FOR PC FANATICS DON'T BUY THAT SOUND CARD YET! The Next Generation of Audio Technology Unveiled 500MHz CPUs Revealed in a Fast Forward Report
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? FULFILLS THE PENTIUM'S PROMISE ~~~·AND MAKES YOUR MULTIMEDIA SCREAM!!!
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o~ you can own a P: of the future. Micron E l ectron i c~ '" has int~grate~ its award-winning M ill en.ni a platform N with the new MMX · technology from Intel. Introducmg the Mtllenma MXE, the latest system 111 the Mill ennia se ri es that's perfect fo r the most uncompromising home or office user. T he M illennia MXE delivers a significant in crease in processing speed ove r classic Pentium-based systems, improving your producriviry. Featuring the exciting new MMX technology, the Millennia MXE accelerates existing and emerging multimedia and communication software, enriches yo ur Internet experience, and dramatically improves graphics, video and audio qualiry. And the Millennia MXE is fully compatible with all your ex isting appli cations. T hat means yo u don't have to upgrade your software un ti l you're ready. Plus the M illennia MXE reduces yo ur cost of ownership. With the MMX technology onboard, yo u can benefit from economi cal software solutions for multimedia and communication enhancements that currently require expensive hardware dev ices. Improve yo ur Productiviry. Experie nce clear, colorful graphics. Enj oy the Internet more. Call and order your new Millennia MXE today and get the most advanced PC available.
Intel 200MHz ...... Pentjum Processor wi th MMX"' Technology
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·.. ·· ... ~ F.~~ PCComputing ~ NO'Iaoi8Efl1996 .h.wE 25, 1996 ..hJNe 25, 1996 Auousl 1996 Ml.1.ElHA PRo2 400 Pu.JS Mlu..EHHIA P1 66 M ~,..L£N~M P133 MII..WHA TFY.NSPoii'TP133
Withlntei200MHzPenriumprO
PENTIUM®PRO • With5e • 900 E. Ka rch er Rood, Nampo, ID 83 687 • Mon·Fri 6om-10pm Sol7om-Spm (MT) •lnlernolionol Soles Hours: Mon·Fri 6om-7pm (MT) • Phone: 208·893·3434 • Fo x: 208·893-3424 • Purchase OrderFo x: 208·893-8992 • TechnicalSupport Avoiloble 24 Hours I 7Oo ys • Technicol Support Phone: 888·AX-MY PC • TechnicalS uppo rt E·moil : [email protected] lnttm.ttiom!Sales lmtm.ttiooaiF.u TolllrrtfromMexico Tollfr~frcmCanad.J ~ TollfrttfrumPurnoRiru 208·89J.8970 208·893·7393 1•1 95 ·800·708· 1755 1,£1...,.... 800·708· 1758 ~ 800-708· 1756 C1997MicronEiectronics, lnc.AIIrights reserved.MicronEiectrttlic:sisnolrespoosillelflfomissi:lnsandlorerrorsillypOgfaphyorpholography. Allpurchasesamsubjedtoavailability.Prices andspecifica!ionsmaybechangedwiltloulnotice;pricesOOoot nctudeshfpilgaodhandilg.3 A simple touch makes everything • Close your hand around the new eas1er. Microsoft" lntelliMouse: Right beneath your index finger is a raised rubber Wheel. Go to Microsoft Excel 97. Press the In Microsoft Word 97 roll the Wheel forward . CTRL key and push the Wheel forward You zip up toward the top of your document. or backward. You zoom in closer or Roll it backward and you zip back toward zoom out farther. See how manageable the end. Roll it slowly to move just a few even a massive spreadsheet becomes. lines at a time. This is how the new A final touch. lntelliMouse works with new To scroll through Web pages with Microsoft Office 97 and lots Microsoft Internet Explorer, press of other lntelli Mouse- compatib le programs the Wheel once and move the to make getting mouse downward. Your computer your work done goes into AutoScroll mode. easier. Automatically, ro lling line by line through your entire document. Without even lifting a finger. Microsoft• IntelliMouse Where do you want to go today?• www.microsoft.comjhardwarej february 1997 EDITORIAL Editor in Chief: Brad Dosland Senior Editor: Michael Brown News Editor: Brya n Del Rizzo Technical Editor: Chri s Dunph y Reviews Editor: And rew Sanchez Production Editor: Ingrid Bush Contributing Editors: Tom Halfhill, Shel Kim en, T. Li am McDonald, David Pescovitz, Jon Phillips Contributing Writers: Jay Boor, Mike Brittman, Lee Buchanan, Brad Craig, Christina Davis, Adam Douglas, Marty Jerome, Neil Redding Disc Editor: Sean Downey Associate Disc Editor: Sean Cleveland Web Goth : Daevid Vin ce nt ART Art Director: Lau ra Morris Associate Art Director: lnka Petersen Contributing Artist: Becky Albe r, Lou Beach, Gerry Se rrano Contributing Photographers: Aaron Lauer, Mark Madeo PRODUCTION Production Director: Richard Lesovoy Production Coordinator: Ken Brandow ADVERTISING National Advertising Manager: Ange la Mueters Regional Advertising Manager: Chris Coelho Regional Advertising Manager: Juanita Nessin ger Marketplace Account Manager: Julianne Cou nter Advertising Coordinator: Jennifer Barb eau Marketing Manager: Angela Bennett CONTACT boot 150 North Hill Drive, Bri sba ne, CA 94005 URL: www.bootnet.com Subscriptions phone: 415.468.4869 Subscriptions e-mail: subscrib e@ bootnet.com Advertising: 415.468.4684, ext. 110 Editorial: 415.468.4684; [email protected] FAX: 415.468.4686 CIRCULATION Circulation Manager: Tin a Rad ich Fulfillment Manager: Judy Apostol Newsstand Director: Bruce Eldridge Newsstand Manager: Th ea Selby Newsstand Analyst: Terry Lawson Circulation Consultant: Gail Egbert IMAGINE PUBLISHING, INC. Publisher: Matt Firme Director of CD-ROM Development: Th omas Hale New Media Business Development Manager: Mary Hoppin Creative Director: Laura Morris Vice President of Circulation: Holly Klingel Vice President/CFO: Tom Valentino President: Chris Ande rson INTERNATIONAL LICENSING REPRESENTATIVE Robert J. Ab ramso n and Associates, In c. 720 Post Road, Scarsdale, NY 10583 VO LUME 01, ISSUE o6 boot (ISSN #1088-5439) is published monthly by Imagine Publishing, In c., 150 North Hill Drive, Suite 40, Brisbane, CA 94005, USA. Periodical class postage pa id in Brisbane, CA and at additional ma iling offi ces. Newsstand distribution is handled by Curtis Circulation Company. Basic subscription rates: one year (12 issues) U.S. $39.90, Cana da $53.90. Canad ian price includes postage and GST (GST #128220688) . POSTMASTER : Send changes of address to boot, P.O.Box 51479, Boulder, CO 80328·1479. Bulk Rate, U.S. Postage Paid, Waseca, MN, Permit No. 350 Standard Ma il encl osed in the following ed itions: A3 , B, 81, 82. CPC lnt'l Pub Mail # 0781029. Outside the U.S. and Canada, price is $53.95, U.S. pre-paid funds only. For custo mer service, write boot, P.O. Box 51479, Boulder, CO 80328-1479, boot, 150 North Hill Drive, Brisbane, CA 94005. Im agine Publishing also publishes PC Gamer, Next Generation, Mac Addict, Game Players and The Net. Entire contents copyright 1996, Imagine Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Reprod uction in whole or in part is prohibited. Imagine Publ ish ing, Inc. is not affi liated with the compan ies or products covered in boot. PRODUCED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AM ERICA. 'I G IT A L CAMERA v RYTHING y 0 u N E E D -- N L S H T H A T M A D , 0 u s ARTIST W I T H N. ~ 108 s~atp, cl if) ~ downloa encorilpassir;lg list of features screet~ 'h ' insta.nt review, wireless• v tran~fer .of images, and,. of .course, Sony's leading CCD Hovv Svvede it is Veteran of the night But I have had one problem. The Win95 GriP I don't like your magazine ... I love it! boot is one of my favorite magazines, and for software conflicts with the dial-up network I'm living in Sweden and I guess we have someone who's married to his computer like and I can't log onto the Internet when the about 20 to 30 computer magazines here. I me, reading boot is truly an experience. Gravis software is installed. Until they fix this read five or six of them each month and I'd I just have to comment on Bernard Yee's known bug, I'm limited to using it in DOS or never realized how boring they are ... until short review of my favorite game, Neverwinter as a standard game pad in Win95. now! I can't figure out how I could have been Nights. ("WorldWide War," boot04). True, Tom Smith reading so many magazines that test 27 hard the game is one of the oldest around (almost Could you guys do a review {comparison of drives every month and tell you how to for six years old!) and it has some of the oldest joysticks and game pads? I'm in the market mat text in Word in every issue. graphics, but let me give you the perspective for a really kick-ass controller. I went ana I want to get thrilled and excited when I of a veteran NWN player. bought Microsoft's SideWinder, but when I read a magazine. You do that to me! Thank This game is one of the more robust multi got home, I read the latest issue. It said the you for an excellent magazine! It has content player games out there. It's as "perfect" as SideWinder was neat and all, but it's really from the first 'til the last page! It makes me any player could want. Latency has little just for Win95 games. That's no good for me wanna spend more and more money (I hate effect... the game crashes only once in a blue because most of the awesome games I play you for that) upgrading my system. You guys moon. With more than 1,000 loyal NWN are for DOS, so I returned the SideWinder. (and girls) are number one and I will buy garners out there, every night the game I saw your review of the SpaceOrb 360 every issue from now on (even though it costs reaches maximum capacity with hundreds (boot 03) and I'm thinking about getting one about $18 here) . more waiting to get in. How many other of those. I was also tempted to buy the Micro uifOttosson games let you role-play with 500 people? soft SideWinder 3D Pro but I have not yet No matter how many webs you find on I can dream, can't I? read any reviews of it. Please shed light on this game, there won't be any game on the I want to know what's new with PCs, even this subject. I trust boot's opinions. You guys web that can match its gameplay, versatility, though I may not always be able to afford the really know what you're doing! or complexity. latest technology. You guys keep everything joel Gavino in perspective. I may be a poor college stu '' ' News Editor Bryan Del Rizzo replies: I hope dent running a 486, but you keep me dream Editor in Chief Brad Dosland replies: You're you've had a chance to check out our game ing of great things. preaching to the choir. We agree, David. That's pad roundup in boot 04 (there's a game pad Right now, I'm looking for a 64-bit 3D why we deemed NWN one of the 10 best multi review in the 05 issue too). card that's quick in DOS and Win95, can player games of all time. Its age only confirms The SideWinder pad looks and fee ls great, do 1280x1024 with 16.7 million colors with it as a classic. but it won't work in DOS, and the programming MPEG , and has 2D acceleration built in. Quality is priority one interface leaves something to be desired. The What do you recommend? I am looking for the best 21-inch monitor for SpaceOrb 360 is a great controller for 3D action : '!. games/multimedia. Super graphics and color games, but it won't replace your traditional pad for sports games or side-scrollers. Until Micro Editor in Chief Brad Dosland replies: We're are of utmost importance, while price is a soft decides to release an updated software looking for a single card that does all that too! secondary concern. I was hoping you could interface for the SideWinder, I'd check out either In the meantime, try pairing up any of the point me in the right direction. Is dot pitch the Gravis GamePad Pro or ThrustMaster's Phazer 3Dfx-powered accelerators with Matrox's more important than refresh rate? Pad. Both are programmable, digital, and sup Millennium loaded down with WRAM. Manfred Hubele port multiplayer gaming. The GamePad Pro is also compatible with GriP supported "I'm looking for a 64-bit 3D card ... [that] can do 128ox1024 with games in cluding EA 's great sports sims. By the way, if you haven't already 16.7 million colors with MPEG ... and 2D acceleration built in." done so, down load the new GriP software from www.gravis.com and look for a con The check's in the mail ... Senior Editor Mike Brown replies: We've been troller roundup this summer. I just read the "WorldWide War" feature in looking at 21-inch monitors, too. Check out boot04 and I'd like to correct an error. bootWorthy in boot 05 for a roundup of what Online feedback The article states that Duke Nukem 3D is we consider the best. I've never sent an e-mail to a magazine before. available for play across DWANGO, which is For multimedia, a high refresh rate is more But I just read She! Kimen's On The line true (against TEN's and Apogee's wishes, as important than an ultrahigh resolution. Most column in boot 03, "There's No Place like was correctly stated). However, the article games won't take advantage of a 21-inch moni Home," and lately I've been kinda worried that mentioned: "And DWANGO's paying royal tor's ability to resolve 1600x1200 pixels, but I spend too much time on my computer. ties to Apogee anyway." they all look spectacular sp lashed across I thought it was pretty keen how you put Oh really?! www. sound- bl ast:e r . corn Product Information Number 116 You Can Bat Introducing Connectix Color QuickCam': Those Baby Blues 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 ~ The Internet. and video on your computer. ~ Connectix Slooovvly I turned ... designed PIOO. The included copy of Magic Is that a bribe? boot is the only mag I've ever subscribed to. Carpet ran at a similar frame rate to my Do you plan on reviewing motherboards? I After reading issue 01, I knew I had to get it aging, hand-built P90. would pay !\vice as much for your magazine if every month. I want to know what the scari· Is this the leading edge of consumer· you included motherboard reviews. est chipset is, the fastest CPU, the best RAM oriented systems? Rex Nebula for games, etc. I hope not. Editor in Chief Brad Dos/and replies: We have BTW, what's the story on the Klamath?! I no plans to include motherboards in boot's sold my 486 months ago and am waiting for reviews section on a regular basis, but we do P-Pro with MMX (and its killing me!). I will B rin g o n the 3D have some extensive motherboard coverage not buy a computer now, not with MMX, Why does boot kick ass? Because it has the planned, including a 1Z·Step Motherboard AGP, SDRAM support, USB, new BUS proto· coolest stuff I've ever seen! Who wants to read Makeover next month and a bootWorthy cols, etc. around the comer. The Klamath is a 10-page review about some stupid printers collection of the best motherboards in the rumored to be available in February, even in one of those other mags?! Bring on the 30 June issue. though the AGP chipset (440LX) won't be accelerators, my friend!! HAHAHA! But, if some particularly sexy MB comes our out until the 2nd half of '97 :( By the way, I have a Matrox Millennium way, it could very well find its way into the Hey, maybe some other company will with 4MB, and I'm looking into getting reviews section. realize there are a lot of people waiting for either the Orchid Righteous 3D or the Dia· this new technology and beat Intel to the mond Monster 30 to go with it. I was going As the vvorld turns ... market. (There's already a VIA Apollo chipset to sell the Millennium and get a cheaper 20 Last May we bought a PIOO, with 16MB RAM, for the P6 that looks very promising.) accelerator to cut down the price, but now 1GB hard drive, 28.8Kbps modem, and a 4x john L. Morgan the Millennium's price has changed from CD-ROM drive. Now, just a few months later, $500 to $250! the standard is 200M Hz processors, 32MB Reviews Editor Andrew Sanchez replies: I've How does the STB Lightspeed's 20 com· RAM, 2GB hard drives, 33.6 modems, and 8x just returned from a briefing at Intel and here's pare with the Millennium? Also, has the price CD-ROM drives. Not to mention 30 accelera· tor chips. It seems that in just six months our "new" computer has become old the scoop: Klamath gone down for any of the Voodoo cards? It garbage. Is it already time to upgrade? will be available in seems insane that the new 20 /3D cards are Brandon DeSantiago the first half of 1997 to OEMs-the exact date priced $100 cheaper than the 3D-only cards! is not known. But you won't see Klamath· Roger Matthews based systems until sometime in the fourth quarter of 1991. And guess what? Klamath will Tech Editor Chris Dunphy replies: The STB Editor in Chief Bra d Dosland replies: Don't feel require a new motherboard (no Socket 8 Lightspeed's one hell of a card, but it's probably pressured to keep up with the industry·desig· allowed). not worth selling your Millennium to get it. The nated }oneses. If your current set up suits you, Check out next month's preview of Intel's Lightspeed has an edge in DOS performance; stick with it. If you're frustrated because you new technology for the complete 411. the Millennium wins out in Windows at higher can't get every bell and whistle out of the /at· res and color depth. You pay a price to get the est software, bite the bullet and prepare to Pilot t ip horsepower of a Voodoo chip, and that price upgrade annually. They should give the USR Pilot an Academy/ has not dropped. But the new Voodoo Rush Reader Sneedback EmmyfGrammy award for best production! I chipset (see the Comdex coverage on page 21) boot rules above every other magazine. And hope everyone in your office gets a Pilot as a will be out soon in cards from Hercules and Christmas present. other manufacturers. The Voodoo Rush is the · another thing ... to Caesar Snee (CommPort, boot Tip: Use a piece of scotch tape over the Voodoo re·engineered to live on the same card 05): YOU SUCK! as Duke would put it. If alpha/numeric pad area on the touchscreen. with a ZD·only accelerator, sharing frame buffer you don't like the magazine, then don't get a It does a great job of protecting the screen! memory. Voodoo Rush cards should cost the subscription ... new Christopher Powell same as Voodoo-only cards cost now, which is Keep the reviews on the hot stuff, not old 486 crap. In other words, do the opposite about $300. Future Schrock of what Caesar Snee says. Power to ya! "The consumer has moved to the leading Corni ng n e xt month ... Chris Huseman edge," (from the Lip interview with Compaq's The verdict is out: Most of my co-workers Rod Schrock in boot 04). Cut, Copy, Paste agree that boot is the ultimate tech-weenie Unfortunately, Compaq hasn't. In the Force Feedback preview (boot 04), we porno mag... After spending four hours trying to get a stated that Immersion Corp. had plans to pro· We just have one request: a centerfold! friend's Compaq 4172 to work, I gave up and duce a force-feedback joystick of their own. told him "good luck." This 24MB system, Peter Nitz Immersion claims they are licensing the tech· when booted to Win95, has 3MB remaining no/ogy and API only, and have no plans to Like comparing a Dodge manufacture the product. Check out for applications. Even launching Notepad Viper t o a Dodge Neon causes massive disk thrashing. The Phone· www.immerse.com/WWWpages/ff_joystick Would the STB Lightspeed 128 be that much _prices. html Answering software has an 8MB executable, of a performance gain for my S3 Trio32f64 and when loaded (which takes more than a PC! (with 1MB) on the motherboard? I enjoy We inadvertently neglected to credit jane// minute), consumes 13MB of system RAM. playing Quake, Duke Nukem 3D, NHL '97 Umemoto for creating the Lust·O· The Compaq Frontend software-for those (which runs slow). Matic that appeared in boot 04. too stupid to use Win95-uses another 8MB. George Thanks Janel/! Compaq charges $35 for a single tech support call to help you uninstalling the useless front· Tech Editor Chris Dunphy replies: Yes, particu· end and phone answering system. Since the larly since a 64·bit graphics card coupled with system does not come with any system disks, only 1MB of memory is running crippled with or CO-ROMs containing device drivers, I was only p bits of bandwidth into memory. being cautious. Be aware, however, that CPU speed will Benchmarking this system with various have a large effect on performance too-don't games showed scores similar to a well· expect a new graphics card to work miracles. Captain Mathis knows how the love of flight can take hold and make you want to roll your plane. he just feels it's best to save stunt flying for your Extra 300S aerobatics 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 see the gardens at the Palace of Versailles. Or take your private Learjet 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. buzz us at www.microsoft.com/games/fltsim/ Nlicrosott ~ Where do you want to go today?" Every month, boot magazine delivers The bootDisc is compatible with both Windows 95 and 3.x. 600+MB of the hottest software and Run start95.exe to launch under exclusive demos. If it piques your interest Win95, and start3l.exe under Win3.1. boot recommends a in the magazine look for the bootDisc Pentium 90 or better with 16MB for access to all the software logo, and you'll find the fattest demos that's included. and coolest apps to complement our cutting -edge previews, reviews, and features. Slam the bootDisc into your CD-ROM drive to give yourself an injection of Pure PC Power. We know what you power hungry PC users really want, so we've got huge demos that Workbench aren't available for download We brought back the Workbench from any web site; the most and temporarily turned it into a innovative apps; and special Juicebar to serve up all the cool sneak peeks of things to come. utilities mentioned in the System Plus the new streamlined Shape Up featu re. We've divided it interface allows more intuitive all up into seven categories, acces access to the demos. sible from the buttons across the top. Dig in. 0 on e http://www.bootnet.com bootNet spo rts many of NEWS: bootWire features the latest news; the exciting features that bootDeep gives you in-depth analysis of the key stories broken make boot magazine such on the bootWire; and bootRadar a valuable resource for the picks up the latest cool PC products appearing on the horizon. hardcore PC enthusiast. There are reviews and previews, bootWorthy products, and an expand ing archive of boot articles P/REVIEWS: Here you'll find no-bunk from past issues online for reviews and advanced previews of all the PC hardware and easy reference, complete software you care about. with a search engine. Want a second opinion before plun king down $500 on that snazzy new PDA, or just want to drool over the latest tech nology that no mere mortal cou ld afford? Come check it out and follow the links for more detailed info! Of course all this cutting-edge tech nology comes at a price: You'll need a )avaScript and Frames-capable browser (we recommend Netscape Navigator v3.0); a minimum screen resolution of 800x600; and 16-bit color for optimal viewing. The site is graphics intensive, and you'd COMMPORT: be wise to view it with something faster Want to contact us? than a 28.8Kbps modem if at all possible We want to hear from you. now's a good time to get that ISDN lin e. This section is the most If you're always climbing to the pinnacle interactive part of boot's of the fast-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 you can find out more about their products. bootWARE: VOICES: Get your grubby Iii' 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. IE CE, THE ULTIMATE GAMER PC. NOW FEATURING PENTIUM®PROCESSOR WITH MMX" TECHNOLOGY. At NEG, our gaming PCs have just taken on a whole new dimension. The third, to be exact. With two dedicated 3-0 graphic acceler- ators and the revolu- 200111 Hz Pe11ti11m Processor with tionary MMXtechnology, 111MX tech11ology Diamofld Afonsrer 3-D the NEG PowerPiayer'" a11d AT! J-D Rage graphic accelerators sucks you right into 32111B RAM/4.0Gigabyte HD the action. 16Xmax GD-ROM And don't worry, you'll be armed with every thing a serious gamer could ask for. A 200MHz Pentium processor with MMX technology, 6MB of video memory, and a 50-watt Advent sound system with Creative labs' new AWE32 sound card. We 've also thrown in two Microsoft® Sidewinde r~ game pads, a Thrustmaster®Top Gun'" Joystick, and a logitech 3-button Mouseman® mouse. As well as a bunch of today's hottest games, all reconfigured to take technology. You can even head out into cyberspace and play in real time against anyone else on the net. For more information, calll-800-NEC-INFO. Or, for a slightly more conventional demonstra tion, visit your local retailer. Available at Circuit City, CompUSA, Future Shop and Fry's. SEE, HEAR AND FEEL THE DIFFERENCE:" NEC Product Information Number 250 I Visit our web site at http://Www.nec.com I ©1996 Pad Computer Terminology -What Do They All Mean? PCMCIA People Can't Memorize Computer Industry Acronyms ISDN It Still Does Nothing APPLE Arrogance Produces Profit-Losing Entity SCSI System Can't See It DOS Defunct Operating System BASIC Bill's Attempt to Seize Industry Control The Children's IQ and Achievement Test IBM I Blame Microsoft from Virtual Knowledge, offers aptitude and DEC Do Expect Cuts achievement testing of children from Kinder CD-ROM Consumer Device, garten through Grade 9, based on the long Rendered Obsolete in Months standing American School Psycho-Educational OS/2 Obsolete Soon, Too Assessment Batteries. www World Wide Wait Engaging, age-appropriate characters MACINTOSH Most Applications Crash; If Not, administer the test, with minimal parent Th e Operating System Hangs involvement. Parents receive completed printed reports as well as on-screen reports containing analysis of the scores. Parents can track their kid's progress from yea r to year, and help educate their children by playing challenging games and activities included with the software . The Parents' IQ an d Achievement Test and Magazine Editor's IQ and Achievement Test, will be available soon. In what has become an annual event for l(onami Who? Microsoft, Judgment Day II has been post Konami (America) Inc., recently sent out press poned until later this year to coincide with the releases announcing its change of name to Computer Game Developers' Conference in Konami of America Inc. In addition, the company Santa Clara, Calif. In the past, Judgment Day offered private counseling for anyone confused has served as a showcase of top game com by this major move. panies/developers, featuring exciting enter tainment and cutting-edge technology. 18 • boot FEB 97 MINEOLA, NY-lucky Long Islander Pat HarTis has encountered plenty of killer dogs on his postal route over the years, but never any killer space aliens-until now! "I was just minding my own business, delivering Mrs. Panayatocopoulos' mail when these space guys ask me ij I want to go for a ride." Suddenly, HarTis was transported to a bizarre bar full of creepy-crawly space critters! Then the wacky E.T's made HarTis enter the minds of space port bar patrons--including a man sized worm thing-to retrieve clues that ultimately led space police to a shapeshifting serial killert Sadly, after returning from the minds of various insect-like aliens, HarTis is left with a life-long legacy of flashbacks that cause him to eat maggots and simulate molting. But for Harris, it's a small price to pay for intergalactic glory! ( 5EGA5! FT) www.segasoft.com "I want to go back to Armpit VI. There, I'm an intergalactic hero. But here, I'm just another - disgruntled mailman thars been abducted by aliens," reveals sentimental galaxy-trotter HarTis. 35 > In a strange twist of fate, the mail HarTis was supposed to deliver to Steve Meretzky-creator of "The Space Bar," "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and numerous IIIIIII other science fiction games-ended up in the 0 71 0 495 "hands" of a wide-eyed resident of planet Armpit VI. :·i71{- ))~ Product Information Number ?::•""" ~ Just another CD-ROM game 1 DevelOped by~.~ and _:__ C 1997SegaSoft lnc..AIIrightsmsaNed.PortionsoiTMSpaceBarC t997 ROCkot :;:ftl] • For a free Windows '95 demo where you're a psychic gumshoe detective Science Games, Inc. All rights reserved. Portions of The Space Bar. C t997 BoNo Games, Inc. AU rights reserved. g~ . or to order The Space Bar trying to solve a murder by mind-melding ~g:~~~~~k~~!!~~-~~~~~«~ ~~ ~~~ ~ ~d~~baS:e~:~~~~c:e~/=~~~~~-~: . =·Ma c'" OS direct, call 1.888.SegaSoft with drunken aliens. ~·· ' copy-protection problems finally settled, there were a flurry of DVD product announcements at Comdex. Toshiba joined Panasonic, Pioneer, and other With more than 7,000 exhibitors and 200,000 attendees, Fall Comdex was a madhouse. manufacturers in announcing their intention to ship DVD-ROM drives to OEMs beginning in December '96. Meanwhile, Panasonic, Dia· Comdex Highlights mond Multimedia, and Creative Labs all announced DVD-ROM upgrade kits. Diamond promises The bootStaff goes to hardware heaven to be first, shipping their kit by mid-December, but they wouldn't omdex: The trade show manufacturers to announce new CE (Consumer Electronics) commit to pricing. Creative Labs people love to hate. This MMX products, fearing con operating system. Check out this is pricing their kit at $499, but Cyear 's fall show was as sumers wouldn't buy existing month's bootWorthy for more would only commit to shipping a massive as ever, with more PCs during the big holiday shop information. product in the first quarter of '97. than 7,000 exhibitors and ping season. Here's the rundown on some Upgrade kits will consist of a 200,000 attendees. Handheld computers, on the of the significant product an DVD·ROM drive, a controller card But the most notable aspect of other hand, were a big hit. More nouncements made at the show. with MPEG-2 and Dolby AC·3 Fall Comdex was how quietly than a dozen manufacturers (Log onto www.bootnet. com for decoders, and a few software exhibitors were handling MMX were showing new models and information about how to contact titles. Tsunami was the first technology. Intel wouldn't allow many were running Microsoft's these companies.) game developer to announce a DVD game, but it's just an MPEG·2 version of their interac tive movie Silent Steel. In other DVD news, Camp The Sound of Things to Come Core Multimedia announced a pair of MPEG-2/AC- 3 decoder Yamaha unveiled a new three to upgrade an existing speaker bilities. Altec's USB46 speakers products. SoftDVD is an all piece speaker system, which it system, Yamaha will also sell the ($149) will feature an embedded software decoder that will work expects to ship in March. The YST-MSW5 subwoofer separately. Intel 80930AE chip, which will with MMX·equipped Pentiums; System 25 ($129) will feature two Altec Lansing, meanwhile, allow digital audio to stream while Accelerated SoftDVD will magnetically-shielded mini announced a new three-piece directly to the speaker, instead of function with older Pentiums satellites with two-inch drivers, speaker system with USB capa- being converted to an analog sig that have hard ware-based MPEG- and a magnetically-shielded sub nal on the host computer and 2/AC· 3 decoders installed. woofer with a five-inch driver. then output to the speakers. It The amp in the System 25 will remains to be seen what real deliver five watts per channel to benefit there is in moving the the satellites, and 15 watts to the DAC into the speakers. subwoofer. A volume control and The USB46 will feature a pair power switch on the right satel of magnetically-shielded satellite lite will control the entire system, speakers (three-inch drivers) eliminating the need to reach delivering six watts per channel, Yamaha's System 25 speakers feature a under your desk to adjust the accompanied by a 20-watt sub Panasonic will be among the first to pair of two-inch full-range drivers and a ship DVD-ROM drives. overall volume or change the five-inch subwoofer in magnetically woofer with a four-inch, long amount of bass. If you're looking shielded enclosures. throw woofer. boot FEB 97 • 21 CD-R Speeds Up Yamaha Systems Technology buy one just so Video monitors are announced the first CD-R drives you can use a CD approaching gargan capable of writing discs at 4x R. With support tuan proportions. Mit speed and reading them at 6x for both variable subishi, Fujitsu, and speed. Yamaha also announced it and fixed packet NEC all announced 40- would be packaging its high-end writing, you'll be inch models that are Dolch unveiled their PAC-Pro portable drives for retail distribution for able to write files light enough and thin computer, packing dual 2DOMHz Pentium the first time. (Previously, Yam to a CD just like enough to be hung on Pros and a 12.1-inch LCD capable of aha only sold drives to OEMs and you do to a floppy. the wall like a painting. 