. how slow the Internet was, our world ran at
rience 'cause the game is no fun if it goes They exceeded them 10 years ago and we're 60 frames per second, and you'd be flying
"boom!" It doesn't matter what the damn not going back. So the notion that people around with 200 other people in texture-
hardware is these days; all the hardware is are going to use TV sets for Internet browsers mapped airplanes and gutting the hell out of
cool. "Who's got the working drivers?" is ludicrous. each other. That's the way. There is no rea
That's all that matters, boot What will be the most significant son you should ever see a timer. There is no
boot What will the PC look lite in two years? development in gaming in 1997? reason you should accept less of a multi
St. John: Consumers are going to have a St. John: There is going to be a synthesis of media experience, just because a bunch of
dramatic impact on PCs. Exactly how is disparate things that are going to unite as a browser makers are making the stuff.
kind of hard to predict. The thing that bores huge change. Obviously 3D changes the You are going to see the net become a
the hell out of me is beige boxes. Gray cor experience. And it's not just 3D graphics. It much richer, much more coo! thing. And
porate form factors. As consumers start
influencing the look of PCs, you're going to
"... the notion that people are going to use TV sets for Internet
see them getting sexier. And that's very browsers is ludicrous."
cool. Media capabilities—just in the year is 3D sound. It is force feedback. It's really a that is going to branch out well beyond the
that DirectX has been available—had a huge tremendously powerful input paradigm that games—^but the games will be the leaders.
spike. A huge jump from 320x200 graphic is growing out of gaming—3D graphics DirectPlay is going to create a market for
mode to 640x480, and the appearance of being the most obvious symptom of it. virtual worlds, making it easy for people to
16-bit color and what have you. And much The other thing is networking, and it is play, making it easy for companies such as
better audio quality. In two more years I not the Internet. The Internet sucks. Games Dwango and Mpath to add more services.
think you're going to just destroy any other today are just software. You consume your You're going to see it used for buying cars or
kind of multimedia experience you can buy. content, you throw it away, and you buy carrying out any kind of business negotiation

36 • boot JAN 97
 THE BOOT
N TER V I E W

or transaction. DirectPlay is just a great way in finding these things, so he puts a lot of capabilities to satisfy the needs of Quake,
for people to interact on the net. I bought smart people on the task. Personally, I you can do anything. And so games are
my car on the Internet, But that was very think that we found the Holy Grail of media important to Microsoft because the tech
primitive. I couldn't go and see the because games are now 80 percent of all nology reqxiired for games is the leading
Hummer. I didn't have a 3D model to look software that is written for general purpose edge of interactivity; and if you can satisfy
at and try different fabrics, I had to just computers, It's a $14 billion market. them,then you are on the leading edge. 0
visualize them. But still, I'd do all my shop People justify their computer for busi
ping that way because 1 saved 14 grand. I ness and education, but they use the com
just want a way ofsaying "Hey, I want a puter for fun. For the PC to really become
Hummer!" and finding all the people who ubiquitous, it must really be a fantastic The wisdom and insight ofAfex St John could
want to sell me one and we all gather in the entertainment place and games are the not be contained in a single installment of Lip.
same space and haggle it out. What a very superset of all entertainment technologies. Next month, we continue our conversation with
effective way of carrying out commerce. But There is nothing more demanding on your Microsoft's Game Technology Evangelist, where
he explains why DOS is dead; who poses the
that just doesn't exist. The medium is sit computer than Quake, because nothing biggest threat to MicrosoH's monopolistic hold;
ting there, but browsers are not the way. I asks more. And game companies are on the why console game makers Just don't get it; and
think the game technology that we are mak leading edge ofthat. If you have multimedia all the innermost secrets of DirectX.
ing for DirectPlay is going to be very applic
able and I think that's going to change every
thing. It's hysterical to us. because, a game
such as Quake,is state-of-the-art multimedia
to us. You go show the Internet people a little
ball spinning on a web page and they're
like, "Oooo... Aaah... Multimedia." So we just
throw a little game technology onto the net
and everyone will be impressed,
boot Obviously the Internet wasn't
designed for games.
St. John: It should have been. But it wasn't.
We're going to fix that. The same way that
we made it possible to sell digital joysticks
with lots of buttons by creating an API
standard: we'll allow people to build online
games and do it any way they want, as long
as it works. There's no money in it today.
And as long as there's no money, game com
panies aren't going to build great online
games. The major purpose of DirectPlay is
to create a marketplace so these guys can
make content that would sell. We're trying
to get the money flowing. As soon as the
money's flowing, there'll be people out
there making cool content. And that's very
important to us.
boot Why is gaming important to Microsofl?
St John; Microsoft built itself by doing
business applications. Just software tedium. Early DOS games
An entire industry was sitting out there and
we were blind. The whole game thing just
ucked. They were
existed over there, you know,in DOS. The npossible to use.
funny thing is that games only represented hey were for
eight percent ofthe software at the time.
eeks who could
They sucked. They were impossible to use.
They were for geeks who could understand nderstand DOS.
DOS. A very narrow audience. Mind you, 1 verv narrow
was one of them. It was easy to rationalize,
to think that it's not important. Then Micro
soft saturated the business phase and started
to look around and say "What are we going
to do in the future.'" Bill invests very heavily
 <1 k \aiM \ UM^\ w
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Beal lly Manlpulalloi
with PHOTOSHOP
A Step-by-Step Workshop of Special Effects You Can Easily Do On Your Own PC
jTry it out!
BY DAN DOERNER demOon the bootDisc
Adobe Photoshop
dobe Photoshop is the world standard digital The Demo version of Adobe Photoshop Is
on this month's bootDisc.
/d photo-editing tool. Not only can images be
■/ ]\ adjusted, cropped, color corrected, and sharp-
creative colorization process.
/ \ ened, but magical special effects can be created
h easily. Through my years of experience with Putting practicality aside, we'll create other-worldly
, Photoshop, I've come across several handy tech- scenes featuring colorful spheres that magically attach to
. niques that have simplified difficult tasks or
each other. After that you'd be disappointed with anything
helped in the creation of original art.
less entertaining, so we'll generate great original back
ground textures from scratch.
One of the most useful techniques allows you to create
My strongest images feature surreal photo composites,
shadows or maintain natural shadows when a background is
changed. Another important skill is to know how to colorize
and here you'll learn how to make magic with reality.
Some of the most startling visual effects can be created
black-and-white images. I'll take you on a ride through my
with the simplest techniques. So spin-up your hard drive
and let's get started.

Here's the
original
Eight Ball SHADOW TECHNIQUE

%
image.

Here is a way to create a shadow or maintain the original shad

ow in a photograph of an object after deleting or modifying
the background. First, make a Pen Path around the object.
Turn the path into a selection and float the selection into a new
layer called "object." To maintain the original shadow, duplicate the
background layer into a new layer called "shadow."
Take a snapshot of the shadow layer, Select All, and delete
everything in that layer. Set the layer mode on "Multiply" and then
select the Rubber Stamp tool and set the option to "From Snap
The Pen shot." Choose a fairly large soft-edged brush and carefuUy paint
tool is used back the original shadow. If the object has straight edges you can
to create paint back the shadow in a straight line. To do this, simply press
"Shift" as you click the start and end-points of the painted line.
around the As you go over the shadow, you will see it darken because of the
Eight Ball. Multiply mode.
To preview your new shadow, turn off the view of the original
background layer. When the shadow looks natural you can replace
the background with any texture or image. The Multiply mode on
the shadow layer will make the shadow blend in nicely with the
new background. If the object with its shadow are to appear as part
of a white page layout simply discard the original background layer.

boot JAN 87
 To create a new shadow there are two techniques. If
the object to be shadowed is flat, you can duplicate the
object layer and fill the layer below with black. Make sure
to click "Preserve Transparency" so that the black only
fills the object area. Then turn off Preserve Transparency
and use the Gaussian Blur filter set between "3," for
lower resolution files, and "6," for higher resolution files.
Now with the Move tool, drag the shadow to offset it from
the object.
If the object to be shadowed is three dimensional and
you want to cast a dimensional shadow, take the object's
pen path and move it into your envisioned dimensional
shadow space. Of course, having some knowledge of per
spective is helpfiil in determining where a realistic shadow
would be. Once your pen path is in the shape of the new
shadow, turn it into a "Selection," feather the selection
three to six pixels and fill with black or your choice of
shadow color. You can now save the file.
The second technique involves painting in the shadow
from scratch. This will take some skill and is best done
with a cordless, pressure-sensitive tablet. Don't expect
professional results from this technique until you've had
a lot of practice.

PI n a fmanp

The shadow
is "painted"
back using
the Rubber
Stamp tool
set"on"from
Snapshot

7 ////ii

A "reflection"'
of the new
background
is "painted" The final image
I onto the shows the Eight Bali
I Eight Ball with Its original
j using the natural shadow on a

Rubber Stamp new background, with

added reflections of
the colors on the ball.

40 • boot JAN 97
 CREitJ-IVE COLORIZATION

There are several ways to colorize images in Photoshop. One

way is to create a duotone image. Start with a black-and-
white photograph or convert an RGB image to grayscale
mode. Select "Duotone" from the Mode menu and make sure the
"Type" option is set to Duotone. Select two colors to work with by
clicking on the color swatches.
First, you want to change all the white in the image to one of the
chosen colors and all of the black to the other color. You only need
to change the image map curve for the color that you want to replace
white. To do this, click on the "Curve" button for that color and
change zero percent to 100, and 100 percent to zero. Then dick "OK."
If you are not satisfied with the results, go back into the
"Duotone Dialog" and change the colors or the curve settings to
your liking. You can go into the "Duotone Dialog" as many times
as you want without deteriorating the image. At this point, save For wilder color combinations, try the KPT Cydone filter from
your file and try several other color combinations for an Andy MetaTools. This filter randomly rotates the color lookup tables to
Warhol-esque series of art. show innumerable combinations. Whereas the previous effects fea
Now convert the mode to RGB color and try simple color varia tured one or two colors, the KPT Cydone filter inserts additional
tions by adjusting the controls in the Image>Adjust>Hue/Saturation colors for a multicolor solarization effect.
dialog. By adjusting the Hue Slider, you will cycle through basic As you watch the colors change,touch the spacebar to pause
combinations of two colors. If you dick on the Colorize button, you and hit Return to save the image. You can save several colorized
will by default get a fully saturated red effect. Now move the Hue variations of your original black-and-white image and display them
and Saturation sliders for fim, single-color effects. all together, either in one Photoshop file or as separate printouts.

' ric X-
fe one Effects

boot JAN 97 • 41
 Image
Orieiitea
PICCYBACK SPHERE TECHNIQUE
Well Sites
While Photoshop can be used for many practical and mission-critical projects, it can
also create interesting original graphics. One fun technique offers a simple way to
There are several useful web
sites for image editing. One is
The Pixel Foundry (thetech.
create different-sized connected spheres, which have a striking, organic appearance. mit.edu/KTP/)
To do this, create a new file in Photoshop, Select All and fill with black. Double click on which features
the Gradient tool which will bring up the gradient tool options. Set the Mode on "lighten," Pixel Foundry the full set of
the Opacity at 100 percent, the Style on "Foreground to Background," the Midpoint at 50 outdated Kai's
percent, the Radial Offset at zero percent and the Type on "Radial." Power Tips &
Select a bright color to paint with and make sure that black is set as the background Tricks for Photo
color in the Tool Box. With the Gradient tool selected, dick and drag a short line in the shop. This site
image window. You will see a sphere appear. Now try creating another sphere touching the also has lots
first one. The second sphere attaches itself to the first. of tips and
You can continue to choose different bright foreground colors as you create the resources for

spheres, and of course, the spheres can be any size you want. web designers.
Another useful
For a different look, try creating spheres on a white background by changing the
site is Laurie
Gradient Tool Options Mode to "darken" and the background color to white. Try experi
McCanna's
menting with different size spheres and different colors. And by creating a large sphere
Photoshop Tips
with a slightly darker foreground color, it will appear behind smaller, lighter spheres.
Page (vww.
By adjusting the Midpoint setting to a lower percentage level the spheres will fade off mccannas.com/
more on the edges with a noticeable point oflight in the center. Increasing the percentage pshop/photo
level will give the spheres a sharper edge and make the center point oflight less noticeable. a shO.htm) which
Lowering the opacity in the Gradient Tool Options will generate more subtle spheres. offers many
Increasing the Radial Offset, meanwhile, increases the fight reflection. If you change the handy tips for
Radial Gradient to a Linear Gradient, you can add a colorful horizon line to the image. Adobe Photoshop.
It is surprising that this simple, yet powerful technique is not used more often. There's a good
Photoshop Q&A page at
(www.cyweb.eom/~ misi^photo-
shop.html) where you can type
Final Image in a question and someone
will answer it.
If you want to download
lots of free/shareware/demo
Photoshop plug-ins, take a
look at this web site (www.fns
.net/--aimateus/filplug.htm) or
this FTP site (ftp.asi.com/pub
/photoshop/)
Most software manufacturers
also have their own web sites.
These sites are the best place
to look for software updates
and technical support.

Here is Hie version on the white

42 - boot JAN S7
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start. Alien invaders have plunged, tb'ihe' and state-of-the art graphics. have
ocean floor on a mission to submerge Earth. to plan a strategy amid a relentless
And tbe only lifeguard on hand to prevent alien threat, if you «re to succeed
tjtal mayhem is you. Earth's last chance The water is salty and it leaves a bad
to keep 5 billion taste in your mouth,
heads above water in then again so will
DEADiY 21])Sr Xou are defeat. The mission
| J
a solitary soldier in is simple, don't let I ' '
an underwater craft, the Earth drown.

This under^vater mission is possible only with Windows^95.

m ITHC3 vvww.microsoft.com/games/deadlytide/
91996 Microsoft Corporation. AH rights reserved. Microsoft. Uhere doyou want to go today? and Windows are registered trademarks and
OeadlyTideis a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
 DigiUzatioii
COOL BACKCROUND PATTERNS & TEXTURES of
Iniages
To create unique backgrounds from scratch, it's best to start with a gradient. Pick two colors and
do a blend with the default settings. Next, change the Gradient Options to "Difference Mode"
There are several ways to digi
tize your images. One of the
easiest methods is to have a
and the Style to "Counterclockwise Spectrum" and continue to draw gradients. You will slowly Photo CD made from your
begin to build a complex color field. You can also set the Gradient Options on one of the Spectrum negatives or slides. This can
Styles to create multicolor gradients. cost anywhere from 89 cents
There are numerous options you can try to further enhance the image. For instance, you can open to $3 per image, plus a small
up the Twirl Filter from the Distort Menu and twist the image. Adding Noise gives you a different charge for the recordable CD-
texture. You can also run the Terrazzo Filter from Xaos Tools to create a repeating kaleidoscopic pattern. ROM media. The process
If you like Fractal noise, try running Photoshop's own Render>Clouds Filter. This effect uses your entails.taking your film to a
foreground and background colors to create a wispy cloudscape. Run this filter once, then try the processing lab for scanning to
Render>Difference Clouds several times. As you continue to execute this filter your background tex Photo CD format. The lab will
ture will take on more and more complexity and color, and interesting veins wiU start to appear. put your images onto a CO-
If you have Kai's Power Tools you can create interesting background patterns with the Texture ROM and Include an index
Explorer or the Gradient Designer. Beautiful gradients can be built by repeatedly running the print, which serves as a proof
Gradient Designer in Procedural Mode. For instance, start by creating a basic gradient in the sheet. You can fit up to 100
Gradient Designer. Click "OK" and open the Gradient Designer again. The same settings will still be images and get up to a 72MB
there. You can simply rotate the gradient and set the option to "Procedural Blend" and dick "OK." Do file. One drawback of Photo
this a few times until the gradient is as colorful and complex as you would like. CDs is that it often takes a bit
There are now many options for backgrounds and textures, either as stock image CDs or in the of tweaking to get the right
form of plug-in filters that generate automatic textures. But you can easily do your own by experi color and contrast out of your
images. However, the cost
menting with the built-in functions of Photoshop.
benefits outweigh the disad
vantages of having to do addi
tional adjustments.
You can also scan the,
images yourself on a desktop
flatbed scanner or with a slide
A basic blend Additional
is created gradients are scanner. A color flatbed scan
with the added u^ng ner can cost you as little as
gradient tool. the Difference
Mode and
$300 and give you excellent
Counterdock results. It may take you some
wise
time, however, to learn how to
Spectrum.
scan with optimal results. A
major disadvantage with scan
ning the images yourself is
that you'll need lots of stor
age space on your hard drive
or on some removable media.
The Rend8i> Slide scanners start at
Clouds filter is
chosen to cre
around $900. A main advan
ate a cloudy tage of scanning a slide' or
texture. negative over scanning a print
is that you are using the first
generation image and are
not subject to color shifts
that may be introduced on a
printed photograph.
When scanning Images
yourself you'll need to consider
what resolution will be best
By changing The Add Noise
tire foreground . fiiter can be for the project. Images that
and back used to add will appear only on screen can
ground colors texture to the
and using the image. be scanned at 72ppi. Whereas
Difference images for print need to be
Clouds filter, scanned at higher resolutions,
we start to get
more color such as 300ppi.
variations.

44 • boot JAN 97
The Terrazzo OlllBr iniaoB
fitter from
Xaos Tools
can turn any Ediling
image into a
beautiful
kaleidoscopic
fljiplicatioits
Besides Adobe Photoshop.
there are several other excel
lent image-editing applica
tions on the market. Live
Picture 2.5 ($995 from Live
Picture Inc.. 800.724.7900,
The KPT
Gradient vvww.livepicture.com) or
Designer can xRes 2.0 ($699 from Macro
tteused
repeatedly media. 800.326.2128,
wfdithe www.macromedia.com) use
Procedural
Glue opdon to proxies instead of the actual
build rich file allowing you to work
gradations. quickly with very large
images. Fractal Design
Painter ($549 from Fractal
Design Corp.. 800.297.2665,
www.fractal.com) is primarily
a paint program but has
The result of many image editing func
sevN^al tions. Micrographx Picture
gradients Publisher ($595 from
using Micrographx 800.733.3729)
Difference works on WIniel machines.

The result of
using the
The pattern
Gradient
created
with the
Designer
filter several
Crystallize
times.

boot JAN 97 • 45
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Product Information Number 234
 BLENDINC IMAGES

ne of the most powerful types of visual art is the photocom-

posite. Photoshop is a great tool for creating these kinds of
images and there are many ways to go about it.
I often look through my photographs for interesting juxtapositions
to create a surreal scene. For this example, I've chosen an image of
a police officer to drop onto another photograph of a beach scene
and add a shadow.
Often, the best way to select an object or part of an image, in
this case the police officer, is to use the Pen tool (in the Paths
palette). Carefully click and drag around the edge of the object. It
is best to place aU the points first, then zoom in a bit and edit the
path with the Arrow tool (also in the Paths palette). Keep the path
slightly inside the edge ofthe object to avoid selecting any of the
background. Once the path is complete, turn it into a selection and
copy or drag the selection to the destination file, placing it into a
new layer.
Position the object in the destination file so that it looks natural.
Specific things to consider are lighting, perspective, relative focus,
shading, and shadowing. Take notice of the lighting and try to
match the two images. In the case of the police officer, the lighting
in his scene was overcast. The beach scene is very sunny and con-
trasty. To make the police officer look natural on the beach I had
to adjust the contrast and color balance with the Levels dialog.
Noticing the light direction in the beach scene, I airbrushed
some black paint on the right edge of the policeman to match the
harsh shading on the rocks behind him. I also lightened his left
side with the Dodge tool. Then all that was needed was a natural
looking shadow on the sand at his feet. It's best to create a new
conditions, layer for the shadow so that it is fully editable.
ttie alrtinish
Is used to To create the shadow, I drew a pen path in the approximate
stiade tlie
police otfl- shape of a shadow. When making a selection out of the path, I
cer's riglit
feathered it two pbcels. With the eye dropper I sampled the shadow
color from one ofthe rocks. Using the Gradient tool set on Multiply
Mode and Foreground to Transparent, I filled the feathered selec
tion with a shadow blend. Then I decided to invert the background
and the police officer's shadow to create a very surreal scene. 0

I The nnai image with

I the background and
shadow inverted.

Den Doemer is the

Technology Director at
Publish magazine. In
his spare time he
teaches Photoshop at
The Center for Elect
ronic Art In San
Francisco, Calif. He
has been working with
Photoshop since 1989,
and his artwork has
been shown in
exhibits, books, and
magazines, and is
currently shown on
the Adobe Photoshop
CD-ROM.

boot JAN 97 > 47

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Product Informatior) Number 250
 .

ILLUSTRATION: L. MORRIS
 BY BRAD GRAIG

bus, commonly known as FireWire, mance-while maintaining complete

is poised to take off in the coming compatibility with all existing Intel
months. Look/or new image-capture architectures. In addition to increased
• cards, digital video-editing systems, performance, MMX technology will
scanners, and other peripherals that free up additional processor cycles
demand a fat data-transfer pipe to take for other functions such as process
advantage ofthis promising technology. ing, audio and speech synthesis,
Whatever your bag—gaming, compression, telephony, and 2D and
modeling, design, web publishing, 3D graphics.
illustration, you name it—you'll b? From a gaming perspective,
able to do it better and faster in '97. MMX will amp up MPEG video
You're also going to hear a lot of compression, texture mapping,and
What a year. We saw 200MH2 whining from people who just don't 2D filtering. Game companies such
Pentiums. Pentium Pros showing up get it. "I just bought my computer, as.Origin Systems, Bullfrog, id, and
in home PCs. 3D graphics accelera and now there's already one that's Electronic Arts have been working
tors down on the motherboard. 9GB even faster." Screw 'em. Those with Intel, attempting to take advan-

■1 In personal computing Is dawning; an era in which the

hard disk drives. 12x CD-ROM drives.
Innovative memory architectures.
Well, if you thought the pace was fast Luddites would use XTs and CGA tage of MMX power user is king.
last year, you ain't seen nothin' yet. monitors, just so they'd never have to technology in
1997 will have our heads spinning. buy another piece of hardware. their upcoming titles.
With MMX,Intel is sucking so ' A new era in personal computing Eric Klein, Director of New
much functionality into the is dawning; an era in which the Business at Bungie Software says
Pentium's onboard instruction set power user is king. Here's your first "that to take advantage of our new,
that the company claims you'll never look at what's coming down the pike. and up-and-coming titles you'll need
need a new sound card. Intel com at least a Pentium 133. On an MMX-
petitors Cyrix and AMD have some equipped machine, however, you'll be
multimedia tricks up their sleeve, too. blown away."
It took a while to catch fire, but 3D Here today, Intel plans to ship the first MMX
graphics acceleration is now a raging gone tomorrow processor—the P55C—during the
inferno, showing no sign of cooling first quarter of1997, followed closely
off. Upstart video chip designers such It's been difficult to keep track of the by MMX-compatible offerings from
as 3Dfx and Rendition have tweaked Pentium processor. In the course of a Cyrix and Advanced Micro Devices.
the noses ofindustry giants S3 and few short years, its speed has jumped All three companies' chips vary
CirruS'Logic; meanwhile. Chromatic dramatically. But it hasn't been diffi slightly from each other. Because
Research is getting ready to pour its cult to track the new P5 processor MMX enhancements require software-
own can of gas on.the blaze. chip with integrated multimedia level support, Intel's chip features a
I/O speeds and feeds are also instruction extensions (MMX). Why? dual MMX pipeline to decode or issue
going through rampant change. USB- Because Intel still hasn't shipped it. two MMX instructions per clock '
equipped computers have been ship Originally slated to ship iniate 1996, cycle, and has-a level one cache of
ping since last May, but few peripher MMX's debut has been delayed until 32K. Alternatively, both AMD's K6
als have take advantage ofthem yet. January 8th, 1997. and Cyrix's M2 have implemented
Soon, devices ranging from gamepads At its core, MMX is operating sys 64K of level one cache.
to keyboards to flatbed scanners will tem transparent, and because MMX By midsummer, we'll see the
take advantage ofthis new serial com technology consists of general-purpose introduction of M2 from Cyrix. This
munications port. And the IEEE-1394 instructionsf it will enhance perfor- new chip will retain the proven 6x86

boot JAN 97 « SI
 pany is expected to ship Katmai; and
after that the Willamette, another
revision of the Intel family. In addi USB comes homali
'ower - tion to these development plans,
Hewlett-Packard and Intel are already
collaborating on the next generation Universal Serial Bus(USB) will ship
P7, known as Merced, which is sched with new systems from Compaq,
processor core, but will quadruple the uled to ship in the last quarter of1998. NEC, Micron, Gateway, Dell, Toshiba,
size of the chip's level one cache to It's expected that the P55C proces and others. This new connectivity
64K—double that found in the P55C. sor will be integrated into the majority standard will make plug-and-play a
It's expected to boast speeds of up to of new home systems running Win95, reality, replacing the RS-232, game,
250MH2 and use an 83MHz bus for while the Klamath will be integrated keyboard, and mouse ports. USB con
performance gains. The M2 is posi into business and NT environments. figures itself dynamically and allows
tioned to go up against Intel's updated Still, don't count out Cyrix as a worthy hot swapping of peripherals without
266MHz Pentium Pro chipset, Klam- competitor. The current Cyrix chip powering down your PC, and will
ath, by midyear. is already M2 pin compatible. This allow you to connect up to 127 devices
Klamath is rumored to improve means that anyone already owning from a single connector, and frqe
support for 16-bit applications, a limi a machine with Cyrix inside, can your desk of tangled cables.
tation that has stunted the Pentium upgrade to the M2. Pentium owners The trickle of USB products has
Pro's success on the Windows 95 (Pentium Pro owners excluded) will already begun. So far, Alj)s is the only
platform. By the end of1997, Intel need to purchase a whole new mother company to have introduced a USB-
hopes to ship Deschutes, the Pentium board, or clamp on an OverDrive chip compatible 14-button gamepad and
300MHZ P6 named after a river in (voltage requirements allowing), in keyboard; but by midsummer expect
Oregon. Then in early 1998, the com order to upgrade. a USB mouse,keyboard, and game

iUiPaul Desktop Product Line Manager Gateway 2000

n o
o
O ^0^ _ SS _ signifi-
signifi
cant
cant
It's kind of a chicken-and-egg closer
It's kind of a chicken-and-egg
scenario. USB peripherals will
to the
closer to the masses
masses.
There have been requests
Q, advan slowly start happening in the for a pure gaming machine,

'UUnab
(/)