1024x768 resolution. Big screen Plasma monitor tech- distributors.) The first drives plasma moni Yamaha's CDR400, which Yamaha ships will tors are on nology uses a sealed glass envelope filled with rows will be available in February, will be equipped with their way. Th is 40-inch model and columns of thousands of Packin' sell for $849. The drive will fea disc caddies, but from Mitsubishi individual chambers. The cham ture a 2MB buffer to prevent the company pro looks particu bers contain a mixture of neon larly luscious. Power buffer underrun, and will be mises to make and xenon gasses that glow both caddy and Just how much power can you pack equipped with flash ROM for when energized . Unlike LCD firmware upgrades. The drive tray drives available soon. into a portable computer? Dolch screens, plasma displays remain will be available in both SCSI Yamaha will also ship the Computer Systems announced a new incredibly sharp and bright and IDEfATAPI configurations; CDR-200, which will feature 6x even when viewed extremely lunch-bucket-style portable equip so if you don't have a SCSI con read, but only 2x write. This drive off-axis. ped with two Pentium Pros runn ing troller card, you won't need to will retail for $549. Mitsubishi's monitor offers at ZOOMHz each. resolution of 640x480, with a This 20-pound monster would horizontal scanning range of probably collapse an airline's tray 15kHz to 50kHz_ Dot pitch table, but if you need power in the seems high at 0.42mm horizon field, the rugged ized Dual PAC-Pro tal x 1.26mm vertical, but these devices aren't designed for has plenty to spare. With no fewer close work; they're designed for than six SIMM slots, memory can be group presentations. Mitsubishi expanded from the standard 32MB expects the first shipping units, all the way to 768MB. The 12.1-inch which will be professional mod active matri x, flat panel SVGA dis els available in Ap ril, to fetch play is a feast for the eyes, capable between $10,000 and $12,000. of 1024x768 resolution. Mitsubishi's consumer electron ics unit, however, is expected to And if you're looking for an offer displays designed for expandable portable, the PAC-Pro video only that will be consider comes complete with five full-length Yamaha's CDR400 will write to CD-R media at 4x speed, and read from COs at 6x ably less expensive. PCI /ISA expansion slots. speed. Yamaha also announced it would be entering the retail channel for the first time. Fujitsu Computer Products -----.. Fujitsu has boosted the maximum announced a new, higher capacity of the magneto-optical drive to a whopping 640MB with capacity magneto-optical their DynaMO 640. Mo'MO drive. The DynaMO 640 is a 3.5-inch MO drive capable of storing up to 640MB on a single disc Fujitsu also announced an internal EIDE version of its 230MB MO drive. The DynaMO 640 is an external drive with a Fast SCSI-2 interface. The drive is capable of reading and writing to previous MO standards, including 3.5-inch disks with 128, 230, and 540MB capacities. The drive is capable of a data transfer rate of The DynaMO 640 will also 3.9MBfsec, with an average seek time of 35ms- much closer to be available in an internal IDE-ATAPI configuration. hard-drive speed than previous optical storage technologies. The DynaMO 640 has a list price of $659; the DynaMO 230 IDE sells for $375. 22 • boot FEB 97 "Its the fastest laptop I've ever had" From Byte Magazine, 11/96 Jerry Pournelle, Re: Nimantics Orion Product Information Number 252 PENTIUM® PROCESSOR NSTL Byte Magazine 4-Star Rating 1LtB *BEST BUY* ****October 1996 November 1996 December 1996 January 1997 December 1996 November 1996 Boot Magazine Boot Magazine Boot Magazine Boot Magazine Bvte Magazine Laptop Buyers Guide RE: Nimantics Orion 6X RE: Nimantics Orion 166 RE: Nimantics Orion 8X 200 RE: Nimantics NX-Lite 133 RE : Nimantics Quanta 6X RE: Nimantics NX-Lite 133 We Couldn't Have Said It Better Ourselves. Genuine (133166200MHz 12.1" Super VGA Active Matrix Color (12.1" SVGA) (Dual Scan Screen avaUable) .{ 32 MB EDO RAM (exp. to 64MB MAX) (exp. to 64MB max) (16-MMB) But boot Magazine seems to say it better than we ./ 256 KB Pipeline Burst Cache RAM can. So we'll just let their words do the talking • ./ 2.1 GB User Removable Hard Drive .{ Simultaneous Internal SX CD-ROM and 3.5" 1.44MB Floppy Drive ./ 1 MB Wavetable Sound .t Built-In 16.7 Million Color Hardware NIMANTICS (with bul~ In 16 bit FM Synthesizer Stereo TOMORROW AND BEYOND Zoomed Video Card Socket .t Nimantics Direct Order Hotline .t 64 Bit PCI Bus Video with 2 MB Video .t Fully PCI Bus Plug'n' Play System 800-646-5005 (TOLL FREE IN US CANADA) .t 2 Internal DR-36 Batteries http://www.nimantics.com/ 3 PCMCIA Slots .t ~ .t Windows 95 Installed (Original CD .t Deluxe Carrying Case .t Zoooooooom! When I was a kid, race sets meant slot cars, control over speed, and maybe a loop-the-loop if you were really lucky. My, have things evolved. Tyco's Radio Control Mega Racing set features two 1/20 scale remote control trucks and 6.75x3.25 feet of fat off-road-style track for $100. Each truck has seven radio-control functions and a two-speed gearbox, making fo r intense and immersive racing. You can even smash into your oppo Hot buns nent's car! The 27MHz transmitters promise a minimum range of 15 feet. If you grow tired of the track circuit, you can take the trucks outside for The ThermaiWear Warm Seat will keep your some real off-road fun. butt warm-or cool-in any weather, using Tyco: 800.367.8926 special Heat-Transfer Formula chemical packs. Plug the pad into any 12volt cigarette lighter or 110volt wall outlet and the unit heats up to l15°F in just 30 minutes. When summer comes, swap in the cooling packs and a refrigerator activates its cooling powers. The beauty of Exothermal Technology's products is that unlike gel or ice packs that tend to be either too hot or too cold immediately after preparation, Exothermal's packs maintain a "factory preset" temperature for up to six hours. The $99.95 Warm Seat is avail able in camouflage, safety orange, blue, or nuclear yellow. Exothermal Technology: 800.991.5665; www.exothermal.com Who goes there? Passwords can be hacked, faces can't. The TrueFace CyberWatch system uses patented software and any video camera to verify the identity of users when they attempt to access data from a server. In seconds, TrueFace snaps a photo, compares it to those stored in an image database, and authorizes or denies access. A neural network is the brains behind this biometric Big Brother, and it can't be tricked with a photo. CyberWatch keeps face records for later review and can even check back periodically to make sure you don't pull a switch-a-roo. The TrueFace Cyberwatch Server includes client software and a monochrome Connectix camera for each of five computers. Prices start at $9,995 for a system based on 100 authorized users. Miros: 617.235.0330; www.miros.com Don't get up CD-ROMs cluttering your desk? Check out Boffin's 8x CD·ROM jukebox that moves 28 discs between seven readers. That means you can switch from Tomb Raider to Encarta in less than five seconds! Each CD-ROM reader boasts a 1200K/sec data transfer rate, 150ms average access time, and a 256K buffer. For $4,999, the JB828 is available in either a stand alone or rackmount configuration. It runs on both Netware and Windows NT, and is compatible with all the CD -ROM file formats. Boffin Limited: 612.894.0595; www.boffin.com Crank it Who's calling? This box would have been handy on Gilligan's Chronic pacers and paranoiacs will appreciate Sony's Island! BayGen's Freeplay Radio is powered by a new SPP-ID910 cordless telephone. Combining digi· small hand crank. Sixty seconds of manual labor tal 900MHz technology with Caller ID, this unit is a generates enough energy for 40 minutes of playing workhorse. The Caller ID/Call Waiting option wi ll time. Shortwave, medium wave, and FM come even inform you as to who's calling on the sec through crystal clear, and the durable plastic casing ond line, so you don't have to risk rudeness is perfect for those picnics in the bomb shelter. every time a telemarketer beeps in. The speed Crank away and this thing will keep going and dialer holds 20 numbers for quick connec· going... long after the Energizer bunny runs lions. The phone weighs just 10 ounces out of fuel. And if you're just too lazy with its battery, and delivers seven hours to crank, there's an optional of talk time when fully charged. At AC jack. The Freeplay $229.95, talk may not be cheap, but at Radio costs least you can choose who to talk to. $100, batteries Sony: 800.222.7669; www.sony.com not included or needed. BayGen: 800.946.3234 Retina burn Zenith Electronics is launching a new line of home-theater systems. The company promises its lnteq line will be Direct-View Entertain ment Machines (that's TV to you and me). The top-of-the-line is the IQ6081 60-inch rear-screen projection system, with digital three-line ...... •...... comb filter processing to sharpen the image's details. Dolby Pro-Logic Surround Wrist water bed Sound is standard with the big Mousing and keyboard screen, along with the BBE High poun"ding add up to the Definition Sound system. The BBE perfect recipe for a painful system fixes phase and amplitude case of carpal tunnel syn distortion, compensating for the drome. Case Logic's Gei·Eez subtle fidelity loss present in all gel-filled wrist rests help loudspeakers. reduce your chance of Even the lnteq remote is tricked injury by eliminating the out, with a track ball for point-and· pressure points commonly found in foam pads. They really do click operation. The $4,299 TV's 16 feel like a "water bed for your wrists," just as the company rear jacks and four front jacks provide promises. If you're already a victim of wrist fatigue and your ample connection to any home-theater doctor has recommended cold therapy, toss the pad into the environment. freezer for two hours. The pads range from $12.99 to $16.99 Zenith Electronics: 888.376.6825; and are available in sizes appropriate for desktop keyboards, www.inteqtv.com mice, and notebooks. Case Logic: 800.447.4848; www.caselogic.com ...... Power tip Wireless reception Tickling the oscillators problems? The Analog enthusiasts with digital desires will appre Power Tip may not ciate the booming bass and fat strings of the be pretty, but it does Clavia Nord Lead virtual analog synthesizer. enhance reception of You program the 49-note, velocity-sensitive portable and car radios, keyboard using good old-fashioned cellular and cordless phones, and TVs. The knobs, instead of digital sliders and but- ~;~~····~~:: tons. (Ahhhh ... the nostalgia!) Two virtual concept is simple: The : ana log oscillators-which use mathematical simulations Power Tip's copper core of the electronic signal generated by analog oscillators-produce saw slides onto your existing tooth, triangle, and variable-width pulse waves. The analog sounds can also be com- antenna and boosts sig bined with or changed to FM-type sounds. Add two LFOs, a sample-and-hold arpeggiator, "Pitch nal reception. At $9.95, Stick," modulation wheel, and MIDI, and you have a keyboard with old-school style and state-of it's certainly worth a try. the-art compatibility. What's next, the return of Keith Emerson? Safety Zone : Available through Anmadillo Enterprises: 813.796.8868; www.anmadilloent.com/music 800.999.3030 V 0 ICE ype is a double-edged sword. And Interactive had picked up the cursed pro this unstable. It was Alpha quality. Worst the longer it's sharpened, the ject, planning to release it the following of all, the complex game was rendered hmore dangerous it is. No product December. Other companies had their mits unusable by a dreadfully thin manual. has pushed this axiom as long and hard on this digital hot potato over this seven Then the shinola hit the fan. as Battlecruiser 3000 AD. It is legendary. year stretch, but these are the major players. It began on AOL where Smart laid all Vaporware classics such as Champions, Smart and Take 2 were now a team. the blame on Take 2, claiming they were Superheroes, Darklands, and The 11th He would create the AI and engine of in violation of their contract, had released Hour came and went, some actually being BC3K and Take 2 would put a released, some just disappearing. But high polish on it, cleaning up Battlecruiser 3000 AD (or" BC3K") was the outdated graphics, putting always there, a perennial trade show it through QA, and producing VAPOR WARS favorite, floating from one company to the final product. Somewhere THE LONG AND CONVOLUTED SAGA another while its proud papa, Dr. Derek along the line, this process Smart, continued to feed the hype machine. broke down. OF BATTLECRUISER 3000 AD Battlecruiser 3000 AD first appeared To some, Smart was a perfectionist the wrong manual, and were guilty of a as a blip on the radar in 1992, when Dr. working hard to code a groundbreaking long list of sins. Take 2 President Mark Smart started showing an early demo at piece of software, and he would get it Seremet replied that Smart had approved trade shows. Smart, a charismatic lone right at all costs, no matter the delays. A the manual. This enraged Smart. gun programmer, talked up the ground noble figure fighting the corporate money "QUIT being an idiot Mark!" he res breaking nature of his game to anyone men. Or maybe he was a snake oil sales ponded in a public forum on AOL. "I've and everyone who would listen. (He once man, promising castles built on the douds had ENOUGH of this crap! I NEVER announced to another developer, "I am to increase his own fame and to milk signed off on anything. Who on this planet the greatest programmer in the world.") money from publishers. This would make would believe that I would sign-off that In interview after interview, he spoke of him a less-than-noble figure, scamming piece of garbage knowing I took a HUGE creating the ultimate computer game: one the industry and the garners. Or maybe royalty hit back in May so that I could get with a real, living, dynamic universe to he was just an average guy with a good a 'professional manual' after the original experience. A universe populated with idea, who wanted to do it right but made garbage you guys printed back in Dec. planets, ships, and people that went about promises he couldn't keep. Smart's volatile ofl995 ... Someone's going to pay for their actions with or without your inter and quirky personality made it hard to this if it's the last thing I do. I spent vention. A universe you could explore at determine the truth. seven years of my life on this game will and which would react in an utterly Take 2 was set to release BC3Kby and I'm prepared to spend the next realistic way, "learning" as it went. Christmas 1996, when Smart announced seven years doing this if it came to The system would be based on "neural another delay, from December 1995 to that. Take 2 is NOT equipped to han net" technology: an artificial intelligence January 1996, saying: "Take 2 didn't have dle a game of this scope-period... I that works independently and responds a choice. It was my decision. Blame me. was to develop the game, you were to realistically to any situation which might Before you know it, it will be January and publish it. THAT was the agreement." "You gambled, lost, and are pay "Few people have underestimated me and laughed about it. ing for it," Smart remarked I hope you've learned a valuable lesson from all this. You only get as part of his 1,000 word re one Chance." - Dr. Derek Smart, Bottlecruiser 3000 AD creator : .. tort. "Few people have underestimated me and laughed about it. I hope arise, "thinking" for itself and learning needed vacation-which you're gonna be you've learned a valuable lesson from how to make better decisions based on paying for. Derek Smart's Battlecruiser all this. You only get ONE chance." !!::::~;:=·~~ your input. 3000 AD: the last thing you will ever By the Consumer Electronics Show in desire." for some time, but seem to have settled winter ofl993, 360 Pacific had picked it When Battlecruiser 3000 AD finally down for now as the team gets back to up as publisher, with a slated released date shipped last November, the most charita work. I'll have interviews with Take 2 of April1993. Rules and screen shots were ble thing you could call it was a "complete and Dr. Smart in the next column, as we sent to the press. The pub date came and mess." It crashed constantly. It wouldn't try to get to the bottom of what happened went, 360 hit rocky waters, and by winter play past the second mission. Objects to BC3K and why. We'll also delve into 1994 the project had been passed on to passed through one another. The list of the mysterious world of neural nets, Mission Studios and Intracorp, with a ship bugs fills several pages. In 10 years of whether they can be used in games, and date of March 1994. This date also came evaluating software, I personally have whether there is actually one in Battle and went, and by December 1994 Take 2 never seen a published piece of software cruiser 3000 AD. rn lO C(ea1e. -the. perfecl scum {or \-'crus J 1--he 1)rowned (l()C\1'1'1 50und des i'jnei"S blew -tnrov9h an e.,~~+- ii'\Ch ~\-astic. Straw \l'-\'o +he s--\ud\o -\-oi \e.+ and recorded\-\- ~t\h a cor-Ccm w~~ ·m\c('op~ne. . VO ICE n the eighth day, when the multi Internet "preachers," (and I call them no one can tell if you're a dog." So if you user worlds are up and running, preachers because that is precisely what are a dog, can you pretend to be a hand 0 when everyone has a Pentium Pro they were doing). They: advocating a release some football hero or a beautiful long and 3D graphics accelerators on their desk- of the physical body in favor of this move haired prom queen? And will people love tops, when streaming video pours through to the CyberCollectiveConsciousness. Me: you as much as you deserve? Maybe. Maybe all our cable modems, we will be tran yawning, between revelations. not. That's not really the issue. This faux scended into a collective consciousness. This new collective consciousness, equality does not erase the absurdity of We will reap great rewards, uncover the global neural network, homogenized world defining one person as "ugly" and another philosopher's stone, and drink from the view, shared thought process, is regarded as "beautiful." It merely ignores such prejudices. We engage in denial to escape THE MYTH OF CYBERSPIRIT acknowledgment of the shortcom- BEWARE THE SIREN SONG OF THOSE WHO EVANGELIZE CYBERSPACE ings of our soci elixir; an alchemist's brew of 3D models, as a new phenomenon. Buy now and get ety and ourselves. But because we don't domain names, and a satisfied spirit. your Cubic Zirconia pendant absolutely have to change anything, it's a shortcut to Not only is all this improbable; it's an free, no money down. Act fast! Because personal development. Perhaps Win97 outright lie. CyberSpirituality will enlighten you, save will have a shortcut to self-awareness, and Let's not kid ourselves. The P-Pro on your soul, make you a better person. Oh perhaps one to God, too. every desktop model is further away than yeah ... and it'll help you surround yourself Computers can not switch our exis we'd like to think, (unless we're only sur with friends, love, and a world of people tence to autopilot. veying the early adopters and inspired del who care. Yes, it sounds like an infomer You are no more deep, spiritual, intel egates of the middle class). And the elu cial. And guess who pays. ligent, beautiful, or real in cyberspace sive cable modem is just that elusive. It's Why should transcendence suddenly than you are in your apartment, at work, nonexistent as far as mainstream America be possible only now, and why does it or in a nightclub. Whatever you hope to is concerned. Even supposing the network suddenly require a computer? Haven't transcend to , must already be inside you; PC, Java Station, or Nintendo64 could people practiced spirituality and medita PC or no PC. bring the Internet closer to the huddled tion since year zero? Since humans had This ranting is not an effort to dimin masses, and even supposing cable modems cognitive thought? ish the importance of cyberspace, com rewire a backbone conveniently hooked And how could we possibly advocate munity, or spirituality. The intent is let it into our living rooms; do we really expect abandoning our bodies for computers? It be known: Spiritual enlightenment is not spiritual transcendence? seems absurd. It is absurd. I'm here to the reason to advocate the creation and CyberEvangelists propose just this: an pronounce that the body is important. We evolution of cyberspace. out-of-body experience, need to eat. We need to sleep. Cyberspace is about intellectual free Nirvana (the state of being, We need to dom and unlimited resources. It's about (klmon@well not the band), consistent touch people streamlining bureaucracy. It's about enter spirituality, and ever-lasting tainment. It's about (as much as I hate (and fulfilling) community. not only necessary for sur to say this) efficient business. It's about reasonnbly Last November, I attended vival, but, for many, are quite telecommuting and clever art projects. It's healthy for one a conference held just out enjoyable. And while these also about community. But it should not person and dreams side Las Vegas. All the usual preachers may not be be a community that lives only on the net. tn hvpertut. suspects from artsy facade It must be a community that uses the mic circles were gathered with our modems, fasting and net to expand ideas beyond the physical to speak and listen (probably more of the chanting spiritual mantras; they are saying world, not stimulate or replace or deny former). Peppering the crowd was a not that the body is somehow separate from physical existence. so-surprisingly high proportion of web our spirit, and further, that it gets in the Those who evangelize CyberSpirituality and computer graphics personalities. The way of our spirituality. are merely exploring ideas of self and other, Internet is hot, you know. Not just in the And even if the body did keep us from and some are more "preachy" than others. daily papers, but in the Ivy League corri our spiritual potential, how is the computer It's not the preachers I fear, but the mass dors, the Guggenheim's gatherings, and going to change that? Some preach that es that blindly follow their suppositions. even at congregations of estranged artists computers will remove the barriers of prej And, ironically, cyberspace is ultimately and philosophers in a Vegas casino. This udice and stereotypes, emphasizing "equal about dialogue. So please, keep talking to conference hosted an alarming number of ity," with statements like "in cyberspace, one another... in the real world. m boot FEB 97 • 29 These 3Dfx Interactive Partners make hot games happen! [ tie tiottest titles: ~ PSYGNOSIS =·~=~~ ORCHID ... ~~ Microsoft MIDWAY --- I r!IDJII• 3Dfx Interactive, Inc. • 4435 Fortran Drive, San Jose, CA 95134 • Phone: 408 935-4400 • E-mail: [email protected] • Web: www.3dfx.com Call our partners for information or call 3Dfx Interactive (888) FOR-3Dfx Copyright Cl 1996 3Dfx Interactive, Inc. The 3Dfx Interactive logo and Voodoo Graphics are trademarks of 3Dfx Interactive, Inc. AU other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Logos used by permission. Voodoo Graphics'" on a PC supports MS-DOS7 Windows· 95, and is the ultimate Microsoft• Di rect3D'" game accelerator. Bar None. 1 + In V 0 ICE uring the next 12 months, new for almost all modern microprocessors, silicon from percolating, the X704 needs CPUs will break all existing records the X704 uses a new combination of bi the scariest heat sink you've ever seen, plus for clock speed, performance, com polar logic circuits and CMOS memory an extra fan. Exponential managed to get plexity, parallelism-even heat out cells. The result is a CPU that has three one of these blast furnace chips working put. If you get a head-rush from things in common with lightning: It's in a Power Macintosh 8SOO tower. I put dmegahertz, you'll love 1997. wickedly fast, it burns lots of electricity, my hand next to the output vents, and the Here's a sample of what's coming: and it'll scorch anything it touches. rush of hot air reminded me of a blow • A blistering CPU that sets a new clock The bipolar twist requires a little dryer in a public restroom. speed record of S33MHz. explanation. Almost all CPUs these days Still, the X704 is 1997's chip of choice, • A SOOMHz speed-demon delivering twice are fabricated on a CMOS process. The if you want to dazzle your friends-and if the raw performance of the S33MHz chip. Pentium and Pentium Pro are minor you don't mind using the Power PC version • The most complex superscalar proces exceptions, because they're made on a of NT. The first X704 systems should be sors ever built. process known as BiCMOS available in the second quarter for • Circuits that soar that's mostly CMOS with a around $S,OOO. beyond IS million Not to be outdone, Digital is transistors. introducing an even faster chip in The good news is: cant and Intel is moving toward pure late 1997: the Alpha 21264. Although All these chips should CMOS in 1997. its clock speed is a meager SOOMHz, be available in 1997. Exponential is doing just simulations indicate it will deliver The bad news is: -rr---··-· All of the X704's logic twice the raw performance of the None of them run Win circuitry (the part of a CPU S33MHz X704, thanks to a more dows, neither 3.1 nor 9S. that handles computation) is powerful core design. Estimated However, most run NT, and their new tech bipolar, and all of the memory cells (the integer performance is almost four nology will eventually find its way into gar onboard caches that temporarily store times as fast that of aP-Pro 200, and den-variety PCs with x86-compatible chips. instructions and data) are CMOS. floating-point performance should All of these CPUs (and many more) Bipolar transistors are extremely fast be more than seven times faster. It were previewed at the Microprocessor because they don't swing between mini has IS.2 million transistors and 128K Forum, an annual conference for chipheads mum and maximum voltages to change of onboard cache. Again, you'll need in Silicon Valley. The MP Forum is unique states, as CMOS transistors do. Instead, NT for this screamer. in that it bans slick marketing pitches by they swing between intermediate voltages These RISC chips offer a peek at what's PR people in favor of serious tech talks by only O.S volts apart. That superfast switch probably coming from Intel in the P7 j real engineers. Even the most knowledge ing yields neck-snapping clock speeds. Merced. The general trend is toward enor able power user would be in deep water Exponential is offering three variations: mous onboard caches, tens of millions of . the author of at this conference. It's the kind of event 466, SOO, and S33MHz. All of them will tranSIStors, and unprecedented complexity. two computing where folks gossip about branch target blow a 200MHz P-Pro into the weeds. IBM's new P2SC-a chip for Unix work- caches and translation lookaside buffers. What's even more amazing is that the stations-has IS million transistors, six-way But it's also where semiconductor X704 is a simple CPU by modern stan parallel pipelines, and enough functional companies come to strut their best stuff. dards. It only has 2.7 million transistors, units to handle eight instructions at once. By far the most freakish new CPU at and only 400,000 of those are logic transis- . AMD's K6, an x86-compatible chip com ing in 1997, has 64Kof cache, 8.8 mil HEAT KILLS!i SPEED THRILLS lion transis- tors, and six INTRODUCING THE BLAZING CPUS THAT'LL RIDE IN YOUR SADDLE THIS YEAR way pipelines. this year's show was the S33MHz X704 tors. That's about the same amount oflogic Until Merced appears-probably in from Exponential Technology. Exponen as a 486. Clearly, there's plenty of growing 1998-Intel won't match these RISC tial is a small start-up that was working room for this chip to get even faster. chips' performance. Even the Klamath secretly until now. The X704 is compatible But the downsides of bipolar circuits and Deschutes versions of the P-Pro with the IBM / Motorola PowerPC 604, so are power consumption and heat. The aren't likely to exceed 300M Hz any time the only Windows it'll run is NT. But what X704's peak power dissipation is a sear in the next year. That's enough to keep makes the X704 special is its radical depar ing 8S watts. By comparison, the P-Pro Intel ahead of its x86 rivals, but the all ture from industry-standard circuit tech 200 peaks at 3S watts, which is already out speed freaks will already be running nology. Instead of using CMOS , the basis considered pretty damn hot. To keep the NT at SOOMHz and beyond. m boot FEB 97 • 31 THE BOOT INTERVIEW boot: Is DOS dead? If so, why do many Sega Saturn or a PlayStation, a PC blows it developers still publish for DOS? away hands down, no question. I just got back St. John: DOS is completely dead, and who from Tokyo, and the Japanese companies ever is still developing for it is a fool. The have an incredibly hard time grasping that. answer would be: stupidity. The mindset of Japanese developers is boot: But even Microsoft only just began just so skewed. I have the same conversa publishing games for Win95 ... tion all the time. I had the conversation a St. John: And there are really good reasons year ago with Sega, before they had Virtua for it. It takes two years to build a state-of Fighter, and I said, "Where do you think the the-art title. And when you started that title PC is in regard to 3D performance?" And development two years ago, you have con they say, "Sony PlayStation ... Saturn ... and tracting and publishing commitments. PC. Way down here." There are obligations to ship the title on That is ludicrous. time. Also, Windows 95 just recently hit the I say, "We outperform you hands down." kind of saturation numbers necessary to get They say, "Well, our engineers can't do it, the sell through we need. A lot of those DOS therefore it is not possible." Send your engi games are just clearing the pipes through neers to me and I'll show them how. And previous generations. This year you will see they did, and now they have Sega Game plenty of DOS titles, but next year, I don't works and 200 people for PC titles and nine see any new ones in the making. Windows 95 titles this Christmas alone. And boot: So you think 1997 will be it for DOS? they did this because we showed them that St. John: Pretty much. There will always be the PC was a lot faster. some stragglers. Now the question is: Is the PC faster boot: Does that include the U.K? than the Ultra 64? That's a weird, subjective St. John: The U.K. is a little slower. Our question. We're certainly capable of much evangelism efforts over there haven't been higher resolutions. The major thing they do skilled. It has been slower because we haven't is the antialiasing thing, which can be tricky been as helpful. Still, the U.K. is the best in PC software. But can we render at higher place to go shopping for good development resolutions and higher color depths faster? talent. They have good programs, but can Yeah, about the same, if not better in certain never ship a damn thing. areas. We have a lot more texture memory, boot: Console game manufacturers are fond so we can have a lot more detailed scenes. of claiming that the pool of games for their Our rendering in software may not be as systems is better because they act as quality fast, but you throw a 3Dfx and a Rendition control agents. Do you think that's true? card in there and it is, no question. You And should a company-Microsoft, for throw a 3D hardware accelerator on a PC instance-fill that role in the PC market? and there's no console that even remotely St. John: Oh, absolutely not. The reason we're touches it. And those days will never come going to succeed is because we support open back. The console will never be able to beat markets. We have no aspirations of mon the PC. In fact, pretty soon, it is unlikely opolizing the market or being the publisher that even arcade games will. or something ridiculous like that. The reason boot: What's your opinion of Cyrix and our market grows and has been as healthy as other Intel competitors? it has is because it is an open market. St. John: Imagine needing drivers for every The idea that consoles are capable of CPU. It's kind offrightening because hard running better games is also ridiculous. It's ware is such a huge pain in the ass to deal a very funny notion that was completely true with. Having the Intel standard has certainly until a year ago. This Christmas, we are run made it easier to build operating systems. ning Virtua Fighter at four times the maxi On the other hand, having a free market mum frame rate of one of these machines. where there are lots of companies innovating And four times the resolution of what the better CPUs is also very cool. Clearly there console's capable of. For something like a are all sorts of horses that drive the market boot FEB 97 • 33 THE BOOT INTERVIEW share. Clearly, the need for a standard has get device independence with just a tiny St John: Three of us really created it together. exceeded the need for a huge amount of overhead and knowing when you have hard And Microsoft was the medium our bacteria competition. Otherwise these chips would ware compatibility. colony grew in. There is a huge team of people be selling by the bazillions. Maybe one Whenever we create a DirectX API, we responsible for making Direct X what it is day-if they continue to exist-they'll have ask, "Are we getting some magic out of this? today and they certainly all deserve credit an innovation that will change everything. Are we throwing something away effectively for it. Now it kind oflives on its own. Which is nice. But it's not likely they'll ever and are we creating something that actually boot: Who's currently using DirectX? surpass the quality of the Intel chip. And in improves the universe?" St. John: Activision has been a huge devel the meantime, Intel's chips make regular DirectMemory is a classic example. We oper. Mech Warrior has been a success story innovation progress. You get good accelera turn off the CD-ROM cache. This is one of for the technology. They have a driver team tion from them on a regular basis, so I don't those things that you just look at and think, working on seven different hardware drivers. see Intel significantly impeding the market "Obviously!" How often do you run multiple Our 3D supports all of those. and they do that chip making thing very well. applications off your CD-ROM cache? Never. id worked with us from very early on. The day they slow down, Cyrix is going to So what does a CD-ROM cache do exactly? There should be a DirectX version of Quake be there to take business from them and It sits there and anticipates what you are very soon. " ... the U.K. is the best place to go shopping for good development LucasArts is doing a Tie Fighter game using DirectX. Other companies talent. They have good programs, but can never ship a damn thing." such as Sega are producing Daytona that's a good thing. going to load and stores it in RAM. Well, if Racer, Virtua Fighter, and they just shipped boot: What kind of competition does Apple you only ever run one application off the CD Bugs; and a couple of other games this pose for the PC? ROM, doesn't it follow that the one applica Christmas are going to be DirectX games. St. John: Apple's doing a good job of trip tion you're running probably knows better We just shipped the second sampler, ping over their own shoelaces. I would say what information it is going to need next which has 20 games on it. And we got they're probably going the route of the NeXT than the operating system? So let's just kill Drowned God from Inscape, which is a really or the Commodore, and it's kind of a shame, it, and turn that responsibility over to the gorgeous title. Not the kind of demanding because they were a very cool platform. It's game. The game gets an extra megabyte of game that we built DirectX for, but certainly pretty hard to imagine how they could dig RAM and speeds up the CD-ROM drive by a gorgeous game. I think we have like 300 themselves out at this point. Certainly we 30 percent. It's just one of those things we DirectX titles coming out all together this year. make a lot of money shipping our products do. Direct Memory says, "Hey I'm throwing boot: What new game takes best advantage on it, but it'll probably decline. out everything that isn't my game. I'm killing ofDirectX? And the multimedia thing was theirs working memory management. I'm shoving St John: The Unreal engine is staggering. to lose. They had it. They were the multi everything out in the hard drive and that They make use of our technologies. They're media leader. They made up multimedia, makes everything work faster." not using Direct3D yet, but we won't hold but apparently they must have been sitting boot: Who takes credit for DirectX? that against them. It's new to them. Let me still because we just went whoosh! right by with DirectX. They had no corollary to that. But it was a very quick change between them having state-of-the-art multimedia, and DirectX obviously being a superior multi media technology. boot: What exactly is Direct X? And what makes it so damn special? St. John: Operating systems accumulate over time. DirectX throws code away. We go, "Well that was a dumb thing to write." One of our huge contributions to the operat ing system is throwing crap out. It's a very interesting philosophy, getting the neces sary independence for people to innovate new game hardware, while keeping it fast. That's black magic. There are a number of things that Direct X does that seem like voodoo. "Let me get this straight, you add a layer of overhead and that makes everything faster?" But it works. There is a lot of software innovation on top that lets the application know when it's getting software and when it's getting hard ware. So DirectX provides a standard way to 34 • boot FEB 97 All the Internet you can eat. / $19.95 flat rate. Unlimited usage. Pig out. 1-800-395-8425 All the goodies you expect ... and more. Personal Start Page E-mail Business Solutions Netscape Navigator~ News National Frame Relay Multiplayer Gaming Free Website Yahoo! Best 315 Dial-up numbers Chat TheNet "A"-Rated 24/7 Help 800# ISDN Pournelle's Choice Free software package for Windows®, Windows95T" and Macintosh® It's your Internet:· Visit us at http://www.ea rthli nk. net Info e-mail: info@earthli nk.net Live human e-mail: sales@earthlink. net ©1996 EarthLink Network, Inc. Trademarks are property of their respective owners. All rights reserved. Product Information Number 130 Earthlink Network, Inc. 3100 1 ew York Drive, Pasadena, CA 911 07 \1\ ~\"' T H E B 0 0 T \\..S_\1~ INTERVIEW see... The Organic Art screen saver is a great use of Direct3D, a good example of something that's not a game. Games such as Mech Warrior use all of DirectX really well. That was done last year and it's still selling very well. Which is very cool. What other games have we seen recently that are really blowing them away? Virtua Fighter really grinds out everything. Epic Mega Games' Firelight is just a 2D scrolling game, but it uses everything and is a really neat game. Scrolling three layers of bitmaps at 640x480 is very impressive. boot: Why should software developers care about DirectX? St. John: Game developers want to make content. Any time they are not making great games, they are radiating energy, being inefficient. Any time they're writing device drivers for three different kinds of hard ware, their talents are being used ineffec tively. They should care because Microsoft is trying very hard and, in many cases, has St. John imagines a future where he can walk into the Internet and shout, " I want a Hummer!" and start haggling about the price. succeeded in making a thousand different platforms look like one platform. We are Whole groups are without jobs because I've certainly had partnerships with freeing development from the burden of that was all they did. And they say, "Oh, we companies where we've offered to help dealing with all the stuff it shouldn't have to don't like your driver. It doesn't do what we them port game titles to DirectX early on. deal with. That's not always appreciated. need." A lot of companies are struggling I've paid for the contractors and things to There are a few companies out there with that transition. do that. And we've had marketing programs who have enormous resources devoted to The other reason they should care (and where we've promoted titles and so forth. writing drivers for every kind of sound card this is a major one), is that while the console But there's been no point when I've handed or every kind of video card-a whole team market has been doing this and the game a check to somebody and said, "Do DirectX devoted to it. And so we come along with market has been doing that. The PC game development." No. DirectX and say that problem is gone. industry has just been growing. A large part But that's to a degree, you know. of this is because of DirectX and the success If you have small game companies ... of Windows in the home. The PC is going they have to make a living. They're not like ~~You throw a 3D hardware to be a predominant platform because it has us big companies who can throw money such competitive innovation. It's going to around gambling on wild-ass things. When accelerator on a PC spill into other entertainment spaces as well. DirectX was new, you know, we could have Pretty soon you'll be able to make a DirectX a company say, "Yes. We'd love to do DirectX game that not only ships into the home on development, but we can't gamble on you and thereJs no console the PC but also ships into the arcade, because because our next title is our next year's exis the PC is also the best arcade machine. And tence. You'd put us out of business if we're that even remotely we might even see DirectX as the best way wrong." And so our subsidizing the effort to to get to the console platform as well. port some new titles early on certainly made touches it And those days In the future, someone who knows it easier for some of these folks to take the how to build good DirectX games will be risk. And now they're off on their own, doing will never come back. able to get their titles to a lot of platforms their own thing; that's because it's been that for a fraction of the effort that it used to successful. Mech Warrior and the first ports The console will never take to migrate from arcade to console to of Doom, we did that, you know, and look PC. That will make the whole market richer at them-they're all at the top of the charts be able to beat the PC . for everybody. now. I don't think these companies are boot: Has Microsoft ever offered game devel regretting that effort. opers financial incentives to use DirectX boot: Microsoft delayed Direct3D so many In fact pretty soon~ it is drivers over DOS, or anything else? times that both software developers and St. John: Well, no. Part of evangelism is to hardware manufactures had fits. Some unlikely that even arcade make sure the right technology is built. Show manufacturers had to ship product before people how to use it and then help people Direct3D was available. Why did it take so games wiii. JJ have market success when they've done that. long for this technology to come to market? 3 6 • boot F E B 9 7 get Direct3D out, we landed ahead of the And it will probably get bumpy and ad hoc market... miraculously. We got this technol early on 'cause it's a nasty problem. Again, ogy out early. And when you think about whether we're going to build our own team what Direct3D is, it's a driver architecture or whether we're going to work with an out for rendering lighting and transformations; side body is not completely dear yet. technology we're not going to see in hard boot: So, are the hardware manufacturers ware for three years, even four; and the finally ramping up now? first real 3D hardware accelerators hadn't St. John: Oh, yeah. The Rendition and 3Dfx even shipped. And the thing is we've gone are awesome. Those were the first 3D cards through two releases of Direct3D. And the that were actually not 3D decelerators. The purpose for building the damned thing is ones on the drawing boards after that are for hardware. That's the only thing that even better. Of course, there's a number of makes sense. crap chips out there too. Our 3D raster is very fast, but we're boot: Why should garners care about never going to beat a Quake. Actually we are. DirectX games? But we're never going to beat everybody's St. John: Honestly, a consumer shouldn't hand-coded engine and it's not our purpose give a damn about DirectX. A consumer to do that. You want the best and the fastest, should give a damn about having a great but you want it general purpose. Somebody game that works. To the degree to which who's tweaked the thing for a particular Direct X makes better games, with easier application is always going to be faster. access to them, that is true. DirectX dramat From now on it's going to be pretty ically improves the quality of games on the smooth sailing. That Microsoft has an API PC by allowing game developers to focus on so much earlier than the actual pull of the their content rather than dealing with all hardware means we may have one of the the intricacies of how the PC actually works. smoothest transitions to a radical new tech And it also means much broader access nology that the PC platform has ever had. to that content. And games, if they don't And I expect it's a very positive thing. have a PC, will be in the arcade. So con- boot: What about support for Windows NT? sumers will have access to better content St. John: The current version of NT is ship faster because of this technology. ping with DirectX 1.0 in it now. Things like boot: How precisely will Direct3D 3.0 sup the sound drivers are just soft emulations port systems armed with MMX and a and the joystick is just digital, but we don't Direct3D video card? mer shouldn't give a damn about DirectX. A consumer should having a great game that works." think that's a major problem. The next ver St. John: What we have is a hardware emu sion of NT is going to have everything, all lation layer: a soft emulation for everything the way. It's very important because DirectX you do with hardware. And so, if you're promotes multimedia, which NT is for. Also calling Direct3D, the AP I will look the same NT is ideal for going into the arcade. We whether you're getting soft emulation or St. John: First of all, I'd like to make apolo expect that as people want to use their PC hardware acceleration. The API lets the gies for all the delays that we had to go for an arcade machine, they'll want to use game work the same, run the same way, through to ship the technology. Today, NT. Plus, because NT has all the multimedia look the same. If hardware acceleration is Direct3D is shipping. It's very integrated. capabilities that Windows 95 has-plus the present, it takes management of the hard It'll have regular releases. But it was a very other things that NT has-it would be a ware acceleration. If there is no hardware bumpy ride getting the technology adopted. very powerful medium for making industrial acceleration present, then you get soft emu Not just because buying a company and strength games. And so we're jamming lation. It just happens automatically. The making technology transitions are difficult, everything in there as fast as possible. game might not even be aware of it. but because, at the time, Microsoft had two boot: Will Microsoft release DirectX perfor As MMX enters the market, I think or three internal development teams work mance benchmarks so users can accurately you'll get games making smarter use of it. ing on 3D APis. gauge the performance of different systems Proftling the hardware and saying "If it's There was this OpenGL movement, "We and subsystems? MMX and it's this kind of hardware, then I don't need another API!" And so there were St. John: The answer is yes. But I'm not sure can balance who does what a little more a lot of internal machinations that slowed we are going to build this suite, but we know efficiently to get maximum yield out of down Direct3D. We felt very bad about that that one is needed very badly. It's a tough both." If you're coding a game to DirectX, and did our best to smooth it out and not problem and we're working fairly closely even stupidly, you're going to get a huge have it happen again in the future. The with a number of standards and bench benefit out of MMX. Just calling Direct3D, funny thing is that after the huge rush to marking bodies to try and get things defined. or DirectSound, or DirectVideo is going to 3 7 • boot FEB 9 7 Available at fine software retailers everywhere. For more information or to order direct call1-800-685-3863 or call (416)656-9594 or visit our website at www.microforum.com Product Information Number 237 THE B 0 OT n ~\" I N T E R V I E W \\..s_\1~ use MMX magically and everything's going gear, despite company representatives stat boot: Microsoft manufactures mice, joy to run better. ing it would be in DirectX 3.0 at the 1996 sticks, and game packs. Will Microsoft ever The MMX version of Direct3D's RGB Computer Game Developer's Conference. take the plunge and introduce its own per modes run better than the linear ramp mode, Why the delay? And is it all related to Micro sonal computer line? so RGB mode can have all 24-bit color light soft's own efforts to develop force-feedback St. John: We have no reason whatsoever to sources. Ramp mode was just white light, game peripherals? dream of messing with our OEM distribu which is what most games use. I haven't St. John: We define the API, but we're not tors. So I don't think that's likely to ever be seen a single game that uses color lights psychic. If we knew what the best new ideas the case. The fact that we make parts that today. The ramp mode version of Direct3D would be, we'd have them ourselves. just plug in, that's kind of a nice business to used to be the fastest, but the MMX version Force feedback is an unknown. Nobody be in, but dearly that's not our primary busi of Direct3D's RGB drivers outperform it 120 knows how games are going to use it, how ness. It's quite a leap to imagine us going percent faster with everything else turned users are going to react to it or what they're from the only devices we actually ever had on. So the game is actually faster if you use going to want from it. Nobody knows this. So, success with, wrapping balls and buttons all the vector light sources. "Turn them on! for us to go and redefine AP!s to support force and plastics, to hardware and computers. What the Hell! The game runs faster! " The feedback, for example, before anybody knows When it comes to wrapping little balls and whole system just goes faster. It's a good deal. what's going to be cool about it, is silly. We're buttons with plastic, we excel at that. Try to boot: Microsoft recently announced DirectX just going to create a bunch of curves nobody's introduce a sound card? That's too much. would not support force feedback and VR going to want. That doesn't help anybody. boot: Have you ever been invited to Bill The first thing we can do is say, "Well, Gates' house? we know there are things in other devices St. John: Bill and I see as much of each that we guarantee people will want," and other as we need to. Bill's pretty private and that may include the ability to communicate I can absolutely understand that, having seen information back to the joystick. So here are some of the interactions he has had with the pointers to a 32-bit data structure of an people. So, I don't think a lot of people go undefined nature and you can pass it back to Bill's house, which is probably a good to the joystick. We are not going to define thing. I met one of Bill's garage program the standard way of describing what's get mers at the gym one morning. He has ll ting passed back, but you can still go get a people programming the humidity, temper force-feedback joystick and an API to sup· ature control, automatic door openers and port it, but we don't know how to yet. what have you. Bill collects classic cars, so The same is true for VR devices. DirectX he has like 150 classic cars. No, I haven't doesn't impede you from shipping new VR been invited to Bill's house. No, I'm not technology, it actually adds value to it. Our offended that Bill hasn't invited me to his relationship with Microsoft's hardware group house. I'm glad. I'm too busy to be making and developer group is exactly like it is with social calls. every hardware and software company in the boot: Microsoft is the big fish and many industry. There's no favoritism. There's no people want to see the company fail because collusion going on. In fact, it's quite the of that success. How does that affect you? opposite. We're dying to make something St. John: Personally, I can't imagine a better like DirectVR. The major obstacle is other place to go and have great ideas that change higher priority demands from developers. everything. There's no way the game industry As cool as we may think VR is, the could ever have been fixed without a Micro- first development resources go into people's soft. No body, committee, industry group, demands now. Like DirectMemory. We just whatever could have gotten together and said, made all applications go 30 percent faster. "Let's go make something that fixes these Would you like us to do that or support head- problems!" and unify on it. It doesn't happen. mounted displays? "Make everything go We did this because we love making game faster, please." Unfortunately, it tends to be technology. We never could have done things that way. As fast as we can hire more people, like this if companies such as Microsoft we're hoping to get enough critical mass to weren't so successful; and so to the extent be able to do some of the things that we like that Microsoft is an industry leader and makes to do that aren't as critical. tons of money and creates some envy, it's boot: Well then, wheri can we expect to see understandable. I have trouble saying that's a good or a bad thing. I'm just •MIHM\I!il hard and, in many cases, has succeeded very glad Microsoft exists and t platforms look like one platform." that we can do this. Personally? Microsoft's force-feedback technology? I think there are a lot of game companies St. John: That depends on what needs to out there that are going to make a ton more be built. money because of us. rn boot FEB 97 • 39 THIS SITE CONTAINS GRAPHIC MATERIAl THAT MAYTURN YOUR lOVE OF PCs INTO AN OBSESSION ILLU STRATION: LOU BEACH boot FEB 97 • 41 !/ Burn a disc and just about anyone will be able to read it Send your data on With the introduction of the RSOS, Teac hopes to join the ranks of the CD-R elite-the handful of 1·1 AC H5 0 S drive manufacturers making 4x drives. Based on Teac's own drive mechanism, the RSOS features a 1MB buffer, supports packet writing, and is equipped to write most major CD formats, including CD It's built tor speed but not tor ROM, CD-ROM XA, CD-i, and CD-DA. speed bumps Using Adaptec's CD Creator 2.0, which comes bundled with the drive, the RSOS created a 390MB ISO image file in 12 minutes and burned it in 13 minutes. It handled the conversion of WAV files to aud io tracks, and the creation of an enhanced CD like a Wheaties' poster child. The drive scorched through our on-the-fly torture test in an astonishing 9 minutes. I think I'm in love. M!II!J!!!!""=:::< The RSOS duplicates audio and mixed-mode discs too. But during playback we noticed skipping on multiple tracks. We ran the audio CD duplication test again and found the same errors on different tracks, indicating a few glitches in the drive's digital audio extraction capabilities. I guess it's better to have loved and lost... Burning at 4x is more reliable than burning at 2x, because the high speed gives the recorder's laser less time to improperly burn pits on the disc. The RSOS dam ages this reputation for superior quality with its consistently unreliable boot verdict audio recording. PRICE: $950 If you're looking for sheer speed, this drive's COMPANY: Teac got it to spare, but if you're looking for reliability, PHONE: 213.726.0303 look elsewhere. URL: www.teac.com ( asy-CD Pro's original Win95 translation had all the power and stability of Adaptec's underlying IASY-CD Pro 95 XCD engine, but the interface was downright anemic. Apparently Adaptec missed the boat that Corel caught with CD Creator 2.0's Disc Wizard, which provides quick and painless burns. Handy prompts and an extremely Well, Adaptec must have been feeding Easy-CD Pro gristle, because the new version is fat. New features abound, such as the CD Deck, which allows easy editing of audio tracks; a CD stable engine make tor painless sleeve creation utility; an extremely intuitive Wizard ; as well as added support for enhanced CD creation mode discs. The software also has excellent reporting on both recorder capabilities and ses sion status. Easy-CD Pro runs on Windows NT 4.0 and 3.51, supports the most drives of any CD-R mastering software, and comes bundled with many of the drives shipping today. The ASPI (Advanced SCSI Programming Interface) layer of Easy-CD Pro provides a more advanced hardware interface to enhance the software's stability, through features such as auto-insert blocking. This prevents continuous polling of the drives from interfering in the burn. Despite all these advanced features, Easy-CD Pro 's on-the-fly recording abilities choked dur ing our torture test of 20,000 compressed icons. The software wouldn't switch to track-at-once recording like CD Creator 2.0 and Gear 4.0, insisting ,instead on creating an image on the boot verdict hard drive before burning it to disc. While PRICE: $349 this isn't a severe limitation-Easy-CO Pro COMPANY: Adaptec still reliably burned the data-it did deny the PHONE: 800.77 4.6228 software the boot Kick-Ass award. URL: www.adaptec.com 42 • boot FEB 97 anything else and you take your chances . ~ ~ 1he Blaster CD-R 4210 is an internal multisession-capable 2xWrite/4xRead drive with a 1MB buffer. Capable of producing CD-ROM, CD-ROM XA, CO-Plus, and CD-i discs, as well as digital audio COs; BlASTER the Blaster CD-R comes bundled with Easy-CO Pro 95 and an Adaptec ISA SCSI adapter. The accom panying manual is friendly to the novice CD-R user, and mildly pedantic to the experienced one. CD-R 4210 Easy-CO Pro balked at our on-the-fly recording torture test. When we forced the burn, a buffer underrun resulted. (See the review of Easy-CO Pro for more details.) Still, the drive performed ade This is one Blaster product that quately on other tests. is substandard when it comes While on-the-fly recording problems can be attributed to software, the digital audio extraction to sound errors we experienced in our disc-at-once tests indicate a problem with the CD-R drive itself. We successfully duplicated an audio CD and a mixed-mode disc only to find the audio tracks unrecognizably garbled on playback. The Blaster CD-R handled the conversion of WAV files to audio tracks without a problem allowing the track-at-once creation of both an audio CD and an enhanced CD. It also turned in respectable times creating (12 minutes) and burning (13 minutes) a 390MB ISO image file. The Blaster CD-R is a competent solu tion for modest CD-R needs. However, its boot verdict mediocre on-the-fly recording performance PRICE: $699 means that you'll definitely need to factor in lots COMPANY: Creative Labs of extra hard drive space for creating an image PHONE: 800.998.5227 file when using this drive. URL: www.creativelabs.com e 1vere a 1 wna unc wna 1 suppor o use. ores a ver 1se comp e e for long file names, for example) at the solutions," but that's not truly possible until •• US!! your comput!!r for anything !!lse expense of cross-platform compatibility. CD-Rs are bundled with new PCs, so that burning a disc. Internationally standardized data access eve1ything works right out of the box. PC •Put your source drive on a different data is the crux of CD-R's advantage over other manufacturers will soon be doing just that. bus than your CD-R drive to ensure a steady removable storage media. PD, Jaz, Zip, Sy flow of data. Use an EIDE hard drive and a Quest, and other proprietary cartridge tech Check Your IDE at the Door SCSI CD·R drive, for example, or install two nologies require recording and playback on Be aware that CD recording carries some SCSI host adapters-one for the hard drive the same type of device. MO drives comply stringent system requirements, especially and one for the CD-R. with a different ISO standard, but these in terms of data throughput. Data must •Dedicate 700MB of your hard drive for devices still aren't nearly as common as a CD flow to the CD-R in a steady, uninterrupted image files-as well as on-the-fly recording. ROM drive. Burn a disc and just about any flow, which explains why CD-R drives have •Make sure that your hard drive has an one will be able to read it. Send your data on always used SCSI interfaces. (A new gener average access time of less than 12ms, and ation ofiDE-ATAPI CD-R drives is coming, anything else and you take your chances. that its sustained data-transfer rate is at CD-R also boasts a formidable cost-per but we're withholding judgment until we've least 9001 Creator 2.0 has long been a personal favorite of mine. It's easy to use, has tons of solid fea tures, comes with useful utilities, and its Disc Wizard provides a quick and painless way to CREATOR 2.0 create COs the first time around. Shame it's a dead product. Adaptec bought the software Creator 's Disc Wizard takes your from Corel last year and will not be upgrading it. Instead, they will be releasing a new product that merges the features of Creator 2.0 with Easy-CO Pro in April of this year. hand and guides you through the Creator 2.0 comes with photo and video CD creation utilities; a sound editor and music dark shadows of CD mastering database cataloger; MPEG encoder and player by XING Technologies; CD duplicator, which does quick and dirty disc dupes from CD-ROM to CD-R; and Session Selector, which allows X you to activate different sessions on a multisession disc. Corel must have run out of clip art when originally developing Creator 2.0, so they just threw in a mishmash of utilities. Create a new CO ROM (data) d1sc Creator 2.0's reputation for being incredibly slow is duly earned. All of the drives we tested with the software regularly took longer to complete nearly all the basic CO-mastering tasks than the same drives using Gear 4.0 or Easy-CO Pro software. This slowdown could be the result of the software bypassing the ASP I layer with its own suspiciously buggy drivers. These have a tendency to overwrite the drivers of other CD-R mastering programs and interfere boot verdict with their operation. This snafu brought our PRICE: $249 test system to its knees on more than one COMPANY: Adaptec occasion. Needless to say, it's no longer my PHONE: 800.77 4.6228 favorite software. URL: www.adaptec.com boot FEB 97 • 43 "The new CD format eliminates these limitations and Jhis drive is solid. We snickered at the massive size of this unit when we first lugged it out of the box, but our guffaws soon turned to grins. The CD·R 2x4 successfully plodded through all of our OLYMPUS tests as solidly as a redwood two-by-four. The CD-R 2x4 is an external drive based on Olympus' own 2xWrite/4xRead mechanism, with a CD-R 2x4 1MB buffer to control data flow. It supports packet writing and all the CD-R formats, including: CD ROM, CD-ROM XA, CD-Pius, CD-i, and CO-DA. It comes with all the necessary equipment you'll need It ain't heavy. .. it's my CD-R drive to start burning: CD Creator 2.0 software, SCSI terminator, and cable-everything that is, except for a SCSI adapter. This may discourage buyers who are looking for a complete solution. The CD-R 2x4 completed our on-the-fly recording torture test in a respectable 10 minutes. It took 18 minutes to create an ISO image file (an abnormally long time) and burned it in 25 minutes. The drive proved up to the digital audio extraction tests, where most other drives stumbled. We successfully duplicated a mixed-mode disc and an audio CD with no errors during record ing or, more importantly, during playback. It converted WAV files to audio tracks and handled the creation of an enhanced CD in the steady, yet competent manner that is its trademark. While its big box may not be pretty to @ ,z-r look at, the CD-R 2x4 delivers some pretty ___b_O_O_t_ V_e_r_d_i C_t __ - impressive results. If you're not in a huge PRICE: $649 rush to get that burn done, this drive will COMPANY: Olympus Image Systems do one with very little fuss, and do it quite PHONE: 800.347.4027 well thank you. URL: www.olympus.com All CD-R drives are equipped with their Green Book, Blue Book, Yellow Book, and is burned to disc either when the cache own buffers-usually 1MB of memory-in so on), so it pays to know what you're doing reaches a certain size or on demand. With order to guarantee a steady data flow. Some before you click the Burn button. With the the old IS0-9660 standard, even the most drives, particularly the new generation of best of the new software, you can lay out a trivial update to a file's attributes forced a drives that can write at 4x speed, are CD with drag-and-drop ease, and use wiz rewrite of the disc's entire path table and equipped with 2MB buffers to guard ards that mask intricate mastering process volume descriptor. The new CD format against underruns. Buffer underrun-a es with simplified step-by-step guides. eliminates these limitations and adds a condition in which the CD-R empties its Veteran CD-R users have long dreamed standardized packet-writing format to buffer before the burn is complete- is the of writing directly to CD-R without master CD-R mastering. bane of the mastering process. ing software. In these dreams, the CD-R drive appears as a single drive letter desig Universal Disc Format Drag and Burn nated by the operating system, allowing Adaptec's DirectCD and Software Architects' CO-mastering software has a reputation for drag-and-drop writes to disc from Win95's Write UDF! will be the first software solu being complicated and obtuse. Some pack File Manager and Explorer, and use of Send tions to implement the new standard. They ages are definitely better than others (see To and Save As commands from any appli both allow packet writing in the new UDF the reviews in this article for this author's cation. Packet-writing technology achieves format, with the option of finalizing the disc take), but the process isn't all that difficult this ideal by allowing users to record small in IS0-9660 so that older CD-ROM drives if you take your time and approach the task amounts of data to disc using less overhead will be able to read the disc. Other software well prepared. A new disc can take on a than previous methods. With packet writ packages, such as JVC's CD-R Extensions, number of different flavors (Red Book, ing, a hard-drive cache is created and data Sony's CD-RFS, and Cheyenne's Zap for CD After using and testing innumerable CD-R drives, we've come to realize that they share a lot of sim ilarities as far as speed and features go. That's not to say that GEAR 4.0 there aren't drives of superior quality and drives that just flat out suck, but with so A well-lubricated machine many OEM companies repackaging the same drive mechanisms, it all comes down to what else ships in the box. When you're digging through the packaging, the SCSI adapters, cables, terminators, blank media, motivational video clips, and whatever else Try it out! that makes a "complete CD-R solution," keep an eye out for what really matters-the software. Bad CD mastering software can make a drive suck down data slower than a ter- demO on the mite digesting a Formica table. bootDisc We found that when it comes to CD burning software, Gear 4.0 is the best. It outper formed the other products in this group, earning it boot's Kick-Ass award. Gear 4.0 hits your desktop like a toolbar on steroids. It doesn't I "I - rn x J!nject \VJ:Ilo Ioolt l)ptiooDJ Wbulow Help look like much at first, but this software is it. Advanced features ~ - ---,-.,. include: importing external images created with other CD-R software; ~ I • I • I JII( It5l !Wl ® 1 ~ 1 E%1~1 ~ editing audio track cue sheets; an d creating batch files to automate IBum a CD-R I CO TS'P"&Solling; Device repetitive operations. From the pull-down menu on the left (CD Type jCD·AOM tl jCD.fl[OMl AI COH A0·1420C 1.42 G' and Settings) you choose what type of CD you want to create: CD ~I Setl¥lg; Write It Eil .