0
)
im
tages.
DVD is
first half of '97.
We're rapidly moving
and we're looking at putting
together a bundle specifically
Q. scheduled for toward adopting 3D accelera for that. From a product
Gateway feels MMX 1997 and will have a large tor technology across our standpoint, we certainly have
technology will enhance impact. Not so much from entire product line; and to a very, very robust platform
O the processor architec a volume standpoint, but that end, we're woi1<ing with for it. if you look at PC games
ture and create a certainly from a technology all the major vendors, includ and the wants of a PC gamer,
>
o noticeable difference, standpoint. It'll give a clear ing S3, ATI, and Matrox. We we have the hardware to
once software support direction as to where the mar feel 3D provides added func support them, but currently
ing the instruction set ket is going. My feeling is DVD tionality, without increased we do not have plans to put
comes out. Without paying will hit stride sometime in cost to the consumer. 3D together a game platform.
accelerator technology will My personal opinion on
Added functionality, ease of use, aesthetics definitely be a check-off item the Internet, barring infra
in 1997. structure issues, is that it's
affordable cost, This evolution will bring theij^gg^ The current Destination where everything is moving
Destination closer to the masses, but were evaluating system (Gateway's entry into toward. But there's still a lot
putting DVD-ROMs in the PC/rv market) is a first- of worir to be done.
more, from a consumer our machines in 1997. generation product, and while Look at our history. We
standpoint, MMX-enhanced We're supportive of USB it's a good value, 1 think what have obviously been in a
software will see a perfor technology. Right now. we're you're going to see in the position, from our direct
mance boost from 10 to 15 looking at it for the first quar coming year is the evolution business model, to take
percent. There won't be a ton ter of '97. Part of our decision of that product to include; advantage of the latest
of software that'll take advan will be based the development added functionality, ease of technologies. If it's available
tage of MMX right out of the of USB peripherals. It's not a use, aesthetics, and afford and feasible from a customer
chute, but once the software question of whether USB will able cost. This gradual evolu standpoint, and it's a good
support is there, there will be happen, the question is when. tion will bring the Destination value, we'll consider it.
 tf
) Prod uct Line Manager Diamond Multimedia
>

o
Mike good at accelerating graphics
and we have built
and our consumers, an ad
vantage. USB lets us inte
deliver much more interactivity
and more graphics.
» our company on grate power features into In the consumer market,

(A

V
Reed
1^ A variety of technolo-
that competency.
We're targeting 1997
the product as well.
MMX will give us an
for our USB products. opportunity to introduce
USB gives us an opportunity modem technology to the
the Internet will only continue
to grow. More and more
people are getting on the
internet, creating a greater
gies will impact the PC to put a variety of communi Pentium processor, allowing demand for faster modems.
§ in 1997, but with cation technologies into the us to feature software upgrad- So far, we've been able to
O regard to communica- modem, features beyond just ability in our modems. Taking satisfy that demand with the
tion technology, the communications capabilities. the expense of silicon out of 33.6Kbps modem, but we
driving factor is speed. With USB
We expect 56Kbps to peripherals, Bjfto communication technology, the driving factor
"be big in '97; and we
expect to be one of the first
we can start
to enhance the actual modem
is speed. We expect 56Kbps to be big in '97.
companies to deliver 56Kbps itself, by adding telephony our own products will give expect the internet to impact
modems to the marketplace. capability, dial-in, and fax us the opportunity to reduce demand for our 56Kbps tech
We're currently using the storage. the cost of our modems, nology in 1997 as well.
Rockwell modem technology; USB will help our OEM while still delivering all of People are thirsty for
however, but we have our customers add external the features of a hardware- answers, and the internet
own R&D resources, so we modems to their products, based modem. has an endless amount of
can be silicon independent, allowing them to tailor spe DVD is very important information. The ability to
if needed. cific modems to specific cus to both us and to our cus display this information in a
Our major focus in '97 is tomer orders, as opposed to tomers. DVD provides dra graphical, intuitive interface
internet multimedia. Our one modem for an entire PC matically more storage than will help satisfy the demand
graphics division is very line. This will give our OEMs, CD-ROMs and promises to for information.

controller from Microsoft. Other Link layer takes the raw data from the
companies that have announced USB Physical layer and formats it into rec
devices include: Logitech, which lilbf Thar's fire In ognizable 1394 packets, then presents
plans to produce a USB mouse and „ I them to the application. The Tran
joystick; and Cherry, with three USB saction layer takes the packets from
keyboards, one of which will include The 1EEE-I394 High Performance the Link layer and presents,them to •
a built-in flash-card reader. Serial Bus has been in development the application. FireWire can support
The USB connector is a flat four- for more than 10 years. FireWire bus up to 63 devices on a single bus, and
pin bidirectional connectivity stan technology is a very complex serial allows transfer rates of up to 400
dard that provides approximately the bus protocol that multiplexes a variety megabits per second. USB,in com
same bandwidth as an Ethernet con ofdigital signals such as compressed parison, is a much slower architec
nection (I2MB per second). Intel— video, digitized audio, MIDI,and ture, with top speeds of12 megabits
along with Microsoft—are determined device-control commands. per second, but is far cheaper to
to make USB the connectivity stan More than 60 companies are implement than FireWire.
dard in 1997, and most, if not all PC actively supporting FireWire, includ
motherboards shipping this year will ing AT&T, Sony, Philips, Microsoft,
include at least two USB ports. and Intel. The advantage of FireWire
If a new system isn't in your bud is that it accommodates different data
mo
rages on
get this year, don't despair. USB PCI types and topologies better than alter
expansion cards will be available for native networking systems. Like when it comes to bleeding-edge tech
your current system. Just make sure Ethernet and other high-speed digital nology, it's apparent what's pushing
the system you buy today has enough data transmission systems, FireWire the envelope. It isn't spreadsheets, it
open PCI slots for the upgrade. And- is a layered transport system. The isn't word processors, and it isn't the
companies such as Alps are commit lEEE-1394 standard defines three lay Internet. It's games!
ted to producing USB hubs, which ers: Physical, Link,-and Transaction. In 1996, we saw second and third
will consume one USB port to pro The Physical layer provide^the sig generation video cards and technology,
vide up to six additional USB ports. nals required by FireWire bus. The but the next generation of video hard-

boot JAN 97
 iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
MMniBmrn via t tk'ist

■aa?i3Biir»iiMn»ii»'*i«RnBigira[3rTin^B WSIwSSStm

Steve ThrustMaster
President and CEO
o
ROM). Or not.
o

Aanderud
a>
_ _ __ The
fK enhance-
Mk — ~ — - ments to
^ Win95,
including support for USB and Direct X, will play a key role In the coming
§ year. While DVD, digital cameras, and online multiplayer gaming are very
Q> important, PC manufacturers will continue to position the computer as a
mainstream entertainment product—as evidenced by the introduction of
Q) large-screen TV/PC systems and user-friendly interactive multimedia systems.
W Our focus in 1997 is on advanced features, exceptional quality, and
^ great pricing. We have new products in development that we believe
gamers will want for that competitive edge, including 3D controllers, force flBln'JliR

With speed enhancements, 3D rendering, spatial sound, and other haptic

and entertainment performance in '97 and the next few years will be a veiy ^
feedback technology, and real plug-and-play devices.
has a resolution of720 horizontal
Long term, we're envisioning the Holodeck experience. With speed enhance
ments, 3D rendering, spatial sound, and other haptic inputs game and enter pixels and 480 vertical lines. The new
tainment performance in '97 and the next few years will be a very appealing format will display a much sharper
world. Gaming is becoming a 3D world. image than current laserdisc players,
but is backward compatible with
traditional CD-ROM discs. And unlike

54 • boot JAN 97
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 finx

have already begun to license their

Glenn
DVD patents to various third parties.
But in the meantime, DVD backers
such as Toshiba and Sony are still

iSchu
committed to producing 12x and 16x
CD-ROM drives.

CD-ROMs, with a maximum storage

capacity of630MB. DVD-ROMs can
Windows? ■

sster
store a whopping 4.7GB.
Memphis? I'
Hardware manufacturers are excited
about DVD,because the introduction
|| Cairo? Nashville? f
ofsuch a powerful technology will Win95 has already seen several
drive many consumers to buy a whole changes since it first shipped one year g Director of Marketing
new system. IBM,Cgmpaq, Sony,Tosh
iba, and NEC are all planning to ship
ago. The current OEM version of
Win95 (GSR 2) shipped in November
^ The evolution of 3D S3
graphics will be the single
DVD-ROM systems in 1997. And of 1996 and included changes in the most Important factor in 1997. It
Activision has announced plans to file system, Internet Explorer 3.0, represents a major application and
remaster DVD versions of Muppet Internet mail and news, power man user interface change for the PC.
Treasure Island, agement and multimedia drivers, and We spend a lot of time with
additions of new hardware drivers. the Intel folks to balance what we
Hardware Spycraft. and do in hardware with what they're
Zork Nemesis The new version also included a new
FAT32 file system that could handle doing on the processor side. MIVIX
manufacturers by midsummer. will be fairly significant and the
■i j However, the disk partitions larger than 2GB. In
dfG BXCilBu biggest draw- 1997, look for Microsoft to'make sig
major area of MMX impact is really
going to be the enhancing of DSP-
nificant changes to Win95 in an
about DVD attempt to unify it with Windows NT.
centric algorithms, and upping the
baseline for communications and
The next version of Win95 (code
because the for developers
to produce titles name: Memphis) isn't expected until
audio specifically.
MMX will only have a minor
late 1997, and will require at least impact on PC gaming. There will be
introduction of for the new for-
such powerful During the of 3D grapHl
, . . ,,, last couple of importantfi
technology will years, cd.rom Windows that
some enhancements In geometry pro
ihclude DOS configuration or boot
driv6 pnany basicaiiyjust
titles that were cessing, and this will enhance 3D a
code, and will encompass some of little. But MMX certainly doesn't re
NT's kernel. Microsoft has worked place acceleration. If you look at the
consumers to motion video with developers to create a single enhanced titles for 3D accelerators

buy a whole ^
pie of puzzles
Win32 API to unify NT and Win95.
The 4.0 version of Explorer (code
available so far, the levels of 3D ren
dering required are far above what
new system, and mouse name: Nashville) is expected Q1 of'97 MMX can possibly do in software.
Once they hammer out the
trolls thrown in and will feature tight integration with
copyright protection issues, we
for good measure flooded the shelves. the Windows OS, offering hypertext expect DVD to hit in '97. We don't
Gift wrapped in pretty boxes, they access to file systems, and near seam expect DVD to overtake CD-ROM,
were sold by skillful marketing for less access to the Internet. but you'll see crossover in 1998,
$49 a pop. The inherent problem Cairo, the next upgrade of NT, is when DVD begins to become domi
with DVD is that these same compa slated to arrive with Memphis, and nant and people really start talking
nies can now shoot even more video will deliver the remainder of DirectX about it.

footage, add a soundtrack with Dolby APIs to NT. A new object-oriented file USB is certainly not taking off
audio capabilities, and call it a game. system makes Cairo a big D. Look for as quickly as expected, but we do
see it becoming a baseline require
Hopefully developers will embrace the it in 1998.
ment for systems moving forward.
DVD format and technology, and pro Microsoft is also set to launch
The real question however, is: When
duce titles worthy of that format. Windows CE (code name; Pegasus), do volume peripherals really jump
Unfortunately DVD is on a hold an entirely new portable operating on the USB? We don't expect that
ing pattern right now—at least until system built to work with a new range to happen until late '97.
copyright issues can be resolved. of hand-held PCs and wireless com
Regardless, both Sony and Philips munication devices. Pegasus extends

56 • boot JAN 97
Microsoft's vision ofinformation at computers are capable of astounding just keeps getting higher. And every
your fingertips, beyond the desktop feats, but look no further than any time programmers redline existing
and notebook PCs we know today. episode of Star Trek Voyager to see technology, the hardware engineers
More than 40 software and hardware how much better PCs could be. in the pit crew manage to come up
companies are currently designing Expect some bumps in the road as with a bigger engine, faster tires, or
products for this new platform. we fly down the techno highway more potent fuel.
Change scares some people, but toward the millenniurn, but all the o Sure. 1996 was good, but 1997 is
the PC would die without it. Today's lights are green and the speed limit going to blow you away. 0

(A
a
>
tss
o
Michael Director of Product Marketing ConipaC|
From a gaming some of the reasons why ing Direct3D, who will win
a
CA

0)
Rubin
a The most important
perspective. It
also allows for
peripheral with
extra functionality, such
Microsoft is putting it off
until Memphis. In the mean
time, we're trying to encour
age USB manufacturers to
the 3D accelerator card war
becomes less of an issue.
The further we move into
1997, the more important
technologies that we'll as controlling both analog provide not only a USB class Direct3D is going to become,
S see in 1997 are those and digital devices. The driver, but also a VXD driver and the more important it's
0) that increase the inter delay in delivering USB is that'll work under any ver going to be to have a system
'S activity experience of the old chicken-and-egg sce sion of Windows. Overall, equipped with a very good
a> PCs in the home. MMX nario. Microsoft is responsi USB is a good solution for 3D accelerator.
technology. DVD, and ble for delivering the drivers the consumer. DVD is another technology
3D acceleration will that enable this technology, We are working on the that will become increasingly

instruction, consumers will see increased performance and

transform the PC into a much
other breakthroughs in applications they couldn't do before on a PC.
more interactive system. but on the other hand, Device Bay specification with important as we move farther
Because MMX has a built- Microsoft requires a robust intel and Microsoft, and are into 1997. It has tremendous
in external cache for opti set of hardware devices to still trying to actively work promise. The interspersing of
mized performance, it test with, in order to deliver between the companies to really rich 3D with full-motion
increases the speed of the the driver class technology decide what the software video, and the ability to
system. Right now, we're for the entire industry. More plan is for rolling out that store tremendous amounts
seeing around a 20 percent importantly, Microsoft is pro technology. We'll be disclos of content, has considerable
performance increase with viding USB support for all ing more information on this promise. Compaq believes
that added cache. And with future releases of the Win new specification soon. we'll see this content finally
software optimized for MMX dows operating system. The one key technology delivered in '97.
instruction, consumers will We are currently aggres that Microsoft is providing in Ultimately, Compaq will
see increased performance sively working with Microsoft 1997, is their Direct3D tech continue to push the enve
and other breakthroughs. to understand how we can nology. As we move Into '97, lope and provide a comput
The customer will defi take care of our current cus board manufacturers and ing solution that is easy to
nitely see tangible benefits tomers before the release of companies such as Compaq use, intuitive, and as interac
through the MMX technology. Memphis [the first retail will choose those technolo tive as possible. We are com
We strongly believe that. Windows OS that will sup gies that deliver the best mitted to integrating new
USB technology will allow port USB]. The complexities performance, or price perfor technologies into our sys
consumers to easily add involved in upgrading a sys mance. Once we have a girth tems as long as they deliver
peripherals to their system. tem from OSRl to 0SR2 are of good, solid titles support- benefits to our customers.

boot JAN 97 - 57
 . ..'V : ■ ■ ■ ■ ■■■
■.■■■■:■ ■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■: ■

s?a»

SEGAS^FT" Developed by :®)'" ScpaSofi lac. All rights reserved. Obsidisn 61996 Roeket Science Games. Inc. Aii rights rescrvetl- SegaSofl and the SegaSofi logo are trademarks of SegaSoft Inc.
 I

Rockei Science, ilie Rockei Science logo, and Obsidian are irndemarls of Rocket Science Games, Inc. Windows Is a irodemafk of Micmsofl Corporation. Macintosh is a trademark of Apple Computer, inc
MacO.'^
Product Information Number 302
 \
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IN A 'ik^ DISORI. Y- 0-U . M A-K E Y 0rM^ W-A ¥:...'Ll!t£:O.U. G H THE

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YOU IS THE KNOWLEDGE YOU'Ve.SRQWM ACCEPT AS THE T R U T,!:! ^ . B U T Y 0 U'R 6 ABOUT
TO. DIvSCO.VsER THAT WHAT J H E". -T R U T H .TS .DEPENDS ON W H A T'• WO R L O' Y 0 U'R E JN.|AND IN
TH-I S'v'-'-WO-R L B, THT N G'S ■ DO>N T ,N EO^'S S A RTLY'^^'WOR K THE^ "W A T Y 00 ' MTGHT EXPECT |'hEH TO.
THE C.H A R A.C T E R S DON'T E X A C T L Y AC T THE W AY T H E Y 'RE S U P P 0 S E D T 0.. VT HE L A W S
OF - P H Y S I-r.C'S. HAVE SOMEHOW BECOME WARPED. WHAT :IS UP AND WHAT I-'S N IS
MERELV a matter of opinion. HERE, AFTER EVERY PERPLEXING PUZZLE YOU ^LVE.
ANB>HER.. Bl^KS, AROUND THE CORNER,. AND AS YOU UNRAVEL E AC,H E L U's I V £>.M y;S'T ER Y-,V,
AN EVEN ':^^.0-ER 'ONE BEGINS TO UNFOLD. THE QUESTION IS, WILL YOU" 'b E ^ABLE
TO PUT T"hE PUZZLE TOGETHER AND MAKE THE RIGHT-CHOICE WHEN THE TIME COMES?

I
 Understand What
You're Doing
Overclocking, or speed-ma^'ning. Is the process of
(12-step) pushing a CPU beyond the speeds originally intended
by the manufacturer. Rumors abound of how chip man-
ufecturers conservatively rate their CPUs, filling orders
program with lower marked chips due to overstocking of higher-
rated chips. You may be one of the lucky ones.
Know the Ramifications
Many have successfully pushed their 486SX or DX-
DEALING WITH YOUR 33 to 40MH2 or their Pentium 75 to 90MHz or even It is NOT recommended that you attempt overclocking
lOOMHz. Some have dared to push their Pentium 133 if you work with sensitive or vitally important data, since
PC OBSESSION to 166MHz or their 166MHz to 200! you could experience subtle problems, such as floating
DAY TO DAY point calculations being slightly off. If stability's your
gig, then mucking with your system's clock isn't wise.
BY BREAKING IT DOWN NEVER overclock a CPU on a motherboard not
spec'd to operate at the speeds you're shooting for,
INTO 12 EASY STEPS This peltier CPU fan made by Dude!
even if it seems to let you. The components may not
Computer Products has an alarm buzzer that
warns you when your CPU is overheating. be up to the required standards.

this month: Another risk goes by the scientific name of electro-

migration. This has to do with the amount of current
Overclocking (electrons) passing through the microscopic lines on
the chip and the amount of heat generated in the
process. Electromigration increases when overclocking
Your CPU and leads to a higher potential for irrevocable dam
age. it's very much like forming new neural pathways
• Inexperienced users: in your brain. When you apply this method to chips
you end up with a short circuit.
READ NO FURTHER! You're
about to learn an ancient art
practiced by those obsessed
with pushing their machines
to the absolute limit. If you
shudder at the thought of
cracking your case: READ NO
FURTHER! What you learn here
will either damn you or free you.
As with all black arts, there are
prices that must be paid—the
Keep Your Cool -(^With these chilling your system
larger the benefit, the larger the you can use your case to transport
price. Why risk damnation? The biggest threat to the survival of your CPU is heat.
organs for transplant
And overclocking creates heat. Don't attempt to do
One word: SPEED.
this without protection, and unfortunately, the type you
If you've ignored these warnings, need here can't be attained from your local drug store.
welcome to the brotherhood of What we're talking about here is a fan and a heat
the obsessed. It's time to find sink. The heat sink pulls heat away from the CPU and
the fen dissipates it. Heat-sink compound also provides
out how much your system can
an efficient conduit. These all work together to prevent
take. Others would simply buy a your CPU from turning into a molten pile of silicon.
fester CPU. This could satisfy
The Peltier Cooler is by fer the best option. Peltier
you temporarily, but when MMX active coolers take advantage of the "Peltier thermo
comes out this January you'll electric effect" in which current through a strip of dis
be jonesing for more. Pushing similar metals causes heat to move from one surface of
your existing CPU gives you the strip to the other. From there, the heat is trans
ferred to the heat sink and on to the air circulated by a
more time to save for a truly
fen. Unlike standard heat sinks and fens, Peltier active
faster replacement. coolers can lower temperatures below ambient condi
Let boot guide you through the tions, acting like miniature electronic refrigerators.
shadows of this foreboding if this seems like overkill, consider a ball-bearing fan,
practice in 12 easy steps. which will run smoother, longer, and more importantly,
—Sean Cleveland quieter than their standard counterparts.
 Some motheitoards Uke tiie
Endeavor pictured, use switch
boxes instead of jumpers.
Know Where
You Are
Don't forget to ground yourself when
working inside your computer. Static
electricity can kill your motherboard,
or other electronic equipment you may
accidentally touch inside your case.
It's time to meet your friend: the
jumper. Jumpers are usually num
bered on the motherboard and have All the Flavors
the letter 'j' in front of them (143
would be Jumper #43). It's best to of 486
find the jumper's position in your There are various different types of
motherboard's manual first (you 486 CPUs. Most notably: the SX,
could go blind, inadvertently knock SX2, DX, DX2, DX4, and Pentium
a wire loose, or break something Overdrive chips. The 486 CPU uses
poking around trying to Find them an external data bus for communi
directly on the motherboard). cating with it and the motherboard
Motherboard jumpers are nor as well as an internal data bus for
mally in two to three pin configura its own operations. Both are 32-bit
tions. Two pinned jumpers are bus types. The external data bus
dosed when the jumper block is on runs at 33MH2, the internal at the
the pins, and open when it's off. clock speed designated by the CPU.
Three pinned jumpers can be either The SX and DX run internally and
open, or need the jumper block to externally at 33MHz. The DX is an
be on pins 1 and 2, or 2 and 3. The SX with a math coprocessor (which a
motherboard's manual will tell you lot of today's games and graphics Pushin' a 486
where to move the jumper block to apps require) and an internal cache.
cover the necessary pins. Pin #1 is The SX2 and DX2 chips run twice as Changing the jumpers on the mother
usually noted in the manual and fast internally and the DX4 runs at board to a higher speed setting is
marked directly on the motherboard three times the speed (The name is the simplest way to clock up your
with a '1' or a small arrow next to just a fancy marketing ploy.) The DX2 CPU. Locate the jumper(s) that con
the designated pin. chips use a technology that takes trol the motherboard's clock speed.
the external speed of 33MH2 and (Again checking the motherboard's
doubles it for its internal workings. manual.) When you find these,
What does all this rigamarole WRITE DOWN YOUR CURRENT SET
mean? You can't take a regular TINGS. You'll be glad you did just in Pentiums Like
486DX-33 chip and turn it into a case this doesn't work. Carefully it Like That
486DX2-66. You can however, move the jumper(s), increasing it to
increase its speed in other, more its next higher speed. For example, if Pentium chips usually overclock bet
salient, ways. it was set to 33, try 40. If it was set ter than 486s and are generally easier
to 50, try 66. to push, since they run at a different
clock speed internally than they do
if your board doesn't support this,
externally. The external speed is
then you will have to change the
used for the cache and main memory
clock crystal to speed it up. THIS IS
and is divided by two for the PCI
NOT RECOMMENDED. Those
bus. There are three different exter
who ignore this recommen
CPU MEMORY SPEED pa SPEED nal clock speeds: SOMHz, 60MHz,
dation (and have the tech
and 66MH2.
nical know-how to safely
Pentium 60 60MHz 30MHz
pull it off) will need a sol
dering iron, a new crystal,
30MHz
and nerves of steel.
Penbum 75 50MHz 25MH2 Strainin'a
60MHz 33Mlte
Pentium
If you own a P75, P90, P120, P150,
Penbum 100 66MHz 33MHz
or even a P166, just changing the
60MHz 30MHz
clock speed to either 60MHz o"r
66MHz will significantly impact
Penbum 133 66MHz 33MHz benchmarks. If it doesn't, try bump
ing up the multiplier a step from 1.5
60MHz 30MHz to 2 or from 2 to 2.5. Follow the
(i^Use this chart to chart to find the best speed increase.
Pentium 166 66MHz 33MHz find the appropriate
speed to shoot for
66MH2 33MHz when pushing your CPU.

82 • boot JAN 97
 Uindows protection error. Vou need to restart i/our conputer

Press anv to continue...

As soon as you
fnd the "Any" key
you can power down
your system and
change back to your Know your
motherboard's
ori^nal settings. Limitations
As with anything pushed past its
recommended limits, there are
bound to be problems. You're
-Try it out! SysChk
Provides valuable
attempting an experiment, treading
demo
on the
details on everything
from your CMOS version
into a dark area few dare to enter.
Your CPU may be running fine but
to details on devices your other equipment may not be
bootDisc installed in your system.
up to the challenge. Video cards,
disk controllers, memory, or even
your motherboard may not ftinction
correctly under such a heavy load.
Some video cards do not operate at

f0 Push it Harder!
OK, test it. A shareware version of
high speeds, memory may not have
enough time to complete tasks or
there might be cheap components
a DOS-based utility called SysChk on the motherboard itself that pre
has been included on this month's vent success. Try decreasing the bus
bootDisc and can be used to bench speeds; increasing memory wait
states; or slowing the memory
mark the speed of your CPU.
speed down—your manual should
Midnight:
Win95 is a good place to test your explain how to do this all. You may Time's Up
newfound speed as it seems more want to just invest in faster equip
perceptive to subtle changes, either You've spent all day digging in the
ment or even a faster CPU. Hey, you
through its enhanced architecture entrails of your system, moving little
gave it your best shot, hopefully the
Gambling with and high-performance tuning or, more powers below won't be too harsh on
pieces of plastic back and forth. If
realistically, the haphazard fashion in you have not successfully pushed
Silicon Chips which its 32-bit internals have been
your soul.
your CPU by now, you are most
When changing the CPU speed set stuck together with saliva. Either likely grasping at straws. Give it up,
tings, keep in mind that you are way, it's a good operating system to go to bed and dream about the
also changing the speed value of test with, Any D0S4GW game, such next generation of CPUs.
the memory and PCI bus. The most as Doom, Descent, or Quake, is also
stable clock speed is 66MHz. If you a good test, as these tend to tax
change from a 133MH2 to 150MHz, your CPU. Errors to look for: random
your CPU will be running faster lockups and hangs, intermittent
internally but your memory will be reboots, page faults, and J^sChk - Version 2.43 * copy
' Tuesday, Hov. 12,
running at 60MHz and your PCI bus invalid op-code errors. If it
at 30MHz. Memory access will be works, push it harder. Speed Intoraacion
slower. Those gains may not be 0) Sunnecy
The goal here is to get the 1) CPO/BIOS
worth the drain on your CPU. But if
most speed out of your 2) Inpuc/Oui^uc
you can get that baby to work at 3) IRQ List
150MHz, you'll save yourself a nice machine, if it craps out, you 4) Disk Drives
chunk of upgrade change. need only set if back to the 5) IDE/SCSI
original settings or those 6) Video Spee4: -lO?.ib7 fez"
of the last successfully 7) Memory
8) Resident H«p CPU Speed: 120 HRz
tested speed.
N) Network Info Video Speed: 097S ohac.'sec
C) CMOS
V) Nindovs Info Bard Disk 0 Access: Iimediate Seek
P) Print Transfer: 2161.SI KB / Sec
E) Exit Hard Disk 1 Access: Immediate Seek
Transfer: 269.SS KB 7 Sec
Bard Disk 2 Access: Immediate Seek
Transfer; 269.7S KB / Sea.
- sysCKfc Fating; 102.3 SysChRy

boot JAN 97
 ViewSonic P815
lirUCK: $1,995
TIJBIT: Invar Shadow Mask very accurate. ViewSonic's ARAG
ibOT l^iruH: 0.25mm anti-renection. anti-glare coating
MAX lilES: 1800x1440
helps to refract light away from
UEFSn.SI I RAriv, 76H2
the face of the monitor, so you
c|:OMf'ANY; ViewSonic don't end up staring into a 20-
(["MONE: 800.888.8583
mni : www.viewsonic.com
inch mirror.

Resolution/refresh rates:
640x480 at 160Hz

worthy) For some people, it's an aperture-

grille monitor or nothing. But the
specs on ViewSonic's P815 wlii
800x600 at I60Hz
1024x768 at 139Hz

turn even the bluest nose green 1280x1024 at 106Hz

with envy. 1600x1200 at 91 Hz

' The P815's 21-inch Invar shadow 1600x1280 at SSHz

. . J800X1440 at 76H2
EACH MONTH, BOOT mask tube (20-inch viewable area)
has 250MHz of bandwidth, so it's
EDITORS COMPILE THE capable of a maximum resolution
BEST PRODUCTS IN A of 1800x1440 pixels with a refresh
rate of 76Hz. And at 1600x1200,
SPEOIFIC CATEGORY AND it's capable of an amazing 91H2
DEEM THEM: BOOTWORTHY refresh rate.
; This puppy has.a fine dot
pitch, too; iust 0.25mm. In short,
this month: no monitor on the market,boasts
higher specs.
High-end I Crank the brightness and it'il
drive you out of the room,
the display Is incredibly
Monitors bright and color
reproduction Is

•If you've never gamed on a 21-

incher, you haven't lived. If you're
putting together the ultimate desktop
system, you'd better include one of
these bad boys on your shopping list.
Fortunately for your bank account, the
prices of big-screen displays have
dropped considerably over the past
couple of years. Models that previously
cost as much as a small car now range
from $1,600 to $2,100. That's still not
cheap, but the return on your investment
will certainly stimulate your saliva glands.
With all that space, you can see a full
page of your web site on one side of
the screen, and all the related HTML
code displayed on the other. You can
enlarge your Lightwave 3D model to
gargantuan proportions, so you can fine-
tune the most minute detail without
straining your eyes. Creatures in games
look real enough and big enough to
bust through the glass and boogie on
your desktop. Even the ant-sized
soldiers in games like Z and Close
Combat take on realistic proportions.
Like the old beer commercial says,
How We Tested This Month's bootWorthy Monitors
We selected Matrox's Millennium MGA PowerDoc edition for testing Uiese monitors. With the optional 6MB Vffl/W daughter
"You only go around once in life. Why board attached, we were able to drive each display at 1600x1200 resolution with 24-bit color depth—the highest resolution
not go for the gusto!" cumently supported by Win95. We also tested the WewSonic P815 with the Millennium instelled in an MT workstation, so we
could check out thai monitor's 1800x1440 mode. — M.B.
— Michael Brown

boot JAN 97
 BOOTWORTHY: MONITORS

The CRFs high-contrast optical Sony MuUiscan 20se II

quality coating results in a moni
PRICE:$1,999
tor that's nearly impervious to
Mitsubishi Diamond Pro glare and reflection.
TUBE: Aperture Grille
DOT PITCH: 0.25mm
91TXM Controls are accessed via a
MAX RES: 1600x1200
slick tray that pops out from the REFRESH RAIE: 75Hz
i^niot : $1,699
front panel. You can make all the COMPANY: Sony Electronics
rUBIi: Aperture Grille
GOT PirGI I:.0.28mni important adjustments, including PHONE: 800.352.7669

MAX RES: 1600x1200 convergerice, pincushion, trape URL: www.sony.com/technology

REI-RESn RAIE: 76H2 zoidal, parallelogram, moire
OOMI'ANV: Mitsubishi cancellation, and color adjustment
I'HONE: 800.843.2515 Sony has introduced a slew of
URI.: www.mitsubishi- new "value priced" monitors, but
dlsplay.com Resotution/refresh rates:
the "se ir series remains Its top-
640x480 at 152Hz
of-the-line. Considering this 20-
800x600 at 150Hz
inch model (19-Inch viewable area)
You don't have $2,000 to throw 1024x768 at 118Hz
costs $300 more than Mitsubishi's
down for a new monitor? But your 1280x1024 at 88Hz
new 21-incher, you might be won
applications demand the territory 1600x1200 at 76 Hz
dering "What gives?"
that only a 21-inch monitor can
The price difference can be
deliver? Check out Mitsubishi's
partially accounted for by what
new Diamond Pro 91TXM.
Sony refers to as the "Sony pre
For $1,699, Mitsubishi delivers
mium." The company has such a
a fiat-square 2i-inch (19.7-inch
reputation for quality products
viewable area) aperture-grille mon
that It can simply demand more,
itor. Max resolution is 1600x1200,
and buyers—particularly corporate
delivered at an eye-pleasing refresh buyers—will pony up the cash.
rate of 76Hz. And with a grille pitch But It's not just corporate
of lust 0.28mm, graphics are sharp
bragging rights that people pay
and clear.
for. Take a look at this monitor's
Mitsubishi's new P-NX DBF
grille pitch for example. At 0.25mm,
(dynamic beam forming) electron
that's as fine as any other manu
gun, combined with the use of
facturer's offering.
three focusing lenses (instead of
The 20se II is excep
high-voltage convergence plates),
tionally bright.
enabled Mitsubishi to pack the
91TXM into a compact chassis
that is more than an inch shorter
than any of the other displays we
looked at. . ,

bootWorthy

boot JAN 97 • 66
 there are both BNC and 15-pin
^anao FlexScan FX2-21 D-sub connectors available.
The FlexScan features a unique
'RICE: $3,185
control mechanism for adjustments.
rUBE: Aperture Grille
A set of buttons are mounted on
OOT PITCH: 0.25 mm
VIAX RES: 1600x1200
the front of the display for select
4 65 colors are true. The tube Is REFRESH RATE: 80Hz ing the type of adjustment you
coated with an anti-reflective :orviPANV: EIZO Nanao wish to make (display size, posi
material that minimizes glare with rechnotogles tion, brightness, etc.). but the
out affecting brightness or clarity. 'HONE: 800.800.5202 adjustments are accomplished
IR! : www.Eizo.co.jp/welcome using an old-fashioned knob.
This is the only model we
examined that had a button on Screen geometry adjustments
the front panel for each of Its con are made by selecting the Screen-
The name Nanao Is synonymous
trols. This feature is something of
with fanatical attention to detail.
a double-edged sword: It makes it Resolutions/refresh rates:
The FlexScan FX2-21 is one example
easy to make adjustments (you 640x480 at 160Hz
of why.
This aperture-grille display is 800x600 at 160Hz
Resolutlons/reffesh rates: capable of 1600x1200 resolution, 1024x768 at 13OH2
640x480 at I6OH2 with a rock-solid refresh rate of 1280x1024 at 97Hz
800x600 at 144Hz iBOHz. Next to Sony and View 1600x1200 at 8OH2
1024x768 at n6Hz Sonic, it also has the finest grille
1280xl024,at 88Hz resolution at 0.26mm.
Manager button and then using
Nanao's dynamic beam spot the knob to pick the desired item
control system delivers a bright This design is the most intuitive
display that boasts sharp focus of alt the monitors we looked at.
don't have to navigate through
over the entire screen—perfectly The FlexScan's settings can also
layers of menus), but it also makes
suited for painstaking CAD and 3D be controlled through the comput
it easy to accidentally change set
.design work. The monitor's color er's serial port but the required
tings by bumping the buttons.
accuracy, augmented by its on cable and software are optional.
(Locking the controls prevents this,
board controls, is excellent. Thanks to its high refresh rate
but In a few months, you'll drive
If you use multiple displays the FlexScan is easy on the eyes,
yourself nuts trying to figure out
(one for design and one for ren even when you're working with
why you can't make adjustments.)
dering, for example) this monitor's high-resolution graphics. Ergo-
You'll find all the controls
saddle/saddle deflection yoke pre nomic-minded shoppers will want
you'd expect, including pincush
vents Interference between the to know that this model complies
ion, convergence, and moire can
monitors. If you need to split the with the Swedish TCO guidelines.
cellation. Surprisingly, the monitor
display between two computers, If you're looking for the best
doesn't provide controls for trape
zoidal and parallelogram adjust and the brightest, the FlexScan
ments. FX2-21 is hard to top.
Sony provides both BNC and
15-pln D-sub connections, and the
display complies with the Impor
tant TCO guidelines.
The 20se II is one of best
monitors you can buy. You can't
go wrong with this one.

A Sixth Contender
We planned to include Nokia's new 445Xavc monitor in this
month's bootWorffiy, but the product didn't amve in time for con
sideration. The 445Xavc packs a pair of stereo speakers, a sub-
woofer, and a video camera into its 21-inch aperture-grille display.

66 - boot JAN 97
 BOOTWORTHY: MONITORS

NEC has found the perfect balance

of front-panel buttons—not too
many and not too few. As soon as
the item you need is displayed on

NEC Technologies P1150 Resolutions/refresh rates:

FHIC!;: $2,079 640x480 at leOHz
TUBi! Ltis Giv Aperture Grille 800x600 at 149Hz
UO i PITCH: 0.28mm 1024x768 at 117Hz
MAX RES: 1600x12:00 p- 1280x1024 at 88H2
REFRESH HA'.'k: 75H2 ^' 1600x1200 at 75Hz
COMPANY NEC Technologies
PHONE; 800.632.4636

'JP.L: www.nec.com the screen, simply punch the

"Proceed" button to select it.
Controls are provided for pincush
ion, trapezold, parallelogram, con
NEC'S Multisync P1150 is a behe vergence, and more.
moth, but it's a beautiful behe Like the other monitors we
moth. This 21-inch display (19.6- looked at, the P1150 complies with
inch viewable area) tilts the scales the MPR-il, EPA Energy Star, and
at a whopping 77.2 pounds; you'll NUTEK specifications for energy
need 22-plus inches of depth on conservation and electromagnetic
your desktop to accommodate it. radiation. You'll need to install a
The PllSO's aperture grille filter (a $129 option) to achieve
tube has a respectable grille pitch compliance with the stricter TCO-
of 0.28mm, and it's capable of 92 spec.
displaying 1600x1200 pixels at a One feature the other monitors
refresh rate of ZSHz. NEC's Opti- don't offer is a pop-up reminder
Clear screen surface ensures that to rest your eyes. At user-defined
ambient lighting won't mar the intervals, the monitor flashes this
beauty of its display. message on the screen: "Period
The P1150 was one of the ically rest your eyes by blinking
brightest tubes we looked at, and often or looking away from the
its color Pdelity was excellent scene and focusing on a distant
thanks to NEC's AccuColor color- object." Friendly, ain't it?
control system. The PllSO's a beauty, just make
The controls on this monster are sure your desk can handle it.
very well designed and intuitive.

if if.

boot JAN 97 • 67
Our New Righteous 3D
Accelerate More Than
Whether You're Into Serious Flight Sims Or Hardcore
Mutant Blasting, Brace Yourself For Revolutionary
Performance That Pumps More 3D Reality Into Your PC.
That's because Righteous 3D includes some of the most advanced features
ever designed into a 3D accelerator. Based on 3Dfx Interactive Voodoo
Graphics^ Righteous 3D delivers true arcade graphics to your PC.
In fact, Righteous 3D is the first accelerator of its kind that can render
complex 3D objects, realistic textured images,
stunning atmospheric conditions and incredible
lighting effects all at full-modon frame rates.
And at much higher heart rates. No more
blocky pixels. No more herky-jerky stick
figures. Just sharp, clear images that move
like nothing you've ever seen on your
monitor. Which can make good games
great. And great games truly awesome.
So get a grip on reality. Visit our web
site at www.orchid.com, or call us
toll free for more information at
1-888-KILLR3D (545-5733).
And see what a little
adrenaline can do for
your system.

ORCHID
A MiCTonics Compaf^
Accelerator Will
Your Graphics
This Is Your Mech This Is Your Mech
On Software On Righteous 3D

Standard version of MechWarrior®2 Enhanced version of MechWarrior® 2

Any Questions?
Call 1-888-KILLR3D
DirectSD Tunnel Test Scores in frames per second

Orchid RiflhteBus-3p;'r''
HHHH mmmm \
Matrox,Wlvslltjue.
m 58|

Product Information Number 236

©1995 Drchid Techiioloj;)-. Iiic. All rights ftwrxcJ. Spi-cificiiliiiiis nrc siihjca ri> change wiilioiii notice. Orchid, the Orcliid logo and Rightcoiis .?D arc tradcntarks of Orchid Technologv, Inc. .All oiIut Iradcm.irks or registered
iradcm.irks are the propcny of their respective tnvners who .irc not associated with Orchid Technology. All rights leservcd. birccl3l> itiiinci testing was conducted 11/95 hy Orchid Technology on a Micronics M55Hi Phis svstcni
hoard with an Intel" PcntiunT' 165 ,MI |r processor. 512 sync cache and 16M11 of DRA.M.ineinor); ATI .ID Xpression, Oianitind Stealth .fD 20tl0 .ind Matros .Mestinuc were conhgurc*d with 2Mh tif ineniorv for the PCI his using
driver release 4.03.00.1096. 4.03.1X1.11)96 and 4.03.00.3110 respectively for !)irecr3D. Orehid Ul^resiusdD was coiitlsiired with 4.\1Hot racnioty for the PCI bus using ilrivcr release 4.03.00.2.50 for I)lreet3l3. Rirect-313 tunnel test
was run at 640 x 400 resolution for the Orehid Righiexms 3I>. ATI 3D Xpression and .Matrox .Viysiigiieand at.511x .3S4 resolntion fitr the Di.imoniJ Stealth 31) 2000 at 15 bits per pixel hased on Gounind shaded, nerspcctiee
correct lexinrod, point sampled 16 hits per pixel eolor,illihered rendering polvgons. ' '' s
 previews
HARDWARE
ON THE HORIZON AND
SOFTWARE SOON TO SHIP

70 SonyGDB-W900 With Sony's new GDB-W900 24-Inch Trinitron monitor, you'll be able to fit two 8.5xll-inch pages,
plus an assortment of toolbars on riie same screen. The wide-angle display (with a 16:10 aspect ratio}
will fit in die same footprint as Sony's 21-inch models.

71 Hitachi
Mx-Series
Sony GDB-W900
The two-foot Trinitron
72 Yamaha MU-10 Sony is preparing to ship a super-wide display based on a new Trinitron tube. The GDB-
Tone Generator W900 will feature a 24-inch tube (22.5-inch viewable area) in a chassis that has the same
footprint as Sony's 21-inch model. With a 16:10 aspect ratio, you'll be able to view two
entire 8.5xll-inch pages on screen, plus an assortment of toolbars, with no overlap.
Designers, web masters, animators, engineers, desktop publishers, and animators
will find the GDB-W900 to be a useful tool. These professionals often use two monitors
because they can't fit all the windows and toolbars they need on a single screen. "The
biggest problem with using two monitors," says Sony marketing manager Michael Fox "is
72 MDK that it's nearly impossible to calibrate two different displays so that the colors appear
exactly the same on both. The GDB-W900 solves that problem because it can display two
monitors' worth of information on a single screen."
Due to the unusual aspect ratio, graphics card manufacturers will have to write custom
drivers to support the display. The monitor will feature a maximum resolution of 1920x1200,
at a non-interlaced refresh rate of 76Hz.
72 Ecstatica 2
The new CRT uses a variable-pitch aperture grille, in which the aperture wires are
spaced farther apart as they approach the edges of the screen. The monitor's pitch will
range from 0.25mm at the center of the display to 0.29mm at the outside edge. Sony
maintains that this design will enable the monitor to display sharp, accurate colors from
the center of the display all the way to the very edge.
73 Myth The company has also developed a new tungsten-impregnated cathode-ray gun that
doubles the electron beam Intensity while reducing the beam spot size from 0.43mm to
0.30mm. A new blue-color filter has been integrated into the beam's path to improve
light transmission and increase contrast. The GDB-W900 will be Win95 Plug-and-Play com
patible (D0C-2AB) and will comply with the International Energy Star, MPRll, NUTEK, and
7A Navy Fighters '97 TCO '95 standards.
Artists won't be the only creative professionals interested in Sony's GDB-W900.
Word on the street is that accoun
tants are frothing at the mouth
over the prospect of displaying 29 product info
74 Jedi Knight standard-width columns in their AVAILABLE: jan 97 PHONE: 800.352.7669
Excel spreadsheets. PRICE: $4,995 URL: www.sony.com
— Michael Brown COMPANY: Sony Electronics rtechnology

70 ■ boot JAN 97
 PREVIEWS

Hitachi Mx Notebooks
That's Mx, not MMX
With Intel's MMX processors just around the will be 800x600 with 16-bit color depth, deliv
corner, Hitachi has decided to name its upcom ered to a 12.1-inch active-matrix display. Storage
ing multimedia notebook computers the "Mx- options will include removable hard drives
Series," even though the computers will not be (either 1.35GB or 2.0GB) and 8x CD-ROM drives. Don't be confused by the name; Hitachi's new Mx-
equipped with MMX chips. A Hitachi spokesper You'll have to swap the CO-ROM drive to use Series of multimedia notebooks will be powered by
standard 133MHz and 150MHz Pentium processors,
son said the name was chosen because these the floppy, but you'll also have the option of
not MMX chips.
machines are an extension of the manufacturer's plugging a second lithium-ion battery into that
earlier M-Series. Coincidence? You make the call. bay. There will also be card slots for two Type will also feature side-ported Altec Lansing stereo
The Mx-Series will be powered by either II PCMCIA cards or one Type III card. One slot speakers, so sound won't be muffled by your
133MHz or 150MHz Pentiums with 256K of L2 will be equipped with a Zoomed Video Port. hands while you work, and when you close the
cache. Memory will start at 16MB of EDO DRAM; If you're looking for a desktop replacement, lid the speakers' performance isn't affected.
expandable to 80MB. Continuing its focus on Hitachi will offer a port replicator and a mini- This new series of machines looks promising
out-of-the-box communications, Hitachi is equip dock station that will include an IrDA-compliant on paper; and according to a Hitachi spokesper
ping the machines with a 33.6Kbps cellular-ready infrared transceiver for wireless data transfer son, pricing will be "in line with other high-end,
fax/modem, plus a lOBase-T Ethernet LAN port. and a set of stereo audio jacks. The minidock is full-featured notebooks,".
Cellular-ready means you'll be able to plug your also compatible with Hitachi's earlier E-Series - M.B.
cell phone into the computer and use it to surf notebooks. Pricing for the port replicator and
the web. or send faxes or e-mail wherever cellu minidock had not been set at press time. product info
lar service is available. With the Mx-Series, Hitachi will be among AVAILABLE: jan 97 PHONE: 800.555.6820
Video will be handled by a 64-blt SVGA chip the first notebook manufacturers to offer wave- PRICE; TBA URL: www.hitachipc.com
set augmented by 2MB of VRAM. Video resolution table sound instead of FM synthesis. The series COMPANY: Hitachi PC

Yamaha MUIO MUIO

Tone Generator
Notebooks finally get great sound
Yamaha is packing its awesome XG in ROM. The device's extensive digi-
MIDI instrument sample set into a tal signal processing (including
battery-powered module the size of reverb, echo, chorus, distortion,
a VHS videocassette. Plug the device delay, and flange) affects both MIDI
into a notebook's serial port and data and external sources that are Yamaha's MUIO Tone Generator packs 676 wavetable instruments, 21 drum kite, and
you'll gain instant access to the XG fed through its dual analog/digital a digital-audio effects module into a package the size of a video cassette.
library's 676 wavetable instruments audio inputs. If you're planning a
and 21 drum kits. late-night karaoke session in the The MUIO will feature 32-note keyboard synths to its Disklavier
Modeled after Yamaha's Wave- boardroom, you'll be able to apply polyphony with 16-part dynamic player acoustic piano—have boasted
Force series of sound cards, the studio-quality reverb to mask your multitimbrality so it will be able to sound quality rivaling a compact
MUIO will feature 4MB of sounds caterwauling vocals. play 16 instruments simultaneously. disc. If Yamaha is able to deliver
As soon as an instrument stops that same sound quality in the
Yamaha MUIO Tone Generator Specs \ sounding, it will surrender its place MUIO, you'll never settle for skanky
Tone Generator Wavetable in the queue to another instrument, FM synthesis again.
Sample set 4MB in ROM delivering the impression that many - M.B.
Voices 676 wavetable instruments, plus 21 drum kits more instruments are in the arrange
Polyphony 32 notes maximum
ment. The box will also function as
Muititimbral 16 parts with dynamic voice allocation
Audio effects 11 reverb types, 11 chorus types, 43 variations a MIDI interface with MIDI In and product info
Controls 2 input volume controls. Host select switch (MIDI/PC-l/PC-2) out jacks so It can control other
AVAILABLE: second quarter 97
Jacks/Terminals 2 1/4-inch input jacks (mono), 1/8-inch line/headphone MIDI devices.
PRICE: $249
out (stereo), to Host terminal, MIDI In computer interface Yamaha's previous implementa
COMPANY:Yamaha
RS-232C, RS-422 tions of the XG sound library—in pro PHONE: 800.823.6414
Dimensions 7.4x4.1x1.4 inches
ducts ranging from its professional URL: www.yamaha.com

boot JAN 97 - 71
 See it!,
preview
■ on the

MDK bootDIsc

Murder, Death, Kill?

The meaning of the acronym MDK remains unde The camera usually
fined, but this highly anticipated title is certainly follows your character,
one of the slickest games we've seen. Earth has Kurt, with a trailing
been overwhelmed by floating aiien cities, and you view as he runs, jumps,
must free fall from orbit in a specially equipped and giides; but switch Don't expect
attack suit to kick some ass. Once on the ground to sniper mode and the your target
see the lizard's smile. to hold stllL
it's 3D violence all view changes to a mag- V""
the way. nified rifle scope. Shiny claims the game's sniper The game's A! looks groundbreaking, too.
gun will be the most accurate weapon ever in a The aliens observe a chain of command and
Kurfs ribbon para video game. So accurate, that you'll be able to communicate with each other; often giving away
chute eases his fall
zoom in and shoot the arm olT a bad guy stand your position. Take out an alien captain and his
from orbit
ing at the other end of the city. Collision detec troops might turn tail and run, or they might fall
tion will be so precise that you might miss your to the ground begging for mercy.
target because the bullet passes between your If Shiny delivers on the promises, MDK could
enemy's legs. be the action-fest to rival Quake.
MDICs graphics will feature a high-color SVGA — Chris Dunphy
palette, and based on our look at a work in
progress, the game looks fabulously dark and
eerie. The environment doesn't just look good, product info
it's all interactive, in the demo level we saw, AVAILABLE: feb 97 PHONE: 714.428.2112
Kurt shot the cables that tethered a huge float PRICE: TBA URL: www.shiny.com
MDK features plenty of vast open space. ing blimp and used it to escape. COMPANY: Shiny Entertainment

Jry it out!
demo
Ecstatlca 2 on the
bootDisc

Demons and monsters and gargoyles! Oh my!