~ :=JI Settr.gs I Test I I ROM, CD-ROM XA, Mixed Mode 1 (CD-ROM plus audio), or Mixed Mode 2 (CD-ROM XA plus audio). Then you create a virtual image where the S.,;;;:-1. Track.: 1 ll 649111B~hee ljll Speed: 2M i meet once data will be loaded. The virtual image contains the minimal amount of 44 • boot FEB 97 1dds a standardized packet-writing format to CD-R mastering .JI Jhe Spressa 940 arrives hand-in-hand with CD-RFS, Sony's new packet-writing software. CD-RFS is Sony's pro- prietary implementation of the now-standardized CD-UDF file system, allowing CDs in progress to be used S0 NY like any other random access media, such as a floppy or a hard drive. The disc must be "frozen" in order to play on other CD-ROM drives that support packet-written discs . When the disc is inserted, the first thing that SPHESSA appears is the CD-RFS read-only driver. Installing this driver gives access to the disc's contents. CD-RFS will work with any CD-R drive that, like the Spressa 940, supports packet writing, which basically means any 9 4 0 drive manufactured during the past year. (For more about packet writing, see the article below.) The Spressa is an internal drive, using Sony's own 2xWrite/4xRead mechanism, with a 1MB buffer. The Write your CD-Rs again and multisesssion capable drive can produce CD-ROM, CD-ROM XA, CD-i, and Red Book digital audio discs. It again and .. . comes bundled with Creator 2.0 and an Adaptec ISA SCSI adapter. Using Creator 2.0, the Spressa put in an impressive time of 10 minutes on our on-the-fly recording tor- .1!!•••----- ture test. We successfully duplicated a mixed-mode disc and an audio CD with no 1 errors during recording or playback, and converted WAV files to digital audio tracks ~~····••IIBBII!fillllll~r- while creating an enhanced CD. I The Spressa 940 is a great drive for those needing archiv boot verdict ing, backup, and data storage PRICE: $799 solutions. It's not a very dazzling COMPANY: Sony drive, but then again, neither are all PHONE: 800.352.7669 those tasks it's so handy for. URL: www.sel.sony.com (formerly Moniker's Spim) have implemented of a piece of bad media, and your investment irreversible burning process, CD-RW drives these features through their own propriety of $8 and two hours of mastering time will use phase change technology. In this case, formats, but they'll soon offer upgrades that produce nothing more than a shiny, golden the laser changes the state of the media's support the new standard. When Windows coaster; an everlasting testament to your recording layer from a reflective state to a 97 ships this summer, it will have CD-UDF failure. There is no process that makes a light absorbing state. Because this change reading capabilities built into its file system, previously burned CD-R disc reusable. in reflectivity can be reversed, the disc be delivering OS-level support for new CD But never fear, new technology is here! comes erasable and reusable. (Panasonic's technologies, including CD-RW and DVD, The coming generation of CD-Rewritable line of P D drives have used phase change which will have their tracks notched in the (CD-RW) drives will read, write, and rewrite technology for nearly two years, but that new format. COs. Unfortunately, CD-RW won't be 100 media is encased in a hard-shell cartridge percent backward compatible. CD-RW dri and is incompatible with CD-ROM tech Kill the Worm ves will read CO-ROMs, but existing CD nology. PO drives can read CD-ROM discs, The biggest drawback to CD-R has always ROM drives won't read CD-RW discs. CD-R but CD-ROM drives can't read PO media.) been the irrevocable nature of the writing drives won't be able to read-or write-CD CD-RW's logical file format is derived process. Multisession technology wounded RW discs, either. from CD-UDF, so CD-RW drives will be WORM (WriteOnce Read Many), by enabling CD-RW discs accomplish the trick of capable of packet writing by design. CD-RW you to write to a CD-R during several differ rewritability by using a different layering is like a big. fat hard drive squeezed into a ent passes, but you still have to close out the scheme than CD-R. A CD-R drive writes thin, shiny wafer. Considering its capacity disc before it can be read in a conventional data on the surface of the media by burning (650MB). speed (equivalent to a 4x CD-ROM CD-ROM drive. Make a mistake or get a hold the disc's dye layer with a laser. Instead of an drive), and random-access nature, CD-RW information needed to create a CD, stuff like file size, location, properties, and date. Drag and drop from drive windows to track listings to edit your CD layout in the Data Editor. Each file added updates the virtual image. The non-ISO file names toolbar provides a place where you can set how you'd like non-ISO file names handled, with prompting or automatic translation options. Listed on the right-hand (Device) side are attached CD-R drives. The Settings button allows you to tweak recording methods, disc fixation, and buffering set tings. Gear 4.0 supports disc-at-once, track-at-once, and fi xed packet-writing recording methods. A large part of Gear 4.0's performance increases in the new version is due to a new cyclical buffering scheme; where data, after being for matted for the CD -R, is passed to a buffer on the. hard drive that's the same size as the buffer on the ~D-R. As the CD-R drive's buffer empties, the data waiting on the hard drive is passed to the drive mechanism for writing. In addition to giving comprehensive instructions about how to use the software, the Gear manual also contains an extremely useful list of CD-R drives it works with, giving a rundown of recording speeds, digital audio extraction abilities, buffer sizes, boot verdict and the current firmware version. PRICE: $299 A new version of Elektroson's Gear has already been announced, which will write COMPANY: Elektroson CD-UDF and ISO 9660 discs. top. Gear is scheduled to ship in March and will use the PHONE: 408.371.4895 same Kick-Ass engine that drives Gear 4.0. URL: www.elektroson.com boot FEB 97 • 45 "Anything your devious little mind can produce witr Jhe Micro boards PlayWrite 2040 arrived late to the party and went home with the best scores. just like that spoiled frat boy in college that drove off with my date in his daddy's Beemer. I'm not bitter MICHOBOAHDS or anything, just making an an alogy. The 2xRead/4xWrite Ricoh drive mechanism combined with the Gear 4.0 software blew the other drives away. It's gotta be the software, or maybe it's the shoes. The PlayWrite is the only drive in this group available with either 1MB or 2MB data buffers, and PlAYWHITI works as a vertically mounted unit-you don't really know how cool this is until you have four or five CD-R units on your desk, stacked up on top of each other like Yertle the Turtle. The drive sup ports packet writing and disc creation in all the popular formats, including CD-ROM, CD-ROM XA, CD 2 0 4 0 Pius, CD-i, and CD-DA. The best of the rest The PlayWrite took our on-the-fly torture test in an awe-inspiring 8 minutes. The time it took to create an ISO image file (13 minutes) was one minute off the times put in by the two 4x recorders in this roundup. It burned the ISO image file in 25 minutes, which seems to be the fastest time that any dua l speed drive can pack data on a platte r. It converted WAV files to audio tracks for the creation of an enhanced mode CD, and duplicated both an audio CD and a mi xed-mode disc without error. The PlayWrite 2040 is the drive that sits boot verdict on my desk for those critical moments when I PRICE: $695 really need to burn a disc and don't have time COMPANY: Microboards Technology to waste with recording errors. If you're looking PHONE: 800.646.8881 for the same thing, check out this CD-R drive. URL: www.microboards.com could sound the death knell for all but the be available? Well ... Let's just say, Bob Hope players. Fortunately, a new blank-media stan highest-capacity tape backup drives. probably won't be around to see it. dard-CO-R 2-will take care of the problem. Don't jump on the CD-RW bandwagon Daydreaming about downloading a fea if you need to access those discs on garden DVD-Recordable in the Mist ture-length motion picture from a digital variety CD-ROM drives: older drives can't DVD is the next generation of digital optical satellite transmission, then writing it directly read the less-reflective CD-RW discs. The disc technology, with the capacity for 25 times to disc for playback on your DVD player? newest models-including DVD-ROM more data that can be accessed nine times Wake up! DVD-Recordable is a far-off tech drives-should be able to read CD-RW faster than current CD technology. Used for nology. Start saving a buck a day now, and discs, but that can't be verified until these video, it boasts twice the definition of VHS you'll probably be able to afford one when devices hit the market. Before you buy any tape, with audio quality that's better than CD. they finally ship. DVD-R promises the ability drive, check the manufacturers' specs for With DVD-ROM's increased storage capacity, to pack 3.9GB of data on a disc you can burn MultiRead capability: Without that, the drive developers will be able to stuff data onto a at home, but you can expect the Hollywood won't be compatible with CD-RW. single disc that would have consumed a studios to raise a holy stink about piracy CD-RW builds a bridge between current dozen conventional CDs. before this technology reaches the market. CD-R technology and the DVD-RAM tech DVD-ROM promises backward compati It'll be an even bigger problem than that nology that's coming down the pike. DVD bility with existing CD- ROMs, but it poses which delayed DVD. Don't expect DVD-R RAM, using phase change technology adapted a new problem to CD-R. Because the laser before mid-1998 at the earliest. for the increased capacity of DVD-promises in a CD-R drive is of a different wavelength DVD-RAM, the rewritable version of to deliver gigabytes of reusable storage in than that used in a DVD-ROM drive, CD-R DVD-R, will take even longer to get to mar the same 5.25-inch footprint. When will it discs won't play in DVD-ROM drives or DVD ket. It has a planned capacity of 2.6G B, Advanced features such as the ability to create hybrid and bootable CDs make CDR Publisher 4.65 the choice for knowledgeable CD-R users. Despite a formidable following in the Unix CDR PUBliSHIH community, CDR Publisher is virtually unknown to the Windows world, and that's a shame because this is one of the most powerful and unique CD mastering programs available. CDR Publisher can adjust the buffer size and write to CD-R tape format . It's capable of I 4 G5 premastering every CD format imaginable: CD-ROM, CD -ROM XA, CD-i, CD-DA, Enhanced CD, If you want to boatable CD-ROM, Mixed Mode, Video CD, and hybrid CDs with PC, Mac, and Unix native format volumes coexisting on a single platter. It does this in such a way that the burn a d1sc to be same data is available to all platforms, instead of having to create separate data used on Macs, vo lum es in different formats. It can also create CDs for non-PC platforms on a PC. Through speed profiles and virtual writ in g features, CDR Publisher tests the PCs, and Unix data transfer speed between PC and recorder prior to actual recording, and helps systems, this is fine-tune settings to increase the chances of successful burns. It also optimizes file placement for faster data access, and auto-renames files to comply with the desti the software nation format. boot verdict to do it The program's Unix roots give it a decidedly un-Windows-like PRICE: $495 interface, but don't let that put COMPANY: Creative Digital Research you off, because CDR Publisher PHONE: 408.255.0999 has the power. URL: www.cdrl.com 48 • boot FEB 97 your PC can be packed onto a CD ... JJ 0K, so it has a charcoal shell wrapped up in two purple racing stripes. If it was a little thicker and had PINNACLI the Dukes of Hazzard on the side I would've mistaken it for my childhood lunchbox. As it was, I still checked the drive tray to see if there was a thermos inside. None of this makes the RDCD 4x4 any less of a CD-R drive. In fact this drive's 4xRead/4xWrite mechanism leaves little room for bologna sandwiches MICRO and potato chips. With this drive you get the works: Adaptec SCSI adapter, Easy-CO Pro mastering software, Pinnacle Micro's HDCD 4K4 Disc Archive 95 backup software, and motivational digital video clips. Yeah ... QuickTime movies of feel-good moments synched to inspirational music and positive messages are exactly what I buy a CD-R drive for. The 4xRead/4xWrite mechanism was up to any task we put it to, but it was a little hindered by the bundled software. Easy-CO Pro crawled through our on-the-fly torture test in 30 minutes. (See the review of Easy-CO Pro for reasons why.) On the rest of the test the drive performed like a dehydrated speed freak, sucking down everything we stuck in its face. The drive created a 390MB ISO image file in 12 minutes and burned it in 13 minutes. It created WAV files from audio tracks and back to create an enhanced CD, and duplicated both audio and mixed mode discs without error. boot verdict PRICE: $999 COMPANY: Pinnacle Micro PHONE: 800.553.7070 URL: www.pinnaclemicro.com How to Make a ouake CD-ROM wm Car~enter's Soundtrack The registered version of Quake comes on a disc that contains both computer data and Red-Book (digital) audio. It is technically referred to as a Mixed-Mode disc in which the data is all contained in Track 1, and the audio in one or more of the following tracks. The audio tracks follow the same Red Book standard that audio CDs do, which means that you can pop the disc into Creating a Dootable CD-ROM your stereo system and play it from track two on. This also means that you You will need DiskEdit from Norton Utilities and CDR Publisher. can replace the provided audio tracks with your own music, such as our per 1 Create a bootable floppy. Tryitout! sonal favorite, Greatest Hits of the Carpenters. the 2. Exit Windows and Launch DiskEdit: demO on All you need is multisession capable Under Object menu, select Drive ... option. bootDisc: CD-R mastering software and, of Select 'A: 3_" floppy' and 'Physical disks'. CDR Publisher course, a CD-R drive: Select the 'Write Object To .. .' option in the Tools menu. Save it to a file on your hard drive with an .img extension. • Import the Quake data track into the Exit and return to Windows. CD-R software and cut it to disc. DO NOT CLOSE THE SESSION. 3. Launch CDR Publisher. • Add the audio tracks. These can be Set Source to 'File List' and Destination to 'CD Recorder'. Select 'Disc Format and Layout' under the Configure menu and click on added individually or all at once; it is the Bootable CD tab. recommended that you do the latter Check 'Create PC bootable Disc', insert the Image File path and set unless you are taking these from dif 'Boot Media Type' to the size of diskette that was used. ferent sources one at a time. Under File List menu, select Selection and drag the files that you would • You may need to convert the audio like to place on the CD directly from the Explorer. tracks to WAV files if your CD-ROM If you'd like to be able to add to the disc later, select 'Multi-Session CD reader doesn't support digital audio Interim Session' from the Session/Optimization tab. extraction. Click Create Image and cut the disc! • Set the session to be closed when adding the last audio track and bear in 4. The BIOS will need to be changed to enable CD-ROM booting. This is done by pressing mind that more cannot be added later either 'Fl' or the 'Delete' key when as you are booting. Once there, locate the option that specifies the first boot device, change it from 'Floppy' to 'CD-ROM', save the configuration, and after this has been done. reboot. The disc should boot like a bootable floppy would; taking on the drive letter A:. You • Now sit back and frag a couple of now have a non-writable 650MB gold floppy (or stiffy) disc. We haven't figured out a practical zombies to the soothin' groove of use for this yet, but we thought we'd pass it on. 'We've Only just Begun'. boot FEB 97 • 47 You've gone fluffy ... make that fat. .. bloated ... lumpy, even. You 've slowed to a cruel parody of your former self. You're an embarrassment. Face the truth, my sad-sack PC, you're a mess. Fortunately, I am going to salvage your soul . I am more than your personal trainer. I am your deliverance. With a small investment of money and effort, you and I are going to push back the hands of time. We're going to return your speed and power and awe-inspiring vitality. You will thank me for it just as I thank you in my heart for the work you help move off my desk every day. BY MARTY JEROME he Slimfast Diet Plan the installation. This might mean deleting The first stop on the road to rehab the entire caboodle, then reinstalling it. is the de-flabifier. With hard drives There are even parts of your oper costing pennies per megabyte, ating system that you probably don't useless programs and ftles collect need. When was the last time you fired like unwanted pounds on a pastry up Visual Basic? How useful is Micro chef's fanny. In all likelihood, half soft Network to you? Let's not even of what's on your hard drive at talk about Solitaire or half the applets this very moment could be jettisoned with in the Accessories group (Phone Dialer, out your even knowing it. The more clutter Cardfile, Character Map?). Time wasters, Windows contends with, the slower it all-throw them overboard. runs. It's time to take inventory. Now size up your catalog of Begin with programs-the bigger, the games. Would you like your office better. Office suites, for example, are the colleagues to know you still play the worst offenders where flab is concerned. If DOS version of Carmen San Diego? you use a suite, consider which modules Hasn't the thrill gone out of Tank are genuinely beneficial. Can you live with Platoon Commander by now? out that database, that graphics program, Games that lose their novelty or some other component? If so, you can tend to collect dust. Flush 'em. often free up 20MB or more of space. All As long as you have the original three major office suites let you customize diskettes (or backup copies), you the boot guide to a leaner, meaner system boot ..JAN 97 • 49 files in all manner offolders, creating an infuriating mess. Some programs courte ously come with deinstall utilities (as im- · Use your web brows· perfect as they might be) . You may have to er to quickly view and mop up after running the deinstall, but use delete the jetsam it has these first. Such utilities are far and away the congested your pride and best way to deep-six those unwanted pounds. joy with . If you are still using Win95 has its own Add/Remove Windows 3.x, you'll have to smoke Wizard (in the Control Panel) , but it works them out the old fashioned way ... using File Manager. only with Win95 applications-and it's a can always reinstall them when you find finicky little brat. If a D LL even looks like it yourself snowed in with your in-laws for might be shared by more than one applica a week. tion, the Wizard refuses to delete it and the Most multimedia files should also get Shareware and other utilities should whole uninstall show comes to a stop. Like the heave-ho, unless you have a compelling face similar scrutiny. Often as not, they wise, if program files have been moved or reason to keep them. First, clear out W AV were installed to help out with a single manually erased, it confuses the Wizard, files-including the annoying chirps and project, never to be touched again. Worse, which in turn refuses to cooperate. You'll chimes Microsoft packages with its operat they may poorly duplicate other, more have to ferret out these DLLs yourself, then ing systems. Then look for MIDI, AVI, and advanced programs you've subsequently manually delete them. MPG files. Goodbye. With these gone, you installed on your hard drive. can size up wallpaper and font files. Do Seeing a Faster, Thinner You you really need more than a few typefaces? Through Clean Windows If not, click on Fonts in Control Panel, and When the dust finally settles from all this start deleting. Also, if you change your wall ofcourse, you can program purging, reinstall Windows. It's paper more than a few times a year, maybe always buy a third· remarkably painless, and the process wipes it's time to take up a hobby instead. party deinstaller, such away a lot of the stowaways, gremlins, and as MicroHelp's Unlnstaller 3.5, Quarterdeck's CleanSweep 95, or freeloading files that you and your unin· Consider the Liposuction Vertisoft's Remove-ft. All three work stall software weren't able to catch. You Option best whe n running during installation, may see as much as a 10 percent improve When your drive has been liberated of this because they monitor where stray ment in system performance from this dead wood, you'll want to consider archiv files try to burrow themselves onto modest act alone. ing old files to free up even more real estate. your hard dri ve_. But even after th e But before you break out the bubbly, There are several ways to do this. Two of fact, all thre e make dili gent attempts you'll also want to purge or archive data the best: invest in a Zip drive (which makes to clean up you r WIN .INI and SYS· files. (We won't lie: This is utter drudgery. a fast, unobtrusive backup tool in the bar· TEM .INI file s of detritus. They hunt It's akin to cleaning out an attic where an gain), or use a compression utility, such for stray DLLs. They're WQrlds better than Microsoft's Remove Wizard. And eccentric uncle has lived for the last 30 as Cheyenne Software's In finite Disk they'll delete Windows 3.x programs years.) A few tips and tricks can minimize for Win95. as well as DOS applications. All three the toil, but the process requires a lot of Zip drives are painless to install, cost well under $50 and are worth nit-picking labor. their cartridges are cheap (about $25 for every penny -especially if you add First, separate the files that utterly 100MB), and drive performance is relatively and delete programs from your hard deserve to die. Using Win95's File Find fast. Also, they make your data portable, so drive more often than you vacuum utility, scour your hard drive for porky JPGs, you can keep copies of your archive at mul your living room . many of which will be hiding in your web tiple locations, which protects against dis browser's cache (what would your mother aster. It is an ideal solution if you are still say?). Dispatch them. Most likely you'll pinched for drive space after all the prun find these large files scattered across other ing you've done. A utility bereft of its utility should be ban directories as well, since nothing trashes If you've bought (or plan to buy) the ished to a floppy, if not the ether. Some up a hard drive quite like the Internet. Microsoft Plus CD, you'll be treated to the good candidates: last year's tax package (tax DriveSpace 3 disk utility. It recovers disk laws change every year), screen savers, space even without compressing files. Also, noise makers, drawing and charting when you choose a Compress Drive option, applets, screen-capture utilities, video and it will estimate how much space you'll gain cursor controls (use the utilities provided using normal compression. by Windows), and leftover DOS enhancers With all this free space, you'll want to of any kind. regroup programs and files so that they're Shed Pounds ... While You Clean House! Of course, getting rid of a program isn't as easy as dumping a dull date. Windows applications leave their fingerprints all over your hard drive, stuffing DLL and VBX 50 • boot FEB 97 heading (if your SYSTEM.INI ftle doesn't on your hard drive. Other's simply manage have a vcache section, create one): your system's memory better. Operating Infinite Disk, another MinFileCache=O systems selfishly reserve memory blocks compression utility, MaxFileCache=4096 for their own use. Most of the time, these wil l sq uash files you no Remember to save these changes and blocks sit idle. A good memory utility puts longer need. Alternative ly, reboot your system for the additions to take them to work. But they're not a magic bul you ca n have it automatically com effect. These settings may require some let. Big graphics and multimedia programs press fil es that haven't been touched tinkering. For example, if you run lots of won't get much use from them. They can in a specified number of days-or large databases or resource-hungry applica occasionally create conflicts with your utili even have it co mpress different fi le types after a specified number of tions such as Adobe's Photoshop, they ties and device drivers. And they ironically days. After thi s data has been com could actually hinder performance. Should take up as much as 1MB of RAM on their pressed, you can migrate it to a your system become noticeably lethargic, own. Still, you can see as much as a 20 backup storage device, incl uding simply erase these settings, save the file, percent increase in system vroom-espe a jaz or Zip drive. All files that then reboot. cially with meat-and-potato business apps, have been migrated or compressed Also, make sure your disk cache is such as spreadsheets and word processors. appea r to rema in where they had tweaked for optimum performance. Click previously been on your drive. on Control Panel's System icon, then click Maximize Your Speed When you click on the icon for the on File System. Select the Performance Potential! file, the program automatically tab. Make sure the setting suits your com Fact is, many ofWin95's defaults decompresses it, or prompts you to in sert the disk or tape where puter's role: a notebook allocates the least are slothful. The golden fleece the compressed file resides. It's amount of memory to caching (in order to award goes one of the best compression utili preserve battery life) ; a server allocates the to the Recycle Bin-which ties you 'll find. most (for transaction processing). Desktop reserves 100MB of a 1GB hard systems fall between the two. A little fid drive for.. . trash. dling with these settings can mean a world Click on it, then click on of difference. its properties box, and select close together. Defragging your hard drive For Windows 3.x, you'll want to increase a more rational setting. ensures that readfwrite heads won't have the size of your swap file for better perfor· While you're there, remove to jump all over the disk's platter to find mance. In Control Panel, click on the 386 data. In Win95, click on Start, Programs, Enhanced icon. Select the Virtual Memory Accessories, System Tools, then Disk button. Make sure the permanent swap file Defragmenter. The OS will do the rest. option is on. Windows will recommend a In Windows 3.x, exit and type SCANDISK size for your swap file, though you can at your C:\ prompt. Depending on the size override it with your own. Generally speak of your drive, the process will take any ing, the bigger the better, though any swap where from five to 20 minutes. Consider file larger than 16MB is pretty much a waste. it tea time. Before you leave the Virtual Memory dialog box, make sure the 32-Bit Disk Access box Enhance Your Memory ... is checked. Now reboot your system. for Free! You can also give yourself a boost in With your hard drive lean and fast, you'll both Windows 3.x and DOS applications then want to turn your attention to tuning by using SmartDrive, the disk cache that Windows itself. The fastest way to put the Microsoft provides with its operating pedal to the floor is to make sure the OS sys tems. Simply add a line in your is stoked with enough memory. Forget AUTOEXEC.BAT file that begins Microsoft's 8MB requirement for Win95 \vith SMARTDRV, followed by a and 4MB for Windows 3.X. You'll want space and the amount of extended double that amount in both cases. Unfortun· memory you wish to allocate to the ately, this can be expensive. cache. Follow this with another space, and Fortunately, there are cheap alterna type in the amount you wish to allocate to tives. In fact, two cost nothing at all. In Windows. To give 1MB to DOS and 2MB to Win95, you can boost performance by Windows, you'd add the following line: minimizing the amount of disk-to-memory C:\ WINDOWS\SMARTDRV 1024 2048 swaps the OS performs. How? Reduce the upper limit of your disk cache, which grows Squeeze, Squeeze, Squeeze the and shrinks according to the demands of Pounds Away! the applications you're running. In most If you're willing to make a small (about cases, a large cache steals memory that $50) investment, a memory utility can also the OS could use for faster application spur system throughput. Most of these util performance. You can artificially limit ities compress data into RAM chips the your disk cache by inserting two lines in same way that disk compressors such as your SYSTEM .IN! file, under the vcache Stacker and DriveSpace squeeze down data boot FEB 97 • 51 R egardless of its speed, go to the File System Properties Welcome to box, click the CD-ROM tab, and choose a faster set- ting in the Optimize box. Also , you may want to bump up you r CD-ROM The utilities on this month's drive's cache for better performance disc do more to trim your when playing multimedia files. Drag the check from the box inscrutably labeled the Supplemental cache size slider all computer's flab than lipo Display Delete Confirmation Dialog. This the way to the right. will keep the utility from nagging you like suction-and the bootDisc a hungry cat every time you nix a file. There are other places to tweak as is a hell of a lot cheaper too! well. Win95 doesn 't always correctly guess on faster drivers. Usually speaking, they're We've packed more than the speed of your CD-ROM drive- espe free for the downloading. It's worth a phone cially if it performs at the top of its class. call or a visit to the company' s web site. The 1OOMB of utilities, tools, Meanwhile, no system component same is true for printers, scanners, and drags perform ance down as much as slug other peripherals. and updates. These will not gish video. Shy of upgrading to a fa ster card You can also goad video along by turn only help you diagnose (adding m ore video memory increases col ing off the animation displayed when you ors, not speed) , your best bet is to upgrade minimize and maximize windows. As problems you may already your card's driver. Video card manufactur- animation continues to suffuse everything ...,...... _ ers are constantly working from databases and CAD programs to have, but will also increase your machine's performance, productivity and usability. We H elix's Hurricane 2.0 and Connectix's Agent 95 are two of the best memory utilities for Win95. Hurricane ferrets out every scrap have apps that'll clean out of unused memory- not just from conventional RAM, but also from your video card's memory-which it converts to regular system RAM. unnecessary files and erad Agent 95 compresses information already loaded into your physical RAM, so your system uses slower virtual memory less often. There's a version of Hurricane for icate and protect against Windows 3.x as welL A central control panel program lets you tinker with virtually every memory setting imaginable. For example, you can have it create a RAM drive viruses, and we even have that works cooperatively with Windows' swap files (thereby speeding up applica encryption software for you tion performance), create a print cache so that you don't have to wait for print jobs to finish before you resume typing, or set it up to accelerate Windows' video. paranoid types. We've lumped them into the follow sing-along CDs, the net performance effect ing categories: Anti-Virus, may be larger than you think. First back-up Compression, MultiMedia, Win95's registry files as a precaution. Then click on Start, Run, and type REG EDIT. Online, Security, Updates, Click on OK, and go to HKEYCURRENT U SER \Control Panel\ desktop\ Window and one fat General folder; a Metrics folder. Right-click on an empty total of more than 60 appli area in the right-hand pane, and select New String Value. Nam e the new obj ect cations for your perusing MinAnimate. Double click the object, and enter the value 0. Now exit RegEdit and pleasure. You just can 't restart Windows. The performance gains find this amount of software should astound you. anywhere else. You bought And Remember to Always Eat Healthy the mag, now use the soft If there's any single trick to wringing more ware! performance from the box on your desk, it's to abandon a 16-bit world in favor of a 32-bit world-beginning with your operat ing system. When you multitask a "" 54 52 • boot FEB 97 rhe bootDisc Juicebar! Anti-Virus F~~;;;~~ Multimedia ViruSafe 95 Grouper SmartBoard GoldWave VirusScan 95 Microangelo Unlnstaller HyperSnap VShield 95 I Crash Guard ACDSee95! lconEdit Pro WebScan I . Power Desk EasyCD GIF Construction PowerStrip EZ-Viewer 32 Set PC-cillin 95-ls QuickView Plus 95 RADFind 96 your hard drive experiencing that Paint Shop Pro--This is one of burning sensation? A shot of PC-cillin 95's easy-to the coolest image editing apps use advanced virus protection will clear that up right out there. The combination of away. Bend over and say ahh. handy toolbars and advanced effects make this almost as ThunderBYTE 95 powerful as that other image editing program that starts with a 'P' and ends with 'shop'. Compression Image Composer SmartDraw 95 Clone Master GIF Animator ThumbsPius! lnterBack Quant Video Launch Pad Kappel Backup PKZIP 95 Waste 95 WinPack 32 Deluxe Security WinRAR 007 for Win32 Winlip 95-Compress your files with the most popular Acrypt 95 Win95 compression utility. Nico Mak's packed this new Crypt-a-Text 32 version with more features than ever. Magic Folders Zip Explorer Pro Passwords Plu~ This is handier than a slimjack when your keys are locked in the car. It creates a password protected list General of all your passwords. If you forget the password to this list, then AutoMate Professional it's time to call AAA. CO-Quick Cache 95 CDR Publisher Surveillance Agent WinU CleanSweep 95- Ciean out all of the excess flotsam and jetsam from your hard drive. ClipMate 95 ~ ---- ~__J - --·- - - Online DeskView32 ~ - -·-..