Popular games inevitably spawn a complex environment. A demonic in SVGA, and
sequels. Ecstatica 2 will build on horde has slaughtered your family there will be a
the winning formula of its parent and all the inhabitants of your vil host of distinc
title: a hack-and-siash fest staged lage. The walls of your castle are tive camera
in a world filled with twisted wet with their blood, and angles to imbue
violence. severed limbs litter it with a cine
Ecstatica 2 will the floor. matic feel. But
feature a new story, Gamepiay Psygnosis
will take place promises the The gargoyle stone statues have come to life, just in time to
new monsters, and
watch you plummet to your spine-breaking death.
in a huge game won't
Monsters are watching
your back. You'd better castle and the degenerate into an interactive Ecstatica 2 shouldn't disappoint
watch It too. surrounding movie. New character control fea fans of the original game, and its
grounds, with tures are being added, including blend of fast action and good looks
more than 1,000 the ability to perform sideways has the potential to win a whole
rooms and outbuildings to rolls, 180' swipes, roundhouse new audience.
explore (including a dungeon). kicks, and a collection of evasive — Bryan Del Rizzo
Psygnosis has designed an all-new defense maneuvers.
ellipsoid animation engine that will You'll also need to manipulate product info
produce realistic characters and objects and manage an inventory
AVAILABLE: early 97
backgrounds without requiring a while you explore the environment.
PRICE: TBA
polygon accelerator. You'll encounter restorative potions, COMPANY: Psygnosis
You'll end up fighting your supernatural All of this action/adventure spells, weapons, rotting cadavers, PHONE: 800.438.7794
foes in a variety of settings. game's graphics are being rendered and monsters. Lots of monsters. URL: vwvw.psygnosis.com

72 • boot JAN 97
 PREVIEWS

"TvnsnSMV' ^ *• . 535
'ifttnrtaUic eftf flitglStMh br/n.11» ^it»ifft

Myth
Mel Gibson would be proud
Myth promises to take real-time strategy gaming tactical level," says Zartman, "you
to a new level with real-time 3D animation and can control individual characters or
advanced Ai. Instead of commanding armies of groups of them by clicking and issu
two-dimensional ants, your medieval soldiers will ing orders." But based on the work-
be recognizable 3D people with articulated limbs in-progress we saw in October. Myth
and individual behaviors. looks as though it will be much more
Soldiers will be 30-rendered objects, widi individual behaviors. Each
"We're using real-time 3D animation," says than just another WarCrafi clone. will have his own name and personality.
Doug Zartman of Bungie, "because we want to Players will be able to write cus
achieve realistic battle. We want to create a tom Java scripts to control every element of the kill him. It will be in the nature of some charac
game that is as realistic as the movie Brave- game. "You could write a script that instructed a ters to pick up objects and weapons they see
heart, where thousands of warriors run toward group of soldiers to scout out a building, or for laying on the ground. One undead character
one another and attack at full speed." the weather to change from clear skies to snow goes around collecting heads, another picks up
Toward that end, each player in a multiplayer ing, or for a volcano to erupt," says Zartman. and throws weapons. And all of this will be ren
game will control up to 1,500 characters. "At a "But the game will control just how much you dered in real-time 3D."
can do. If you're in a multiplayer game, we don't Myth will run on a fest standard Pentium, but
want you to take unfair advantage over the it will also take advantage of a 3D accelerator and
other players." a Pentium MMX. With its real-time 3D animation,
Myth will feature 20 unique types of units 16-bit graphics, Java scripting, and massive scope.
Oncluding archers, dwarves, swordsmen, and Myth looks capable of delivering on Bungle's
infantry), but each character will have a unique promise to take this genre to a new level.
name, behavior, and health. The game's engine - Michael Brown
will track every character and every object.
"If a soldier is killed," says Zartman, "and he
drops his ax blade on the ground, the ax blade product Info
will remain a live, dynamic object, if an explo AVAILABLE: first quarter 97 PHONE:800,295.0060
sion occurs near the ax blade, it will fly through PRICE: TEA URL: www.bungie.com
Weather conditions will affect Myth's action. the air. If it hits someone, it could injure or even COMPANY: Bungle Software

Magic:The Gathering
BattlelVlage One of many magical
reatms your
BattteMage wItt
draw energy horn.
Mage-on-Mage mayhem
Enter the darkly chaotic, ethereal Acclaim promises the spirit of the
world of Corondor, where ancient Fourth Edition's rules and rites will
Conjure and command legions of beasts across a
and powerful mystics vie for power remain intact, with all the nuances as well as a more detailed multitude of battlefields in BattteMage.
across a war-torn realm. Mighty of magical combat and chaos, and in-depth turn-based
magical energies will wane and surge including artwork from more than Campaign Mode, where you'll attempt just watch out for that Lord Of
with the video game version of Wiz 200 popular Magic: the Gathering to conquer the 30 territories of The Pit... he's a bitch.
ards Of The Coast's highly infectious cards, hidden artifacts, monsters, Corondor, gather unearthly magical — Andrew Sanchez
and insanely popular card game. and more. artifacts and spells, and eventually
Rather than going for a straight BattteMage promises two modes pit your spell-casting powers against
interpretation of the game (a ver of play that will entice both new and other PlanesWalkers hell-bent for
sion of which Spectrum HoloByte is old Magic players: The traditional mana. All roads will lead to a final product info
close to completing). Acclaim will Duel Mode, where you build a cus showdown with the insane, rene
AVAILABLE: dec 96
tackle the convoluted intricacies of tomized army of creatures and spells gade PlanesWalker Ravidel.
PRICE: TBA
Magic: The Gathering with a real-time (chosen from a pre-made, random, Acclaim hopes that the magic is COMPANY: Acdaim
action/strategy game. Purists may or custom library), and pit them still alive, and that you'll fall under PHONE: 516.759.7800
sco^ at such a bastardization, but against a CPU or human opponent: its seductive sway. URL: vww.acclaimnation.com

boot JAN 97
PREVIEWS

U.S. Navy Fighters '97

More ofa good thing
If you've already cleared the bogeys out of U.S. Original t/SWF players asked for a Vietnam
Navy Fighters' skies, you must be one a helluva scenario, and EA/Origin have delivered a cam
pilot. Well, get ready for more aerial action in paign of 25 carrier-based missions based on
U.S. Navy Fighters '97, the latest in Jane's historical U.S. operations.
Combat Simulations series. USNF '97 also includes the Ukraine campaign
Don't expect anything dramatically new or from the original sim and the Kuril Islands sce
different here, just more of the same nail-biting, nario from the Marine Fighters expansion disc;
hold-onto-your-butt flying and fighting that made while the new Vietnam campaign means new
the original USA/f about the hottest flight sim planes: the F4-B, F4-J. F8-I, Mi6-17, and MiG-21F.
around. This version gives you a batch of new There are some welcome changes and addi
missions and spankin" new planes to save the tions to USNF: The Pro Mission Creator lets you
world with. design missions in any of the campaign the
aters; if there's an AWACS plane or a radar ship
in the area, you can receive information about
enemy aircraft; and if you feel the cool target
views aren't fair to the enemy, you can toggle a
realistic targeting mode. When it's on, you won't
get a window on the HUD unless the target's in Tum-and-bum against ferocious MiGs in USNF "97.
visual range. And forget about those hot keys to
locate targets.
Running native under Win95, USNF '97 will product info
support head-to-head modem play and up to AVAIUBLE: nov 96 PHONE; 800.245.4525
eight players on a network. PRICE; $54.97 URL; www.ea.con/janes
Nowhere to run to, babyl Nowhere to hide. — Lee Buchanan COMPANY: Jane's

3D rendered

Jedi Knight cut-scenes

and FMV
add siale to
the In-game
spice of Jedi
The Force is strong in this one! Knight.

You came seeking answers, but The latest offering from the
Stormtroopers sought your head. geniuses over at LucasArts is proof
With a flash of azure electricity, positive that true 3D immersion is
your light-saber cut through their invading the PC like a runaway engineered JEDI gaming engine has lusting for. (And don't worry, along
armor like butter. Now the Force freight train. Gone are the "2 1/20" been optimized for a true 3D SVGA with all the deadly new weapons
surges within you. You are Kyle ray-cast 45°-angle walls of Woifen- light-sourced, texture-mapped world. and Jedi mind powers, you'll be
Katarn-Jedi Knight-and you must stein 3D, Doom, and the countless Each and every object (from Storm- wielding the infamous light saber.)
stop those who seek to plunge the knockoffe. Now, enter a real-time- troopers, to fellow Jedi Knights) If Quake started a revolution,
universe in eternal darkness. rendered polygon world. Quake was has been given polygonal life, and jedi Knighfs intricately interwoven
the first, but LucasArts' gamers blessed with a red-hot 3D storyline, cinematics, and polygon-
jedi Knight is poised to accelerator will be treated to blaz pushing 3D environment may be
push the enve ing Direct3D-accelerated action. the next evolutionary step toward
lope even Throw in an ongoing, interactive total 3D immersion.
further. A storyline (you choose whether you'll - Andrew Sanchez
totally re- follow the Light Side or the Dark
Side of the Force), interconnected
with movie-quality FMV cinematics product info
and multiplayer mayhem (Jedi-on-
AVAILABLE: late first quarter 97
Jedi violence—excellent!); plus
Kyle Katem PRICE; TBA
LucasArts' commitment to detail COMPANY: LucasArls
returns, this
An Imperial Walker Is the least of you worries In this time with the Force at and immersion, and you may just PHONE: 800.985.8227
polygon confrontation. his side. have the Quake-killer everyone's URL: www.lucasarts.com

74 - boot JAN 87
 Most people

inferiority

of their

best friends

—lord Clesterfield

Compete head-to-head. Surrender nothing.

The Hicrosoit' Sidewinder*" game pad makes it a fair fight
for you and up to three of yoizr best friends. Hook up to
any of your Windows" 95-based games and all four (or three,
or two) of you get the same fully functional, lightning-
fast game control and multibutton maneuvers. So no matter
how many are plugged in, the competition's still quick
and exciting. It's a perfect fit for hands of all sizes,
letting you keep a solid grip and making it easier to use
any of the buttons or triggers to vanquish your opponents.
Record coniplicated, hard-to-remember multibutton moves and
map them to a single button for swiit execution of lethal
maneuvers. Remember, the more Sidewinder game pads you
own, the more friends you can take advantage of. A little Microsoft
friendly competition never hurt anyone, right? Where do you want to go today?^ www.microsoft.com/sIdewInder/

>1996 Microsoft Corporation. All rights resen/ed. Microsoft, ilherei]oxouwant:togo today? and Window are registered tradenarks and Sidewinder is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
 Toshiba Infinia 7200
reviews An awesome first effort
A signature is a powerful symbol. The signatures
KICKIN' THE TIRES ON THE U\TEST engraved into the case of the Toshiba Infinia rep
HARDWARE AND TAKIN' THE NEWEST resent a design team proud of its work. And they
have a right to be. The Infinia features a bold
SOFTWARE OUT FOR A SPIN new case that demands to be noticed. Under the
hood, things are only slightly less exciting.
• »-/iv Toshiba's unique InTouch module Is the coolest feature of all. The
76 Toshiba Infinia 7200
LCD panel mounts to the front of Toshiba's new multimedia monitor, but
it can be used as a stand-alone device as well. The device is bundled
82 Nimantics Orion 8x-200
with this model, so you don't have to buy Toshiba's monitor to get it.
84 Backpack SOOOt
The panel plugs into a USB port to deliver one-touch
86 Compaq 3020
access to the computer's multimedia and telephony features.
88 Konexx line
Use it with the bundled TV/radio tuner and it displays the
92 Canon BJC-4550 station currently tuned in. Program the buttons to tune In
94 AST Advantage 9312 your favorite stations, play back your telephone messages,
96 Philips EasyCam play audio CDs. and more. The device won't work
98 ATI 3D Xpresslon+ PC2TV with the USB ports in other computers.
99 mfroVldeo DC30 The model 7200 is the most powerful of
100 Hewlett-Packard 7295V the line. Because Toshiba is using an S3
104 Microsoft Intelllmouse ViRGE 2D/3D-graphics accelerator on the
105 GrabIT motherboard, the 7200's 2D graphics perfor
105 Snappy mance is low on our performance scale, in
106 Toshiba 12x XM-5701B and XM-5702B which Matrox's screamin' MGA Millennium sets Tune-up
the 2D pace. Toshiba's video drivers are not VESA 2.0- Toshiba's cool InTouch module
109 Nikon ScanTouch AX-110
controls multimedia and tele
109 a:drive compliant, so we had to install SciTech's Display Doctor phony functions. The LCD panel
110 CH Gamepad utility to get Quake to run in 640x480. communicates with the operat
Audio capabilities are even less exciting, offering only ing system through the host
111 Alps MD-4000
FM synthesis via Yamaha's ancient OPL-3 chip. But with a computer's USB port.
112 Sony DVBK-IOOO
suggested list price of $2,799, you could buy more power
ful graphics and audio solutions and still end up spending
less money than you would for some other computers.
84 Oil Change The elegant black and brushed chrome case vaguely
85 F-22 Lightning II resembles HP's Pavilion line, but Toshiba's machine is
88 Amok much more refined. Toshiba simply hides the reset
button behind a door on the front of the case. Swing TAie/.
90 Fractal Design Expression
92 After Dark 4.0
the door open (be gentle, it might fall off) and
you'll find removable access panels for two 5.25-
96 Toonstruck
inch drive bays.
97 Star General
Remove the Infinia's side panel (a beautiful
98 NCAA Championship Basketball
design with no screws) and you discover a spa the
99 FIFA Soccer '97
cious interior. The Intel Tucson motherboard fea
102 Total Control Football
tures only three PCI and three ISA slots, but
102 Football Touchdown these are mounted directly on the motherboard;
102 Madden NFL '97 there is no riser card to deal with. A TV/FM-radio
102 NFL Quarterback Club '97 tuner occupies one PCI slot and a 33.6Kbps modem occupies one
104 SCSlVision ISA slot. The four SIMM slots (two occupied) are easily accessed.
104 GeneWars The Infinia 7200 isn't a
104 Presto! PageManager Suite screamer, but it's apparent
107 Descent Mission Builder that Toshiba spent consider
108 Verbal Commander able time, money, and effort • InTooch LCd-PAwei. •iVfiVC S/NTH CHIP
COhrTKOt- f^OOuLE •53 ViRG-B IS TTPEP
108 Duke Nukem 3D Plutonium Pak to design a computer that's • Iwres-RATEP tV/PAI- TECMNOLOE'f (AUtSAP/)
110 You Don't Know Jack 2 more than a me-too box. If MPio -wner •/Monitor has huge
110 Return Fire you like good design, you'll •PlENTT of EXPMStON FOOTPRIAfT

love the Infinia. • BiMg-ant case

110 Wing Commander: The Kilrathi Saga
— Michael Brown

76 • boot JAN 67
 REVIEWS
under the hood ISthe^bunclle-'"
"the brains -
Get Ready For School,
CPU 200IV1H2 Intei Pentium Charly Brown •
External Cache ...Z56K pipeline burst TerraTopia • Mayo
RAM 32MB EDO DRAM (128MB max) Clinic Family Health •
Video S3 ViRGE 2D/3D-graphics accelerator Shanghai Great
on motherboard with 2MB EDO DRAM Moments • Family
Album Creator •
thebrawn Quicken SE •
Hard Drive 3GB Western Digital Caviar 33100 Microsoft Works &
CD-ROM 8x Toshiba IDE-ATAPI
Microsoft Money •
Microsoft Golf •
Expansion Bus ...3 ISA, 3 PCI; one of each occupied
Fax/Modem 28.8Kbps with full-duplex speakerphone Microsoft Encarta '96

the beauty
Monitor 17-inch Toshiba Infinia, Invar shadow
mask, 0.28mm dot pitch
Sound Card Yamaha OPL-3 FM synth on
motherboard
Speakers stereo pair plus subwooFer Integrated
into monitor Remote
Other InTouch LCD control panel, Infrared Control
remote, two USB ports ^ The infrared
^ remote controls
fthecuisor,
J volume, tele-
~ phone, answering
Green Acres ^ machine, and CD
The Intel Tucson motherboard has Its expansion slots mounted ^ player. It can also
directly on the planar—no riser board here. With a i28.8Kbps tune the TV/radio
modem in one ISA slot and a TV/FM-radio tuner In One PCI slot, receiver.
there's only two of each available for expansion. There's plenty
of room for additional drives, but you'd probably want to remove
the swinging door if you were going to put a CD-ROM changer
in one of them.

„ Toshiba's optional 17-inch multimedia monitor Is as striking as the computer

^ Ifs designed for. With its speakers mounted in columns on either side and its!
I built-in ported subwoofer hanging oft the bottom, it's a dead ringer for one of|
MTV's animated logos.
The 4.5x2-inch, 5-watt stereo:;
speakers are mounted on huge
rubber shock absorbem to isolate
them fr-om the picture tube. They
pump out plen^ of sound for
near-held listening, but they
don't offer much in the way of
frequency response. Sound is
concentrated in the midrange;
tows are elusive, even with the
subwoofer. The monitor's mas
sive footprint spreads across
21.5 Inches of your desk—lhafs
1.5 Inches bigger than most
21-Inch monitors.

Stand Up
The monitor doesn't swivel, but it tilts on this spring-
loaded fboL Simply push the back of the monitor to tilt boot verdict
it up, or pull to tilt It down. The heavy plastic material
REVIEWS

Woot isn't like any other

'computer magazine,
-and neither is our
evaluation
■process. We don't test
equipment in the cold, BOOT OAT NG

sterile environment of a
ZiKZH rKHO>

warehouse-sized lab,
and we don't write our
reviews based on the The boot-o-meter explained The
bit color depth (they're also res on notebooks).
bootVerdict
test scores that lab- For our tests, we use Ziff-
Davis' WinBench 96 suite of tested at higher resolutions, In our real-world tests, The fastest computer in the
coat-wearing technicians benchmarks to measure CD- if higher resolutions are we measure how long it world is useless if it's poor
ly designed. That's why we
scribbie on clipboards. ROM and hard-disk drive supported). We judge DOS takes a system to perform
evaluate a host of subjec
performance (kilobytes per video performar^ce by mea specific tasks: Rendering a
Our review scores second), as well as graphics suring the number of frames video transition in Adobe's
tive criteria in addition to
rigid benchmarks. We look
are based on a combi speed under Windows (mil per second that a system is Premiere, applying a gauss- at a machine's overall
lions of pixels per second). capable of pumping out ian-blur in Photoshop, and design, its ergonomics,
nation of objective All systems are tested at while playing games such rendering a wireframe scene expandability, ruggedness,
benchmark testing, 1024x768 resolution with as Descent II (at 640x400 in NewTek's LightWave 3D. and advanced features.

16-bit color depth. Ail note resolution) and Quake (at The performance is guaged We also carefutly consid
real-world performance, books are tested at 640x480 resolution on on a scale of 1 to 9 in each er a manufacturer's compo
nent choices, including the
and our subjective 800x600 resolution with 16- desktop systems; 320x480 of these areas, average the
quality of the sound card,
scores, and arrive at an
evaluation of features, overall performance rating.
speakers, modem, key
board, and mouse. We
performance, and the The details of each test count expansion slots and
(specific frame counts and drive bays. We take off the
many less tangible such) are always available case and put it back on. We
characteristics that on the bootNet Web site at plug in drives and cards to
www.bootnet.com. judge how easy-or diffi
go into a product. All of Our performance scales cult—it is to expand the
machine. These might seem
our evaluations are are based on systems that
like minor considerations,
we consider to be among
based on hands-on but they have an enormous
Our Reference Our Reference the best in their class, and
impact on the level of satis-
use of the product Desktop PC Notebook PC we change those reference
standards every six months.
fection a new computer
delivers. Our final rating is
Gateway's P5-166XL is our We selected Fujitsu's If the system reviewed an amalgam of the objective
Only the best reference desktop com Monte Carlo as our refer equals or exceeds the per benchmark ratings and
earn enough puter because it's a work ence notebook because formance of the reference these subjective judgements.
horse, delivering solid of its excellent benchmark platform (a score of five or
respect to be
benchmark scores all scores. The Monte Carlo's
worthy of better), the boot-o-meter
around. Systems shipped use of more expensive
our editors'
since the P5-166XL-espe- VRAM, instead of the
dial is green; if it scores a
choice award. dally 200MHz Pentium slower DRAM, resulted four, the dial is yellow; and
systems—should at least in exceptional graphics if it scores a three or less,
match its performance. performance. the dial is red.

boot JAN 97
PHOBHBLV THE

OBLV QUV TB
H
BPPOSE THE

BERTH PERRLTV

an QROURDS
:V
THRT IT'S IhBRE

PUR TB BO IT

VaURSELE
 E PEOPLE
; IS MORE
IAN A MACHINE...

OBSillSilON. Welcome to boot, the new monthly magazine and CD-ROM

from Imagine Publishing. Accompanied by its own unique Web
site, boot Is a rich, integrated environment and the only
publication devoted to power-hungry PC freaks.

Every month, you'll get features that help you tweak today's
PCs for screaming performance, expert reviews of the most
revved up software, and hands-on hardware testing that goes
beyond the statistics. In the past, you tore
through all kinds of magazines, newspapers, and online
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PURE PC POWER
 Nimantics Orion 8X-200
Go Speed Racer, go!
Nimantics specializes in laptop computers
with a twist. They were the first to make a
notebook around a desktop I66MH2
Pentium, and now they've introduced the
Orion 8X-200 notebook PC.
Beneath the Orion 8X-200's 32iVlB of EDO
DRAM, 8x CD-ROM drive, and 1.35GB hard drive, throbs the first
200MHz Pentium ever found in a notebook. Burning with the heat of a 200MHz
desktop processor, you'd expect the compact plastic case of the Orion to dissolve
into a puddle of molten plastic after a few minutes of steam, but ever-ingenious
Nimantics has incorporated a patented heat sink and cooling system to keep the They're Magically Delicious
opening the back panel on the Orion 8X-200 Is like sticking your
components nicely chilled. The fan makes a racket, but think of it as the rumble of
hand in a box of Lucky Charms. You'll find the usual marshmal-
a muscle car. lows, such as serial, parallel, and VGA ports, but dig deep and
Both a CD-ROM drive and a floppy drive cohabitate within the Orion, so you you'll find some four-leaf clovers: a dedicated game port and an
won't have to worry about swapping. You can, however, swap out the floppy for a RCA video-out jack for the hardware-based MPEG decoder.
Connect the optional docking station, and you can sell your desk
second battery, boosting road life to nearly two hours. Both the CD-ROM drive and
top machine. The Orion 8X-200 also sports three PCMCIA slots
the hard drive posted excellent results during our speed tests. The hard drive is that can accommodate three Type II devices, or one Type 111 and
also modular, so you can pop it in your pocket for added security while traveling. two Type li devices.
Warning: You'll pay for all this muscle with your own sweat and blood. The
Orion packs a carrying weight of almost 11 pounds. But then again, those classic
Camaros carried some serious curb weight too.
Nimantics' 166MHz model had a gamepad built directly into the
case. This time out with the Orion 8x-200, they've wisely replaced
it with a standard 15-pin game port connector, located on the rear
panel. Simply plug any joystick or controller directly into the port pAWffnC. FAfJ
without any adapters.
The bright 12.1-inch active-matrix display folds almost flat for
those times when you're attached to a desktop monitor. The Trident
Cyber 9385 video chipset driving that screen delivers uninspired per
formance under Windows—surprising for a machine equipped with 2MB
of VRAM—but performed substantially better in DOS. Running Descent II
at 640x480, the Trident pumped out an impressive 20.3fps.
Another innovative feature the Orion sports is built-in hardware MPEG
decoding that flows buttery-smooth full-screen video playback rivaling the
performance of desktop graphics accelerators. Hook up a big-screen monitor to
the Orion's RCA-out jack and enjoy. Bnck House
This hefty power supply
The Orion is also equipped with an ESS Technology ES1788 FM audio chip and adds to the Orion 8x-200's
SIS's 1MB of wavetable samples in ROM. You'll need to tweak the Control Panel porfty dimensions.
settings in Win95 to activate the wavetable audio; otherwise, it defaults to FM syn
thesis. The wavetable samples aren't the best, but they're leagues better than FM.
Minor quibbles aside, you have to give Nimantic's credit for pushing the envelope.
Overall, this machine is a powerhouse with few compromises. As Nimantics replaces
the weaker components, such as the video chipset, with more robust solutions, they'll
continue their march toward the ultimate notebook PC.
- Bryan Del Rizzo

BOOT RAT NG

DESCENT QUAKE LIGHTWAVE 3D

fcvGRAPHI RENDER

A complete breakdown of benchmark results is available on the bootNet. Point your browser to www.bootnet.com

boot JAN 97
 R E VI EWS

U under the hood

the brains :>
CPU 200MHz Intel Pentium
External Cache 256K pipeline burst
RAM 32MB EDO DRAM (72MB max)
Video Trident Cyber 9385 chipset with
2MB EDO VRAM; onboard hardware
MPEG decoder; Zoomed Video Port
the brawn

Hard Drive 1.35GB Toshiba MK1002MAV EIDE

CD-ROM drive TEAC 48e 8x IDE-ATAPI
Expansion Type II PCMCIA cards or
1 Type III and 1 Type II
Lap Weight 8 pounds, 2 ounces (with one battery) This is the Nimantics Orion 8X-200. The
Carrying Weight...10 pounds. 9 ounces 200 refers to the speed of the Pentium
the beauty processor inside. Need we say more?
Display 12.1-inch active matrix
Sound ESS Technology ES1788
FM Synth with 1MB wavetable
sounds in ROM
Video 800x600, 16-bit color
Strap On
Speakers Stereo, plus headphone jack With this adapter rig, you can swap the
Communications...lrDA-compliant infrared, 33.6Kbps Orion's floppy-disk fr>r a second nickel-metal
PCMCIA fex/modem hydride battery. The batteries are compatible
with Duracetl's DR-36 form factor, so lithium-
ion upgrades will be possible in the future.
But even with the second NiMH battery
(weighing in at a whopping 1.6 pounds), I'd
recommend staying close to a wall outlet at
all times. At most, you'll only get one hour
out of a battery.

Bottoms Up
Open the bottom of the Orion 8X-200 and you'll find a metal
alloy heat sink epoxy-bonded to the Pentium. The huge ^n is far
from quiet, but keeps components cool. According to Nimantics,
. the heat from the processor might melt the plastic in the vents,
so you'll want to keep the machine's rear legs elevated.

Feeling It Up
The 86-key keyboard offers great tactile feedback, but I prefer a
bigger spacebar, CTL, and ALT keys. The touchpad is far too sen
sitive, but the two buttons below are solid, and have a ridge fr>r
resting your fingertips. The battery doesn't comply with Win95's
power-management system, so you'll have to relv on the LCD
panel that graphically shows the battery power setting, b
life, hard-drive access, and AC power status.