- Arachnophilia DIR3d ~ --- CuteFTP 32 EzDesk ~ - Gear ~ --- ~~~~~~~~~-~~~· EMail Ferre,_Find any publicly accessible More-Space 32--AIIows you to groom your e-mail address with hard drive and free-up valuable space by this Internet search locating file hogs and duplicates. Now for tool. We used it to find new drinking buddies. that keyboard manicure ... Free Agent HTML Library Internet Utilities-Companionship for your online Updates Internet Explorer 3.01 for activities: bookmark management, enhanced online Win 3.1 and Win95 communication monitoring, and web page update EzSCSJ Update WsFTP 95 notification. You'll never be lonely again. Win95 Service Pack boot FEB 9 7 • 53 released a 32-bit version, its competitor probably has. Rethink your loyalties. Authe performance gains in the world do little good if the Of course, mileage will vary with all whole caboodle screeches to a halt because of the venal of these tips and techniques. System per· hands of a virus. As you upgrade programs and drivers and add formance changes with each clock cycle, memory utilities and other tools, you'll want an up-to-date scan· each click on your keyboard. Perform-ance ner keeping watch. Two of the best: PC·cillin 95 and Norton AntiVirus. depends not only on the types of applica The former is astonishingly thorough at wheedling out rogue code (including tions you run, but how you run them. the ubiquitous Concept Virus). Norton's gets high marks for its genteel inter· Those who make heavy use of multitask face and no-nonsense scanner. Make sure you update them regularly. ing will get different results than those who run only one resource-devouring application at a time. The only guarantee we can make is 16-bit application with a 32-bit program, compatibility with Windows 3.x. All of this: Everyone needs to set aside the time to you pay twice the performance penalty. these undercut the capabilities of a 32-bit get their PC into shape. The effort invested Win95 multitasks 32-bit applications pre· processor. Promise yourself you won't col pays off in better performance and a longer, emptively, meaning it controls which pro· laborate. Competitive software upgrades healthier life. After all, if you haven't got gram feeds instructions to your processor abound. And if your favorite program hasn't your health, what have you got? rn at any given time. Sixteen-bit programs multi task cooperatively. In other words, they commandeer the CPU, relinquishing We won )t lie: This is control of it at their lordly leisure. Mean while, the other apps in memory can only drudgery. lfs akin drum their fingers. Agent 95 $59 The world is awash with namby-pamby to cleaning out Connectix Corp . 16-bit fax applets, games, and other utili· 800.571. 75 58 ties. Even Win95 itself is chockablock with an attic where an www.connectix.com 16-bit code, which it retains for backward Hurricane 2.0 $59 eccentric uncle has Helix Software 800.451.0551 lived for the last www.helixsoftware.com Infinite Disk for Windows 95 1.0 30 years. $79 Cheyenne Software 800.243.9462 www.cheyenne.com Norton Antivirus for Windows 95 $79.95 Symantec Corp. 800.441. 7234symantec.com PC-cillin 95 $49.95 TouchStone Software 800.932.5566 www.antivirus.com Quarterdeck CleanSweep 95 2.0 $39.95 Quarterdeck Systems 800.683.6696 www.quarterdeck.com Unlnstaller 3.5 $39.95 MicroHelp 800.777.3322 www.microhelp.com Zip Drive $199 Iomega Corp. 800.456.5522 aThe Vanguard ;; ••• by far the most addictive, ofa .terrifying new ;,{' level ofi1nrnersive muUiplayer action game technology." we've ever played." "Quake is the biggest, baddest, bloodiest and most atmospheric 3-D action game ever conceived.". "Quake is the tnost '. · - satisfying first·jJerso.n " action game of all ,t~. ~~:~ ... ~,. hccon•c lhc•c con x: s lnio the 4 Fronl l!!i~Ei DO ( 12-step) program DEALING WITH YOUR PC OBSESSION 0 Point of View DAY TO DAY There are three viewports that you will normally be working with in Rhino3D. They're Top, Front, and BY BREAKING IT DOWN Perspective, (kind of up and to one side). You can create in any of the viewports; and using more than INTO 12 EASY STEPS one at a time is often necessary for positioning objects and such. The red , green, and blue lines, (blue unseen on this month: the grid), represent the x, y, and z axis, respectively. 0 Stuff to Keep in Mind How to Be Button, Button, Who's Keep an eye on the Command Line-it can be veiJI Got the Button useful. For instance, if you are trying to rotate an a Super.3D fJ object but it's just highlighting and not actually rotat Across the top of the Rhino3D interface is the first ing, the Command Line will tell you to select an object set of buttons. You'll recognize these from, oh, just and hit enter before you can continue. Modeler about everything (new, save etc.). Continuing to the Creating and modifying objects often requires right are the view control buttons (fancy zooms), multiple clicks on multiple planes. Before you move select, and render buttons. on to the next task, make sure you aren't still in a '------eEver since you saw The Down the side are the basic building materials crosshalr mode. This means that you haven't fin Last Starfighter when you were for your 3D modeling needs: points, lines, curves, ished doing the last task yet. a kid, you've dreamed of bringing planes and solids. Continuing down are the object If at any time you want to pan across your view the intergalactic epic of your manipulating tools : sizing, copying, rotating, yadda port, hit the right mouse button to turn your cursor into a hand and pan away. If at any time you get so imagination to the screen. Every yadda yadda. far away from everything that you have no idea how episode of Babylon 5 only serves to to get back, type ZEA (for Zoom Extents All) and hit make your yearning stronger. Splinter of the enter. Your model will be front and center again in Well, quit whining and get to it! Mind's Eye all viewports. Within the confines of this month's IJ Decide exactly what you want to create. Doodling 12-Step Program is your path to tends to lead to lots of spheres which lead, making those dreams a reality. inevitably to snowmen; not that there's anything Whereas 3D modeling used to be wrong with that. All we're saying is, start with a so complex it induced aneurysms vague idea of what you want to create before you just thinking about trying it, today's begin. We've decided on a spaceship, (to add to our resume for Digital Domain), but iiiiiii bleeding-edge apps are so advanced you can make (almost) anything that any Joe off the street can make you can think of. 3D models, just like the pros. The NURBS-based models you create in Rhino3D can be exported into almost any 3D animation program and combined with all kinds of other stuff... other objects, sound effects, titling, intercut FMV, whatever. Next thing you know, We've provided an George and the boys at ILM will be exclusive version of the calling you for tips. Just don't forget Rhino30 application on this month's bootDisc so you can follow along who got you started ... and try out your own ideas. - Mike Brittman and Christina Davis 58 • boot FEB 97 12-STEP HOW-TO Makin' It Click on the Solid menu icon (the box). A box should cascade open. Choose the Cone and the cursor will change to crosshairs. Click in the Top viewport. This will select the center of the object, in this case, the base of the cone. The second click locates the· radius and the third determines the cone point Congratulations, you have placed your first 3D object! Find the Transform button (if you're strapped for time, go to the menu bar and find it under Transform) . Choose Stretch. Select the cone (highlight it) in the front Ain't Nothin' but viewport, and hit Enter. Click once in the Other Wing the middle of the cone and once above in the same line. Select the wing and click the Copy button. Now, Don't panic! This creates a ghost click the center point on the rhombus. Move the of your object, which you can re mouse to the right to pick up the ghost. Click it in shape from this point. Squish the the location of the new wing and hit escape. cone, (stop laughing!) and click a Phew! third time. Th is will restore your Select the new wing and right click the Rotate object to its new shape. button (to rotate in 3D instead of 2D) . In the Top viewport click once on the wing, once above it in the same line, and once to the left. In the Front viewport, rotate the wing 180° and click when in position. Move the second wing into place. Ain't Nothin' but a Chicken Wing Click on the Solid menu icon and select a box. In the Top viewport click once to start. The first click is the first corner, the second estab lishes the opposite corner. Move the mouse to the Front viewport and select the height, (make it fairly thin). Click on the Transform button and select Shear. Click once in the middle of the square, once right over it in the same line, and move the mouse to the left. The ghost object will change shape to a rhombus (remember high school geometry?). Shear it to match the angle of your Solid primitives include box, cone (no offense). Move your wing sphere, cylinder, tube, cone, torus, and pitted olives. in place against the cone. boot FEB 97 • 59 12-STEP HOW-TO 4 F10nl l!iiOOEf ([!] Sniffing Glue Right now, the co mputer still sees this as a bunch of separate geo metric shapes. What yo u need to do is tell it that these shapes come together as one. Go to the Solid menu and select Subtract and hold the button down until Boolean Options (I'm not kid -@When mailing the turbines (truncated cones), make sure not ding), pop out. Then click on Add. to mal And For .Eile My Next Trick ... Go back to the sol id menu. Select Ellipsoid. Make yo ur first, second, and third clicks in the Front view· port. Th e fourth is made in the To p ~~~~~~~-0':'"U~ viewport to adjust the ; length and to move it into place. £1:1 Get into the ~ Export Business Take your cool spacesh ip and im port it into any 30 animation program. Make it zip, zoom, or boogie, what ever. Now that you know how the guys at Pi xar do it, you can rule the wo rld like a god! Or at least create an on -screen wo rld in your own image. 60 • boot FEB 97 12-STEP CLINIC support up to 200MHz. Now, is it News Editor Bryan Del Rizzo replies: and devices through old 16-bit inter possible for me to remove the P90 Personally, I'd wait a few months faces. So, with Win95 the P-Pro is an CPU and add an MMX CPU when for new technologies such as MMX, excellent platform for gaming, partic it comes out? Or would it require a USB, and Klamath, to become ularly for 3D games that make heavy new motherboard? Granted, more saturated. use of the floating point processor. 00 According to manufacturers, MMX The reason the P-Pro hasn't really • • ) I'd have to adjust the jumpers on the mother· Pentium Pro systems won't be avail· earned a rep as a game machine has ell nI C board. Will I need a new able until very late 1997. To upgrade less to do with the 16/32-bit issue C------fan? Would a P90 fan a P-Pro 200 to MMX, ensure your than it does with optimization. To get cool the CPU when used motherboard is MMX ready, and the most speed out of an advanced Networking shortcut with a 166M Hz CPU? I really need Socket 8 compatible. If so, you'll be CPU such as the P-Pro, the C-compil· I was reading your article about net your feedback. able to purchase a P·Pro Overdrive ers order instructions to best flow working DOS in boot 04. Instead of Alexy Yessayan Chip (with MMX technology). Look through the CPU's internal pipeline. going through the hassle ofLSL, · for a preview of Klamath and future Because more garners have Pentiums Associate Disc Editor Sean Cleveland your NIC driver, NET.CFG, and CPU technology in next month's boot. than P·Pros, the code order in games replies: You were smart to get a IPXODI; Win95 DOS mode lets you As for the Voodoo, not every soft has been optimized for the Pentium. motherboard that supports such a use the current Windows' network ware application will need to run with As the P-Pro becomes more prevalent, high CPU megahertz rating, but is it settings with a cool little command: a full screen (i.e. AutoCAO, VRML), so with a simple recompile, games will new enough to support 2.5vo/t CPUs? net yes, it's a liability. And guess what? suddenly get a much more dramatic The new MMX CPU runs at 2.5volts, It takes only two commands to net The Voodoo Rush chipset (announced speed boost. Look for games to begin as opposed to current Pentiums that work in DOS. at Fall Comdex '96) eliminates this being optimized for the P-Pro soon. run at 3.3volts. If your motherboard net init restriction, and will be integrated into supports this, you will not need to and 20 video cards to provide a robust, Search party needed upgrade. The only difference between net start nwlink 20/30 Voodoo-compatible solution. I am lost with this new wave of It works great. (I just wouldn't rec the current Pentiums and the MMX sound and video technology. What ommend using it in combination Pentiums is internal software and a Are 2 better than 1 ? are the real differences in the Verite with other machines using IPXODI.) bigger cache. You will not have to I am planning to build my own and Voodoo-based boards? What If you want, it even lets you use buy a new motherboard when you screaming fast PC, but have ques makes these accelerators better than shared resources in MSDOS mode get your new MMX CPU, because the tions regarding the motherboard. A other video cards on the market? without having a Netware server. only difference between them is a Pentium 200 and motherboard is How much better is 128 bit than 64 Type net I? at the command rewriting of the internal software $630, but I just saw a Cyrix 6x86+ bit? What makes the high-end pro prompt to find out more! instruction set that your software for $189, and a dual processor moth fessional boards so good, and would calls from them. Brian L erboard for $229. What does it mean they make games better or just im As for the fan, I can't really say. Girlfriend proble111s to have dual processor capability, and prove graphic drafting and artwork? Your current fan would probably do What is the PnP on the Creative As a programmer, I've spent many would I be able to use two 6x86's fine but it may not even be needed Labs and Ensoniq boards mean, and an hour upgrading/repairing my PC in the ZIF sockets? The mother as MMX chips supposedly run at a what does it do for sound? with friends, so I instantly fell in board is a Tyan Tomcat II from lower temperature. (However, we've MicroXperts (www.microx.com). jonathan M Louie love with your how-to articles. touched the ones we have and Would 1 be able to run normal PC Tech Editor Chris Dunphy replies: I recently had a problem: It they felt damn hot. That may all programs on this? Lots of questions... here are some seemed my girlfriend's hard drive change when production MMX chips Andy Campbell quick answers: was filled to capacity, so I was going are released.) 1. Verite is a 2D/3D chip; the to upgrade it. However, when I tried Tech Editor Chris Dunphy replies: Voodoo is 30 only. Both of these copying the files directly over from Put yourself Dual CPU motherboards aren't really in 111y position chips excel at 3D acceleration. her hard drive to the new drive, worth it unless you're running a net I have a few "quick" questions 2. The 128-bit graphics cards can Win95 no longer worked properly. work server or doing rendering. Be about processors, motherboards, read data from memory twice as fast The closest I got was a register aware that Win95 doesn't recognize 3D accelerators, and the upcoming as the 64-bit graphics cards. In theory, error. There must be an easier way multiple processors; only NT or some MMX upgrade. anyway. In practice, 128-bit cards to upgrade the drive. Unix variants will be able to use it. I. Do you feel that now is a good have proven to be real workhorses, Jay Foster Even under NT, most software isn't time to buy a PC, or would you wait but 64-blt cards are still holding their written to be multithreaded, so a Tech Editor Chris Dunphy replies: A a few months for enhanced mother own and aren't obsolete yet. single program stays tied to one CPU straight copy won't work, because board stuff such as FireWire? 3. Professional boards are opti· while the other goes idle. But if you there are hidden and special files I know that USB is already pre mized for professional work and are going to be doing 30 rendering, that Windows depends on. You'd sent in some computers, but are any OpenGL; consumer boards are opti· image processing, or serving files on have better luck using a backup pro· other motherboard upgrades truly mized for games and Direct3D. Board the net, the more CPUs the better. gram to do the transfer. But honestly, worth waiting for? developers have only focused on you are better off reinstalling Win 2. When-do you expect an MMX Ga111es people play optimizing one or the other driver dows from scratch, reinstalling all the Pentium Pro to hit the shelves, and set, but it won't be long before we applications your girlfriend still uses, would a Pentium Pro 200 that I Are all Win95 games 32-bit games and if so, shouldn't they yield much start seeing drivers that go both ways and then copying over only her data purchase today be upgradeable to equally well. files. System stability will be much MMX? (i.e. Is it possible to add an faster frame rates on aP-Pro than a Pentium? Don't games use the 4. PnP stands for Plug and Pray, enhanced by a clean reinstall every "MMX overdrive"?) uh, I mean Play. It's the hardware so often. 3. Do you think the Voodoo floating point math processor more, so wouldn't they also tend to have protocol that allows boards to auto 1'111 a big fan based 3D accelerators' inability to faster frame rates on aP-Pro? configure when plugged into your I'm a mechanical engineering stu handle partial-screen 3D is a real Derek Struye machine. No more DIP switches or dent from the C64 and Amiga days, liability? IRQ conflicts, in theory, anyway... hence I've been messing around The bottom line: putting your Tech Editor Chris Dunphy replies: with computers for quite a while. self in the position of someone who Yes, they are 32 bit, and for the most First of all, your mag is the finest · buys a new, high-end computer part, DOS games have been primarily of literature. about every 1.5 years, is now a good 32 bit for a while now. The 16-bit Send your 12-Step Clinic time to buy? questions to the Doctor at: Second, I have a P90 with 16MB slowdown comes when you have to [email protected] of RAM, and my motherboard will Joe Grant Bell interface with the operating systems boot FEB 97 • 61 S-nmc V£R.sus DYNAMIC There are two ways to build a memory chip-either with a static core or with one needing continuous refresh. Static memory (SRAM) is built entirely out of transistors, and delivers the faster access times. Dynamic memory (DRAM), on the other hand, is built with a tiny capacitor paired with a transistor and is much simpler, sma ller, and cheaper. Charged, the ca pacitor holds a '1' va lu e. Reading and writing this charge electrically is much slower than checking the ON/OFF state of the transistors found in SRAM. DRAM must also be periodi· cally refreshed to keep the charges from fading. So what we have is a trade-off: SRAM is fast, expensive, and uses a lot of power; DRAM is slower, a lot cheaper, uses less power, and can be made in much greater densities. To get the best of both worlds, most PCs come with an SRAM cache and a DRAM main memory. CMOS C~L.L-: I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I •I lNstD£ DRAM To economize on address pins going to DRAM chips, the memory controller takes the address sought by the CPU and breaks it into a row address and a column address. A typical memory access cycle (pre- EDO fast page mode DRAM) looks like this: . First the desired row address is !JUt on the address bus, and the row address strobe (RAS) line is triggered, causing the memory chip to pre· pare to access that row. Then the column address is signaled, and the column address strobe (CAS) signals the memory. The memory chip then writes the data to the data lines, and signals the CPU to read them . Fast Page Mode allows multiple column accesses to be carried out within the same row, making subsequent accesses faster. This is called a burst read . The typical timing of these cycles is 5-3· 3· 3, which means that it takes five bus clock cycles for the first set of data, and then three for each of the next reads in the burst. ------, 511'1Ms) EDO I I Extended Data Out (EDO) DRAM takes this efficiency a step further, including I I DlMMs) a buffer on the DRAM chip to allow the data pins to hold a valid value I I I AND PIN longer, even after CAS has cycled for the next memory read . Because the CPU I I I I has longer to pull data off the bus, data reads are more aggressively timed. I CouNts I I •I I Typi ca lly the speedup is only around 10 percent, but because EDO DRAM I I Almost as confusing as the array of RAM I I I doesn 't cost much more than regular DRAM , it is growing in popularity. I I I technologies are all the different ways to Typical timing for an EDO DRAM read is 5-2-2-2. I I plug memo ry into your machine. In the I I I old days , you literally dropped chips into I I empty sockets on your motherboard. Bent I I pins and blown chips we re the order of I I I the day, so there was much rejoicing <&DO vs R.£G-VI... AR DINTRAM> I I when SIMMs (single inline memory I I Ebo 'DI2AM: I module) appeared on the scene. I I SIMMS are small I o~;# I circuit boards with a I I I mounted bank of ~L~) -~~E:J ~.o..;.:;;..;..;.;_- I I memory chips, I I I designed to be I easily drop -clicked into slots on the motherboard. 5DRAM FOR. IH£ FvrvR.£ Tradition al DRAM works at its own speed , and when it's not fast enough to complete a common type today. Thei r 32 data pins transaction it inserts wait states, idling the CPU. The next step in DRAM's evolution is to work with the 64-bit re ads of the tie its speed directly to the system clock on the memory bus. The timing diagram loo ks Pentium, and they must be added in like burst EDO, and the timing is 5-1-1-1, but SDRAM has one key advantage: It can be matched pairs. clocked faster. Traditional EDO with a 60ns speed is only rated fast enough to handle The edge connector of a SIMM has the a 66MHz bus, and overclocking to 75MHz or 83MHz can potentially cause problem s. same electrical contact on both sides. In SDRAM, on the other hand, can be built to handle bus speeds of 100MHz or higher. contrast, a DIMM (dual inline memory Once economies of scale kick in, SDRAM should cost little more than its slower cousin. module) has different contacts on 0tH£R. FL-AVORS ------· EXOTICA each side, allowing As if all this weren't enough, there are even Another interesting type of memory emerg twice as many pins in the same more varieties of RAM optimized for graphics ing is Rambus RDRAM. Rambus memory space. SODIMM is a type of cards. VRAM and WRAM are dual-ported memo narrows the data channel width down to DIMM optimized for ries that allow the CPU to draw into memory at 8 bits, and then ru ns at blazing channel notebooks. Think of it as the same time that the RAMDAC is read ing the speeds of up to 600MHz. Board design is a 72-pin SIMM folded in memory to draw the screen. At high resolutions, significantly simplified by the prese nce of half. For desktop machines, the form refresh rates , and color depths the performance fewer pins between chips . RDRAM has factor of choice for SDRAM systems has advantage is invaluable. MDRAM is a variant shown up on a few graphics cards, as the been 168-pin DIMMS that support 64 used by Tseng ET-6000 chips that makes memory memory in the Nintendo64, and as the data bits at a time-perfect for pairing access parallel internally, speeding up reads and main memory for some SGI workstations. with the Pentium 's data bus. No more writes to scattered memory addresses. SGRAM is Given that this new memory requires an need for pairs. a special graphics-optimized version of SDRAM entire motherboard architecture be built Note: Make sure the metal used on that includes the ability to do masked writes around its peculiarities, it remains to be the edge connector of your 5/MM/ DIMM for faster modifications of solo bits within a seen whether RDRAM will ever move into matches that in the socket, or else grad memory address-and block wri tes, which the mainstream to replace EDO or SDRAM ual corrosion can occur, eventually making speed up drawing solid screen areas. as the system memory on PCs. your memory flaky. Match gold with gold, and tin (silver looking) with tin. ( worth}V EACH MONTH, BOOT EDITORS GATHER THE BEST PRODUCTS IN A SPECIFIC CATEGORYAND DEEM THEM: BOOTWORTHY this month: POAs L----e In Neil Stephenson's novel The Diamond Age, engineers have developed the technology to build computers and other machines so small they can be injected into the bloodstream. Today's Personal Digital Assistants are a step toward that level of micro-miniaturization. These pocket powerhouses-none of them weigh more than a pound-can do just about anything a notebook or desktop computer can do. And even the most expensive of them costs a fraction of a low-end notebook_ The elegance of these devices extends beyond their diminutive physical characteristics. Their operating systems and application software are equally tiny. Take the Pilot: Its entire OS consumes just 35K of the machine's memory. Tricked out with the right accessories, you could write a book, e-mail it to your agent, then surf the web to check out the critic's reviews. Play a few games while you're waiting for the checks to start rolling in, then use a personal fin ance manager to figure out how you're going to spend your riches. 64 • boot FEB 97 ORTHY: PDAs boot FEB 97 • 65 PC card peripherals, such as Socket's PageCard, work with PDAs running Windows CE. Windows CE Windows in the palm of your hand For many people, the biggest barrier to adopting a new tool-or toy-is the learning curve required to mas· ter it. Well, if you know Win95 or NT, then you have all the skills to be instantly productive with Windows CE. Win CE looks a lot like Win95, but it functions more like NT: It's both multitasking and multithread· ed. Every CE product comes with pocket versions of Word and Excel, plus a host of other mini·apps. The greatest drawback to CE is its resource requirements. Compare the 8+4 megabytes of memory in the Philips Velo 1 to the 2MB total memory in the Psion Series 3c. The greatest benefit to CE is that there's virtually no learning curve. Having a known quantity for an OS should also make it easier for developers to create new ap pli· cations. The fact that no fewer than seven manufacturers have already announced and/or shipped hand· held computers that run CE won't hurt either. The Socket PageCard is a good exam ple of this synergy. The same day that CE·based handhelds shipped, Socket announced that its PC Card pager would be compatible with those equipped with a PC Card slot. Using the bundled PageSoft, you can receive pages and wireless e·mail right on your handheld PC. For more information about Windows CE, check out Microsoft's web site at www.microsoft.com/ windowsce/pie/. For more informa· tion about the Socket PageCard, call 800.552.3300 or check out their web site at www.socketcom.com. - M.B. 66 • boot FEB 97 BOOT WORTHY: PDAs boot FEB 97 • 67 EX 00 ( previews ) HARDWARE ON THE HORIZON AND SOFTWARE SOON TO SHIP 68 Gateway Solo 2200 70 PageMaster LCD Gateway 2000 will be among the first manufacturers to offer an MMX-powered notebook. 70 Test Drive: Off-Road - ( . --- ' 71 Rebellion Gateway Solo 2200 On the road with MMX 72 Audio Preview SonicVibes, SongBird, They say it gets so cold in South Dakota during the winter that dairy farmers get milk Freedom 5600, shakes straight from thei r cows. When the cowpunchers at Gateway 2000 promised to build MAXISound Home us an exclusive prototype of their brand-spanking-new MMX-powered notebook, but missed Theater, Sound Blaster the air-express company's deadline to get us a machine before our deadline, it didn't take AWE64 and AWE64 much cajoling to get one of their product managers to hand-deliver the box. After all, it Gold, Audiotrix 30-XG was 10 degrees there, and 75 degrees at our offices in balmy Brisbane, California. Based on our hands-on look at a prototype, there's nothing spectacularly different about the Solo 2200-other than the fact that there's an MMX processor breath ing under the hood . If you're itchin' to play MMX-enhanced Pod at 30,000 feet, this will be one of Comanche 3 ...... NovaLogic .....•...... 3/97 the first notebooks to deliver the action . In fact, we ran a beta copy of Pod on the 2200 X-car Experimental Racing .. Bethesda Softworks .. 3/97 and it looked fabulous : with beautiful texture maps and frame rates that had our eyes Dungeon Keeper ...... Bullfrog ...... 3/97 buggin'. We also coerced the folks at Epic MegaGames, who just happened to be visiting Theme Hospital ...... Bullfrog ...... 3/97 when the 2200 was delivered, into loading an early Red Baron II ...... D ynamix... .. '" ...... 3/97 Armored Fist 2 ...... N ovaLogic ...... •...... 4/97 copy of the MMX version of Unreal onto the machine. Sierra Pro Pilot ...... Sierra On-Line ...... 4/97 The game won't be shipping until June, but we were Jedi Knight: Dark Forces 2 .. Lu casArts ...... 4/97 stunned by what we saw. Hexen 2 ...... Raven(ld ...... 5/97 MMX will reportedly deliver a 20 percent boost in Creation ....•...... Bullfrog ...... S/97 Fear ...... Dynamix ...... S/97 overall performance. Our preliminary benchmark num Blood ...... 3DRealms ...... 6/97 bers-remember, this is not a shipping product-were The Curse of Monkey Island .Lu casArts ...... 6/97 damn impressive, registering significant gains over the Shadow Warrior ...... 3D Realms ...... 6/97 Solo 2100 even with its video set to 24 bits per pixel. Flight Unlimited II ...... LookingGiass Technologies ...... 6/97 Many other components have also changed, so it's dif Quake/Win95 ...... id ...... 6/97 ficult to tell which changes are most responsible for Grand Prix Legends ...... Papyrus ...... 6/97 the improvement. Ultima IX ...... Origin ...... 12/97 lOth Planet ...... Bethesda Softworks .. 12/97 The 166MHz MMX-enabled Intel PSSC processor at Prey ...... 3DRealms ...... 12/97 The power supply is small and light the heart of this mobile· monster is the first to be man Mask Of Eternity ...... Sie rra On-Line ...... 12/97 Leaving it out of the case eliminated ufactured usi ng Intel's new 0.35 micron CMOS process * These dates are subject to change the need for a cooling fan . technology. The 57 new instructio ns in the MMX set 68 • boot FEB 97 PRE VIEWS accelerate only those applications and games devices simultaneously. On the bright side, you written to take advantage of it, but all software wi ll be able to plug batteries-either lithium ion will benefit from the chip's increased onboard or NiMH-into both bays (and warm swap the cache; which Intel has doubled to 32K (16K for one in the battery bay without rebooting). Gate instructions, 16K for data). way will also provide a cable that enables you Physically, the Solo 2200 is indistinguishable to use the floppy drive externally. from the older Solo 2100-with the exception of If you're looking for a desktop replacement the new RCA jack provid ed for NTSC video out system, a full complement of ports res ide on the put. Plug this into a video monitor and you have back of the machine, including a docking station . a great portable presentation system; plug it into There's also a high-speed, lrDA-compliant infra a big-screen TV and you have an awesome game The Solo 2200 still requires the swapping of its floppy red port (awkwardly mounted on the side of the machine. And when external DVD-ROM drives and CD-ROM drives. un it, next to the audio 1/0 jacks) . become a reality, For all its improvements, the 2200 will still Our preliminary you can pair it up at 800x600. On an external mon itor, the chipset possess a few characteristics that we just don't with CompCore is capable of 1024x768 with 65k colors and even approve of: there are no feet for adjusting the benchmark Multimedia's Soft 1280x1024 with 256 colors, but these resolutions keyboard height, fo r example, and you'll have to numbers were DVD for laser-disc can't be displayed on the 12.1-inch LCD. One of adjust the volume using keyboard combinations. quality movies. the machine's PCMCIA slots will be connected But once you've had a taste of MMX, it's damn impressive, The prototype to its Zoomed Video Port for fast tough to go back. registering we exam ined was video performance. - Michael Brown equipped with Intel's Sound is also being improved, significant gains 8243MX, PCI bus thanks to the inclusion of an ESS over the Solo 2100. core logic, and Gate ES1878 chipset for Sound Blaster way is augmenting compatibility, plus an ESS ES690 the MMX Pentiu m with 256K of pipeline burst synth for wavetab le audio. Gateway secondary cache. We're accustomed to reviewing is even building an ESS ES938 chip Solos with oodles of EDO DRAM, but this un it for 3D stereo su rround sound. came with just 16MB. There are two open SIMM Unfortunately, the stereo speakers slots, and with Gateway's build-to-order policy, are still on the deck (on either you can get the 2200 with as much as BOMB side of the track pad), where all installed at the time of purchase. that wonderful audio will end up Gateway is adding some serious video muscle being muffled by your wrists. to the 2200, which will be a welcome change The 2200's modular design from the wimpy graphics on the 2100 model. The requires that you use the same Chi ps & Technologies 65554 64-b it graphics en bay for its 3.5-inch floppy and gine will be sup ported by 2MB of EDO DRAM, so Bx CD-ROM drives, so you the machine will be capable of 24-bit graph ics won't be able to use both The 2200 has all the 1/ 0 ports we've come to expect from the Solo series, but the NTSC-video out- put caught us by surprise. product • The MMX version of Pod AVAILABLE: feb 97 PHONE: 888.888.0243 looks stunning on the Solo PRICE: TBA URL: www.gw2k.com 2200's 12-inch screen. COMPANY: Gateway 2000 boot FEB 97 • 69 PRE VIEWS PageMaster LCD A thin twister LCD screens weigh less, have zero EM emissions, are more energy efficient, take up much less space, and, once built in volume, will be much less expensive to manufacture than tricky glass tubes. The day we see our last new picture tube is still a few years off, but the pivoting Portrait Page Master LCD will be among the first affordably priced steps in that direction. In portrait mode, the 15-inch monitor will pack enough real estate to view a standard-size page without zooming or scrolling. Since the LCD has The PageMaster LCD no tube to mask, image area will extend to the edge of the 12-inch by 9- has everything you inch screen, delivering the viewable area of many 17-inch displays. The could want in a new PageMaster will be powered by a Sharp dual super-twisted nematic LCD screen: it uses less power, weighs only 10 screen with a "Superbrite" backlight, and will hold image and contrast at pounds, takes up less a wide variety of viewing angles. A custom PCI-based graphics card pro desk space, has the vides the interface to drive the PageMaster at up to 1024x768 with 16-bit screen area of a 17- color. Graphic drivers for both orientations will be provided for Windows inch traditional CRT, and it pivots. 3.1, 95, and NT 4.0, as well as for Macintosh System 7.5. For those tired of scrolling through tall pages on their space-hoggin', radiation-emittin', energy-chewin' old-fash ioned screen, this new look will product info prove useful and cool. And it looks hip, too. As if that weren't enough, AVAILABLE: early 97 PHONE: 800.858.77 44 • there's a cool pencil tray in the base. PRICE: less than $1,500 URL: www.portrait.com - Chris Dunphy COMPANY: Portrait Displays Test Drive: Off-Road Take 'em for a spin ... Continuing the Test Drive tradition of simulating mud, sand, and snow - and best of all, vehicles you can only dream of actually owning you'll be able to race against your friends one day, Test Drive: Off-Road will put you behind to determine who is king of the off-road. the wheel of either a Hummer, Jeep Wrangler, The game environment will be totally Land Rover Defender 90, or Chevrolet K-1500 Z71 nonlinear. Find a shortcut; take it. If you truck. The paved highway has given way to dirt, just want to ignore the track and seek hang time in the hills, you'll be able to do that too; or just churn mud, trying to beat the clock to the finish. To keep Test Drive: Off-Road begins where the road ends. things interesting, the game will have hidden vehicles such as an off either DOS or Win95, and support up to SVGA road Beetle, monster truck, dune 640x480 resolution. buggy, stock car, and hot rod. Setting - Chris Dunphy the pace will be a driving soundtrack from the alternative band Gravity Kills. The game will support up to four players with split screen, modem, or product info LAN play. For even more players and AVAILABLE: feb 97 PHONE: 800.245.7744 • Race across snow, sand, or dirt-and don't be afraid to get off the challenge, you can set up a tournament. PRICE: $49.95 URL: www.accolade.com beaten path in Test Drive: Off-Road. Test Drive: Off-Road will run under COMPANY: Accolade 70 • boot FEB 97 PRE VIEWS !tJI t1 ~ r,tJ ~ £MJ ' L] 0 ~ !. • icJ' These characters are wont to run amuck in your Rebellion The Rebel Alliance can always count on Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Chewbacca to help fuel the fires of Rebellion, while those close to Rebellion the Dark Side can rely on Emperor Palpatine, Darth Vader, and Grand Admiral Thrawn to crush Conquer a galaxy far, far away ... those accursed Rebels. Drawing from the Star Wars trilogy, Dark Horse's Rebellion's tactical game will utilize Direct3D, And the comics, and Timothy Zahn's novels, Rebellion and will be the first 3D game (to our knowledge) cha racters play will be set in the blackness that is outer space in which a player's battle assets are dependent a big part in and deliver a real-time tactical combat sim inter entirely upon the strategic gameplay. Because of Rebellion. If woven with a vast galaxy management simula this, we can't predict the assets in a given battle; Luke is part of tion. Take up arms as part of the Rebel Alliance, nor would we want to. We want the player to a mission that eager to strike back at Emperor Palpatine and determine that through their own actions. The will take him near Darth Vader, tlie Dark Lord his ever growing legion, or join the ranks of the goal for Rebellion's tactical game engine is speed, of Sith may sense his son and the mission Galactic Empire, ready to crush the Rebel scum speed, speed .. . and to support all the varied space may be compromised. Also, if Princess Leia into utter oblivion. craft from the Star Wars universe that may take gets captured, Luke and Han may reject your We talked to LucasArts' Tom Sarris about the part in battle. To achieve this, Rebellion's tacti orders because they'll be off rescuing Lei a. upcoming space combat opera. cal game will support 256 colors and utilize 3D Strangely, the developers have decided boot: How does Rebellion differ from all the acceleration by cards supporting the Direct3D API. that some of the main characters, such as other Command & Conquer clones? Luke Skywalker, can't be killed . Why? He may Sarris: Rebellion will not be a land-based strategy be a Jedi Knight-in-training ... but he's not game. Closer comparisons could be made to immortal! Ascendancy, M002, etc. And compared to those -AS galactic-domination games, the Star Wars universe provides a natural difference. From a purely game design perspective, Rebellion is unique in that it set-piece battle with a known number of assets, is character driven, has a real-time 3D tactical like football. Rather, each battle will engage dif battle engine for combat resolution, and the strat ferent numbers and different types of friendly Stunning 3D StudioMax-rendered cinematics heighten egic game operates in a real-time environment. Rebellion's visual presentation. and enemy ships. Battles are fluid and operate boot: What technology will separate Rebellion in real time. Prearranged or canned "maneuvers" from those other titles? boot: Why not include ground attacks in the yield poor results in this environment. The fluid Sarris: Rebellion will incorporate most of DirectX, tactical battles? Was that a conscious decision and 3D nature of the battles will require the com including Direct3D, DirectPiay, DirectDraw, and to distinguish Rebellion from other real -time mander to take direct control of ships. But tak DirectSound. Head-to-head game performance strategy games? ing command will not require constantly clicking via LAN or modem will be enhanced by propri Sarris: The critical "levers of control" in a Star upon ships to have them move here and attack etary CooiCommunications. Rather than a single Wars universe are 1) planetary loyalty, 2) plane there. Ships are arranged into task forces, which machine arbitrating game resolution , Cool tary production, 3) fleets, and 4) special ops may be restructured at will by the player. Task Communications will give control to the machine forces/forcewielding characters. Gameplay will fo rces and fighter groups may be selected by playing that side (Rebel Alliance or Galactic focus around these levers. At Rebellion's level of mouse clicks or keyboard strokes. Rebellion will Empire) and allow faster gameplay with less conflict, ground troops will allow a player to allow for sophisticated commands on the fly. For encumbering the communications pipeline. control planetary systems, even if the loyalty of example, you'll be able to order a ship to move the planet's population to this point, then that point, attack a target, has shifted to the other then attack another target, and so on. The force side. Ground troops will carry out this command to its conclusion, its merely "hold the dirt" destruction, or until different orders are assigned. until a larger force Rebellion will also introduce the concept of with greater power is "missions." Missions will allow players to offload amassed by your oppo control of specific task forces or fighter groups nent. We, of course, to the computer. think that ground com The upper hand in Rebellion will go to the bat games set in the commander that best concentrates firepower Star Wars universe upon enemy capital ships while avoiding the would be compelling, same. And we're confident that the controls to but could best be done achieve this in a real-time, fluid, 3D environment as a separate product. are in Rebellion. boot: Will you be able - Andrew Sanchez to create your own battle maneuvers in the tactical combat product info sequences? AVAILABLE: spring '97 PHONE: 800.985.8227 • You can control your force's every move with a little help from your friendly protocol Sarris: Rebellion's tac PRICE: TBA URL: www.lucasarts.com droid in Rebellion. tical game is not in a COMPANY: LucasArts boot FEB 97 • 71 www.bootnet.com Check out breaking news about new sound cards at our web site. Sound Evolution Sound technology making the leap forward Computer video has undergone a massive transformation during the last yea r, but PC audio technology has remained disappointingly stagnant. It's MaxiSound been 10 years since Ad lib, pioneers of PC-based FM synthesis, introduced cards will feature 64-voice the first sound card, and the advancements since have only been minor. polyphony and 32 But all that is about to change. part multitimbrality-all produced in hardware. Surround-Sound require that there's I Spy With My Little a DSP on the PC's independent audio events to any of Eye: PCI! Solutions sound card or in the four speakers for true surround Everyone knows PCI is a better bus The companies promising the miracle signal path. sound. The card's Audio Devices than ISA. PCI is capable of data of 3D sound using just two speak VLSI Technology's ActiSound 3D 2181 DSP will be capable of 40 transfer rates of 100MB/sec; ISA is ers could fill a phone book. Problem technology will achieve the illusion MIPS; enough to support up to 24 capable of just 2MB/sec. PCI uses is, they've all sounded like crap of surround sound by using psycho independent streams of digital system resources more efficiently adding unacceptable noise and/or acoustic techniques. ActiSound will audio, without putting any load on than ISA: one percent of the CPU's coloration. Now, Harman International operate on FM, wavetable, an d PCM the CPU. cycles compared to nearly 30 per (whose brand names include Harman audio streams and VLSI claims it cent for ISA. Why then, are sound Kardan, JBL, and Infinity) is stepping can actually "place" audio events in Pick a Card, Any Card cards still ISA-based? The issue is up. And Spatializer, VLSI Technology, a 3D space. Creative Labs is touting their new Sound Blaster compatibility. It's and Diamond Multimedia are piping Spatializer claims its N-2-2 Dig Sound Blaster cards-the AWE64 simple: Software looks for a sound in, too. ital Virtual Surround Technology will and AWE64 Gold-as major improve card with a DMA channel on the ISA Harman's new audio signal pro produce realistic multichannel audio ments over the already-robust bus (includ ing sound chips installed cessing algorithm, dubbed VMAx and emulate Dolby AC3 audio from AWE32. The 64-voice polyphony on the motherboard). So, cards on (Virtual Multi-Axis Sound), promises just two speak.ers by decoding AC3's and 64-part multitimbrality specs the PCI bus must trick software into to outperform Dolby AC3. In fact, five channels of information, and look impressive, but only 32 of believing they reside on the ISA bus. Harman's demo at Fall Comdex con mixing them down into two. Simul those voices will be produced by Creative Labs' Micah Stroud sisted of a listening test pitting its taneously, the N-2-2 algorithm will the card's EMU8000 wavetable synth says, "You need to have true DMA process played through two speak process the signal to produce the (the same chip used in the AWE32); in order to have Sound Blaster ers and a subwoofer against Dolby illusion of additional speakers. The the other 32 voices will be produced compatibility." AC3 played through four speakers key difference between this approach by a software wavetable synth. But Distributed DMA, a feature and a subwoofer. and those of Harm an and VLSI is Still, these ISA cards will boast built into newer core-logic chipsets, Unlike Dolby AC3, VMAx is not that Spatializer will require the orig other, more delectable features, supposedly can pull off th is trick. an encod ing/decoding process. The inal audio to be Dolby AC3 encoded. including: 3D-positional audio; real Basically, DDMA snoops for activity soundtrack does not have to be Diamond Multimedia's contribu time digital audio effects; the ability from the 8237 Interrupt controller, recorded using any special tech tion will be the Freedom 5600. The to modify patches and change patch and handles the software's requests. niques in ord er to benefit from VMAx card will reside in a PCI slot and banks on the fly; and full-duplexing This way, PCI-based audio solutions processing on playback. VMAx does req uire Win95, but its wavetable for simultaneous recording and can theoretically achieve audio will be generated by lnvision's playback of 16-bit audio-a feature 100 percent Sound Blaster excellent Cybersynth software syn the AWE3 2 sorely lacked. compatibility. thesizer. Audio samples will be The AWE64 is intended for home Chip designer 53 recently stored in system memory. And Dia users; the AWE64 Gold is more announced Sonic Vibes, their mond has plans for a 32-voice wave ambitious. With its 5/PDIF jacks, new PCI-based chip. According table daughterboard. you'll be able to bypass the card's to 53's David Taylor "the Sonic With support for DirectSound 20-bit DAC, taking digital audio Vibes solution is 100 percent and Direct5ound 3D for quadraphonic straight from the card and routing com patible with So und Blaster audio, a game running on the it to and from digital pro-audio gear applications running in DOS. Freedom 5600 will be able to direct or high-end ADCs and DACs. To The finesse (of DDMA) that has reduce noise, the Gold card won't been applied to crack this engi J!Y. it out! have an onboard amplifier or ID E neering problem," says Taylor, controller-features audiophiles emo don't use anyway. "is a collaboration between don the the vendor of core logic, and Designed primarily as a Win95 solution, the bootDisc Ubi Soft's ISA-based MAXISound 53. It's documented, it's run Freedom 5600 isn't meant to replace your e Home Theater 64 and MAXISound current FM-based card, but will be compatible Listen to the WAV file on the CD simu Home Studio 64 sound cards will ning and - no doubt about it with DOS-based games through a special lating the ActiSound 3D technology. it's a major breakthrough." emulation model running in a DOS shell. also feature a 64-voice synth, but 72 • boot FEB 97 PRE VIEWS with only 32-part multitimbrality. card, which will be capable of 16- be nefit from hardware acceleration. their products. SonicVibes' 128 Unlike the AWE64, however, all 64 bit, full-duplex digital audio. The SongBi rd 3D also features instrument General MIDI patch set vo ices will be produced in hard five seria l ports to support Zoomed has been optimized for performance ware. Ubi Soft is also working on a In the Chips Video, audio streaming, and Do lby and playback, based on in-depth daughterboard that will provide an Chip architects 53 and VLS I Tech AC-3 processing; an MPU -401 UART; ana lysis of more than 3,500 so ngs add itional 32 vo ices. nology recently announced new ICs 5/PDIF 1/0; a hybrid ana log/digital and by al locating highe r memory The cards will be equipped with that promise to deliver high-perfor game port, and a timer for synchro to the sounds and patches used two pairs of aud io-out jacks for mance audio via the PCI bus. These nizing aud io to video. most often . quadraphonic surround sound, and products sho uld start appea rin g in VLSI expects that the ch ip will Th e chip will be outfitted with Ubi Soft is programming its new new systems in the second quarter start showing up in systems and five audio inputs (AUX1, AUX2, CD, MMX game, Pod, to take advantage of '97. After AMD's wholesale exit add-in cards later this year, plus it's Line-in, and Mic), plus an MPU-401 of this. The cards wi ll be equipped from the audio ch ip market, it's sma ll enough for notebook mother UART, a joystick port, and a line-out with 4MB of sounds in ROM, and unknown how these new products board des igns. to ampl ified speakers. Like VLS I, 53 there will be a pair of 72-pin SIMM might fare. Whe n it comes to versatility, 53's claims 100-percent Sound Blaster slots for addi ng sample memory. VLS I Technology's SongBird, SonicVibes chip is the on ly one that compatib ility even on the PCI bus . The Home Studio model is being using the company's ActiSound 3D can run on either the PCI or the ISA 53 expects system and sound card designed for musicians and will fea technology, promises 32-voice wave bus. Th e chipset wi ll integrate a 32- manufacturers to announce Sonic ture direct -to-disk recording of up table synthesis, 3D pos itional sound voice wavetable Vibes -based products later this yea r. to four tracks simultaneously, plus localization, and Sound Blaster synth, a hardwa re - Bryan Del Rizzo the abi lity to mix down and layer as compatibility-even on the PCI bus. MIDI interpreter, many as eight tracks simultaneously. Instead of using ROMs, the Song and an SRS 3D An onboard DSP, capable of 50 Bird's wavetab le sounds wi ll be audio processor. Ml PS, can be applied to the card's dynamically loaded into system Configured in an onboard synth or to aud io routed memory. Sound effects and instru ISA PnP setup, the th rough the card. ment sounds wi ll be stored in com ch ip will store its Mediatrix recently announced pressed form, then decompressed wavetable samples its Audiotrix 3D-XG , which will be on demand. Designers wi ll have the in up to 4MB based on Yamaha's XG wavetable option of storing the samples in up of ROM; in PCI synth, augme nted by Yamaha's 3D to 4MB of ROM . designs, system YMersion surround sound audio The So ngBi rd will have 8K of memory stores processor. The 3D-XG will offer on ly onboard memory, plus it can address samp le sets. 32-voice polyphony and 16-part up to 64K of external SRAM for 53's ln finiPatch technology pro It only has 32 multitimbrality, but the XG sound storing custom patches or effects. vides an unlimited sound palette, voices, and still resides on the library's 676 voices and 21 drum An integrated DSP will handle OPL2 enab li ng developers to include ISA bus, but the Audiotrix kits are most impress ive, thanks and OPL3 emu lation, and provide custom-designed patch sets with 30-XG should sound sweet. to the 18-bit DAC for MID I instru effects such as reve rb, echo, chorus, ment rendering. pitch sh ift, tremo lo, and vibrato. I product info The Audiotrix's onboard DSP can Tasks including sample-rate co nve r • I product info be used to process both MIDI data sion, wavetable sample fetching, PRODUCT: SonicVibes PRODUCT: Freedom 5600 • and audio streaming through the and sample decompression will also AVAILABLE: 02 97 AVAILABLE: 01 97 PRICE: OEM pricing only (about $30) PRICE: less than $200 COMPANY: S3 COMPANY: Diamond Multimedia PHONE: 408.980.5400 PHONE: 800.468.5846 URL: www.s3.com URL: www.diamondmm.com I product info • I product info PRODUCT: SongBird PRODUCT: MAXISound Home Th eater 64; • AVAILABLE: 02 97 MAXISound Home Studio 64 PRICE: OEM pricing $25 in quantities AVAILABLE: feb 97 of 10,000 PRICE: $249 (Home Theater); COMPANY: VLSI Technology $299 (Home Studi o) PHONE: 408.434.3000 COMPANY: Ubi Soft URL: www.vlsi.com PHONE: 800.824.7638 URL: www.ubisoft.com I product info '--'------• I product info PRODUCT: Sound Blaster AW E64; Sound Blaster AWE64 Gold PRODUCT: Audiotrix 30-XG • AVAILABLE: jan 97 AVAILABLE: 01 97 PRICE: S199 (AWE64); $249 (AWE64 Gold) PRICE: TBA COMPANY: Creative Labs COMPANY: Mediatri x The SonicVibes chipset is expected to be integrated into motherboard and notebook PHONE: 800.998.1000 PHONE: 800.820.8749 computers later this year. URL: www.creativelabs.com URL: www.mediatrix.com boot FEB 97 • 73 Microsoft Works • Quicken Special Edition • Compton's Interactive Encyclo pedia • CoreiDraw 5 • Cakewalk Express • Pointcast • Netscape Navigator 3.0 • MechWarrior 2 (for PowerVR) • Flight Unlimited (for PowerVR) • Pod (for MMX) • The Ultimate Human Body 2.0 (for MMX) DO Compaq • Timetables of Technology (for MMX) ( reviews ) Presario 8772 KICKIN' THE TIRES ON THE LATEST HARDWARE AND TAKIN' THE NEWEST The beat of a different drum SOFTWARE OUT FOR A SPIN Compaq tends to dance to the beat of a different drum, and the Presario 8772 is no exception. This 200MHz MMX head banger comes with enough lusty features to spawn a lt!W mash pit, but some of Compaq's design decisions and component choices left us feeling 74 Compaq Presario 8772 a little out of step. 76 HP Pavilion 7370V The 8772 is physically identical to the 8710 (reviewed in boot 02) . You have to look 78 Sharp PC 9080 deeper to find differences. Let's begin with its sexiest differences: Intel's 200MHz Pentium 80 Canopus Total 3D with the MMX instruction set heads the list. Software must be specifically written to take 82 CF-VEV611W MPEG-1 decoder advantage of the MMX instruction set, but all programs will benefit from the PSSC's 32K 84 F-16 Fighterstick of Level 1 cache (earlier Pentiums have 16K of L1 cache) . Like the 8710, the 8772 has a 86 Alps GlidePoint Wave Keyboard generous 512K of pipeline burst Level 2 cache. 88 Winbook FX Intel claims a 20 percent overall performance boost for the MMX chip. We compared it 91 Diamond Stealth 3D 3000 XL to the benchmarks of Compaq's previous high·end Presario, the model 8712, and discov· 91 STB Velocity 3D ered much higher performance in many areas. But since Compaq has upgrad ed a number 92 Altec Lansing ACS45 of other components, too, it's difficult to pinpoint exactly how much of that pe rformance 92 Aiwa SC-C37 Active Speaker System boost is due to the new CPU . 92 Altec Lansing ACS55 Everybody loves a machine with plenty of RAM. The 8772 92 Aiwa TS-CD40 has a whopping 48MB of Synchronous DRAM. l>OVBLE TAI 74 • boot FEB 97 RE VIEWS under the hood the brains CPU...... 200MHz Intel Pentium with MMX External Cache ...512K pipeline burst RAM ...... 48MB SDRAM, (80MB max) Video ...... 53 Trio64V2/GX with 2MB SGRAM; NEC PowerVR chipset with 2MB SGRAM plus 4MB EDO DRAM for textures the brawn Hard Drive ...... 6.5GB EIDE (various OEMs) CD-ROM ...... 16x Max IDE-ATAPI (various OEMs) Expansion Bus ...Three full-length PCI (two open); four full-length ISA (two open) Fax/Modem ...... 33.6Kbps; support for DSVD; How Fast is Fast? upgradeable to 56Kbps Don't get too excited by the 16x Max moniker on the CD ROM drive: It is capable of 16x speed-24001 Ergonomics Gone Awry Check out this weird keyboard: The spacebar has been split in two and the left half turned into a second backspace key. Canned Heat The card cage houses a daughter· board with the 8772's PCI (two Hey Buddy, Can You Spare a Gig? open; one occupied) and ISA (two Compaq is bundling a massive 6.5GB hard drive in the 8772. If you open; two occupied) slots. need even more storage, there are two 5.25-inch drive bays open. Give Me More Spill Your Guts Thrust! Rip this card cage out of the Compaq bundles Presario and you gain access ThrustMaster's to aU its internals. Adding new Phazer cards to the machine's slots digital/analog is a breeze. The DIMM slots programmable game (one open, one occupied) are pad with the 8772. also very accessible. boot verdict (See boot 04 for our hands-on PRICE: $2,999 review of the COMPANY: Compaq Computer Phazer.) PHONE: 800.345.1518 URL: www.compaq.com A complete breakdown of benchmark results is available on the bootNet. Point your browser to www.bootnet.com boot FEB 97 • 75 HP Pavilion 7370V Give us expansion, or give us death! The presence of a 200MHz MMX processor and a Righteous 3D card in the Pavilion 7370V is proof positive that HP wants to build a machine for power users. The eye-popping .,.,., benchmarks this machine achieved are further proof. The fact that all of this computer's ...... PC! slots are filled, however, is proof that the Pavilion needs a new motherboard design. ...,_) ,.) Cll .,. After reviewing three Pavilion systems, we realize we're beginning to sound like a bro (iii;) ken record on this score, but having on ly two PC! slots in a modern PC is a major prob ~ 0 lem-unless you don't plan on expanding your machine (yeah, right, and monkeys might fly out of your butt!). It's not as though there isn't enough room inside the case. After all, there are five !SA * slots on the 7370V's riser board. You'll probably use one of them for a new sound card, because the Yamaha OPL3-SA synth on the motherboard supports on ly FM synthesis in 9 + hardware, with a software synth delivering wavetable audio. (You sure as hell won't be installing a PC! sound card.) Meanwhile, you won't be able to add such PC! components as a LAN adapter, or a SCSI host adapter, or a faster 2D graphics accelerator, or a.. . well, you get the picture. HP has added two USB ports, a feature that was sorely lacking from their previous Brilliant Idea! This is the best idea for a top-end model, the 7295V (see our review in boot 05). Having 32MB of memory onboard keyboard we've seen in a is also nice, but you'll have to remove the riser board to add more. long time: With the touch of Thanks to the 32K cache on the MMX CPU-and a high-performance CD -ROM and hard a button, you can retrieve drive-the 7370V outperformed HP's previous high-end model, the 7295V, by a country your voice messages, activate the speakerphone, control mile. Its 2D video performance was also substantially better. Pod, the first MMX game to the CD player, and adjust hit the market, looked fabulous, with ultra-fast frame rates, smooth an imation, and a 16- the volume. There's even a bit color palette. The game will also take advantage of the 3Dfx-powered Righteous 3D button for launching your card, however, so the graphics should look even better. Unfortunately, HP has decided web browser and another button that you can program against bundling Pod with this system, which means only one MMX title will ship with the with shortcuts. computer: the EasyPhoto image editing program. Some of HP's component choices are sweet; others are not. The 34000 hard drive, for example, was wicked fast, delivering an average data transfer rate of 1250K/sec. The 16x Max CD-ROM drive pushed CD-ROM performance off our scale, delivering an average data Like. Like. transfer rate of 1070K/sec with an average access time of just 115ms. As with all CD-ROM Don't Like The 7370V llas one of our drives that use a combination of constant linear velocity and constant angular velocity \ favorite 30 gTIIphics accelera to boost data transfer rates, you'll achieve the maximum speed of 2400Kbps t-E --JN'-E 1 Ntrr tors-the Righteous 3D-In only part of the time, and then only when you're retrieving very large files in a (){}l}/3 A RiEsr Mti'E~ -,wo one PCl slot The unit we reviewed had a cool-but continuous stream. tJFEfEDS ::s. -rHFE \ G-tv~tJ FE optional video teleconferenc On the not-so-sweet side, HP still packs a pair of passive Altec Lansing FE:f_r st-trfS$~~~ t-fESS ing card installed in the other speakers (at least they're throwing a powered Altec subwoofer in the box now). 7370~ '~rAG/'s MM>< N-1f3S PCl slot, leaving none left for And the garish, nonprogrammable Logitech game pad inspired no one to fire up 'fCHAN -~,;. Bvr stNC.iE !FE other devices. FFfERI•• . v sfE ' ' 5 the included games. 0 t- vt--nMfif!EL- MM><· HP The 7370V is aggressively priced. It has a fast MMX Pentium, one of our favorite ~~owc.ASIE ~o~MI1" Po~ {/DR 3D graphics accelerators, and it delivered great benchmark results. But when the o£Ec.IS10N -r time comes to add that next peripheral, you'll be cursing those two PC! slots. rvz.z.t-IN"'· - Michael Brown 76 • boot FEB 97 RE VIEWS under the hood the bundl-e the brains - EasyPhoto (for MMX) • MechWarrior 2 (for 3Dfx) • CPU ...... 200MHz Intel Pentium with MMX Whiplash (for 3Dfx) • Full Tilt External Cache ..... 256K pipeline burst Pinball • TripMaker SE • RAM ...... 32MB EDO DRAM (128MB max) Blockbuster Movie Guide • Video ...... 