•ZOO/^Hz Pentium •Short atrrERf ufe

•Simultaneous floppt •TOUCHPAD TOO
[>fWE anP Cl>-RO/^ sENsrrwE
OaiuE •Noisr FAN
•StandAfiP IS-PIN •Mean
G-AME PORT
•Zoomed ViDeo Pokt
boot verdict
•Hardware pifBG- JPRICE; $4,999 PHONE: 800.646.5005
DECODER
Nll^Nimahfrcs URU www.nimantics.com

boot JAN 97
Backpack 8000t mm
Gigs to go The Backpack
80001 will let you put 8GB in your pocket
Imagine your hard drive has crashed. Sobering, printer. The drive supports enhanced and IEEE
isn't it? Fact is, no drive will last forever; and 1284 parallel ports, so it can write up to 30MB restores a breeze. You can even schedule unat
with today's multi-gig drives, a crash could be per minute. OK, so that's not as fast as a SCSI tended Incremental backups to run automatically.
devastating. Think of the Backpack SOOOt as an drive, but because it doesn't require an interfece In our trials, the SOOOt backed up the 1.8GB
insurance policy. card, you can easily use it with more than one boot 04 archive in less than 2 hours, crunching
This external tape drive plugs into your paral computer (including your notebook). And the the hefty volume down to 1.1GB on tape. Back
lel port and provides a pass-through for your BOOOt's portability makes it an ideal way to ing up the 180MB of data files on a local drive
■-loim transfer large chunks of data took less than 7 minutes.
J*' Ot ■6m b»
oWoi M^-1 ^ M(^ between PCs, Remember, today could be your hard drive's
•<cbD)RMn|CDm>| The SOOOt uses $40 last. The Backpack BOOOt is a great way to
1 I Travan TR-4 tape cartridges, ensure that you'll survive its passing.
"E which hold 4GB of uncom — Chris Dunphy
pressed data and almost 8GB
6ii swrstflvta «i
S'JlBS
'■»« compressed, but it's also
.•
f QLjeuas
OlMcii
backward-compatible with Travan TR-4
•i Qii WOTDiSC
V beaC«» several other formats (see . QW-3080XLF 26B/4GB
> O^C0ftTc«a, .
'■* fiiiMai
4' QQj Otftn ,.{
table at right). QlC-3080 1.6GB/3.2GB
Csvice jMmXTveCiifv*
4. DCJ W)C« n
.vQi3««pJoi ^
Micro Solutions' user manu
TicaHmm . jItSTcfliJ
al is little more than a sheet of Read Only Media
4' QiJ cttujoM SUM
'i QCd fteiiwifli
* □caftfVTtMPS^i paper, but setting up the drive TR-1; TR-2; TR-3; QIC-Wide; EC; QlC-3010;
Plogreu iiiiiiiifiiiiiiimiii
Cuptw Ck Rmnre is a no-brainer. Just remember QIC-3020; QIC-80; DC2120
Urn 1, 111,Saw r
: ttM>iDb«cAi«
to install the driver (provided
fnfwiwe
on a floppy disk) before run boot verdict
EilWiWd fWMMd •
riH 1 »«.] ; W ning the provided Seagate
PRICE: Drive $549; Media $40
M** • • 1 lj9S.<a35r 1 .)J33XaiX>
Backup utility. The software (in COMPANY: Micro Solutions
. . . r
Windows 95, 3.1, and DOS ver PHONE: 800.890.7227
Seagate Backup comes bundled with the SOOOt to restore your goodies. sions) makes backups and URL: www.micro-solutions.com

,Try it out!
demo
Oil Change
on the
bootDIsc
11.1.1*11.1

t' SS Mcsdsoll EKC«f 7 0 for Wrtdowi 95 fleeievt "|

^ Excel IcrWndowi 95 patch
Caxai [.
Zen and the Art of PC Maintenance T. PoMfPoril 70lor V/hdow$95
Internet Attaienl loi MictOMiA PowwPert 7.0 Nr SVndowt 95
y Mciotcft PewerPort 7.0 wpdele to fa Tecfe Meai U«lp ['■
5 MicroaA V/ridowt 95
J| Internet Hd Service i4iMeroiWin4oM 95
Unless you spend hours each week worth your time. If it is, a mere click - ^ MoMoAWndewT 95 0ecfci« Update
searching all ends of the web for new downloads it from the web. Often, Oil bM Mcrotcft S>/indow$ 95 Goociet
^ DetktopHervj PoMwTcytOfWfidoweSS
updates, bug fixes, and goodies, I Change can even install the update fleiCO PowerToy for MicroKiftWndows95

guarantee that some of the software for you, or guide you through a man
StMW ont'enbin ihMnsed wdafrig
on your PC is out of date. But Oil ual installation.
Change promises to do all the grunt Running Oil Change regularly HTML PrijiBrDriRr PnrerTor br Mkmcfl Vaj)i*n 95

work that you need to stay current. keeps your software and drivers cur RekanDtte: (I2n0/19M
OrdtbSlze; 94JKB
With a few mouse clicks and an rent and it even updates the list of EktlmiMTIjin: 00.47(at332KbO
Internet connection. Oil Change scans apps that Oil Change supports. Deso^tlaa: il
your system for more than 1,000 rec On the downside, the Undo func
ognized titles, and then checks a cen tion should be able to uninstall more OH Change keeps your software from getting stale.
tral database maintained by Cyber- than just the last upgrade performed.
Media for updates, drivers, plug-ins, But ail nit-picking aside, Oil Change boot verdict
or patches. this is a good implementation of a PRICE: $39.95 (for ore year PHONE: 800.721.7824
0/7 Change's capsule summaries great idea. of service) URL: www.cybermedia.com
help you decide if the fix is actually — Chris Dunphy COMPANY: CyberMedia

boot JAN 97
 REVIEWS

F-22 Lightning
An electrifying achievement
There are more realistic behind the 'stick of a real F-22 delivers its payload
flight sims out there. Hell, avionic wonder, the game right on target.
some "games" practically doesn't weigh you down F-22 Lightning II also
require a certificate from with tons of specs and flies high as a multiplayer
the Navy's Top Gun school. weapons options. You have Sim, pitting gamers against
But none of these come AIM-120 AMRAAM radar- each other in a deathmatch,
The F-22 Is primarily an air-superiority fighter, but you get a
close to matching Nova- guided missiles, AIM-9X or flying together in coop
chance to knock out some ground targets, too.
Logic's F-22 Lightning II for Sidewinder heat-seeking erative missions. The game
sheer beauty or the total missiles, and G6U-30 JDAM accommodates up to eight prey before
thrill of flying. Fueled by a glide bombs for ground tar players on an IPX network attacking from
screaming frame rate (no gets. Of course, for sheer or two players via modem above. While
fewer than 12fps at 640x480 fun, nothing compares to or serial cable. But before NovaLogic
on a P90 or better) that the detail work applied by you pony up the cash for promised MMX
puts all the other high-end your M61A2 20mm Vulcan seven more copies, wait! support when
flight sims to shame, F-22 F-22's multiplayer the product
is a rare achievement: a options only debuted at the
sophisticated simulation of require that one E3 show in May
modern air combat that also player have the of 1996, the Don't expect much more from your wingman
shipping ver than some cool comments.
knows how to have fun. actual CP-ROM
As a hot-shot pilot of in their machine. sion does not support the But you'll find you're not
the world's most advanced You've just gotta instruction set. The four alone up there. There are
tactical fighter, you get to love that. distinct terrain types fea plenty of bogeys (including
fly four campaigns, totaling .. The tured in the campaigns—the Russian MiG-27s and SU-
Rice paddles never looked so good. ,. SVGA .,
36 missions: plus there's a graphics are easily jungles of Southeast Asia, 27s) and ground targets
mission creator—just fill in cannon. Think of it as a the most sumptuous you'll the icy mountains of Siberia, (such as tanks, airfields, and
all the parameters and machine gun on some seri find in any flight sim. Nova- the deserts of Iraq, and the buildings) to challenge most
you're off. One look at the ous steroids, tossing down Logic's new polygon engine Black Sea islands near desktop pilots. Still, F-22
detailed HUD and accurate some 6,000 rounds—each supports high density tex Odessa-are all rendered will disappoint some flyers.
cockpit tells you that you're shell roughly an inch in ture-mapped polygons with with remarkable texture and The game might prove too
in for a ride. diameter—every minute you hazing and light sourcing. realism, and cover thou easy for hardcore flight
While F-22 contains all squeeze the trigger. Clearly, Lift your nose into the sim's sands of miles. Even if there fanatics. I played through
the realistic details needed the emphasis is on pure fly translucent cloud cover and was nothing to shoot at. I'd the entire first campaign
to believe you're actually ing and furious fighting, and use their cover to stalk your recommend F-22 on the without losing my life or my
strength of its cutting-edge plane, and I'm no Chuck
graphics and sound effects Yeager. And since you can't
alone. Heck, it's just a blast adjust enemy strength or Al,
to fly the thing. there's no way to increase
NovaLogic didn't skimp the difficulty level.
on the audio, either. F-22 NovaLogic doesn't apol
features a 16-bit Dolby ogize for smoothing over
Surround soundtrack. If some of the rough edges
your PC's speakers (such as of realism. Their designers
Altec Lansing's ACS500), wanted a cutting-edge air-
sound card, or stereo sys combat sim that's fun to
tem are equipped with a play-and they've succeeded.
Dolby Pro-Logic decoder, Purists might complain, but
you're in for a real treat as I say let 'em whine! This sim
friendly and enemy aircraft pushes the envelope as
scream before your eyes hard as the F-22 itself.
and ears. — Lee Buchanan

boot verdict
PRICE: S44.95 PHONE: 800.858.1322
COMPANY: NovaLogic URL: www.novalogic.com
Scratch one bridge. That should slow down Saddam Hussein's tanks.

boot JAN 97 - 85
Compaq Presario 3020
A horse ofa different color
If Bang and Olu^on built a personal computer, It would probably
look something like the Compaq Presario 3020. But you can bet it
wouldn't be beige.
The left side of Ute machine holds the noppy-disK artve
Aside from its bland palette, the Presario 3020 is a remarkable and all the 1/0 ports, including a VGA port to drive an
computer. Compaq has packed all the functionality of a desktop external monitor. The graphics card can put out resolutions
machine—including expansion slots, CD-ROM changer, and IBL Pro of 1024x768, but the onboard display handles only
Audio speakers-into a case with an integrated display and a foot 800x600. It deals with the higher resolution by creating a
virtual desktop. You can use the arm that connects the
print smaller than a 15-inch monitor. display to the chassis to tilt the display's viewing angle.
Powered by a I66MH2 Pentium, 256K cache, 24MB of EDO DRAM, The 6x Four-disc changer is mounted on the right side.
and a 2.0GB hard drive, the 3020 sounds tough. But Compaq made Inserting media into or removing media from either drive
some major performance tradeoffe. The 3020 is a 98-pound weakling takes some getting used to because you can't see them
unless you drag the computer around. But once you've
compared to our desktop benchmark system, the Gateway P5-166. developed a feel for it, it ceases to be an issue.
The biggest compromise is the machine's active-matrix, flat-panel
display. After all, 12.1 inches is pretty small after you've grown accus
tomed to peering into the limpid pool of a 17-inch CRT.
Despite being small, the 3020's display (manufactured by Sharp)
is drop-dead gorgeous. Since Compaq's engineers didn't have to
worry about battery life, they specified two light sources and a very
wide aperture for this LCD panel. And because the panel is perfectly
fiat, there's no distortion or glare to deal with. The panel doesn't
swivel, but it does tilt.
Spend a few minutes up close with the 3020, even viewing its
screen severely off axis, and your old-fashioned monitor will look dull
as dishwater—notebook displays will look even worse. We can't wait
until large-format LCD panel displays become more affordable, since
Compaq estimates that the 3020's small screen accounts for $1,000
of the machine's final cost. Ouch.
Inside the 3020's case, you'll find the same motherboard and
Triton VX core logic as Compaq's Presario 8710 minitower. Unlike the
8710, however, this model has only two open expansion slots on its Ready-^to Populate
riser board (one PCI and one ISA; both full length). There's a 2.0GB The 3020 comes standard with
|
24MB of EDO DRAM, but there atg
hard drive and an NEC 6x four-disc changer inside, but no open drive two open SIMM slots in case you
bays. Removing the case is a pain, but once it's off, all the decide thafs not enough. The
important components are easily accessible. SIMM slots in this machine are
Compaq designed the 3020 to be transported from room to more accessible than the slots In
many minitower systems.
room. They even built a handle into the back of the machine and
designed the keyboard to hang on the front of the display. But
before you have visions of toting the 3020 into the den for gaming,
then into the kitchen for looking up recipes, then into the dining -TMe ^
room to reconcile your checkbook; realize that this beast weighs
upwards of 30 pounds. A notebook it ain't.
If you're looking for a computer that won't take over your desk
top, or just to impress the neighbors, the Presario 3020 is the perfect
choice. If you're looking for the state of the art in computer
performance, look at more conventional systems. The
3020 is cool, but it's not powerful.
— Michael Brown

BOOT ^ RATING

DESCENT OUAKE PHOTOSHOP UGKTWAVE 30

GRAPHI RENDER
ki
A complete breakdown of benchmark results Is available on the bootNet. Point your browser to www.bootnet.com
boot JAN 97
 REVIEWS

under the hood the bundle

the brains
Compaq Phone
CPU 166MHz Intel Pentium Center • Microsoft
External Cache 256K pipeline burst Works • CorelDRAW 5
RAM 24MB EDO DRAM (128MB max) • Compton's Inter
Video S3 Aurora 64V+, 2MB EDO DRAM active Encyclopedia
1996 • Quicken
the brawn Special Edition • PGA
Tour '96 • Magic
Hard Drive 2GB EIDE Carpet • Yukon Trail
CD-ROM drive NEC 6x 4-disc changer
Expansion 2 full-length PCI, 1 Pull-length ISA,
1 proprietary modem slot;
1 PCI and 1 ISA slot open
Fax/Modem 33.6Kbps DSVD modem with
full-duplex speakerphone
the beauty ; ^ Compaq's Presario 3020 is an odd hybrid of
notebook and desktop computers. If you can
Monitor 12.1-Inch DoubleBright LCD
accept the relatively tiny display and some slow
Sound ESS Technology ES1888
Speakers Stereo IBL Pro Audio speakers components, this is the perfect machine for
integrated into chassis people with limited desktop real estate.
Other Two USB ports

Slim Jim
Even though the Presario
3020's footprint is just eight
inches deep, Compaq made
sure there was room inside for
one full-length PCI slot and one
full-length ISA sloL The 2.06B Hang Up
hard drive is mounted on its
When you're ready to move the
side just below the riser board. 3020 to another room, you can
hang Uie keyboard on the front
of the machine.

EEED EEill'-

ft 11
- M- 1- i )• 1- - I-

•T?WV FOOTPRINT FOR A •Only a I2J-WCM

OESRTOP f^fCMtNE PlsPUV
•Luscious flAt^panEl •Only one FCI anP
PiSPlM ONE ISA SLOT
•SEfVPORTABl£ N/MLABL£
•CrOOO SPEAKERS •No OPEN PRtVE BA/S
•Slou/ for a I662^Hz
Button Brigade PSNTlun
Buttons at the base of the computer
control the 3020's telephone and
answering machine tools; adjust
the volume and display properties;
and select CDs in the CD changer. boot verdict
The half-moon button puts the
PRICE; $3,499 PHONE: 800,345.1518
machine into a power-saving Sleep
COMPANY: Compaq URL: www.compaq.com
mode or wakes it up.

boot JAN 87 - 87
REVIEWS

-Try it out!
demo
on the

Amok bootDisc

A chance to whack sharks

Most stioot-'em-ups let you choose between great graphics or fest
action. Amok combines both and delivers solid gameplay.
The story is inconsequential (turn the last two corporations against
each other in order to create a Cold War peace). Maneuvering a Battle-
Walker robot through nine missions and a variety of locales (including
the Wastelands, Ocean, City, and Tunnels), you employ a wide assort
ment of weapons (including missiles, bombs, and miniguns), which
provide lethal and noisy firepower. Power ups are scattered throughout Konexx's spedal-pun)ose communications devices will get you online under any
to replenish energy and restock ammo. circumstances. All you need Is a phone.
Successfully reaching the end of each mission is your top priority,
since running out of juice midlevel ends the game, unless you've logged
the password. So paying attention to your compass and the Radar Map
is a must—and it's really handy that Teleporters are scattered around
for quick jumps.
Remember to keep your trigger finger oiled, because it's important
to blow up just about everything you survey—it's the only way to learn
Konexx Line
of secret areas and discover the hidden mission. Get connected anywhere
The action proceeds at a good clip, and you can turn it up even
higher by switching to fewer colors and lowering the resolution. Forget So, I'm at the office, and 1 need to check 28.8 transfer speeds for the
about running Amok off your hard drive, because you must play it all bootNet site; except, like most larger companies, all the lines out are
off the disc. Still, with a lower resolution and 256 colors, running from through a digital phone network. Normally this would be a problem, but
the disc doesn't hurt the explosions and it really pumps the funky not today. Today 1 have an Office Konnector hooked to my PC.
music, which auto configs and plays through any Sound Blaster compat If you ever need to use an analog modem on a digital phone net
ible card. Plus, the animations don't jerk or slow down. work, or if you discover that the only accessible phone is a pay phone,
Despite great visuals, such as the awesome underwater scenes, a cell phone, or that one hardwired to your hotel room wall; one of
complete with sunken mountains (an excellent chance to whack any these black boxes will get you online with minimal hassle.
sharks that get in your way), there's no time for sightseeing. Mobile The Mobile Konnector and Office Konnector both allow an analog
Droids and various missile banks are modem to access a digital phone network. The difference is: the Mobile
looking to blast your head off, so Konnector runs on AC or battery, while the Office model only runs on
blast them first. And remember, AC. Simply plug the Konnector into the phone's handset jack, then plug
speed kills, so destroy anything that the handset and the modem into the Konnector. Problem solved.
gets in your way. The Koupler, on the other hand, is simply a battery-operated
— Marshal M. Rosenthal acoustic coupler that you strap onto a telephone handset, (shades of
Matthew Broderick and War Games, huh?). Plug in your modem and
transmit data over any telephone line—even cellular and pay phones.
All three products are rated for 28.8Kbp5, but if you're using the
Koupler with an older pay phone with a carbon microphone, Konexx
recommends setting the modem to 2400bps to avoid data loss.
A peculiarity I encountered with our PBX system gave me the oppor
tunity to test Konexx's tech support line, where 1 found the most
patient and helpful people I've ever dealt with. They waiked me through
the setup procedure (without spooning out attitude) until 1 was up and
running, then e-mailed me detailed instructions about the manual dial
procedure that's not covered in the manual. (Konexx should include this
information in their manuals, or at least on their web site.)
The Konexx line fills a special need extremely well. If you ever find
yourself in an Isolated locale with nothing more than an old pay phone
for connectivity, you'll be glad to have one of these black boxes for
staying in touch with your e-mail comrades.
Smooth graphics and fast response are a must in any shoot-'em-up, and, in that — Daevid Vincent
regard, Amok is A-OK.

boot verdict boot verdict

•

PRICE: $49.99 PHONE;800.305.3390 PRICE: Koupler $149; Office COMPANY: Konexx

COMPANY: GT Interactive URL www.gtinteractive.com Konnector $119; Mobile PHONE: 619.622.1400
Konnector $149 URL: www.konexx.com

88 - boot JAN 97
 i

'You look up. down... '^hriing W'g^Mstan ai^ng ' ^ - .'Ifsd\e bnf
SBddegrees around you. I've never soundtrack and unmatched playability... • you mally feel like you're in some - thathas a large amount ofstrategy
seen anything like It!" I really didn't think you could get this kind of virtual space!" built into It - its notjust another
kind of experience on a PCI" mindless shoofern up!"

...But dont believe everything you read.

Experience it for yourself.

SOULTRAP

SOU LTRAP Product Information Number 231

^ Available at fine software retailers everywhere.
For more information or to order direct call 1-800-685'3863 or call (416)656-9594 or visit our website at www.mlcroforum.com
 -Try it out!
demo
on the

Expression bootDisc

An artistic movement

A computer and the right software can make Natural-media illus

anyone look like an artist. Problem is, there's tration software, such
only so much you can do with a simple drawing as Fractal Design's
program's shapes; vector-based programs are Painter, has always
arcane; and raster-based paint programs are so created amazing
unforgiving. Enter Expression. effects at the touch of Once a line has been laid
Now it can be truly said; Anyone can be an a button. Everything down in Expression, you
can switch to the Node
artist. Anyone with a PC, that is. And a pressure- from a bamboo brush
Select toot to tweak control
sensitive stylus and tablet wouldn't hurt either. on a loose-grain paper handles or move controls
The miracle of Expression is that it combines to ball point pen on points. Of course, you may
the best of all the different types of illustration wax paper could be prefer doing this in Paths
mode (below) to more
software into one versatile tool. In feet, Expres simulated. Problem
clearly see what you're
sion's synergy exceeds most any illustration soft was, once a line was doing.
ware out today. laid, the only recourse
Enough hype. Expression is a vector-based, was to dig Into the
natural-media illustration app that supports pres multiple-level undo to
sure-sensitive drawing tablets. That means you edit the line, undoing
can simply pick up your stylus, select a brush all subsequent steps
from the palette of predefined strokes, and start as well. This virtually
drawing. Don't like that line? Don't hit control-Z eliminates editability
yet. Try changing the point size in the Paint from the art. In con
Style palette, or the color from the Color palette, trast, Expression's vec
or one of the 350 brush styles. Still not digging tor-based lines remain totally editable. Strokes in Expression can have varying degrees of
your line? Go up to the Object Selection tools in Other advantages inherent to vector-based transparency, which adds to the natural-media experi
ence and distinguishes the program from its vector-
the toolbar, then click on your line. A red line documents are the much smaller file sizes pro
based competition.
littered with control points appears. Fractal duced (relative to comparable rasterized images),
Design calls this "Skeletal Strokes" technology. and resolutions limited only by the output Expression is no replacement for Photoshop,
By converting nodes from corner to curve, crank device. While an Adobe Photoshop file can be though. It cannot acquire, import, or edit raster
ing their tangent handles, and repositioning enlarged within the program, the interpolation images. But Photoshop's sister program. Illus
points on the line, a brush stroke in Expression used to fill the voids created between existing trator, better watch out. With a powerful host of
fakomes completely malleable. Bend it, shape it, data tends to produce choppy, mottled images. Bezier drawing tools, including polyline and fa-
define it; no need to delete it. Expression plots only relative points, their con spline controls, Expression combines layers,
trol handles, and the styles applied to each ele shape blending, miter control, and sophisticated
ment. A 54K Expression fiie exported to Photo techniques such as compound creating, where
shop balloons to 1,459K at equal size and reso open areas in complex grouped images are
lution, but size and resolution can be increased defined. Even text is fully supported, with type-
Defa//eris coming down the Fractal,Design .
pipe. This "3D Paint Program" will enable you ^ as needed, so a minute file conceivably could on-a-path, leading control, and conversion to
to create texture, bump, and surfece maps contain a mammoth image. Skeletal Strokes for TrueType and Type 1 fonts.
directly on 3D models. Using traditional tools,
you'll be able to paint colors, textures, high
Path Quality Wireframe Quality Preview Quality
lights, reflectivity, and glow directly on your
wireframe models in real time; with support
for cylindrical, spherical, cubical, pass-through,
and implicit U-V mapping. Mapping controls
will include resizing and resampling maps,
adjusting scale, and moving map seams.
2D artists can use Detaiier t.o create objects
in correct perspective from the program's library
of primitives, which can then be imported into
any iilustration/lmage-editing application.
Slated to sell for $449 when it hits the
shelf in the first quarter of 1997, Detaiier
imports and exports a slew of 3D and 2D file
formats, and, of course, comes stock with the
natural-media brush effects that are a staple of
Fractal Design's software. Expression has three modes to view files in: Paths (which is best for fine tuning complex files and saving the
- B.D. massive redraw time they incur); Wireframe (which rapidly becomes a mess); and Pre\dew (which provides near
real-time feedback of the final image).

go * boot JAN 97
 REVIEWS

Pratty ?loy/^rii
siSliLj
pn/jHtiiiyUeep:;
Pievtewj Oudine
| id Stroke] Fill] Colorize
| ■ ^ f3)uslng a solid '.aESae.^
Skeletal rush and a
Strokes ealthy ^en
Sheer ' J 0* ue, make a
Imple swaying
TwIsC J (r- SHine.
Shape;
Basics
Randan:, i

Widlh: 18^
Dash; r~
Join: Mode:
Opacity
T ulorial (Dchoosea ii-
dotty stroke and
a darker green
R Auto Reset Colil^ to give the stem
dimension.
Airbrush 1
... X VI.A-

HSLl RGB I CMYK!

Bamboo leaf

Bamboo shoot

(Da rough brush

stroke with a
Brush3 DO M:0 Y:100 K:0| bright pink color
adds an organic
touch.

Pen movement is acceptably responsive, some past programs have struggled with this.
pausing only slightly at the start of a stroke, Of course, you could make smoother lines with
and the lines generated are fairly smooth. This a better economy of control points using the
is especially surprising given that the program Bezier drawing tools provided, but the Instant
is calculating the points and curves on the fly; feedback of stylus and paint is where the real
magic occurs.
1 can come up with only two minor gripes:
Like all of Fractal Design's software, Expression's (D Slide the color
StrcKK
controls are spread across a bevy of palettes selector Into a
that assumes the user has a 20-plus inch screen. more blue hue
In comparison, Photoshop is graced with an for the bleeding
Tubvial Affafushi
detail.
economy of these screen hogs. This is largely a
6«n)bQolMf SatTteochM 5njsh3
personal taste issue, 1 like to look at my work-
not my tools. Secondly, nobody is likely to enjoy
the long redraw times after a built-up Image is
Dab* Dog Dic^ieti
zoomed in or out. Each line must be laid again,
HI ^ like a stop-motion synopsis of the image being
Fem bmh Tah Fkid Hixmt feoQvMi
recreated, and a complex image can take up to
imsm' two minutes to redraw.
MaH^erl Patdv SabtM
Still, this is a small price to pay for an innov
ative program that delivers the best of two (Dpairit 100 of these
Smokaydfoak Soft cover b>\ah StnaM Tapoi2 worlds. Once you convert a crayon sketch into a every day and watch
tire stress melt away.
watercolor, and then into an oil painting—all by
Tapered Tm to ncfc T^iea Imr just changing the stroke definition—you'll see
the magic of Expression.
T re tracks Water tiuah Wckad penarit Wide taps - Brad Dosland

boot verdict
PRICE: S449
Expression comes stock wiui ooaies of brush strokes
COMPANY: Fractal Design
and graphic elements that can be manipulated in the
PHONE: 800.846.0111
same manner brush strokes can. The dachshund Is
particularly practical. URL: www.fractal.com

boot JAN 07
REVIEWS
www.bootneLcom

Check out our web

site for print samples.

The Canon

Canon BJC-4550 BIC-4550

uses a
single tank
for all its
colors except
More than a fizzle; less than a bang black.

miiili
Canon's latest color printer is something of a accurately—skewing
yawner, despite its new neon and photorealistic yellow and giving skin
ink formulas. tones a jaundiced
The printer delivers 720x360dpi and speeds look. Plus, you must
of Ippm for color, and 5ppm for black and white, use high-quality paper
which makes it a speed demon compared to the because the photo ink
pokey Alps MD-4000 (see review on page 111). goes on so heavy that it transparencies to T-shirt transfers,
But the BJC-4550 simply can't compete with the saturates normal paper like a Unfortunately Canon still hasn't figured out
quality of the Alps' color graphics or text. Magic Marker. And the photo ink is expensive, how to stop its inks from smearing when
The BJC-4550's cartridge carrier holds either at around 47 cents per page with 15 percent cov exposed to moisture.
two separate ink tanks (one for cyan, magenta, erage, according to Canon's estimate. The color After being wowed by Alps' hot new
and yellow; one for black) or one large reservoir and neon inks both cost about 14 cents per page printer/scanner combo, the BjC-4550 left me
of either color or black ink. Single pass printing and black ink runs about 4 cents per page. cold. Aside from tabloid-sized paper handling,
accounts for the printer's speed, but its blacks The neon ink is fun, especially when viewed Canon just doesn't have much new to offer
look more like a dark gray. Worse, text print under a black light, but the BjC-4550 struggled this time out.
outs look jagged and fuzzy. If you're looking with dark colors. Prints exhibit serious banding — Michael Brown
for a text printer, buy a good laser printer for problems, with white gutters striping across the
about the same price. page. The problem disappears when you switch boot verdict
Canon's new photorealistic ink was specifically to Canon's high-resolution paper, but images
PRICE: $499
designed to reproduce the continuous tones still come out dark.
COMPANY; Canon Computer Systems
found in photographs, but the results weren't In terms of specialty stocks, the BjC-4550 PHONE: 800.423.2366
especially impressive. The ink didn't register handles everything from backprint film to URL: www.ccsi.canon.com

■Try it out! :wi

demo
on the
PaleMtnteBswalk

After Dark 4.0 bootDisc

ooioioeaceiaBis

Bad news or Bad Dog?

Modern monitors no longer require fascinating features to the venerable Working closely with five major Get the latest news... while saving your
cutesy animations to protect them "screen saver" that catch the eye and publishing houses, your customizable screen from phantom phosphor bum-in.
from phosphor burn-in, so why is show off what's possible with the PC. newsletters range from front page
After Dark up to version 4.0? Simple. Armed with 20 new animated news [USA Today and The Wall Street updates with a 28.8 modem took
Berkeley Systems keeps adding displays destined to taunt and Journaf), and stock reports (via the only a little more than a minute for
delight, Berkeley Systems has inter DBC Financial News), to computer a typical single channel update.
fSS
[
woven a PointCast Network-esque news (from a direct link to ZD Net). While a T1 line constantly suck
online news source that activates If something interests you, click and ing down updates really makes this
AfterDmk. when your screen goes to sleep. launch your fevorite web browser module glow, and the initial offer
omiit
mjSA Between the usual assortment directly into that publisher's web site. ing of newsletters is sparse, this
TODAY of mindless 3D-rendered cartoon Updates can be performed man engaging "screen saver" is typical
A Altar
■i AAarDnAiQ
characters, interlaced CyberSchlock, ually or at automated intervals, so of After Dark 4.0.
'-I Altar 0«V Or***
OdCrr)«nel4NM
and cornucopia of cascading you can tailor information gathering The screen saver (and After Dark
IpatalUiaUdOr^
colors lies the innovative Magic to suite your needs and capabilities. in particular), is a study in staving
20 N« I Turtle-a user-programmable A dedicated Internet connection is off obsolescence through creativity
screen saver that utilizes a high- recommended for 24-hour up-to-the- and ingenuity.
level icon-based language not minute updates. Still, downloading - Andrew Sanchez
Ew*" i
BviMp' unlike Logo. An Internet account,
web browser, and active Win95
dial-up network are all you need boot verdict
After Dark's ageless Internee grants up-
to-the-minute updates with a dedicated to take advantage of After Dark PRICE: $29.99 PHONE: 800.713.7146
Internet connection. Online's fact-filled features. COMPANY: Berkeley Systems URL: www.berksys.com

92 • boot JAN 97
 •1" Sure. Itiere ore cheaper PC and Nac game conlrollers.
m BuFifgou're ready In gelserious. you need Itie high-yualily.
buihlti-play-rongh pripherals|rom CH Producls.
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ljuoysliclis. Fhrollies. (iighl yohes. rudder pedals,

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lake Ihe heal of any hallle. race or game you Ihrnur
Iheir uiay. So pul on your game face, gel douin lo your

conlrollers made for serious players.

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e i: CH PRODUCTS
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AST Advantage 9312
Communications
No advantage here
AST bills the 9312 as "the most complete communications solution for
the home," but with only a 28.8Kbps fax/modem, whose home are they
talking about? Probably not yours or mine.
Still, given its $2,299 list price, the 9312 sports some impressive
alphabet soup: 166MHz Pentium, 24MB of EDO DRAM, 8x CD-ROM,
2.5GB hard drive. Toss in a bevy of bells and whistles and the "commu
nications solution" is tempting. But overall, the 9312's performance
was disappointing.
Most performance problems stemmed from the sub-par video chip
set. AST doesn't provide VESA 2.0 drivers, so we had to use SciTech's
Display Doctor to kick Quake into 640x480 resolution. And in Descent II,
the 9312 couldn't muster the frame count of a View-Master. With only
1MB of video memory, 16-bit graphics top out at just 800x600 pixels.
The onboard S3 Trio V-i- video chipset and meager 1MB of memory may
suffice for low-end 2D applications, but it isn't suited for the applica
tions we want to run. And, try as we might, Adobe Premiere 4.Z simply
would not run at all on the 9312 and we were forced to use version 4.0
for our tests. (We called AST for help, but they were unable to offer an Behind This Secret Panel
explanation nor a solution.) Open the door on the back of the 9312 to gain access to the rear
expansion bays, and you'll discover the bays can be pulled out
Yamaha's 0PL4 audio chip offers bare-bones wavetabie synthesis at for easy access (there are also two bays at the h'ont). Good thing
best: a shortcoming compounded by the listless Labtec LCS-1020 speak too, since the bays and cables obstructing the motherboard make
ers provided. Listening to the muffled sounds these plastic boxes put SIMM additions extremely difficult
out is enough to make you believe that AST wanted the system to really
sound like a telephone.
But let's talk about what the 9312 can do. Nifty gadgetty includes an
analog color video camera and a video capture/TV tuner card. Using
Intel's Video Phone technology, the 9312 delivers video compression,
audio compression, and full-duplex speakerphone capabilities. The 9312
is also equipped with Intel's Intercast technology, allowing you to
view the HTML documents embedded into the vertical blanking
intervals of a handful of television broadcasts. With Intercast, you
can download documents pertaining to the show you're watching,
or engage in real-time chats on the Internet.
Someday, you're going to want a USB peripheral, but the 9312
has no USB ports. Plan on installing a PCI-based USB interface card.
But since both of the 9312's two PCI slots are already occupied, plan
on yanking the video-conferencing capabilities—the machine's raison
d'etre-to plug in a USB interface.
Video teleconferencing is cool technology, but the 9312 sacrifices all
the other cool technologies to deliver it.
- Bryan Del Rizzo

BOOT RATING

DESCENTH PREMlEfiE LIGHTWAVE 3D

GRAPH RENDER

A complete breakdown of benchmark results is available on the bootNet. Point your browser to www.bootnet.com
boot JAN 97
 REVIEWS
under the hood "the
the brains - Mayo Clinic Family
CPU 166MHz Intel Pentium Health • The 1996
External Cache 256K pipeline burst Groller Multimedia
RAM 24MB EDO DRAM (128MB max) Encyclopedia • Intel
Video S3 Trio V+ with 1MB EDO DRAM on Intercast • Lotus
the motherboard Smart Suite • Quicken
SE • The Little
the brawn Samurai • Freddi Fish

Hard Drive 2.5GB IBM EIDE

And The Case Of The #
Missing Kelp Seeds •
CO-ROM drive Toshiba 8x IDE-ATAPI
Math Blaster 2; Secret
Expansion 5 ISA slots (all open), Of The Lost City •
2 PCI (both filled) Descent il: Destination
Fax/Modem 28.8Kbps with full-duplex Quartzon • Fury'•
speakerphone Virtual Pool •
the beauty Director's Lab

Monitor AST Vision 7L model 17-inch

($499 option)
Sound Yamaha 0PL4 wavetable^M hybrid
Speakers Labtec LCS-1020 You Oughta
Be In Pixels
Intel's Video Phone technology
can work some serious
double duty. While picture
quality in real-time live video
Smile, You're on tansmission can get a bit
Candid Camera on the pixelicious side, the
The analog video camera sports a low- Video Phone's Snapshots
profile design and can be tilted and option can grab some
swiveled. The camera Includes controls seriously clean and crispy
for white balance, sftarpness, balance, high-color video snapshots,
and focus. Video throughput maxs out at as these screenshots show.
about 12fps, but drops to as few as 4fp5 Adjust the camera's sharp
when capturing motion. Frame rates are ness and contrast, and you're good to go on the videophone.
also dramatically affected by the window Mr.DeVille, I'm ready for my close-uplli
size (176x132 or 352x264 pixels).

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake >3 vS

The 9312 won't win any industrial design awards with its blocky
minitower case, which uses the same wacky design as the 9314
(reviewed In boot 03). Open the case, and you'll discover the
expansion cards are mounted upside down, with the cooling fen'
and SIMM sockets partialiy obstructed by ribbon cables. The
biggest design flaw? Five free ISA slots, but only two PCI slots
both already occupied by the video capture card and the 28.8Kbps Couch Potato
modem. So much for expansion. The 9312 also includes an
infrared remote and receiver.
Take control of the remote
to operate the CO-ROM
drive, mouse, TV channel
and volume, voice-mail
system, sleep mode, and
Windows desktop; or access
tire Electronic TV Host, a
graphical on-screen TV
guide service. This costs
between S50 and $60 per
year, depending on the
level of service selected.

•C/3UIR Vioeo CJV^RA •Unoerpowerep

•TV -n/NeR/cAPrvRE VIPEO
CARP •WSAK fuOlO CMP
•IfTTERCA^ enplPPSO *OaJLY 2 PCI SLOTS,
•iNEKPENStVB aerm ocojPt^

boot verdict
PRICE: $2,299 PHONE: 800.876.4278
COMPANY: AST URL: www.astcom

boot JAN 97 • 9S
EasyCam
Say "Cheese!" The interface card doesn't require any IRQs or
DMA assignments, so Installation Is painless.

The EasyCam Video Conferencing installation went. The interface card an audio-out jack. The card handles The Image quality of the EasyCam is
didn't require any interrupt, I/O full-duplex audio and video—useful acceptable, but a normal ambient light
Kit combines a color digital video
produces dramatic effects.
camera, ISA interfece card, and soft address, or DMA channel assign for video teleconferencing and CU-
ware to provide a full-featured desk ments, so the system was up and SeeMe applications. You can also you have to paste each capture into
top video communications system. running in minutes. use it for capturing full-motion or a paint program before you can
It's easy to set up, perfect for the The palm-sized camera looks like still-frame video. Image quality is grab another. Maximum resolution
Internet, and it's fun. a tennis ball with stubby wings, and good, but the EasyCam requires is 640x480, with color depths rang
I was prepared to do a little rests on a contoured base where its flat, bright lighting; a condition ing from 8 bits to 24 bits.
wrangling with my PC to get this viewing angle can be easily adjusted. that's not always easy to satisfy in Philips bundles all the apps you
device up and running, but was The power switch and contrast but a home environment. need to capture and edit video and
surprised by how smoothly the tons are on the back of the camera, Using the bundled VidUtil app, teleconference over the web, includ
I
as are switches for backlight com you can capture single frames or ing CU-SeeMe Enhanced, Digital
pensation and positive/negative streaming video. Video can be Video Producer, and PixelShrink for
image selection. These controls saved as AVI files; still images as MPEG video encoding.
should have been mounted on the bitmaps. The software captures still — Bryan Del Rizzo
front, so you don't have to pick up images to Win95's clipboard, so
the camera to make adjustments.
The video camera feeds the card
through a proprietary plug, but the boot verdict
card also has inputs for S-video, PRICE: $499 with camera; PHONE: 800.235.7373
Select the video compression type and composite video, line-level audio, $299 for capture card only URL: www.pps.philips.com
video source via the software interface. and a microphone—and there's also COMPANY: Philips Electronics

Toonstruck Toonstruck looks

fantastic: and you'll
encounter a plethora
of animated
Who Framed Reverend Jim? characters.

Toonstruck is an exhilarating romp through car kingdoms populated by an enter

toon land. It may look like a cute, cuddly graphic taining cast of bizarre characters.
adventure game, but that's just a disguise for its The first half of the game has you on a scav the animation using special motion tracking and
darker mentality. Cartoons are, after all, evil. enger hunt, traversing the colorful landscape morphing techniques. These touches really pay
Similar to the movie. Who Framed Roger (you'll explore a castle during the second halO- off, and you'll notice and appreciate the game's
Rabbit, Toonstruck combines traditional eel ani Along the way, you bump into thoroughly fluidity immediately. The integration of the live-
mation with live-action video. You play the ani warped cartoon characters including Punisher action character is seamless, and adds depth to
mator of a saccharine Saturday morning cartoon Polly, a sheep in S&M clothing (whip included); the adventure. Toonstruck sounds terrific too,
show called "The Fluffy Flufly Bun Bun Show," and Spike, the twisted clown who has a pen thanks to additional voice acting by David Ogden
who finds himself trapped in his own cartoon chant for torturing cute balloon animals. Stiers, Tim Curry, and Dom DeLuise. Particularly
world. To escape, you must explore three wacky Toonstruck isn't difficult to play—you click notable is Dan Castellaneta, the voice of your
around, exploring scenes and using your inven acerbic sidekick. Flux Wildly.
tory—but the puzzles aren't dead giveaways Toonstruck is a perfect blend of twisted humor,
either. Remember, things in a cartoon world tend challenging puzzles, and stunning aesthetics.
to be a tad extreme. Toonstruck possesses a — Bryan Del Rizzo
relatively nonlinear path, and is peppered with
shots of irreverent, sometimes adult, humor. boot verdict
With more than 100 hand-painted scenes,
PRICE: $49.95
Toonstruck looks gorgeous! The live-action
COMPANY: Virgin Interactive
sequences of actor Christopher Lloyd,(who por Entertainment
trays the animator, Drew Blanc), were filmed PHONE; 800.874.4607
Spike the Clown isn't just a regular bozo. He's twisted. against a green screen, and then merged with URL: www.vie.com

96 • boot JAN 97
 REVIEWS

-Try It out!
demo
on the
bootDisc

star General f
Allied General meets Buck Rogers
Sfar General bears a striking resem Start by choosing from
blance to its General kin (Panzer the seven alien races, in
General, Allied General, Fantasy eluding: the barbarian
General), but this sci-fi variation Khalian, feline Hressa, insec-
offers up enough new features, and toid Xritra, fascist Schleinel,
packs enough firepower, to satisfy reptilian Dragonian, deceitful
anyone who loves the smell of Cephians and of course, the
fusion cannons in the morning, lowly human. Each race has
Fans of strategy games won't be specialized characteristics,
disappointed either. including a personalized Al,
At its core. Star General is really and different combat units
a game of intergalactic conquest. to aid them in battle. For Jack rftt FimflO wmat
SS.1 O0>
War may be grand, but in Star example, the Schleinel are
General, it's also vastly more com privy to the powerful Death 5tar General's simple Internee makes It a joy to play.
plex, especially since battles are Blossom, long-range artillery
now fiercely fought both on the that preys upon crippled units; can always be upgraded—so don't to conquer new worlds. Star
ground and up in the cosmos. Star while the Khalian Raiders are fast- become too complacent. GeneraPs intuitive point-and-click
General also breaks new ground by armed infentry units, specialists in Star General includes more than interface ensures smart manage
being the first game from SSI that destroying production units. All 20 strategic scenarios, but all have ment is never more than a mouse
supports seven-player simultaneous combat units have the same ultimate premise- click away. Although the game
TCP-IP Intemet and IPX (LAN) play, their own strengths find the opposing space fleets isn't hard to play, it is hard to get
as well as two-player direct-connect and weaknesses, through the blackness of started. Familiarize yourself with
modem support. but technologies space, and obliterate their the manual before commencing
forces from the galaxy. The combat, or you may find yourself
combat fighting is fierce, and hopelessly frustrated.
it'll take your best ship to Star General is a war game, rich
destroy the opposing fleet. You'll in visuals and sound. Its stunning
L%4 be able to choose from more than array of space combat and en
jj 90 beautifully rendered 3D ground- hanced cinematic battle scenes are

^ o

r' 1
•j
- 1 force, air-force, and space vehicles,
such as battleships, missile boats,
destroyers, recon transport ships,
as well as infantry, mine, hunters,
heavies, and assault vehicles.
outstanding. The game engine will
appeal to a lot of strategy war
gamers; and, with its two-level
combat system and more than 100
planets to conquer. Star General
J
In addition to the raw combat, just may be one of the best war
. 1/
/ you're also responsible for further games of 1997.
% developing the resources necessary — Brad Craig
^.
T-J

L boot verdict
PRICE: $59.95 PHONE: 408.737.6800
Build your fleet for the conquest! You gotta love the smelt of fusion fire in the morning. COMPANY: Strategic Simulatiorts URL: www.ssionline.com
/cgi-bin/starl

HIei' liluis diid iljjs

• To launch your empire into space, purchase one • After you've destroyed the alien Reet, move • Use your fastest units, such as Assault Vehicles;
Biodome, Mine, Factory, Piant, and a Space Dock. your transport ship adjacent to the opposing to take the cities. You may want to send two
You should also purchase a Technology Facility planet. But remeitiber: transport carriers are transport companies down to the surface.
(to upgrade your current technology), and a important for winning the game—protect them • Don't underestimate the enemy—take plenty of
Military Facility. at alt costs. firepower down to the surface.
• Take out opposing players' Space Docks as • Deploy your troops close to a landing pad, near • Use your mining resources to pay for your mili
soon as possible, to prevent them from launching a main city. tary upgrades, because cheap technology makes
more ships. you extinct fast.

boot JAN 97
 TrjMtout^
demo
on the
bootDisc

ATI 3D Xpression+
PC2TV
For TV and 20, not 3D
The 3D Xpression+ PC2TV is almost every
thing you could want in a graphics card. But
competition is fierce, with advances in tech
nology occurring at a furious pace. If you're lite 3D Xpresslon-H
Choppy animation and substandard gameplay make it a rough road to the Final Four. PC2TV packs a lot of
looking for the best 3D graphics accelerator,
power, but ifs not a
this isn't it. But if your needs are more diverse, leader in 3D acceleration.

NCAA Championship this card may fit your bill.

The 3D Xpression+'s most exciting feature is its ImpacTV chip, which
provides scaled, flicker-free composite and S-video output of the com
puter's display so you can hook your PC to a big-screen television.

Basketball ATI's 3D Rage 2 chip is also onboard, providing solid 30 acceleration,

DOS and Windows performance rivaling the latest 128-bit accelerators,
and support for high resolutions and color depths.
Dribbling across midcourt The Rage 2 is much faster than the original Rage; in fact, its 3D per
formance is doubled. Nonetheless, it still doesn't present a serious chal
Don't you hate it when you're hyped for hoops and it's raining outside? lenge to Rendition's Verite or 3Dfic's Voodoo Graphics chipset.
Forecast reads "No chance of sun for three weeks." That's how I felt In the 20 arena, on the other hand, the Xpression+'s 4MB of EDO
after playing NCAA Championship Basketball. In a word: frustrated. DRAM support resolutions as high as 1600x1200 with 8-bit color at
This sim of the collegiate game has all 64 DIv 1 teams with authen 60Hz, with true 24-bit color support up through 1280x1024 at 75Hz.
tic logos and colors. No names though. To preserve the "purity" of the The maximum resolution the card can pump out on a television
college game, the real stars—the players—get as much recognition in monitor is 800x600, and the max refresh rate is an eye-burning 60Hz.
this game as their counterparts get of the gate at a cross-town show These limitations are imposed by the nature of television monitors, not
down. Zip. You won't find Camby, you won't find O'Bannon, you won't the card. Turn off the card's TV-out feature and it automatically switches
find the next Iverson or Allen or Wallace. What you will find is a bunch to the highest refresh rate your plug-and-play monitor supports.
of phony names with stats that occasionally match their real-life rosters. We encountered some nasty installation problems and had to
On screen, those players rush the court with 100 moves comprised remove the Sound Blaster from our test system before it would accept
of more than 4,500 frames of Silicon Graphics animation. So why do ATI's drivers. The problem is limited to motherboards with older BlOSes,
they all look so chunky that jenny Craig should be the team's trainer? according to ATI; make sure yours is up to date before you install this
It's pixel city on the court. The only indicator of the graphics SGI pedi card. (Older Award BlOSes are particularly susceptible to this conflict.)
gree is the player's reflection on the hard courts, instead of black Slap on ATI's optional TV tuner/video-capture
splotch shadows. The camera is fixed at midcourt, swiveling up and daughterboard ($129), and the 3D Xpression+
down the court with the "action." The moves are jerky and gameplay is PC2TV becomes a great home media station,
so slooow, it's hard to just settle in and enjoy the action that gamers if you're looking for a multipurpose video
yearn for. It does, however, provide that "Branch McCracken" feeling for card, this is it.
those content to run the game from the bench. - Chris Dunphy
As a coach, NCAA provides a load of cool options. You can draft and ATI's display utility is one of the best we've seen.
mold high school hoopsters into prime-time players that Dicky V. would
be proud of. Create custom players by selecting uniform number, name,
skin color, and shooting hand. Some more specs would've been nice
here, such as height, weight, and sheer dunkitude.
Two players can match up head-to-head on the same machine (use
gamepads—the keyboard is virtually unplayable), but there's no net
work play options.
Despite its flaws, such as the invisible walls that keep the ball from
going out of bounds and the computer D that makes it nigh impossible
to penetrate to the rim, NCAA can still be an entertaining college hoops
sim, but playing in the rain might be more fun.
— lay Boor
The Xpression+ will take your PC games to the big screen.

boot verdict boot verdict

•

PRICE: S59.99 PHONE: 800.483.8632 PRICE: S189 with 2MB: $219 COMPANY: ATI Technologies
COMPANY: GTE Entertainment URL: www./im/gte.com with 4MB; $129 for optional TV PHONE: 905.882.2600
tuner/capture daughterboard URL: www.atitech.ca

98 • boot JAN 97
 REVIEWS

mfroVideo DC30
Look ma, no dropped frames!
Anyone itching to produce videos at 30Fps (60 fields/sec). The card's Using mfro's
on their desktop needs the mfro onboard M-JPEG compression chip utilities during cap
Video DC30. This PCI card captures, crunches the resulting bit stream ture, you can crop the
miro's DC30 video-capture card could
compresses, and edits video in a down to an amazing 5.5MB/sec. image to the size that make you the next Quentin Tarendno.
way that satisfies like a big fat cat mfro has moved the bottleneck off will be visible on a video
licking your scalp. the card's Zoran chipset and even monitor: significantly reduc Since the board captures and
The DC30 supports full-screen away from the host's PCI bus: The ing traffic on the bus and, plays back full-motion video in real
(640x480), fall-motion, video capture DC30 captures video as fast as your ultimately, the size of the file you'll time, a fast SCSI-2 or Enhanced IDE
hard drive can swallow it. use for editing. After the file has hard drive is an essential compo
Installation is painless, and once been captured, you can compress it nent. And the drive had better be
the card is in its slot, you can jump using an M-JPEG compression algo spacious; five minutes of video con
into video editing and capture with rithm to squash it down even more sumes about 500MB of storage.
the full copy of Adobe Premiere by throwing away image details Even if your system isn't exactly
bundled with the card. You can use that don't change from one frame top of the line, the DC30 does such
Premiere for capturing, as well as to the next, mfro's algorithm is a great job of compression that you
editing, but we experienced better extremely efficient and very difficult will get good results.
results using the simplified interface to detect. — Sean Downey
of VidCap32 provided with the card.
The DC30 is equipped with inputs boot verdict
and outputs for both composite
mtro's Expert utility tests your hard
and S-video, but the audio jack PRICE: S999 PHONE: 800.249,6476
drive to determine the maximum capture
COMPANY: miro Computer Products URL: www,mlro.com
rate It's capable of sustaining. functions as both input and output.

little heads, thanks to incredibly smooth

FIFA '97 animation. Choose from one of seven

camera views, (the Tele-Cam is my per
sonal favorite. It's a slightly overhead
Pele would be proud three-quarter view that scrolls with the
action and is smart enough to follow
Soccer's the most popular sport on the planet. the players without letting the ball get
Hell, even America's starting to sit up and notice too far ahead). All game graphics are
that goofy checkered ball; and FIFA '97 is the straight-up sprite-based, and there's no
best computer version of the game to date. video tossed in to slow the action.
Somehow, EA manages to improve the sterling FIFA lets you select how you want
gameplay with each successive version. to control the on-field action, choosing Sim soccer stars want to think about the game, not the controls.
Once you're up to speed, F\FA '97 delivers solid gameplay that
The graphics haven't been radically upgraded: from joystick, mouse, and keyboard makes you believe a computer can replace the real thing.
players are small, but nicely shaped and easy options. Once you've mastered the
to recognize. They look positively real when moves, it's time to take on the computer or The auto-boot disc is full of demos and video
running, kicking, and bouncing the ball off their another player (head-to-head via modem or clips to watch before getting down to the seri
against up to seven others via LAN). Play either ous business of scoring, and while enabling the
a single exhibition game, a winner-take-all tour speech option eats up massive acres of hard
ney, or a customized season built from a mix of drive space—it's surely worth it to hear the
more than 250 international teams and players. announcer call the play-by-play. (And with a
You can compete in any of II regional leagues decidedly British accent too.)
(up to 16 teams can be controlled throughout a — Marshal M. Rosenthal
season). There's also Tournament play at the
National or International level. Good sound
boot verdict
•
effects add to the game's immersive feel, as PRICE: $49.95
does the realistic weather—ranging from dry as COMPANY: Electronic Arts
a bone to extremely wet. Skill levels start at PHONE: 800.245.4525
Every year, EA manages to make the best even better.
FIFA '97 Is no exception. Beginner and advance through Semi-Pro to Pro. URL: www.ea.com

boot JAN 97
HP Pavilion 7295V c

You'II question your manhood

If ferociously fast, bilinear-filtered, perspective-corrected, into the
Gouraud-shaded, texture-mapped action gets you hot and 1. Remove all the ISA and PCI cards.
bothered, then Hewlett-Packard's Pavilion 7295V is your 2. Take out the screws on the four comers of the rlMr board;'
3. Pull out the riser board.
ticket to polygon paradise. But if you're looking for a
4. Plug In the new SIMMs.
machine to tweak, this box is just a tease. 5. Repeat steps one through four in reverse order.
Equipped with a 200MHz Pentium, 256K of pipeline
burst cache, 32MB of EDO DRAM, and a 3.8GB hard drive,
the 7295V is leaps and bounds ahead of HP's 7130P
(reviewed in boot 01). More importantly, its onboard 53
ViRGE 3D graphics accelerator is augmented by a Voodoo
Graphics 3D card in one of its PCI slots.
Pop the lid on this puppy and your excitement quickly Push if"
goes limp as you gaze at the riser board sticking up out of Real Good
its planar: There are only two PCI slots, and one is already Prepare for some intense
occupied by the Voodoo card. And the thought of having polygon-pushing
with 3Db('s Voodoo
to yank all the expansion cards and the riser board just
Graphics, one of the most
to add SIMMs or swap out the CPU is enough to render powerfol 3D accelerators
you impotent. on the market
On the bright side, HP has provided a generously large
fan to keep things cool; and there's a slick swing-out tray
for adding an internal 3.5-inch hard drive (in addition to
the front-accessible 5.25-inch bay). But apparently HP
doesn't think anyone will use these bays, because they
didn't bother to include an extra connector on the EIDE
interface cable for additional devices. (However, a second
power connector is included.)
Forget the new USB peripherals coming out next year,
because HP doesn't include USB ports on the mother
board. This isn't a problem right now, because there aren't
any USB peripherals available, but that's going to change
rapidly—and you probably won't want to sacrifice your last
open PCI slot for a USB card.
Syncro Connect software adds speakerphone, answering
machine, fex, and videophone receive capabilities to the
built-in 33.6Kbps fax/modem; and you can order an optional
videophone camera upgrade kit for $299.
HP didn't provide VESA 2.0-compatible drivers for the -p -THfi BUt
ViRGE, so we had to Install SciTech's Display Doctor utility
to drive Quake at 640x480 resolution (without the addi
tional software. Quake maxed out at only 480x360).
All things considered, the 7295V packs some serious
firepower, but the lack of expansion opportunities and the
list price (particularly steep considering this "gaming" sys
tem doesn't come bundled any gaming peripherals) leave
us a little frigid.
— Andrew Sanchez

BOOT RATING

DESCSNTIi QUAKE SHOP UGHTWAVE 30

GRAPH RENDER

A complete breakdown of benchmark results is available on the bootNet. Point your browser to www.bootnet.com

100 • boot JAN 97

 R E VI E WS
under the hood
:'"t-h6' brsins-• .■ r-"'t
CPU 200MHz Intel Pentium
External Cache 256K pipeline burst
RAM 32MB EDO DRAM (128MB max}
Video S3 ViRGE with 2MB EDO DRAM;
3Dfx Voodoo Graphics chipset with
4MB EDO DRAM

^ brawn
Hard Drive j.SbB Quantum Fireball 3840AT EIDE
, CD-ROM drive Goldstar GCD-R580B 8x IDE-ATAPI
Expansion 5 full-length ISA slots (4 open);
2 ftjll-length PCI (1 open)
Fax/Modem 33.6Kbps AT&T WinModem.
HP is going after the hardcore gamer with the
Jhie. beauty \ Pavilion 7295V, but they've missed the mark by
making this machine difficult to customize. Two
Monitor HP 3859A 17-inch
monitor ($749 option) . PCI slots (one occupied) just aren't enough.
Sound Card Yamaha 0PL3-SA on, .
motherboard
Speakers Altec Lansing (custom model) What a Swinger! Feed
This clever swing-out drive cage is great
for adding yet another drive inside the the 3D Beast
case, but you'll still be frustrated by the The video signal from the S3
lack of any internee cables. VIRGE chip is piped through
the Righteous 3D card, then
the Voodoo feeds the mixed
video to the display.