53 ViRGE with 2MB EDO DRAM; 1 Billboard Music Guide • Orchid Technology Righteous 3D Microsoft Works • HP with 3Dfx Voodoo Graphics chipset Appointment/Phone Books • and 4MB EDO DRAM Photo Finish • Quicken SE • the brawn Intuit Investor Insight • HP Financial Calculator • ; ( Hard Drive ...... 4GB, Western Digital Caviar 34000 Compton's Interactive CD·ROM ...... 16x Max, Goldstar CRD-8160B IDE·ATAPI Encyclopedia • Artrageous • Expansion Bus ..... 2 full-length PC! (none open); Nile: Passage to Egypt • 5 full-length ISA (four open) FreePhone • Oregon Trail II • Fax/Modem ...... 33.6Kbps data/14.4Kbps fax; support The Great Word Adventure • for DSVD; not upgradeable to 56Kbps The Great Math Adventure • the beauty Tuneland • Universe According to Virgil Reality • Syncro Monitor ...... HP D3859A 17-inch ($749 option) Connect • Interactive TV Guide Sound Card ...... Yamaha OPL3·SA FM synth with • First Aid Recovery Kit • software wavetable synth TalkShop • McAfee Virus Scan Speakers ...... Custom Altec Lansing passive speakers plus powered subwoofer Other ...... 2 USB ports; Logitech Thunderpad game pad; EasyCam video telecon· ferencing system ($299 option) MMX is for Real If you buy the 7370V, don't look for Unreal in the box because the game ~on't ship unt[tat least june. Developer Epic MegaGames has refused More, Please every magazine's request for a copy of the work This is the perfect example of why two PCI slots in progress-every magazine except boo~ that is. are inadequate. The 7370V would be a much Even without the benefit of a 3D accelerator, better machi~e even with just one more PCI slot Unreal has to be seen to be believed. This could be the definitive MMX game. Based on what we s w o Pod and Unreal running on the 7370V, it Fooks as though Intel will deliver on the hype that has preceded the arrival of MMX. I See U HP's optional video tele· conferencing solution consists of Diamond's PCI interface card and Philips' EasyCam digital video camera. Wow! Watch That Screen Refresh! HP's decision not to bundle Pod with the 737f!V Is pHd. The racing game is the first to take advantage of MMX and it looks fabulous, with very fast frame rates and 16-bit color palettes. That leaves EasyPhoto as the only title in HP's bundle to take advantage of the MMX instruction set. ' boot verdict PRICE: $2,799 PHONE: 208.323.4663 COMPANY: Hewlett URL: www.hp.com Packard boot FEB 97 • 77 under the hood the brarns CPU ...... 133MHz Intel Pentium External Cache ..... 256K pipeline burst RAM ...... 16MB EDO DRAM (48MB max) Video ...... 53 86CM65, 2MB RAM frame buffer Sharp PC 9080 the brawn Hard Drive ...... Hitachi DK213A·13 1.3GB CD-ROM drive ...... Matsushita 6x, model UJDCD6730 Multi-media mess Expansion ...... 2 Type II PC cards or 1 Type Ill, Zoomed Video Port compliant; Optional snap-on port replicator The Sharp PC 90BO packs more features than seems possible on a Lap Weight...... ? pounds, 5 ounces lap, with built-in video capture, composite NTSC out, modem, CO, Carrying Weight....B pounds, 5 ounces floppy, sound system, and high-res display. But, although it excels the beauty in a few areas, the 9080 falls far short of being the ali-in-one do· everything box it promised to be. Sharp threw in the kitchen sink, Display ...... 12.1-inch 1024x768 active-matrix LCD but forgot to check the plumbing. Sound ...... Sound Blaster 16 compatible (chipset unknown) The 9080's most significant empty promise is its video-out capa Video ...... 1024x768 max res, 65k colors bility: it works, but is next to useless. It's capable of only 640x400 Speakers ...... Stereo speakers; line-in/out jacks (not 480) resolution, and it only works in Windows. Few programs Communications ... Built-in 28.8Kbps modem ; are formatted to run at such a resolution, and many flat-out refuse lrDA-compliant 4MB/s infrared port to run at that res. The image quality on an NTSC monitor was dis torted and letterboxed (with the top and bottom of the screen bor· dered by blackness). Enable NTSC-out, and the computer's LCD Videodrome goes black: Simultaneous display is not supported. The video features of the 9080 The 9080 does support simultaneous display on the LCD and an leave a lot to be desired. Poor external VGA monitor, but here again, the image on the external quality and quirky limitations are the rule. NTSC-out is limited to monitor was bowed and distorted. When we shut down output to Windows only, and only in the the LCD, the external monitor's display looked fine. nonstandard 640x400 resolution. Other problems include buggy MPEG playback that often failed Video capture is pixelated and to display at all, and the inability to run DOS games on the LCD in hiccups continually. Video-out is via a composite jack only; yideo anything other than a tiny window-most notebooks offer a BIOS capture allows either composite setting that stretches the video to full screen . The graphics or 5-Video input chipset does not provide support for VESA 2.0, so you're limited to a few DOS video reso· lution settings. Have it Your Way You can have both CD and floppy The 9080 features a fast 6x CD-ROM connected if you're tethered to AC, drive. In fact, it's actually faster than the but on the road you must decide to machine's hard drive. That was a first for do without one or the other-the us, and we could find no good explanation battery consumes one of the two (neither could Sharp, for that matter). The baysdrives,. If youyou cancan goplug without in two bot:h· ·.~, ·t~~~~~jt~~~~ slow hard drive is probably what caused the batteries for extra time on 7 lost frames and choppy results in our video· the road. Battery life for a capture tests, but the quality of the captured single lithium-ion battery hovers around the two-hour images was poor and pixelated anyway. mark, and there is a handy back Video troubles and hard drive speed aside, up battery that will power'the note· the 9080 does have some fine features. The 1024x768 64k color book in standby mode for about 10 active-matrix display is beautiful and bright-one of the best LCDs minutes, giving you plenty of time to hot swap a fresh one. The hard drive we've seen. The keyboard has a good feel, and the glide-point track is removable with a single screw, pad is responsive. But with so many promises left unfulfilled, the but the cable is delicate, so this Is Sharp PC 9080 just left us wanting. not a procedure for the fainthearted. - Chris Dunphy With all its pieces, the 9080 weighs in at a middling 8.5 pounds. 78 • boot FEB 97 RE VIEWS the orrdle ;real-world battery life Microsoft Windows 95 • Micro 01:18:00 soft Internet Explo rer • Net scape 2.0 • Puma Techno logy's TranXit • Import/Export • CompuServe • AOL • Official Airlines Guide, • Presentation F/X • PC-cillin '95 Virus Scanner • Prolmage Plus 2.1 • Dow Jones Personal Edition Rich and Bright The 1024x768 active-matrix LCD delivers plenty of visual workspace. There's enough video memory for 16-bit color at all resolu tions, and 24-bit color at 800x600 and below. (The LCD itself only resolves 262,144 colors, though.) Colors are rich and bright, and the display remains readable across a wide field of angles. Power to Go The power adapter built into the 9080's case is great; so there's no need to carry around a bulky AC converter brick. But as an unfortunate side effect, there is no way to provide a DC power input, such as a car lighter-socket adapter. Pro Compatibility The 9080 has Sound Blaster Pro-compatible sound capabilities, with an FM-synth MIDI. The stereo speakers are above average for a notebook, and there's a handy volume dial on the side of the case. There's a mic built into the lid, plus a mit-in jack and jacks for stereo line In and line-out on the sides. The Case for the Defense There is no joystick port. But an internal 28.8 modem is provided. An lrDA port that supports both 1.1MB/sec and the new 4MB/sec standard is on the right side of the case. The case in front of the keyboard Hips up to reveal two RAM expansion ports, that when equipped with two 16MB modules, bring the total up to 48MB. The case has sturdy flip down feet to prop up the keyboard. boot verdict PRICE: $4,499 PHONE: 800.237.4277 COMPANY: Sharp URL: www.sharp-usa.com Electronics boot FEB 97 • 7 9 New Beat Trancemission ·Attention all armchair ravers If you don't know your Jungle from Handbag from Detroit, but still want to perform mind-altering beats at your own house party, NewBeat Trance mission is for you. Start by selecting tracks from more than 250 sam ples of drum loops, bass lines, and synth washes. Then plug them into the "sequencer," and Boom! You're making music. Well, kind of. The interface, which really just allows you to mute and unmute indi vidual tracks, will frustrate musicians. But the casual user will welcome the mistake-proof interface. All samples are either two, four, or eight seconds long, and the computer keeps everything in sync for you, so Playing the 30 accelerated Descent II on Canopus' Total 30 with stereo glasses it's really hard to screw up. on is enough to make your stomach churn, and your eyes dance with joy. NewBeat distinguishes itself from other "mix" programs by allowing you to record your own samples in the Sound Warp editor. Again, you're limited to two, four, or eight second samples, but once you get used to these confines, the potential for making actual music is great. There's Canopus Total 3D also a separate drum machine program, the Fusebox. For non-drum pro grammers, the 16-note layout means it's incredibly easy to whip up cus The ultimate Rendition tom beats. It would be better if you could import your own percussion samp les into the Fusebox, because the drum samples aren't really what Fresh from designing Sierra's Kick-Ass award-wi nning Screamin' 3D (see pro musicians would choose. Still, they get the job done. Just export boot 04), Canopus has re fined their design and drivers, and come out you r beat into the main sequencer, and you have your own roya lty-free, with a Verite-based card of their own, the Total 3D . And it rocks. home-made rave track. Canopus' new Windows drivers are topnotch, NewBeat's only major drawback lies in its sounds. They sound augmented by excellent display utilities for setting dated. But "dated," in the fast paced techno world, can mean just a few the refresh rate and making monitor adjustments. months old. Nevertheless, anyone who wants to experiment with elec With 4MB of EDO DRAM onboard, the Total 3D tronic music will find NewBeat Trancemission to be just the ticket. just supports 16-bit color in up to 1280x1024 reso add a couple of lightsticks and a big Cat In The Hat lid, and you're set! lution at 75Hz, and 24-bit color at 1024x768 - Adam Douglas resolution and 70Hz. Video playback is darn good (a lth ough Rage-powered boards still dominate software MPEG playback), with NuVision hardware X- and Y-interpolation, and the designed LCD shutter 30 bundled Total Cinema 95 MPEG player has glasses do give a startling the best interface we've seen. sensation of depth, but are not likely to receive broad support. But the Total 3D is not just a graphics card . The Spatializer sound ci rcuit onboard broadens the apparent sound field . Depending on your tastes and the quality of your existing sound card, this can range from being a nice bonus touch to being redu ndant. A Windows control panel lets you modify and/or disable the effect. Stereoscopic 3D-Spex LCD shutter glasses are also bundled with the Total 3D. These flash either eye with alternate screen frames. With a game that supports it, frame rate is halved but on-screen objeds appear to have real depth. Beware: The effect is dizzying and can induce migraines. The Total 3D delivers the pinnacle of Verite performance, but fo r many the price may be too high, especially when compared to the $199 Screamin' 3D or the lntergraph Reactor's new $149 price tag. Still, Canopus has pushed their Windows drivers and board speed a step NewBeat Trancemission's main interface is simple-the numbered buttons activate beyond the competition, so the Total 3D will not disappoint. a drum, bass, synth, or sample track and insert it into the mix in perfect time. - Chris Dunphy boot verdict boot verdict PRICE: $39.95 PHONE: 800.465.2323 PRICE: $279 PHONE: 800.649.9800 COMPANY: Microfurom URL: www.microforum.com COMPANY: Canopus URL: www.canopuscorp.com 80 • boot FEB 97 Scorcher Go Speed Vexoid, GO! Enter the world of Scorcher, an arcade-racing game At 320x200, frame rates scream bristling with intense visual delights. (easily passing 24fps on our You are a Vexoid-a hovering synergy of 166M Hz test system); and even human and gyroscopic machinery-racing against maxe d out at 640x480 in 64k your own kind on dark and twisting futuristic color, Scorcher is remarkably tracks that run the gamut from underground playable. Utilizing almost every sewers to barren highways. trick in the book (distance haz While the missing Direct3D support would ing that keeps annoying poly Awesome light sourcing highlights Scorcher's graphics engine. have propelled SVGA performance to a whole gon pop -ups to a minimum, new level, Scorcher's DirectDraw visuals will gray translucent cloud cover, colored light sourc While Scorcher may catch your eye with its fly fast and furious on most any machine. Five ing, as well as 20 background artwork and 20 dazzling display of blazingly fast texture-mapped graphics resolutions (ranging from 320x200 to sprites), Scorcher's texture-mapped polygon race polygons, beyond the glitz lies uneventful game 640x480 in either 256 or 64k colors) mean tmks are nothing short of spectacular. Choose play. There's nothing here we haven't done Scorcher has a mode to suit most machines. from either a standard "behind the vehicle" before. These days, a race sim needs a little arcade-style view or immerse yourself in Scorcher's something more: hood-mounted guns, season first-person point of view, which makes those mode with asset management, Gillian Anderson trips down twisting tunnels quite nauseating. as the computer voice, whatever. Sound effects are curiously light, and the Scorcher is a vanilla racer that emphasizes techno CO-audio soundtrack will have you think the unadulterated blur of racing action. When it ing dance club rather than racetrack. Controlling comes to Scorcher, only hardcore speed freaks your Vexoid with a gamepad can be a trying need apply. experience because you must push upward on - Andrew Sanchez the directional pad to propel forward while sliding left or right to veer-stick with your keyboard for boot verdict maneuvering, jumping, and turbo-boosting. PRICE: $49.95 Scorcher includes three modes of play (tour COMPANY: GT Interactive Scorcher's brooding cityscape is dark enough -even nament, time attack, and practice), and six-player PHONE: 800.305.3390 for Batman! mayhem via LAN. URL: www.gtinteractive.com CF-VEV611W MPEG-1 decoder Swap your flop Break out the popcorn, dim Beneath the bland appear and whites). Video output ance lurks hardware MPEG was a mouse click away, the lights, and boot up your acceleration ... but centering Panasonic CF 62-series note your lV output will have but the extreme edges of book computer. Panasonic's you piddling around with the screen were clipped. CF-VEV611W MPEG -1 hard and a those buttons. If you want Top Gun or ware decoder makes watch composite RCA back that hardware-assisted Wayne's World cruising full ing movies on this note jack turn your lowly note playback grants. screen, full-motion on your boo k as simple as swapping book into a 640x480 SVGA Unfortunately, visual Panasonic notebook, sacri your floppy with this hard presentation powerhouse. expect to dive into Real quality leaves a bit to be fice your floppy drive for ware decoder. ReaiMagic and Pa nasonic Magic-enhanced games such desired-faint pixelation the CF-VEV611W MPEG-1 Sigma Design provides software utilities control as Dragon's Lair-in our haunts video playback decoder. the MPEG-1 decoding power, every aspect, while buttons testing, the game refused to (especially with solid blacks - Andrew Sanchez granting ha rdware playback residing alongside the video acknowledge the existence of MPEG-1 data and Video outputs control image cen of the needed equipment on boot verdict COs (version 1.1). Need to tering on your TV. board. Nevertheless, MPEG-1 knock 'em dead on a wid e Despite Sigma Design's files played fine, enjoying PRICE: $649 PHONE: 800.662.3537 COMPANY: Panasonic URL: www.panasonic.com screen TV? S-Video outputs hardware presence, don't the smooth full -screen play- 82 • boot FEB 97 RE VIEWS Jry it out! emo don tlle· Rocket jockey e bootDisc We have ignition Rocket jockey isn't bogged events: Rocket Race, Rocket custom blending down with cinematic cut Ball, and Rocket War. Kick technique manages scenes or even much of a butt and your name shows to make this paltry plot. Instead, it delivers a up on the leader board; palette palatable. refreshingly original, balls anything less and you'll Oddly, there is out racing experience. lose face ... literally. no first-person view. Straddle your jet-fueled The action is fast and Instead, you control steed and fire the engines furious, with your 500-poly- the action from to compete in three gon rocket pulling a behind your jockey. minimum of 20fps You can rotate the at maximum camera anywhere in detail settings a 360° radius on a 133MHz around the rider, You'll get extra points by snagging your opponents on a clothesline. or-better box but the only time (detail can be that's worthwhile is when In Rocket Ball, snag a Amass points, and more tailored down to you're running around the huge ball with your cables powerful and menacing suit your machine's field off your rocket, or view and drag it to the net at the models become available. horsepower) . Screen ing the grisly details in other end of the field, weav You can upgrade your cables resolution can be set to instant replay. ing through defenders all and hooks, too. My favorites either 320x200 or 640x480, Gameplay is straightfor the way to the goaL were adorned with barbed but polygons are tiled with ward. Each wire and exploding warheads. Antagonize the ref and he'll 128x128 texture maps at 128 rocket is equip kick the crap out of you. to 256 colors. Still, Sega's ped with a pair Shortcomings? of grappling Sure. Multiplayer hooks on the Rocket jockey ends of steel would be a riot, cables. Dep- · but we'll have to ending on the wait for the LAN event, these support patch are used in promised by the different ways. The balls in Rocket Ball vary in weight and properties. time your read this The Wrecking Ball smashes; the Super Ball bounces; and (check the bootNet Rocket Race the Hockey Puck floats. consists of run site; we'll have it ning laps on a slalom Rocket War is a gladiator first) . If only you could cre course, flying through a style game where you knock ate custom rockets, that series of flashing gates. the other riders off their would be choice. And the The rockets have a terrible machines. Use the cables to game only supports 3D turn radius, but wrap a clothesline your opponents, graphics accelerators run Score points by snagging your opponents and yanking them off cable around the gate, and for example. The nastier you ning Criterion's RenderWare their rockets; score even more by smashing them into the wall. you can turn on a dime. play, the more points you API, such as the Matrox Mil score. The referees walking lennium and Terminator 3D. the field are fair game, too . Still, there hasn't been But tangle with one, and a game as satisfying and you'd better not let him catch addictive as Rocket jockey !I Turn off floor textures for optimal performance. you off your bike-he'll kick in a long time. And the For a tighter turning radius, fly in close to the pylon before shooting your cable. the living crap out of you. soundtrack, by Dick Dale I Bounce off the wall to turn sharply when you're going too fast. The ensuing damage Start with your choice of master of surf guitar-fully will affect your rocket's handling, so don't use this tactic too often. four rockets, each packing a rocks. Rocket jockey is an Don't like your ride? Hijack your opponent's. different combination of unmitigated blast. Ram pedestrians for extra points. speed and maneuverability. - Bryan Del Rizzo In Rocket Ball, fly low and tight to grab the balls, and fly directly into the net to score. Pick up bombs and fling them at your opponents. boot verdict Use lawn anchors if you can't find a nearby pylon. In Rocket Ball, run over the referee, or hook him and fling him around the arena . No PRICE: $49.95 PHONE: 888.734.2763 points, it's just fun to see him react. COMPANY: SegaSoft URL: www.segasoft.com boot FEB 97 • 83 RE VIEWS F-16 Fighterstick Give this one a big hand Being flight-sim fanatics, we'd been drooling in anticipation of taking to the skies with the F-16 Fighterstick. When this high-end stick showed up, we tore into the box like hounds after steak tartare. A few hours later, a mild case of indigestion set in. The F-16 Fighterstick certainly looks impressive; hence, the drool. Its handle is modeled after an authentic F·16 Falcon's stick, and it's equipped Skate fast or die slowly in the violent world of with one eight-way and three four-way hat switches, three fire buttons, HyperB/ade. a trigger, a rotary throttle, and trim controls. But real fighter pilots must have ham-sized hands, because the handle on this puppy is an ergonomic disaster; hence, the indigestion. It's much too big, and the placement of the wrist rest makes it difficult to HyperBlade comfortably reach the eight-way hat switch. Sudden jerks of the stick, such as those applied in response to incoming SAMs, have the light· Prepare for roller-blading bloodshed weight base flopping all over the desktop. A little extra weight would be much appreciated. HyperB/ade is perfect for those who like a bit of the old ultraviolence. The Fighterstick handled well with F·22 Lightning II and Apache, In a violent future where players scream around inside the curved although there were occasions when it felt too responsive; to the point Drome, HyperB/ade plays like hockey inside a blimp. To score, players of being squirrely. must get the Rok past the opponent's goalie, and anything goes ... The stick is programmable, so it requires both a joystick and a key· including body parts. Witness the carnage from a fixed 'over-and-behind' board port. The keyboard connector has a pass-through for both AT· camera angle (no first-person point·of·view is available). and PS/2-style ports, and a seven-foot cable delivers plenty of reach. Graphics quality and performance within HyperB/ade's bloody arena You can program each of the Fighterstick's 20 buttons with either vary greatly depending on what you have under your hood. Owners of macro strings or single-keystroke commands and organize them into Direct3D·compatible video cards such as Rendition's Verite: Prepare control sets for different games. The programming interface is intuitive; yourselves for a 640x480 16-bit, texture-mapped, polygon world, com· it'll take just a few minutes to map the commands for a complex game. plete with dingy metallic Drome floor and vibrantly colored armored uni Each co ntrol set must then be downloaded to the forms . Activision wisely sacrificed player polygon count in the name of Fighterstick's EEPROM, but because this memory is faster frame rates (easily hitting 24+ fps with a fast mach in e and 3D nonvolatile, you won't need to reload it until you acceleration). Without acceleration, you're left with a flat-shaded world , play a different game. devoid of textures. While you can use the Fighterstick with other Motion capture propels HyperB/ade's pugilists into miniature hyper devices, such as rudder pedals and throttles, it's blading bulldozers, eager to mash their opponents into large chunks not a good idea to mix programmable peripher· with an uncanny grace all their own . Performing 360 ° flips and half-pipe als because potential interface conflicts may jumps becomes a study in human grace and control. Once again, Sound ground your system. CH's Pro Throttle, for Deluxe handles Activision's intense digital sound effects, from the roar example, overrides the stick. And the Fighter· of the blood-crazed crowd to the crunch of high·impact armor, with stick isn't compatible with CH Products' their usual commitment to high quality. regular throttle. The play·by·play text, as well as the graphics, are violent, bordering The Fighterstick ships with more than 40 on gross. You can hear dying players in the throes of agony. And Hyper· preconfigured game sets, for games such Blade makes it personal by giving in-depth descriptions and biographies as Descent II, EF2000, U.S. Navy Fighters, of the poor bastards. and Jane's ATF. You can The killing and maiming, while graphic, seem pretty fa r removed also download additional from the human kind of suffering, considering the blocky, low-polygon game sets from CH Prod· count nature of the graphics. But there are some unsettling touches, ucts' web site. such as players who keep twitching after losing their head or continue Hardcore flight jocks to suffer more injuries. will certainly appreciate On the downside, this is a fairly limited game, with no season play, the F-16 Fighterstick's ex and the only championship is the Gauntlet, awarded to the player who tensive programmability, but can defeat all 12 teams in the league. HyperB/ade is pretty boring solo, they better have big hands or be but get four of your budd ies on a LAN and you can hack each other to prepared to fly short missions. pieces. Neither modem play nor Internet play is currently supported. - Brad Craig - Lee Buchanan boot verdict boot verdict PRICE: $189.95 PHONE: 619.598 .2518 PRICE: $49.95 PHONE: 310.473.9200 COMPANY: CH Products URL: www.chproducts.com COMPANY: Activision URL: www.activision.com 84 • boot FEB 97 RE VIEWS How does Tomb Raider PC compare to its 32-bit console sisters? The PlayStation's dedicated GPU (Graphics Processor Unit) combined with its 32-bit R3DDDA RISC processor run ning at 33MHz makes for for Jryitout! midable polygon processing power. Two years Tomb Raider elll ago, people were stunned into stupidity at the 0 amount of light-sourced, texture-mapped poly Wrong place at the wrong time ~ - - - ~~tW gons the PlayStation could push. Even today, bootDISC games such as Namco's Tekken 2 personify all that's awesome in Sony's 3Z·bit console. Peo ple The twin pistols blazed in the humid cavern , illu thought the PC could never attain the type of detail a PlayStation achieves every day. minating the woman's face like the cand les on Think again. her 16th birthday cake. Tomb Raider PC armed with either the 3Dfx Daring. That's a good word to describe Tomb or Rendition Write card smokes the PlayStation. Raider. You are Lara Croft, an adventu rer with a While the cinematics are cleaner on the Play flair for two-fisted gunplay and gravity-defying Station (tha nks to proprietary MD EC video de compression hardware), in-game graphics come gymnastics, in her global quest to find a lost up short. Texture maps on the console version Atlantean artifact. Don't expect the mass carnage have a grain y, speckled look to them, while the of Duke Nukem 3D or Quake- Tomb Raider is accelerated PC's bilinear filteri ng, mip mapping, more Indiana }ones, wi th occasional spurts of antialiasing, perspective correction, and 640x480 bullet-ridden mayhem followed by hours resolution (compared to 384x256 for the PSX of exploration in the forbidden cor version) running at 30fps, is a fevered dream to the PlayStation's hardware. -AS ners of the Earth's mantle. Each of the 15 levels within Tomb Raider's four SVGA polygon worlds boasts from 6,000 to Prepare to gun down fur-bearing 14,000 polygons and enjoys critters john Woo-style in Eidos' Tomb Raider. the luxury of texture maps and light sourcing, crea ting a color palette, washing Lara's sub sense of immersion rarely seen. terranean worlds in subdued tones . Watching Lara shake her Gouraud Like many other PC games, a finite shaded polygon buttocks, hang polygon count haunts Tomb Raider. Lara's 526- off cliff walls, and swim beneath polygon body has blessed her with breasts that brackish waters is a testament to Gooood boy." co uld poke a man's eye out. Core Design's outstanding keyframing animation But everything changes with 3D accelera team (no motion capture here, believe it or not). tion. 3Dfx and Rendition ports are available Fro m the "over-and-behind" camera view, to (patches are on the bootDisc) to boost Lara the animated texture maps (watch Lara grit her into the 30fps realm, increase her polygon PC version. PlayStation version. teeth when both barrels are ablaze), Tomb Raider count to the 10,000 realm , and polish the visu seems like the femme fatale everyone wants it als with fixings including 64k colored textures to be, but her shortcomings are visible. on the Rendition version, bilinear fi ltering, mip A small handful of games successfully pull off While the SVGA world is displayed 640x480, mapping, etc. Without 3D acceleration, venturing sophisticated polygon collision detection and wall texture maps are 64x64 resolution, resulting into SVGA becomes frame-rate heartache. And clipping- Tomb Raider isn't one of them. Lara in pixelated cave walls when viewed up close . with only two resolution modes to choose from stands inside seemingly solid stone steps and All textures were designed using a single 256- (320x200 or 640x480) its a feast or famine dead bears on a regular basis. The floating cam affair. Detail levels era also has problems, as your viewpoint swings can be adjusted, but wildly to focus on the action-engaging as an you trade-off high er- observer, disorienting as a player. resolution textures Perhaps most disturbing is Lara's penchant for Watch the mummy in these three Ei dos' attempts to slip 20 sprite and perspective cor blasting the cave's native animals with extreme objects into a polygon world become screen shots and you'll know what rection for blocky painfully apparent when Lara looks we're talking about. Some words of prejudice, so be prepared to gun down massive around. As the camera view swings, advice to game developers designing textures and massive grizzly bears whose only crime seems to be being these sprites can't rotate like true 3D 3D polygon worlds: Don't use 20 texture-map warping. in the wrong place at the wrong time. objects. The same ftat bitmaps stare sprites. SGI-rendered cut Tomb Raider, properly armed with the right at you, no matter which angle you You've been warned. scenes attempt to 3D acceleration, breaks the PC gaming enve view them-a big disappointment. -AS give Tomb Raider a lope-once and for all, surpassing the 32-bit movie-like feel, but console versions. why bother? The in - Andrew Sanchez game engine could have produced the boot verdict cinematics, as in PRICE: $49.99 Origin's Bioforge, but COMPANY: Eidos Interactive Tomb Raider's inter PHONE: 415.616.2022 laced cinematics are URL: www.tombraider.com just distracting. boot FEB 97 • 85 RE VIEWS Alps GlidePoint Wave Keyboard The waves are fine, but watch out for the undertow! As a rule, I don't install evaluation After installing the keyboard the worst tech support imagin ab le, I've really grown to like this key equipment in my work computer. and its device drivers, my system I finally extricated the bedeviled board (when I spend time in the That's what the bootlab is for. But utterly died, refusing to recognize keyboard and its cursed drivers bootlab, that is). Its 105 keys and when the sexy new Alps GlidePoint any mouse, and Windows gagged from my machine-without any help integrated wrist rest are incredibly Wave Keyboard with ergonomic on a non-fatal exception error with from Alps. comfortable and intelligently laid split keypad and integrated touch every launch. After dealing with I've since successfully installed out. Three buttons ha ng out in the pad arrived, I decided to make an som e of the keyboard on two other sys split between the QWERTY keys, exception. It's just a keyboard, after tems in the lab, so my first expe offering extra backspace, tab, and all. What could it hurt? rience was probably just an anom mouse functions. You can also tap Famous last words . aly. Considering the pathetic sup the pad to click. port I received from Alps on the If you decide to buy a Glide other hand, I can't say the weak Point Wave Keyboard, I hope you quality of their tech support is an have a better installation experience anomaly. After all, they treated than I did. And don't lose that five me this way knowing I was a jour year warra nty. nalist reviewing their product. - Michael Brown ::,::..b~.:;:::::.:::=:---Alps' GlidePoint Wave boot verdict Keyboard hogs a lot of desk space, but the integrated track pad PRICE: $149 PHONE: 800.825.2577 means you can do away with your rodent COMPANY: Alps Electric URL: www.alpsusa.com T!Yitout! onemo the Drowned God bootDisc We are not alone All of Drowned God's graphics were rendered in Soft Myst gave graphic adventure games a bad name. that humans are descended from extraterrestrials; Image. The game looks like it was produced in Director, but the program was coded in C++. Drowned God will undo the damage. and that these alien beings are responsible for Drowned God is filled with brain-buster puzzles some of the most significant events in history. Unlike some other games-lark Nemesis, for tightly integrated into the story. And what a story The object of th e game is to recover ancient examp le-Drowned God never takes itself too this game has to tell. Designer Harry relics, including the Holy Grail, in order to reveal seriously. After you've solved the Newton-Einstein Horse (one-time antiquities forger .-"~!!!!~- humankind's true origins. Recovering these puzzle, Newton remarks "I told you it was too Richard Horne) has constructed relics requires that you travel through time, easy." Einstein replies : "Oh shut up, it was bet a game based on his belief encountering famous figures (real and leg ter than your damned apple puzzle!" A few of Leonardo da Vinci's endary) rangin g from Leonardo da Vinci to Drowned God has multiple endings, but the Merlin to JFK. story unravels in a linear fashion. You won't play Along the way, you'll accumulate an it over and over, but you can expect at least 40 inventory of tools needed to solve puzzles hours of play before you reach the first ending. and clear up the mystery. Drowned God offers Even though every PC owner on earth has ponied an amazing story, but the puzzles are equally up the bucks for Myst, Drowned God won't be impressive. One of the best involves a pai r of everyone's cup of tea; but then, what game is? spinning mechanical heads: one of Albert Ein - Michael Brown stein, the other of Sir Isaac Newton. The heads spout nonsensical phrases ("I did not open Pan boot verdict dora," says Einstein at one point) . But when you PRICE: $49.95 arrange the statements in their proper sequence, COMPANY: lnscape This particular puzzle involves a debate between you're treated to a fascinating debate that could PHONE: 800.693.3253 Einstein and Newton. never have taken place. URL: www.inscape.com 86 • boot FEB 97 RE VIEWS Jry it out! NASCAR Racing 2 d emo on t11e· Down-drafting to victory e bootDisc How do you make a great game even better? The Audio was also upgraded, but it's the addition speedometers, so you won't find one here. In· answer must be more elusive than it seems, of a crew chief/spotter on the radio that'll really stead, you rely on the tach. And real racers can't because sequels are rarely better than the original. grab you. His speech is smooth and, most impor stop the race to pay the pizza man at the front The exception is Papyrus' follow-up to its best tantly, it's useful. "Slow car down low," he says, door. So the developers removed the Save-Game selling NASCAR Racing. allowing drivers to focus on what's ahead. Your feature. While this is sure to upset some, it's Papyrus has fixed the original's poor frame spotter also alerts you to trouble on the track: hard to argue with Papyrus' devotion to realism. rate, using the improved lndyCar Racing 2 engine. "Big wreck in turn three; stay low." - Lee Buchanan So although the stock graphics are much improved, NASCAR veterans will find their prayers this new version still outperforms the original. And answered, and rookies will welcome new features boot verdict the new game ships with a version tweaked for that make this ultrarealistic simulation friendlier, PRICE: $49.95 Verite-powered 3D accelerator cards that sports such as arcade damage and steering help. COMPANY: Sierra On-Line even better graphics (bilinear-filtered texture maps) The push for intense realism may not be wel PHONE: 800.757.7707 and blazing performance. comed by all players. Real race cars don't have URL: www.sierra.com dTryitout! Screamer 2 o~tU' 0 Pedal to the polygon metal bootDisc If you think coin-op arcade games are still (both modes playable in either 8-bit or 16-bit color). light years ahead of the PC for white-knuckle Race through England, Egypt, the United States, and gaming, then you need to check out Screamer 2. Virgin Interactive's follow Finland ; each with its own distinctive and treacherous up to their PC racing sensation delivers more of the same full-throttle thrills terrain . Run against the clock, or race computer that made the original a real head turner. Make no mistake: There ain't no controlled cars in single events or a full championship. And naturally, you'll strategy here, just flat-out fun . want to run your flesh and blood buddies off the road, so there are multi The graphics are plain gorgeous, and, with enough horsepower on your player options galore, including network play supporting eight players and desktop, the lush texture-mapped polygon terrain and vehicles rush by so a split-screen mode for two-player action on one PC. fast you'll swear you feel the wind in your hair. If you don't have enough Gameplay lives up to all expectations. The car's handling physics are machine to run the 640x480 graphics, the game still rocks in 320x200 much-improved over the original-when you scream into the sand on the Egypt track, be prepared to broadslide through the turns. boot verdict Save your quarters. Screamer 2 will have you screaming for more, and PRICE: $19.99 PHONE: 800.874.4607 it's only a mouse click away. COMPANY: Virgin Interactive URL: www.vie.com - Lee Buchanan dTryitout! Marathon 2: Durandal o~tU' 0 A poor man's Doom bootDisc Right off the bat, let's not forget why Marathon of Marathon don't invoke the fear of Doom's was created: Because Mac users couldn't play Barons from Hell or Quake's fiends. And the the real thing, Doom. That said, how does this canned animated splash of green goo when a retro port stand up in the age of Quake, Tomb bug is blasted pales beside the sight of a Quake Raider, and Unreal? Very poorly, thank you. opponent's dismembered body parts bouncing If you just read the spec sheet, you'd believe down a staircase and kerplunking, one by one, M2:D could hang with these big boys: 640x480 into a moat. graphics in 64k colors, up to eight players com Mac loyalists will whine that the Marathon peting on the LAN , and an innovative 16-bit active series surpasses all PC comers because it has a panning stereo feature that's actually effective. true storyline. That's all good and fine. But when boot verdict It's the wimpy 20 sprite characters and garish the empty cartridges are flying and you can feel PRICE: $39 palettes that really hurt M2:D. It's all a matter of the hot breath of a chainsaw-packin' ogre on COMPANY: Bungie taste, but the skinny bugs and floating dudes in your neck, all that story nonsense somehow PHONE: 800.295.0060 bathrobes that roam and skitter through the halls seems ... unimportant. - Brad Dosland URL: www.bungie.com boot FEB 97 • 87 Connect the Dots The WinBook FX features a bevy of ports and jacks, including speaker, mic, and headphone jacks. You'll also find the standard issues too, such as the PS/2, serial, parallel, lrDA, external monitor, and docking-station ports. The hard drive is removable and you can swap out the floppy or CD-ROM drive to add another lithium-ion or WinBook FX NiMH battery, boosting total life expectancy to more Turn the page than four hours. The Win Book FX packs a lot of firepower, including a 133MHz Pentium and 32MB of EDO DRAM, so we expected relatively high benchmark results. The good news is: Our real-world test results were off the scale. The bad news is: They were off the wrong end of the scale. It may have the guts, but the WinBook FX doesn't deliver the glory. Some of those disappointing results can be attributed to the FX's video subsystem. WinBook's decision to use the Cirrus Logic GD7543 chipset, a two-year-old part that's already been supplanted by the GD7548 (which, in turn, is about to be replaced by the GD7555), was obviously motivated by cost-not performance-considerations. And with on ly a meager 1MB of video DRAM to play with, the FX nearly choked on Cirrus Logic's GD7543 chipset was a solid product when it shipped the applications we threw at it. Rendering a wireframe image in Lightwave two years ago. Today, many notebook manufacturers have moved 3D, applying a Gaussian blur in Photoshop, and rendering a video transi· on to that product's successor, the pin-compatible GD7548. You'll tion in Premiere, all took atrocious amounts of time, resulting in straight find this chip in Gateway's Solo 2100, Tl's TraveiMate 6030, and one ratings across the boot·o·meter real-world tests. Fujitsu's Monte Carlo (all reviewed in boot 04). Whereas the GD7543 performs 2x video scaling through repli On screen, the FX delivers a maximum resolution of 800x600 with cation, the GD7548 performs arbitrary scaling with horizontal 65k colors on its bright 12.1-inch LCD, or 1024x768 with 256 colors on interpolation and vertical replication. The newer part produces an external monitor. But that two-year-old video chipset isn't compatible video that's considerably less pixelated. The GD7543 also lacks with the new Zoomed Video Port standard. an integrated video-overlay port, which means that you'll need Aside from the video performance, the FX boasts a handful of hand external hardware to perform MPEG decoding and NTSC output. some features, including a removable Toshiba ZGB hard drive and a Teac A spokesperson at Cirrus Logic revealed that their GD7548 chip will soon be succeeded by the GD7555, a 64-bit video solu· 6x CD-ROM drive (which shares a bay with the floppy drive). The hard tion offering both vertical and horizontal interpolation for even drive delivered a solid transfer rate of 710K/sec, but the CD-ROM drive's better image quality. Even if Win Book started plugging the 503K/sec was less than spectacular. If you can do without both the CD GD7548 into the FX's socket, they'd still be lagging behind the ROM and the floppy drives, plug a second battery into the drive bay for technology curve. Time to catch up, guys! those long airplane rides. Can't decide if you prefer a track pad or a pointing stick? The FX offers both. Other notable features include a standard 15-pin game port connector and a built in Z8.8Kbps modem with a Rockwell Plug It In, Plug It In With a carrying weight of more than RCZ88ACL chipset. nine pounds, you might be tempted to -4 The presence of a Vibra 16 audio chip leave the power brick at home. Don'l ensures 100 percent Sound Blaster 16 com It weighs substantially less than the patibility, but your hands will muffle the second battery, and dishes out a full charge in only four hours. stereo speakers built into the wrist rest. For optimal audio performance, plug a pair of powered speakers into the line-out jack. Even if you're attracted by the $3,999 price tag, there are many better notebooks out there for the money. The FX could've been a con Life Span tender if Win Book upgraded its video solution; You can monitor battery life on the Windows desktop or as it stands, the FX just doesn't cut it. by checking the LEOs on the underbelly (you can easily - Bryan Del Rizzo access the SIMM modules there too). 89 • boot FEB 97 RE VIEWS under the hood the brains - CPU ...... 133MHz Intel Pentium External Ca che ..... 256K pipeline burst RAM ...... 32MB EDO DRAM (40MB max) Video ...... Cirrus Logic GD7543, 1MB EDO DRAM the brawn Hard Drive ...... Toshiba 2GB EIDE CD·ROM drive ...... Teac CD44E·900 6X Expansion ...... 2 Type II PC cards or 1 Type Ill Lap Weight...... ? pounds, 13 ounces Carrying Weight .... 9 pounds, 1 ounce (with power brick and floppy drive) the beauty Display ...... 12.1-inch active matrix Sound ...... Vibra 16 FM Synth (Sound Blaster 16 compatible) Video ...... 800x600 max res, 65k colors (1024x768, 256 colors on Beauty is Only Skin Deep external monitor) The WinBook FX's vibrant, 12.1-lnch active matrix Speakers ...... Stereo, plus headphone jack display is one of Its best features (off-axis view Communications ... 28.8Kbps modem, condenser micro Ing is especially Impressive). Unfortunately, the phone, lrDA-compliant infrared port Cirrus logic GD7543 video chipset and 1MB DRAM delivered exceptionally poor Windows and DOS performance (full-screen, software-decoded MPEG-1 playback was pathetic). Poppin' Fresh na:w . m The WlnBook FX features a cool pop-up Status window (activated by hitting the WmBookr=x Key Lime Pie The brightness, audio, and power management features are all controlled by a combi nation of keyboard commands. You can adjust the audio bal ance, bass, volume, and treble levels too-welcome features not usually found In a note book. The keyboard has terrific rdict tactile response, and the pres ence of both a track pad and COMPANY: WlnBook a pointing stick make desktop PHONE: 800.468.7502 navigation easy as pie. URL: www.wlnbook.com boot FEB 97 • 89 Longbow: Flash point l In Red Alert, history is altered and it's the Russians who march across Europe. The only complaint garners had about Jane's AH-640 Longbow helicopter simulator was that there wasn't enough of it The sim's near-perfect blend of realism, action, and playability was limited to only one campaign. Command&Conquer: Well, get ready for this Korean campaign to test your metal with enough missions and threats to keep you in the cockpit for weeks. All coming at you in 256 colors at 640x480. Flashpoint Korea is more than a mere add-o n campa ign. Red Alert Instead, it upgrades the game itself, including new weapons, avionics models, coordinated battlefield targeting, digital The evil that men do audio, and much smarter opposing forces. The same tactics and techniques that earned you promotions and honors in the Red Alert is the sequel to Command & Conquer, but its parallel universe storyline original game still work here-you just have to be better at is just as compelling. Albert Einstein has changed the course of history by going them . Enemy units wi ll move to hide from your attacks and back in time and killing Adolf Hitler. As a result, Hitler never invades Europe, and defend themselves, even call in air or artillery support. the Russians (under Joseph Stalin), march across the continent The Cold War isn't Ever wonder how the action looks from the front seat? over, just defrosted. Flashpoint Korea lets you fly as pilot or in the new co -pilot/ While based on the C & C game engine, Red Alert boasts far superior AI and gunner seat Any mission can be flown from either seat, SVGA graphics. The computer now builds and maintains its own bases, as opposed adding replay value. to the original C & C's premade bases. Your computer oppo nent has also grown The campaign is made up of more than 40 missions set in battle savvy. For example, in the original game, if a tank came across a barrier it steeper terrain , and you can fly more than 100 other stand would immediately look for a new route. In Red Alert, the tank tries to blast alone missions. And again, you'll receive newscasts keeping through the barrier, and only looks for a new route as a last resort. you updated on the war's progress. There are 40 missions to conquer and 20 multiplayer maps (with head-to-head Of course, you'll need the original AH-640 Longbow to play Internet support for up to eight players) . Gameplay can be tough , due to your lim this add-on, but this is one sim you want to own, and the ited ore-mining resources and military strength. To win this war, you'll be required new campaign just adds to the excitement to solve mission -related puzzles, and manage your troops effectively. Missions in - Lee Buchanan Red Alert are more strategically designed; poor planning early on can have major implications in subsequent missions. Red Alert features a bevy of new units to command . Playing as the Allies, you'll command AT mine layers, Jeeps, cruisers, gunboats, GPS satellites, medics, and spies. As the Soviets, you'll have access to vicious attack dogs, V2 rocket launchers, submarines, YAK fighters, paratroopers, and spy pla nes. Red Alert is a feast for the senses, taking advantage of Microsoft's DirectX. Played on systems as low as a P90, the game runs at 15fps in 256 colors at 640x480. The game's superb digital audio will keep troop morale high. Play the Soviet side and a spy with Sean Connery's distinct brogue will bellow "For king and country!" when he blows up your base. The cinematics are a captivating mix of FMV and 3D an imation rendered in 30 Studio Max that bring home the brutality of war (the image of a teddy bear falling from a slain child's hand is especially disturbing). Red Alert isn't a huge leap in originality over its predecessor. But like the origi nal classic, it is utterly engrossing. -Brad Craig boot verdict boot verdict PRICE: $29.95 PHONE: 800.245.4525 PRICE: $49.95 PHONE: 800.874.4607 COMPANY: Origin/EA URL: www.ea.com/janes COMPANY: Virgin Interactive URL: www.westwood.com 90 • boot FEB 97 RE VIEWS Diamond Stealth ViRGE/VX 3D 3000 XL While slightly slower than STB's Half empty offering, the Stealth 3D didn't feel noticeably slower in any of It's The Diamond Stealth 3D 3000 XL and STB's Velocity 3D are both 64-bit the applications we tested it with. You wouldn't want to base your decision priced higher 2D/3D graphics cards utilizing 53's newest video chip-the ViRGE/ VX. than the Velocity 3D, but the But the mixed bag of 2D and 3D performance is either half full or half between the two on performance alone. Stealth 3D 3000 XL comes empty, depending on what types of applications you 'll be running. Like the Velocity 3D, the Stealth 3D 3000 XL with a hearty bundle. The ViRGE/VX is an all-purpose chip intended to deliver high perfor includes a control panel for on-the-fly scre en res mance 2D and 3D acceleration in Windows, complete with texture map olution, virtual desktops, and monitor centering. ping, and legacy support for DOS applications. The ViRGE/VX chip, like The Stealth 3D comes with considerably more software than the Velocity its predecessor, also supports flat and Gouraud shading, 3D , including a limited edition of Descent II and Compton's Interactive bilinear and trilinear filtering, mip mapping, depth cue Encyclopedia 1996. Also bundled is Asymetrix's Digital ing, fogging, alpha blending, Z-buffering, and perspective Video Producer, a video capture and editing program correction. Technological improvements include an inte with audio, titling, and 3D effects features; and 3D F/X, grated 200MHz RAMDAC and clock synthesizer (the regu an impressive accelerated program, which produces 3D lar ViRGE had a 135MHz RAMDAC). This translates into a graphics and animation with relative ease. A software maximum resolution of 1600x1200 with 16 million colors MPEG player is also included. at 75Hz (provided that you're running with 8MB of But these riches come at a price. The Stealth 3D VRAM). Both Diamond's and STB's cards come equipped 3000 XL costs considerably more than the Velocity 3D . with a hearty 4MB of dual-ported EDO VRAM, but only While the stock 4MB version is $299 (compared to $249 the Velocity 3D can make the jump to 8MB. for STB's 4MB card), if you were to buy the 2MB version Where the rubber meets the road, both ViRGE/VX cards provide of Diamond's card and upgrade it to 4MB, it would run you $398. In compar superior 2D acceleration in Windows. In fact, substantially better perfor ison, the Velocity 3D with 8MB is $50 less, at only $349. mance than the slate of Verite-based cards reviewed in boot 04. boot verdict Unfortunately, 3D performance was less than stellar. For example, the 3Dfx produced 50fps in accelerated Descent II, while the ViRGE/VX chip PRICE: $249 with 2MB; $299 with 4MB PHONE: 800.468.5846 COMPANY: Diamond Multimedia URL: www.diamondmm.com could only manage 16fps. And in both Hellbender and Descent II the speed and fluidity were marred by grainy textures. Currently, games accelerated for the original ViRGE won't work on the ViRGE/VX. At press time the problem was still unresolved, but 53 promised a fix soon. VESA 2.0 isn't supported in hardware, so you'll STB Velocity 3D need to download the latest UniVBE 2.0 drivers from 53's web site Overall, the Velocity 3D was faster than (and SciTech's Display Doctor wouldn't work on either card). Drivers for the Stealth 3D 3000 XL by as many as 6 Win95, NT 4.0, and most major operating systems are included, and million pixels per second (at 1280x1024, 8- Direct 3D is supported. bit color depth) during Windows 2D applica- The ViRGE/ VX lacks Y-interpolation but it is color-depth indepen tion tests . Although Quake frame rates were The Velocity dent. Full-screen MPEG playback (at 640x480) looks good, but bump identical on both cards, the Velocity 3D was 30 suffers from an up the resolution to 1024x768 or beyond, and video performance and slightly faster in Descent II (2fps to be exact). uninspiring soft- The STB Vision contro l panel is activated ware bundle. quality degrade dramatically, including pixelation, flicker, and noise. (53 claims their next incarnations, the ViRGE/DX and GX, will improve when you boot into Win95 (we recommend manually adding it to the task MPEG performance, adding horizontal and vertical interpolation.) bar), and allows you to adjust a bevy of parameters including screen resolu If you're more interested in applications requiring a higher reso tion, mon itor selection, and image centering. You can dynamically change the lution and color depth, then ViRGE/VX-equipped cards are amply screen resolution or the size of the desktop suited for the without rebooting, and you can create set task. But if tings for different Windows applications...... you're a serious STB's software bundle is disappointing, DIAMOND STB gamer looking and includes only one game-a ViRGE/VX edi Graphics Wi nMark for ultimate 3D tion of MechWarrior 2, which wasn't available (in million pixels per second) for review. An MPEG software player and 800x600 24 bit 75Hz 29.8 30.8 performance, 1024x768 16 bit 75Hz 34.8 36 ViRGE/VX isn't Calorific, a color matching app for monitors 1280x1024 8 bit 60Hz 37.3 43.3 your solution. and printers, are also included in the package. Descent II (unaccelerated) (fps) Diamond recom- Still, with the ability to upgrade to 8MB, 640x480 21.4 22.8 mends using their and solid DOS and Windows performance, the Velocity 3D is a good choice 800x600 12.7 13.7 Monster 3D in for those who crave monster res and depth in Windows . Desce nt II (accelerated) {fps) conjunction with 640x480 16 16 a Stealth 3D 2000 boot verdict Quake (unaccelerated) {fps) for ultimate gaming PRICE: $249 with 4MB (reviewed); PHONE: 972.234 .8750 640x480 11.7 11.7 satisfaction. 800x600 9.0 9.0 $349 with 8MB URL: www.stb.com 1024x768 6.2 6.2 - Bryan Del Rizzo COMPANY: STB Systems boot FEB 97 • 91 RE VIEWS Multimedia Speakers for Digital Audiophiles Aural climax or melodic cold shower? If you need to feel the detonation of grenades rending zombies asunder, of tech nological terminology, all geared at creating the illusion of proper then chuck the crappy speakers that came with your system and get your sound staging (Dolby Surround this, Q-Sound that). Creating total audio self some real boom. immersion is considered the holiest of all quests and many sally forth, It don't mean squat if you're armed with an AWE64 or Roland SCC-1 if hoping to bring home the elusive treasure. they are played through lackluster speakers. You need real speakers. Some will fail. .. others will triumph. - Andrew Sanchez The latest in PC speaker technology threatens to drown you in a sea Altec Lansing ACS45 Aiwa SC-C37 Active Speaker PowerCube System Size doesn't matter, it's how you work it Definitely smaller than a breadbox From the thunderous explosions in your favorite game to the pumpin' bass in your favorite audio CD, Altec Lansing's three-piece ACS45 speaker system packs some serious aural firepower. The two satellite speakers consist of three-inch paper cones housed in magnetically-shielded, acoustically-inert plastic cubes that require minimal desktop real estate. A small amp drives these puppies, with six watts of power each, but they sound much bigger in a near-field listening environment. The subwoofer is encased in a tune-ported, bass-reflex enclosure. This box delivers the low-end goods with a four-inch, long-throw driver pow ered by a 20-watt amp. An electronic volume control on one of the satellite speakers cranks all three speakers. And if you're the type who likes Don't be fooled to leave your system running all the time, an by the price- electricity-saving switch auto- these things rock. These days, cutting-edge note speakers snap together for easy matically shuts the system book PCs come equipped with storage and carrying; the left speaker down if it doesn't detect just about every multimedia even provides a corral for the cables. an input signal for an whistle and bell you can think The speakers deliver clean mid extended period of tim e. of. Unfortunately the speakers range and high frequencies, but Specs are interesting, in most of the systems we've hardcore bass add icts will need to but what makes these seen pretty much blow. But fi nd their fix elsewhere. CD audio speakers impressive once you plug Aiwa's SC-C37s was remarkably clean, and game is the way they sound. The in your mobile monster, you'll soundtracks delivered the kind of sub kicks out ro om-shaking never hit the road without 'em. punch that always seems to be bass, while the three-inch satel These mighty mites measure missing from the girlie-man speakers lites deliver crystal-clear highs. a mere three-inches square, found in most notebooks. The sub doesn't deliver much in and they' re just slightly more With a price tag of less than the subterranean depths below than one inch deep. Two-inch $40, the SC-C37s are a virtual no 40Hz, and the satellites top out drivers are securely nestled in risk proposition. If you own a port relatively early, but you won't find a sealed black enclosures behind pro able PC, give these speakers a shot. better set of speakers in this price range. tective steel-mesh grilles. The You won't regret it. boot verdict boot verdict PRICE: $99 PHONE: 800.648.6663 PRICE: $39.95 PHONE: 800.289.2492 COMPANY: Altec Lansing URL: www.altecmm.com COMPANY: Aiwa URL: www.aiwa.com 92 • boot FEB 97 RE VIEWS Altec Lansing ACS55 PowerGaming Speaker System Caution: Dangerous curves ahead Altec Lansing wants to seduce your are notable examples that sound Beauty is only eyes and ears with its ACS55 Power great on this system .) You can turn skin deep, especially with Gaming speaker system. One out of off the Dolby when you're listening the ACS55 . They may look two ain't bad . to audio CDs. cool, but all it really Each curvy, ebony cabinet houses In the end, however, Altec amounts to is posturing. a half-inch dome tweeter and two promises a multimedia mountain, three-inch full-range drivers; one of but winds up delivering a musical which is mounted 90 ° off-axis to molehill. At 200Hz, the subwoofer's Seven drivers make for Dolby provide dispersion for the built-in crossover point is very high-and Surround Sound nirvana ... Dolby Pro-Logic surround-sound you can't adjust it lower. This trans if you can get your settings straight. · decoder. The bass-reflex subwoofer lates into unimpressive low-end contains a separate 40-watt amp response, with the sub bottoming and a 6.5-inch long-throw paper out during in-depth listening ses cone woofer. sions with bass-heavy tracks. The The Dolby circuitry provides a tweeters delivered crystal-clear highs, wider, more immersive sound stage, but getting acceptable midrange and the adjustable center-channel response required a lot of tweaking. delivers solid center-stage imaging Allee Lansing bundles its Wave without requiring a separate speaker. CUBE 4.0 wavetable-synth software Game soundtracks must be specifi (developed by Ensoniq), but this cally encoded with Dolby Pro-Logic algorithm's performance is roughly boot verdict in order to take full advantage of equivalent to Yamaha's OPL3-3SA this feature; a relative rarity. (Wing chip-only owners of substandard PRICE: $199 PHONE: 800.648.6663 Commander IV and F-22 Lightning II sound cards will be interested. COMPANY: Allee Lansing URL: www.altecmm.com Aiwa TS-CD40 The sound of one hand clapping Sweet sonic seduction becomes a dreary dissonant dirge with Aiwa's TS-CD40 Not even the magic of Q-Sound 3-piece speaker system. Considering the system's price, you'd expect the London can save these Philharmonic of multimedia to fill your room-what you get is a one-man band speakers from trying to play a tuba filled with mayonnaise. themselves. The TS-CD40 has a 30-watt 4-inch subwoofer in a massive bass-reflex enclosure and is supported by Aiwa's SC-C57 three-inch speakers packing 5 watts, and the entire system includes Q-Sound circuitry for "enhanced" spatial immersion (a simple on/off switch, but no control on the amount of enhancement). All system controls are located on the right speaker (no remote subwoofer control, unfortunately), while the satellite speakers are cleverly aimed toward the center for proper imaging. The SC-C57 satellites responsible for reproducing the broad midrange frequency band sound artificial, lacking richness or spaciousness. Engaging Q-Sound turned them into a bloated cacophony of muddled sloppy midrange reproduction, drown ing out any imaging or linearity the speakers had-Clair Mario's silky vocals sounded as if she was singing through a megaphone. The subwoofer is a real disappointment-amorphous thumps with no solid defi nition, lacking the punch and control other subwoofers dutifully deliver. The entire speaker system suffers from underpowering, as the 5-watt satellites crackled and strained playing intense passages such as Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra and Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. Quake's thunderous explosions and in boot verdict human Ogre growls became mundane mush and pitifully muffled grunts not pretty. PRICE: $249.95 PHONE: 800.289.2492 The Aiwa TS-CD40 tries valiantly to deliver-unfortunately the only thing COMPANY: Aiwa URL: www.aiwa.com you get is mushy melodies and ho-hum bass. boot FEB 97 • 93 Smart Video Recorder Ill I'm ready for my digitization, Mistah DeMille Between the frame-grabbing fun of Ill delivers bold, beautiful video at slower, but Play's Snappy and the FMV muscu 640x480. Any fewer ponies, and more effective, larity of Miro's DC30 (both reviewed capture performance suffers big off-line com· in boot 05) lies Intel's video capture time. Compression is accomplished pression), and card. The Smart Video Recorder Il l via software, enabling the ISVR Ill a variety of is your ticket to capture rapture. to utilize future video codecs. codecs to com The Smart Video Recorder Ill A painless installation in our press with (ISVR Ill) heralds Intel's return to P166 test system, armed with 16MB (lndeo, Cinepak, capture cards after their original !SA of RAM, translated into equally im QuickTime, bound multichip ISVR Pro. Now a pressive results. The ISVR Ill cap Video For Win PCI-based single-chip solution pro tured 2,000 frames of 320x240 at dows, Kinetix's Crystal clear 640x480 single frame grabs are hard to get, but viding S-Video and RCA Composite 30fps in YUV9 format (no recom FLC/FLI) make when you snag 'em, they're gorgeous. input only (no built-in audio input pression) without dropping a single for almost boundless video quality While overall performance leans jacks-a sound card is required frame. At 400x300, the system and playback possibilities. heavily on your system's horse for audio recording), the ISVR Ill began to drop frames (roughly 34 The quality of 640x480 single power, the Smart Video Recorder approaches real-time video captu re percent), while 640x480 dropped 60 frame still captures varied wildly, Ill's combination of stellar video backward, capturing and unloading percent. Once you're happy with the from crystal clear to streaky and capture and competitive price can practically all the real-time encoding raw video, pipe it into any video jagged. Still, all the 320x240 not be beat. onto your Pentium processor. Simply post-production software (the ISVR captures we generated were solid. - Andrew Sanchez put, if you have a screaming P200 Ill ships with Asymetrix's Digital MMX with at least 32MB of RAM Video Producer 4), and compress to boot verdict and a fat hard drive interfaced to a your heart's content. Two capture speedy 1/0 card (a must for video techniques (a faster real-time cap PRICE: $199 PHONE: 800.628.8686 capturing and processing), the ISVR ture and compression; as well as a COMPANY: Intel Corporation URL: www.intel.com dW it o t! on J!l ZPC e bootDisc Zero Play Caliber game engine, which Zombie has licensed from ZPC's storm troopers were inspired by Nazi soldiers, Bungie. Characters move so stiffly, they look as Ever wonder why the ads for some games never but they're so plxelated that it's difficult to tell. show sceen shots of the gameplay? Load ZPC on though they were allocated just two or th ree your machine and you'll wonder no more. The frames of an imation each. And there's no