How Many Siots?

What happens if you need to
add 3 SCSI host adapter? Or a
new video card, or a LAN net
work card, or a... Basically,
you're screwed

Chill Out
With two fans and a heat
sink, the P200 Is chilled
enough to make Frosty the
Snowman envious.

'ORcmP rig-hteous 30 •s3 VIRSE CHIP

3C>p/X 3C> fccBLBR/rroR LACMJNS- -rWE VESA 2JP
•PBtmun ZOOf^z COMPATIBILm
•VOLUME CONTROL- •ONE PREE pa SLOT
l/TTEORATEP INTO HP •YAMAHA OPU-3sA SOUNP
MulUMEPIA MONtTOR CARP
•BEEPV pans ANP heat •PAIN IN THE BvrrOCKs
Mj,i nil SINK ON/AROVNP CPU TO UPS-RAPE CPU
Where •EASV-^O-REMSVE Prjve •motherboarP not mmX
are You Hiding? CARTR/PS^ COMPATIBLE
Front-accessible 5.25-inch and
3.5-inch drive bays hide behind
this removable panel—perfect boot verdict
for a removable media drive
or a CD-R drive. Tis a pity HP PRICE: $3,199(3749 for PHONE: 800.724.6631
doesn't provide interface cables optional 17-inch monitor) URL: www.hp.com
for them. COMPANY: Hewlett-Packard

boot JAN 97
s/^

{0(
The Hundred
Yard War
A war gamer's look at four new
PC football games
■ Online journal. 10/23/96; Call line... My God. It all begins
From boot. Would I be interested In to make sense!
reviewing Football slms as if they ■ 10/23/96 (one hour
were war gamesl That's the most later): boot calls back:
insane assignment any editor's ever "Thought about it?"
ofFered me. "Look, the only team I
"just think about It. I'll call you follow Is the New York
Get read y for some "FMM"(Full Motion-Madden) In EA's latest sensation. Madden NFL '97.
back in an hour." Giants, and this season
I do start thinking about It, and they look like the Confederate Army "combat" Is smoothly rendered, Fine-tune your Force by closely
the more I do. the more parallels I two months away from Appomattox..." accompanied by plenty of grunts, examining the stats: win^oss
see. Football as a metaphor For tac "Exactly. Take command of the groans, and referee whistles, but records; expertise in various tactical
tical combat Is not so Far-Fetched. It New York Giants and change the there is a down-to-down sameness skills; and the Fine balance between
combines movement. "Firepower," course of history." about things; rarely do 1 get that ego. intelligence, physical strength,
a fluid set oF "objectives." Like "Send me the knife-edged sense of the Decisive and discipline. Once you take the
war. football can be "the games." Moment that a great sIm delivers. field, move to your command post
province of chance." and What have I Although the box promises Touch (a luxurious and Olympian skybox
the success or failure of let myself in for? down Is "great For Football novices," with a God's-eye view of the grid
one's tactics depends on ■ 10/24/96: A the minimalist manual and lack of iron) and the games commence. As
courier hands me tutorial assume much—a novice com Supreme Commander, you may. of
a bulging box. I ing cold to this game would be as course, overrule your coaches' game
sign for the deliv hopelessly lost as a beer-and-prelzels plans, but if you've done your job
ery. Inside are: Risk player trying to figure out Gary and picked good subordinates, you
Total Control Foot Grlgsb/s Pacific War. should trust them to do the right
ball, Touchdown, No modem, network, or e-mail thing at the right time, leaving you
NFL Quarterback play Is supported. In sum: Touch free to enjoy the unfolding cam
Club '97, and down Is a mediocre product that paign. (If they don't, you can always
Madden NFL '97. pales beside the competition. fire their asses later...)
Where to start? I ■ 10/25/96: Total Control Football After the game/battle,
pick Touchdown proves to be a gripping simulation you tend to the
at random, which of an NFL franchise. As Chief of Staff, wounded (con-
promises, on the you have absolute power (within the
box cover, "bone limits of the salary cap and Total Control Football
Touchdown's amateur graphics reflect a barren game.
crushing action!" the tolerance of the dreaded ""ay bave the
the myriad outcomes of man-to- One crucial difference between owners, who are analogous to
, ° , of Its brethren, but
man actions. Each game is a dis war games and football slms is the the politicians who hire and jt packs punch.
creet "battle," and the linked suc terrain-map. Football's is always the Fire Chlefe of Staff)
cession of battles forms a "cam same, in Touchdown, as In many to scout and recruit
paign," I.e., a whole season. games, you can customize the map new players, and
If the coach Is a commanding to a certain extent by choosing to hire and Fire subor
general, the QB Is the squad leader play on natural grass or AstroTurF, dinate commanders
who Implements the overall strategy or under rain or snow. The effects (offensive and
r~is5*—
by means of tactical decisions. Wide are subtle, but, when combined defensive coaches, I7H3WrHrJK2

receivers are like cavalry or light with the units'... er, players' stats, trainers, scouts, even
armor, depending on speed and and mixed with the random effects a "medic"—the
mobility: running backs and tight of fumbles, sacks, and penalties, team's orthopedist!).
ends are the assault squads; line often profound in consequences. And you must keep
backers are heavy support weapons- Touchdown strikes me as the a close watch dur
mortars with legs; safeties are the equivalent of such pretty, but cold ing training camp, to
tactical reserves, the ones who plug and unlnvolving, war games as Front- see who you'll be Choose your formation and call a play based on your field
"breakthroughs" In the defensive lines and Iron Cross: The animated able to count on, position In Total Control Football.

boot JAN 97
 REVIEWS
itout! Play last year's
Super Bowl on the
demo®" demo of Madden
BootDisc NFL '97. c

tion stats based on projectile velocity in such a way as to sustain your Jaguars/Panthers brawl in Super
(adjusted for wind-drag), size, mass, advance or make your defenses Bowl XXXIV.
density, and metallurgical hardness impregnable. You also hit the beach Altogether a rousing simulation,
versus the target's armor thickness, head, up close and personal (which ffquarterbacking is your fetish.
slope, and angle of the hit. You you can't do in CC and most other ■ 10/28/96: Story is done and
either revel in this level of detail, or real-time war games), putting your uploaded to boot. Thinking about
Nothing beats Maddeifs sideline view of your mind glazes over; there ain't self in the pocket and trying to hurl
the struggle for gridiron supremacy.
that Giants-49ers game around
no middle ground. the long bomb into the hands of Thanksgiving, back in 1975. Third
suit the X-rays in the training Madden '571s aimed at fanatics your favorite receiver. down Giants, bottom of the fourth.
room), bring in replacements for the who have mastered previous games There's intense visual action and They ran a single-back slot-reverse
seriously Injured, and make roster in the series; casual frm-seekers superb sound effects (was that a and got stomped; after analyzing
ruts at the end of the preseason. need not apply. The former, though, snapping ankle bone I just heard?); the stats carefully, I decided to try
This demands cold objectivity, since won't be disappointed. It's all here: all the camera angles you could ask for a quick-slant shotgun and...
you must whittle your original 80 dramatic high-res motion-capture for; and plenty of classic historical I play a few rounds of Panzer
down to 45 men by the regular sea graphics that rival the best TV cam clashes to recreate; plus some fasci General to clear my head.
son. Battle scenes (gameplay views) era work; full-season managerial nating what-lf scenarios, such as a — William R. Trotter
are limited to four logical and use
ful angles: behind the QB, from the
sidelines, behind the LB, and an
oblique 3/4 view of the whole line
of scrimmage-and that's all you
really need. Who has time, during a
complex 10-second play, to mess
with a dozen fancy camera angles?
Ultra-sharp graphics. Intuitive
interface, excellent documentation,
and a nice sense of cumulative As the QB in NFL Quarterback Club
"97, you'll want to choose your plays
seasonal sweep make this game carefully.
a standout, It combines the best
aspects of fantasy football and a and coaching controls; all the tacti
great strategic-level war game, a cal options your brain can hold
la High Command or Third Reich. (including 500 from Big John's own
Best of all. Total Control Football playbook); even a "Madden Uni
gives you a megalomaniacal sense versity," which is like the West
of utter dictatorial power! Highly Point of football (but without the
recommended! hazing and dress code!).
■ \0I26I96: My wife passes my Like the best historical war
Snow? In San Francisco? Weather plays a major factor in NFL Quarterback Club "97.
study door after I boot Madden NFL games, Madden '97 lets you replay
'97. Big John is pontificating in great contests from the past and try
front of a chalkboard covered with to change history: More than 100
X's and O's. At the sound of his NFL teams are on the roster (includ boot verdict
voice, she makes a crucifix with her ing "secret teams" you'll have fun
PRODUCT: Touchdown COMPANY: Intermark
fingers and screams: "Back, back, discovering, as are all the Super
PRICE; $39.99 PHONE: 714.833.1220
thou fiend from hell!" Bowls that ever wuz, and customiz URL www.intermk.com
Madden aside, this game is an able fantasy teams.
absolute bear to install. Not only Yes, the price of admission is
are the hardware requirements steep high, but if you're grognard enough boot verdict
(40MB of free hard drive space!), but to handle the complexities, you'll PRODUCT: Total Control Fooftiall COMPANY; Philips Media
it's unspeakably twitchy—first refus find hundreds of hours of entertain PRICE: $54.99 PHONE; 310.444.6600
ing to recognize my Sound Blaster, ment here. My only quibble: Game URL; vmw.philipsmedia.coni
then my mouse driver! Several phone scores tend to be unrealistically
calls and much cursing later, the high. Game after game ended "73- boot verdict
thing fires up and I am plunged into 58," "48-42" and the like... more
pure gridiron heaven. like a bad basketball game than a PRODUCT: Madden NFL '97 COMPANY; Electronic Arts
If the previous game was the good football game. PRICE $59.99 PHONE; 800.245.4525
URL; www-easports.com
equivalent of a streamlined Chief- ■ 10/27/96: Fighting off fatigue, I
of-Staff strategic-level war game, install Acclaim's NFL Quarterback
Madden '97 is one of the hardest- Club '97. I am reminded of Close boot verdict
core, down-to-the-rivets games— Combat You're in tactical com
Panthers on the Prowl, for instance- mand, you call the plays, and hope PRODUCT: NFL Quatlerback Club '97 COMPANY: Acclaim
PRICE; $ 49.99 PHONE: 516.656.5000
in which the outcome of firing a your troops will respond to the
URL: www.acclaimnation.com
singie round is factored on penetra pressures and vagaries of combat

boot JAN 97
REVIEWS

But the third button doesn't

Microsoft Intellimouse function at all in DOS, Windows
3.1, or OS/2. And forget using the
Another use for your middle finger wheel/button for mouse-looks in
Quake, because it doesn't work
Microsoft's new mouse mounts a wheei/button combo as a normal third button.
between the left and right buttons. But the company So what's it good for? You can scroll through windows
shouldn't expect the world to beat a path to its door, without touching the scroll bar, shrink and enlarge docu
because very little software takes advantage of the ments on the fly, and navigate web pages
rodent's new appendage. Currently, that very short list and menu trees without using icons. boot verdict
consists of Win95's Help and Explorer utilities; Internet The Intellimouse's wheel/button is like an $3499
fxp/orerand Works-, and a few utilities in NT 4.0 [Note appendix: it doesn't do any harm, but it's not COMPAMY: Microsoft
pad, Wordpad, Explorer, and Help). Microsoft promises good for much either. PHONE: 800,426.9490
that Office 97 will also exploit the device. — A.S. URL: www.microsoft.com

Highlights include a SCSI utility that refuses to detect

SCSIVision any devices unless you have a BusLogic SCSI controller,
GEAft CD-R premastering software, CodeBlue2 crash recov
Laugh, cry, hurl,.. ery tools, Microsoft's Internet Explorer 3.0 browser, and
the All About SCSI tutorial program. And then there's the
Some discs are so bizarre, they boggle the mind. SCSMsion filler that makes "SCSIVIsion a fun SCSI tool."

boot verdict bundles SCSI-related educational material, benchmarking Devil's Eye Is a weak 3D dungeon game that boasts,
• tools, a virus checker, some disk utilities, a game, "unlike other games, monsters DO pass through walls."
PRICE;899 (bundled with and some amazingly cheesy video and sound But for real laughs watch the bundled AVI clips-the man
BusLogic SCSI adapters) clips. While the disc sorely lacks value and throwing his PC off a balcony gave us some Ideas about
COMPANY: Mylex
PHONE: 510.796.6100
quality components, it did have all of us on what to do with SCSIVision.

URL: www.mylex.com the floor laughing at its badness. - CD.

Try it out! spliced mule DNA into crab DNA,

Gene Wars on the
here's your chance to find out.
The game's crisp SVGA graphics
Wanna play with DNA? bootDisc are among the best ever, and the
2D sprite-rendering engine delivers
Gene Wars' mutant bestiary is the perfect showcase for smooth animation over the three-quarter overhead view. A
Bullfrog's new Skeletal Mapping game engine, but this simple point-and-click interface gets you into
god-game's goofy sci-fi sound effects and comic visuals the thick of the action, and four-player action boo t verdict
detract from an otherwise engaging adventure. is available over an IPX network {no modem
PRICE: $34,95
In your struggle with three other alien races for control or serial-port play). COMPANY: EA/Bullfrog
of a planet, you must bioengineer your own organic wea Gene Wars is good, but would be better PHONE: 600.245.4525
pons. If you've ever wondered what would happen if you without the silliness. — AS. URL: www.bullfrog.co.uk/

Presto! PageManager Suite

Makes scanning more complicated
Billed as a "Scanning Operating System," Presto! Page- to then be routed (by you) to one of the waiting programs
Manager makes you ask, "Why?" you've placed in the Application Bar at (he bottom of the
Presto sets out to "shield users from compatibility prob screen where drag-and-drop technology then launches the
lems between the application and scanner," which it does. app. Sound easier?
boot verdict But this Is the sort of thing that takes all of 10 seconds. The suite contains six other "equally helpful" apps for
•
Next, the software allows scanning directly scanning in forms and business card info, cataloguing images,
PRICE: $149 and sending color foxes (assuming a color fax machine
into applications, which it doesn't even really
COMPANY: NewSoft
do. Hitting the Scan button on the back awaits on the other end of the line). A meager image editing
PHONE; 800.436.4365
URL: www.tophat.com ground app's floating toolbar launches your program and surprisingly robust OCR app join the SE version
scanner, depositing the image into an In-Box, of Kai's PowerGoo in rounding out the bundle. — B.D.

104 • boot JAN 07

 REVIEWS

OfabJT

GrabIT vs.
Snappy 2.0
A showdown of the video frame grabbers
GrabIT and Snappy 2.0 have a lot in common. window is in glorious black
Both hook up to your parallel port and, with the and white, but it's updated
ciick of a button, both grab a single frame from twice every second. Digitized
an NTSC video source. They're incredibly easy to images can be viewed full-
use and both come bundled with a coilection of size, and then cropped and
nifty image manipulation tools. But that's where color-adjusted on the fly from Though these two little boxes have a lot In common. Snappy delivers great
performance and is the clear winner In this beauty contest
the similarities end. within the capture software.
On the surface, GrabIT looks like a better Snappy captures in 24-bit color up to 1500x1125 GrabIT does a tolerable Job—and its six-pane
package, with both S-video and composite input, resoiution and has an ultra high-res mode that interface is cooi—but many of its images are
while Snappy only has composite. GrablT's short performs multiple upsamples on a still frame for poor and grainy. Snappy delivers across the
parallel port extender cable allows the Walkman- maximum quality. But even when digitizing from board, with the best quality images and a pol
sized device to come forward, so it is more a live video source, Snappy's quality was leaps ished user interface. It costs a little more, but
accessible and allows your PC to sit near a wail; and bounds ahead of GrabIT. Snappy delivers much better performance. Plus,
Snappy requires five or more inches of clearance Snappy supports BMP, JPEG, Pa,TARGA, it's bundled with Adobe's PhotoDeluxe, Gryphon's
behind your machine. TIFF, and the new PNG file format. (PNG has all Morph, and MetaTools' Kai's PowerGoo SE. GrabIT
But then the tides shift. the cross-platform advantages of GIF, but with only comes bundled with PhotoMorph II. GrabIT
GrabIT draws power from either a PS/2 or DIN 24-bit color depth.) Snappy can also digitize is capable, but Snappy is the clear winner in
keyboard port; Snappy gets 1,000 grabs out of a images from directly within any TWAIN-compliant this competition.
9-volt battery. (The battery is better because it program (such as Photoshop). — Chris Dunphy
avoids tangled cables.)
GrabIT displays a continuously-updating color
preview of the last six frames grabbed, with a
new frame automatically grabbed about every
two seconds. (Color adjustments must be per
formed in a separate window.) Snatch any win
dow you want and save it in either 720x480 or
360x240 resoiution, with up to 24-bit color, then
save your work as BMP, JPEG, PCX, TARGA, or
TIFF formats.
Surprisingly, GrabIT won't allow you to view
your captured images at full size. The only way
to make sure you got the grab you wanted is to
open the file with a stand-alone paint program.
Though it does an admirable job, zooming In reveals Snappy's 1500x1125 Image holds up even when zoomed
And as if that wasn't enough, the GrabIT window the GrablT's deficiencies. In. It's amazing this came from an NTSC camera!
can't be minimized. The final insult: While GrabIT
■aassEK&s
is running, your entire system slows to a crawl.
By comparison, Piay's new Snappy 2.0 soft i
ware is simple elegance. The small preview 4
4
4
4
«> • 4
OD 4
»•,> S3 ' 4
When you see both of these products on the AM f) 4
shelf and start comparing the packaging,
beware. Both boxes tout an admirable list of The six-pane main window Is nice to use, but the Snappy's user interface is polished and easy to use.
absence of a Minimize burton keeps it In your face.
magazine awards and editors picks; the only dif
ference is Snappy earned its awards. GrabIT has
plastered the back of their box with awards,
such as "PC Magazine: Best of Year"-but only
boot verdict boot verdict
•
on a very close second look do you realize that PRODUCT: GrabIT PRODUCT: Snappy
none of the awards apply to GrabIT. Instead, PRICE; S159.99 PRICE; SI 99.95
these accolades were won by the bundled COMPANY: AIMS Lab COMPANY: Play
PhotoMorph 11 software, way back In 1994. PHONE: 510.661.2525 PHONE; 800.306.7529
URL: www.almslab.com URL: www.play.com

boot JAN 97
Toshiba 12x CD-ROM Drives
The law of diminishing returns
Even though 8x CD-ROM drives have
only been on the market for a few
short months, a generation of 12x
drives is here to push them off the
stage. Toshiba's XM-5701B (SCSQ
and XM-5702B (IDE-ATAPI) are the
first drives on the scene.
The specs promised by Toshiba
are enough to instill lusty thoughts
in the most chaste PC owner:
Sustained data-transfer rate of
l,800K/sec, average access time of
125ms, and compatibility with all Thinking of buying an 8x? Think again! These 12x babies wanna rock your world. But do manufecturer's specs live up to the hype?
the usual standards.
But before you drop one of of 127ms for the ATAPi model and slightly ahead with a performance of consider going with the SCSi ver
these babies into an empty drive 128ms for the SCSI version—very 5 minutes, 35 seconds, compared to sion of Toshiba's 12x drive—espe
bay, consider this: The actual per close to Toshiba's claimed perfor 5 minutes, 41 seconds for the ATAPI. cially if you already have a SCSI
formance you'll realize depends as mance of 125ms. But the ATAPi if you're upgrading an older interface in your machine.
much on your computer's specs as drive fell short of the 1,800K trans machine, you should seriously — Andrew Sanchez
it does on the drives themselves— fer rate promised, delivering an
especially with the iDE-ATAPi model. average data-transfer rate of oniy boot verdict
We installed both drives (one at l,030K/sec. That's much better than
a time, of course) in our 166MHz 8x drives (which peter out at less PRODUCT: XM-5702B COMPANY: Toshiba
(iDE-ATAPi) PHONE: 714.457.0777
Pentium test system and evaluated than 800K/sec); but that perfor
PRICE: SI65 URL: www.toshiba.com
performance with a variety of tasks. mance consumed a whopping 81
We clocked an average access time percent of the CPU's clock cycles!
Paired with an Adaptec 29A0-UW
boot verdict
SCSi host adapter, Toshiba's XM-
5701B SCSi 12x drive delivered much PRODUCT: XM-5701B (SCSI) PHONE: 714.457.0777
better performance—at least in terms PRICE: SI 95 URL: www.toshiba.com
the 12/. Frontier of CPU utilization. It achieved the COMPANY: Toshiba

same average data transfer rate

Toshiba's speedy 12x CD-ROM (l,030K/sec) as its ATAPi cousin, but
drives are the firet to hit the boot- i it consumed just 44 percent of the
Dai/iil Full Upyad Ahyad!
Lab, but others have arrived already, CPU's clock cycles.
yearning for their time in the spot The XM-5702B's high CPU utilization So if your EIDE controller and
The ATAPI drive's outrageous
light. With yesterday's 8x and lOx I in our testing can be attributed to a your CD-ROM drive support bus
CPU utilization can be attributed to i number of fectors, but most signifi- mastering, you're all set, right?
CD-ROM drives becoming road-kill,
slowly decomposing on the CD-ROM our test machine's implementation I cantiy, the Enhanced IDE controller Wrong, because the current version
autobahn, drive manufacturers are of IDE bus mastering and its instal ; and the version of Win95 installed ofWin95 (OSR-1) doesn't support
ready to appeal to your need for lation of Win95 OSR-1 (OEM Sales on our test system. EIDE bus-mastering devices. Yoink!
more and more speed. in a perfect world, your EiDE Updating your motherboard's BIOS
Release 1) as much as it can be
By the time you read this, TEAC controller and the drive would both and installing the latest Win95
attributed to the drive's interface.
will be shipping its CD-512E 12x support bus-mastered DMA trans device drivers for your mother
Toshiba claims you'll experience fers. In this scenario, the controller board's EIDE controller may help.
EiOE unit, and MItsumi will have its
FX 12x EiDE model on your fevorite much better performance with a transfers data directly from the drive Microsoft plans to implement such
distributor's shelf. (Look for hands- newer motherboard and Win95 to the PC's memory in a single bus support in Win95 05R-2, but this
on reviews of both these models in OSR-2 (see sidebar). cycle, reducing traffic on the system upgrade won't be available directly
an upcoming issue of boot.) Expect bus. If the controller doesn't sup to consumers until late this year
Both drives performed well in
other manufecturers to quickly port bus mastering, data must be as part of the next incarnation of
our real-world tests. Loading a mis transferred in two steps, with the Win95, even though it will be
follow suit, although no other
announcements have been made.
sion in Wing Commander IV, took host's DMA controller reading the installed in new systems. Double
And don't think for a New York 7.4 seconds on the ATAPi model; data on one clock cycle and writing Yoink! The only way you'll be able
minute that 12x is the finai frontier. 7.9 seconds on the SCSI version. it to system memory on a second to get OSR-2 will be to (a) buy a
Engineers have already designed But when we tested how long the cycle. Accommodating the data- new system, or (b) pirate it from
the 16x successor to the 12x drive. transfer rate of a 12x drive without someone else who bought a new
drives would require to transfer a
Speed limits? We don't need no bus mastering dumps a helluva load system (insert standard anti-piracy
579MB file from the disc to the hard on the CPU. tirade here).
stinkin' speed limits!
drive, the SCSI model came out

10B • boot JAN 07

 REVIEWS

www.bootnet.com

Ctieck out the library

Descent Mission Builder of Descent levels on

our web site.

And on the seventh day...

Creating new worlds is no jfijWjIiV r, M v.t KM"j—)
ikull {i[i E [ilict; CLiiviiig cuniueii
easy task. Ask God. But )Select the first active
Descent Mission Builder e by left-clicking on it
endows you with the ability 1 your mouse, then
to create new worlds for the left or right arrow
I key to select the active
one of the all-time great fside (shown here in red).
games: Descent (but not
Descent If). Problem is, ' '7fi
you'll also need god-like
powers of concentration to Crazy-insane levels are but a mouse
click and keystroke away...
learn this software, since
there's no tutorial and no printed manual.
Descent Mission Su/Vder doesn't approach 3D design like
conventional editors and 3D modelers. Instead of treating
©Press the spacebar
rooms as polygonal objects that can be manipulated within a and your First active side
3D workspace, Mission Su/Wer treats Descent rooms like one, will be designated by its
long, continuously linked cubic segment (viewable in wireframe dark green trim. Left-click
on the cube you want the
or flat shaded). Each new segment sprouts from the previous
curved path applied to.
segment's active side. Intricate designs, such as curved tunnels, Designate which side will
are handled by Mission Builder's spline-based Curve Generator be the connection by
(see sidebar). making it the active side
(using the left or right
The point-and-click GUI belies the power lurking below—
arrow key).
almost everything within Descent becomes a pawn which you
can control. From the placement of in-game entities (enemies or
otherwise), strict control over interior corridor texture mapping, CeWe Join iggitieip
to ambient light adjustment. Descent Mission Builder offers Ptece Bie cupet* cube on cno oT curve ani parts.
almost every option you could want. Master level designers can
Use rhe 7end T treys lo a^uet the(enget ot the ted
tweak their creations with hidden trigger placements, wall
strength, traps and enemy ambush points, false walls, and more. Pressf lo roteie(he porni cornections

But Descent Mission Builder \s far from flawless. A good edi Press -G'o> select Torjlt/Cuive Geneialai nhen you atInshed
tor has an Undo/Redo function—this one doesn't. The Edit tool
bar (used to adjust a cube's size, beveling, and angle) is hid
den behind the scenes—it should be readily accessible on the © Go to the Tools menu and select Curves ©This is your fn'end, since there Is no
desktop. The Materials Editor displays only one texture at a Generator (or just type 'G') to enter the printed manual. Commit this to memory,
next phase of curved corridor building. then dick the OK button.
time from the multitude that are available. Give me more, I say!
How 'bout a real-time preview option? And why must 1 con
stantly hit F5 to bring out the Edit toolbar, then move my win
dows into position? The program should let me create custom
tool layouts. Hey, I'm paying 20 bucks for this software.
Once you've created your dream level, the editor will pretest
it to ensure that certain criteria are met: Every level must have
a reactor, a starting point, and an exit, for example. The test
will also ensure that you don't exceed the maximum number of
rooms that Descent can handle. Copy the new RDL (single-level ©A distorted tunnel. Looks like mixed-up ©Ahhh... much better. Doesn't (hat look
mission), HOG (multilevel mission), and MSN files to your point alignment. Press "P" to move the precious) Note the smootii gradual curve-
second active sides' point alignment to no awkward twists here!
Descent subdirectory and you're ready to fly.
match up with your first active cube side.
Descent Mission Builder is cool because it delivers absolute
control over every aspect of Descent's twisting, turning, sub
terranean realm. It would be great if it weren't so awkward. ©Don't be afraid to play
with the degree of curve
— Andrew Sanchez in your corridor. Fiddle
with the and "]" keys
boot verdict to adjust the length of
your spline segment
PRICE: Sig.95 PHONE: 800.454.6064 When you're satisfied,
COMPANY: Interplay URL: www.interplay.com press "G," click on the OK
button, and your corridor
is ready.

boot JAN S7 • 107

H'/ciA

Verbal Commander
Spray it, don't say it
File Verbal Commander under the heading: voice-recognition software. Installation is pain
"Seemed like a good idea at the time." less: just plug in the card, connect your key
Star Trek captains might look cool barking board to a pass-through connector, and attach
commands at the computer, but when you're the mic. You'll be up and shouting in minutes.
sitting in front of your PC wearing a headset First train Verbal Commander to recognize
mic and yelling "Jump" or "Fire" again and your voice (and train yourself to speak consis
again, you just feel like an idiot. tently with the same tone and volume) by The Verbal Commander doesn't always recognize your
Worse yet, Verbal Commander makes you repeating a game command. This training doesn't commands. It's best used for changing weapons, so
you don't have to take your hands off the fire and
feel like an idiot who can't finish the easiest take long—less than five minutes for Quake
navigation keys.
level. Verbal Commander is supposed to endow commands such as Fire, Up, jump, Thunderbolt,
all your games (DOS and Win95) with speech- and Axe. You can assign up to 20 verbal com the confines of a lOth-floor office tower isn't
recognition capabilities—so you can yell com mands to each game. a good idea.
mands instead of banging a keyboard. But dur The system works with virtually any game, — Bryan Del Rizzo
ing several hours of Quake and Dark Forces, but comes with custom control settings for
Verbal Commander misunderstood my com 25 titles, including Quake, EFZOOO, and U.S. boot verdict
•
mands and produced either the wrong action or Navy Fighters.
PRICE: S149.95
no action at all some 20 percent of the time. Verbal Commander is a fun toy, even if it COMPANY: K2 interactive
Verbal Commander consists of a half-length doesn't always work. Just be careful where you PHONE: 888.752.9524
ISA card, a noise-canceling headset mic, and use it. Screaming "Fire!" and "jump!" within URL www.k2i.com

Atomic

Duke Nukem 3D: "There has been quite the confu- ,

Plutonium Pak sion about which Duke package is'

right for you. Lets get this straight.
Duke Nukem 3D; The Plutonium
Pak consists of the patch disk
Guess who's back and on the attack Anyone up for a little menage-a-Duke?
(upgrading vl.03 to vl.04 Atomidi
The new pak maintains the munch. the new missions; and Windows
Put the 'nuke' back into Duke ball-busting missions ("The Birth"); stuff; and is intended solely for
Nukem 3D with an all-new bad-ass and packs more xenophobic invaders complete with an almost impossible current owners of theOoke Nukem
expansion pack that cooks more than you can shake a shotgun at, laser trip-bomb trap), to their per 3D vl.03 retail edition. The Duke
gooey aliens than a pissed-off including two new alien troopers verse ideas about how hamburgers Nukem 3D Atomic Edition includes
(one of which can shrink you). All in an alien infested Los Angeles are everything: Duke 3D vl.03 retail
Sigourney Weaver having a bad
plus everything included in the
hair day. of this culminates in the underwater made (explore Duke's own ham
Plutonium Pak (for you young
By patching the current retail trashfest with the horrific Queen burger joint), to barging in on an
bucks fresh to the Duke Nukem
version of Duke 3D from vl.03 to and her monstrous brood. S8iM movie set—the fun factor and
3D game).
the vl.04 Atomic Edition, the The microwave gun (a new hypersexual titillation never wane. Got it? Good!
Plutonium Pak offers much more weapon, toggled with the shrink But there's one drawback:
than just a boatload of new one- ray) grants you the power to literally Whereas classic Duke 3D never
liners-it takes you into 11 new 'nuke' your quarry. Hold down the required that the original disc be in Themes, and you have the perfect
trigger and watch them slowly your PC, the Atomic Edition won't fix for your Duke Nukem itch.
expand before exploding in a bloody fly without it. A smart player (with He's back, he's pissed, and he's
mush. Any poor sloth stupid disk space to burn) should update ready to rock. Get ready to tear
enough to get caught in the ensu a copy of vl.03. those aliens a new orifice with
ing rearranging of entrails will Add to that, new cinematic cut- Plutonium Pak—you won't be
take damage—perfect for those scenes, and a smorgasbord of disappointed.
close encounters. screen savers and Win95 Desktop - Andrew Sanchez
Level design, per 3D Realms'
standards, is outstanding and lit
boot verdict
tered with pop-culture references,
The horrific Queen spawns more of
her alien brood-nail her before she from the opening level (a serious PRICE; 529.95 PHONE: 800.305.3390
nails you! spoof on Mission: Impossible, COMPANY: GT Interactive URL: www.gtinteractive.com

boot JAN 97
 R E VI EWS
www.bootne{.coni

See II on ~ \

bOOtNet
See sample scans
on ouf web site.

Nikon
ScanTouch AX-110
Quality that extends beyond the specs
The ScanTouch AX-110 is a speedy flatbed scanner that produces the
tack-sharp images you'd expect (torn optics sporting the Nikon moniker.
On a full M page, the AX-110 spits out 8-bit depth at 300x600dpi of The a:drive do^ every
thing the traditional floppy drive
optical resolution for each of the RGB channels in roughly 30 seconds. does—only better.
The TWAIN-compliant app you're acquiring into, on the other hand,
might require a full minute or more to bring up the final image for edit
ing. Software interpolation slows matters down considerably, but allows
you to acquire images with resolutions up to 4800x4800dpi. Don't wet
yourself yet. These are interpolated resolutions. Under the best of con
aidrive
ditions, they're only fractionally sharper than up-sampling with Photo Ditch the disk and make the switch
shop's built-in interpolation algorithms.
SCSI-II transfer rates of up to 10MB per second are just as speedy as While many are nominating the Zip or jaz cartridge drive as the succes
the single-pass acquire times, and the AX-110 has two connectors to sor to the floppy drive, they really aren't designed for that job. The
choose from: 25-pin or 50-pin. a:drive, on the other hand, is.
Most of the AX-llO's features are With qualifications such as five times the
feirly nondescript in the field of speed boost of a floppy drive, more than 80
flatbeds, except the excellent Nikon times the capacity of a lowly 1.44MB diskette,
Scan acquire software. This prescan and backward compatibility with its inferior
utility allows you to specify media cousin; the a:drive is a serious contender.
types Oine art, grayscale, or color; From the outside, the a:drive looks like a
reflective art or transparencies using traditional floppy disk drive. It slides into the
the optional Transparency Adapter); The excellent Nikon Scan software is same 3.5-inch expansion bay, and reads and The LS-120 media holds
image size, cropping, and resolu one of the AX-llO's best features. writes 1.44MB and 720K diskettes. It even uses 120MB.

tion; and elaborate color correction controls. Beyond brightness, con the same mechanism as a floppy disk drive, but can read and write
trast, black-point and white-point settings the Nikon Scan software pro LS-120 media (something its floppy kin cannot). The 120MB cartridges
vides a Gamma Curve window that allows for complete manipulation of have identical dimensions to a traditional diskette and can be used
each RGB channel. Applying these powerful tools to a preview scan that with any LS-120 drive.
takes less than 10 seconds to acquire will save you mucho time later, We installed the a:drive in our benchmark Pentium 166MHz, and
when you're tweaking some 40MB file. it was recognized immediately in Win95. If you plan to use both a
While not in the same class (and price range) as its big brother, the traditional floppy disk drive and the a:drive you'll need an additional
AX-210, the AX-110 has little to distinguish itself from the competition floppy DC power connector, since most PCs only have one.
except speed, sharpness, and excellent software. But, then again, isn't The a:drive delivered exceptional performance. Formatting a disk
that enough? - Brad Dosland on a regular floppy drive took almost 2 minutes, while the ardrive com
pleted the task in only 15 seconds. Copying a 1MB file took exactly
1 minute on a regular floppy, but the a:drive needed only 9 seconds.
Damn impressive.
With its speedy performance, ability to serve as a booting device,
and backward compatibility, there's really no reason the ardrive shouldn't
be integrated Into every desktop and notebook computer worldwide.
— Bryan Del Rizzo
Use either
the 25-pln or 50-pln
SCSI-I[ connector for
10MB per second
transfer rates.
To achieve compatibility with both old and new media, the ardrive utilizes
dual gap heads-the wide head and linear encoder are used to read and
write low-density data, while the narrow head and optical servo are used
The AX-110 requires to read and write high-density data. The ardrive also uses error correction
a significant chunk of code, and can identify and correct for imperfections in the data or from
desktop real estate, as flatbed
disk wear.
scanners are wont to do.

boot verdict boot verdict

PRICE: $695 PHONE: 800.526.4566 PRICE: $210; 120MB cartridges PHONE: 408.866.3000
COMPANY: Nikon URL: www.klt.co.jp/Nikon^lD/ $15(.13c/MB) URL: www.ort8chnoiogy.com
COMPANY: O.R. Technology

boot JAN 97
 jVniich'of tbe foKofting
You Don't Know lack
■ W%« VWBB W IXI IWVV _;w*x#ix ^ g
I statements abeut tbis
>inanisniestGkel]i true?

humor. Mix well, and prepare to be

Sue won't show cat poo entertained. Serves players 18 and
if you're mystified by that gibberish, well, you just don't over for 20 hours or more.
know jack. Volume 2 adds new features such as celebrity
If you couldn't get enough of the original You Don't guest appearances, new types of questions b oot verdict
Know Jack trivia game and the subsequent expansion pack, (including fill-in-the-blank), new voice talent,
PRICE: $29.95
you'll be ecstatic to learn that YDKj Volume 2 is here. With and a high-score list (finally!). COMPANY: Berkeley Systems
more than 800 zany new questions, this new stand-alone Trivia hasn't been this much fun since, well, PHONE; 800.344,5541
game is the same as the original: hilarious. the original You Don't Know Jack. — B.D.R. URL: www.berksys.com

Jry it out!
Return Fire demo
on tne
Don't play this alone bootDisc
Capture the flag isn't much fun to play by yourself, and a helicopter; "The Hallelujah Chorus" as you find the flag,
neither is this take on that classic concept featuring tanks, etc. Unfortunately, Return Fire lacks the depth that keeps
assault vehicles, helicopters, and jeeps. But hook up you coming back for more. There are only a few varieties
boot verdict a friend for head-to-head play on the split- of enemies, and the challenge becomes repetitive fast.
•
screen and Return Fire is a blast. There is also no network play (big mistake). But for some
PRICE: S39
COMPANY: GT Interactive The thundering classical music score fast, furious, friend-blasting fan, this is a great way to
PHONE: 800.610.4847 really enhances the game—"Ride of the kill a few hours.
URL: www.gtinleractive.com Valkyries" plays as you zoom around in - CD.

-Try It out!
Wing Commander: demo
on the
bootDisc
The Kilrathi Saga Among the five-disc set's highlights: Wing til
now features interlaced video playback, delivering
Terran-Kllrathi Relations 101 smoother cinematics and fewer stray visual arti
facts. Origin also includes a patch for Wing IV, so
Neuter those pesky intergalactic cats one more time with you can play it under Win95. And finally, Win95-optimized
Wing Commander: The Kilrathi Saga. versions of Secret Missions I and II are available free from
This is no Wing Commander 5-foot 10-pack. Origin has Origin's web site. (You can also find them
tweaked and optimized the first three games in this series on this month's bootDisc)
and made them even better. Running on Win95, they take There's no new material here, but if
boot verd ict
advantage of DirectX (but not Direct3D): sport a new, digi you want to relive the destruction of pRicg. $39.99
tal, Dolby Surround soundtrack; and a frame-rate limiter that K'tithrak Mang, The Kilrathi Saga offers COMPANY: EA/Origin
allows you to play these classics on a high-end Pentium (a sweet memories. PHONE: 800.245.4525
user-adjustable frame-rate limiter would've been appreciated). — AS URL: www.ea.com/origin

Gamepad Ergonomically, the CH Gamepad isn't bad. Its con

toured underbelly fits comfortably in your hands and the
Hands off! buttons have good action; but the directional pad is an
abomination. It's not properly centered (the raised edges
CH's new analog Gamepad isn't worthy of the CH name. need to be rotated about three degrees), so even simple
Sure, analog controllers were fine five years ago, but movements aren't intuitive, and forget precise diagonals-
they're just about impossible.
boot verdict state-of-the-art digital pads deliver more precision and fire
• power. The CH Gameppd's lack of pro- No matter what other bells and whistles you may add,
PRICE: $29.95 grammability and weak multiplayer sup a good gamepad should be programmable, digital, and
COMPANY; CH Products port are also major letdowns. And con support multiple players. The CH Gamepad fails on all
PHONE; 800.624.5804
necting two pads via a joystick V-cable three counts.
URL; www.chproducts.com
limits each pad to only two buttons. - B.D.R.

110 • boot JAN 97

 REVIEWS

Alps' MO-4000 is an

Alps IVlD-4000 Color excellent color printer

and color scanner.
The printer uses a
' new dry Ink that

Printer/Scanner won't smear, even

when exposed to
moisture.

Attack of the two-headed monster

To earn a place in my home office, you must be $6.60 ribbon cartridges
versatile. Office, say hello to the MD-4000. This (one each for
hybrid peripheral prints and scans. cyan, magenta,
The MD-4000's printer spits out colors at yellow, and
600x600dpi (and 1200x600 in black and white), black), which pro-
while the 24-bit TWAIN-compliant single-pass duce an estimated
scanner delivers optical resolution up to 600dpi. 200 color prints.
(Alps' $499 MD-2010 uses the same print head Black cartridges
sans scanner.) Print quality is excellent, especially should last for 560
with photographs. Text printing is awesome, pages. The average
producing perfectly legible type, even down to cost per page is 31/2
four points. Solid-color backgrounds, such as cents. Cool metallic
PowerPo/nf slides, show some banding though. color inks—gold, sil
Unlike Inkjet printers, the MD-4000's dry ink ver, cyan, and magen " The printer
resists moisture and smearing. Ink comes in ta—are available for uses a separate Ink
cartridge for each color. The print
$8.99 each. The print head picks up the appropriate ink cartridge
er handles plain paper and prints only that color during each of Four passes.
and transparencies in
its 100-sheet auto feeder, and takes iron-on
transfers, greeting-card stock, and backprint film
in single-sheet mode. Color-matching options
18 pt The quick bn
allow you to manually adjust the printer's color 5 pt Helvetica The quick brovyn fox jurr
balance (saturation, red, green, and blue levels), 10 pt The quick brown fox jumi:
or pick from presets for business graphics, pho
tographs, or graphic art.
12 pt The quick brown fox
The quality of the MD-4000's scanner is just
as good as its printer, but isn't nearly as conve
14 pt The quick brown
nient as a flatbed scanner. You must remove all ^0fit diaaA lAc ^
The Alps MD-4000's scanner interface offeis a the paper from the device and adjust the feeder fit *7^ <^ucc&. Stomt-^jumfiecC o
host of options, including cropping. before scanning. Documents must be inserted into
a special holder, so a sheet feeder can pull the <ftf. Jm'
page across an optical pickup. Still, none of this TTie MD-4000 produces incredibly sharp, black text
presents too much of a burden. Alps' CopyStudio It's no speed demon, though.
software allows you to preview, crop, and make
other adjustments before committing to a scan.
The MD-4000 also does overtime as a color
copier. The scanner copies the image to your
hard drive, prompts you to reload paper, prints
the image, then automatically deletes the file
when it's finished.
This Image was scanned on the MD-4000, saved
as a TIFF file, and reproduced directly. If you need speed, steer clear of the MD-
4000. Graphics require four passes across the
print head: one for each primary color. Tino pro
duce its exceptionally crisp black text, the printer
first lays down cyan ink, then black. Printing a This Image was scanned from a 35mm slide. Resolu
text-only page takes up to five minutes; large tion is excellent, but there is some banding In the sky.
images can consume 15 minutes or more. While
the scanner accomplishes its magic with just one
boot verdict
pass, it's no speed demon either. Scanning in a
3x5-inch snapshot took more than five minutes. PRICE: S699
Still, there's no denying the powerful allure COMPANY: Alps Electric
of the MD-4000's outstanding quality. PHONE: 800.825.2577
The same image, printed on the MD-4000, then
URL: www.aipsusa.com
photographed for reproduction in the magazine. — Michael Brown

boot JAN 97
REVIEWS

DVBK-1000 Still
Image Capture Card
Capture rapture Because each Image is recorded at 720x480, the cap
tured images must be down-sampled to 640x480
before you can view them on screen. This can result
Still cameras and video cameras both record and a healthy dose of luck. With a high-speed in image degradation.
moments in time, but the latter can record 30 FireWire interface, Sony's DVBK-1000 card deliv
moments every second. You need still images ers the best of both worlds by capturing still album, and each frame is stamped with the date
for print or web publishing, but catching the per frames from digital video tape. and time of capture. You can also set up the
fect moment with a still camera requires talent Shoot up to two hours of video using Sony's software to record a series of images, but each
DCR-VX700 digital HandyCam-the only camcorder 640x480 resolution image will eat upwards of
currently equipped with a FireWire output-plug 900K of storage.
the camera into the DVBK-1000 ISA card, and Priced at $799, the DVBK-1000 is less than
you'll have thousands of images to choose from. half the cost of an industrial-quality digital still
The idea isn't terribly new-Play's $179 Snappy camera. That price advantage evaporates instantly
accomplishes the same task with analog video when you factor in the $4,199 cost of Sony's
cameras-but the DVBK-1000/DCR-VX700 combo digital HandyCam, but this system can't be beat
does it all in the digital domain. The payoff is in for flexibility.
00:00:05:25
the quality of the captured images. — Bryan Del Rizzo
The capture software controls the camera's
LANC port to control its transport mechanism boot verdict
•
and displays a streaming preview of the video
PRICE: $799
flowing through the bus. Click the mouse when
COMPANY: Sony Electronics
you see the frame you want and the image is PHONE: 800.222.7669
The DVBK-lOOO's software interface includes myriad
features, including zoom, fiie manipulation, and even stored to your hard drive. It's as easy as that. URL: www.sony.com
on-screen camcorder control All the captured frames are organized into an

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 iiidi
COMPANY PAQE
COMPANY
NUMBER n^N^b^er

3Dfx interactive 10 371 www.3dfx.com/ Microsoft 16 — www.mlcrosoft.com/games

Accolade 6 82 www.accolade.com Microsoft 26 — www.microsoft.com/games
boot 80 -

www.bootnet.com Microsoft 43 — www.microsoft.com/games

CH Products 93 110 www.chproducts.com Microsoft 75 — www.microsoft.com/games
Connectix 4 111 www.connectix.com NEC Technologies 48 250 www.nec.com

Creative Labs 9 116 www.creativelabs.com Nucleus Interactive 28 251 www.atomfc3d.com

EarthLink 55 130 www.earthlink.com PC Gamer 118 — www.pcgamer.com

Graphic Simulations C3 150 www.graphsim.com/ Playmates

Interactive Entertainment 13 274 www.piaymatestoys.com/
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www.gtinteractive.com
Segasoft 58 302 www.segasoft.com
GT Interactive 20 152 www.gtinteractive.com
Segasoft 60 — www.segasoft.com
GT Interactive 79 151 www.gtinteractive.com
Syncronys 30 303 www.synchronys.com
Microforum 46 234 www.microforum.com
The Memory Exchange 117 235 www.memoryexchange.com/
Microforum 89 231 www.microforum.com
United CD-ROM 116 330 www.unitedcdrom.com
Micron C2 232 www.mei.micron.com
United CD-ROM 117 331 www.unitedcdrom.com
Micronics 68 236 www.orchid.com
Microsoft C4 -
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 price of $99, 3D-P1X provides more million home Coming Soon: The Swimsuit Edition.
than 120 fully rendered 3D objects in and business Microleague Multimedia and Sports
categories such as business, sports, and, addresses, six Illustrated have teamed up to produce
science. All images are provided in million miles two new sport sims—College Football
72dpi, ISOdpi, and 300dpi resqlution.-- ofstreets, '97 and Pro Football'97. Both games
Cause'& Effect Productions: and 630,000 are priced at $39.95 and will feature
800.962.2998: www.3dpix.com •miles of high accurate statis
ways, and retails for $49.95. tical simula
Program This
TravRoute Software: 800.297.8728; tions, powerful
If you're getting lost in the 3D
www.travroute.com animated
labyrinths, 3D Graphics File
Formats: A Programmer's Sit on it
Reference will become Back pain is the leading cause ofdis plete statistical
your programming bible. abling work-related injury in tlie printing capa
Covering seven of the most United States and is tlie number two bility, digitized sound, and play-by-play
',commonly used 3D formats reason why adults seek medical atten commentary. Game-players will be able
including; VRML RAW.3D Studio, tion. 3M'sAdju5tabIe Back Support is to run plays one at a time.or a whole
PRODOC? TrueSpace^ AutoCAD DXF,and World an adjustable back rest that has foiu season at once, choose and replace
players, change field arid weather con
ANNOUNCEMENTS: Toolkit, the-book retails for $39.95 and
is accompanied by a CD-ROM contain
ways to create a customized fit. The
Back Support is constructed from the ditions, select stadiums, and compare
THEY TELL US, WE ing 3D objects;,source code, and file same thick, contoured, molded foam teams from different eras. •. \
conveners. used for luxury automobile seating and Microleague Multimedia: \ \
PASS IT ALONG 'Addison Wesley Publishing: covered with
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that's treated Activision has just acquired the i^rld-\
EEPROMs 4 Sale. Cheap.
with Scotdi- wide rights from Parsoft to release\
Ifyou're running low on your supply
Book 'em Dsnno gard Fabric Wm95 versions of A-10 Ctiba, A-10 ■
of EEPROMs, take heart." Philips Semi
if you're interested in programming Protector for Gulf, and A-IO Dogfight Let the \
conductors has announced aggressive
muJtiuser games for the Internet or those unsightly spills. The Back Support games begin! \
/ / producing real-time 3D animation, the
new pricing for its PCF85xxC-2 family
fits many styles of chair and is both All three games will feature differ-\
offloating gate electrically erasable
/ / Coriolis Group has released two new
books that will interest you.
programmable read only merriories
height and shape adjustable for proper
lumbar positioning. Two sizes are avail
ent conflict settings, including Guat- \
onamo Bay, the Persian Gulf, and World
/ I with 2Kbits, 4Kbits, and SKbits(256,
Cutting-Edge Direct 3D Program 512, and 1024 x 8-bit). OEM prices able: the 19xl6x2-md3 model priced at War II. and will also offer single and
ming provides detailed guidance for $119 and the 19x20x2 incher at SB9. multiplayer combat over a modem or •
range from $0.38 to $0.77 each in ■
every major feature of Microsoft's 3M Office Ergouomics: 800332.7483; network. Activision claims that A-10
quantities of 50,000. Stock up npw. At
Direct3D www.mmm.com/eigonomics Cuba will
API, includ
these prices, supplies won't last long.'
Philips Electronics: 800.234.7381; T'- feature some ;
ing 3D coor Portable CD-ROM with 3D
- www.philips.com of the most ;
dinates, ren Panasonic has unveiled the industry's
first portable, battery-operated 8x CD-
advanced j
dering. tex 'Art Appreciation Made Easy flight model- j
ture map Chronicle New Media has just released" ROM drive: the KXL-783A. Priced at
ing ever seen,/
ping, light two fine-art CD-ROMs: Vermeen An $499, tlie drive features a transfer rate
and appioxi- •
ing. and Exploration ofthe Artist and His of1200Kbps.180ms average access mately 16 missions ofaii-to-air and air- /
morphing. Techniques, and Bellini: The Feast of - time, and a 128K buffer. A pair of
to-^ound combat, multiple attack strate
Cutting- the Gods. 35* stereo speak gies, and progressive levels ofdifficult^
Edge Java The Vermeer ers are built
A-10 Cuba is presently shipping,/
into tlie chas
Game disc explores with A-10 Gulfand A-10 Dogfi^t slaved
Programming is a guide to creating the artist's sis, as is a
to ship in early 1997, Each title rptailg
r^al-tirae interactive Internet games. work and Spatializer 3D for $39.95. /
Coverage times in sound chip. Activision; 800.4773650; / /
The drive is
includes tuto considerable
bundled with
www.a<rtivision.com y' j
rials about depth, and includes 21 digitized Vermeer
game pro paintings, plus 75 paintings, prints, a SCSI-2 300,000 Pages / /
gramming and drawings from other artists of the interface card and I Need 'em Now / /
techniques, period. The Bellini CD-ROM examines (PCMCIA Ifyou're finding the local^ervice
advanced Giovanni Bellini's painting "The Feast Type II format) for easy connection to bureau a little slow these days^then
Java pro of the Gods" and also covers the contri notebooks. You can also use the drive listen up; Sharp Electrahics',A04100P
gramming, butions made by.Bellini's Renaissance with a desktop computer equipped with network printer maybe the'solution
animation, contemporaries Titian and Dosso a SCSI-2 host adapter. you've been waiting for.,.
collision Dossi. Both titles are available for Panasonic 800.742.8086; The AO-4IOOP offers multihost
..detection, $39.95 each. www.panasonk.com connectivity. paper handling, and net
and realistic moverhent. B'btli books Chronicle Books: 800.722.6657; work management utilities that allow it
are priced at $39.95 each and'iuclude www.chronbooks.com
Funky 3D to be configured and monitored over
a companion CD-ROM cdntainiti^x. Fractal Design has announced Poser 2, thenetwork: Sharp claims it'll spit out
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©1996 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft and Where do you want to go today? are registered trademarks and Monster Truck Madness is a trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
01996 Terminal Reality. Inc. Ail rights reserved. Ail other products and company names mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners.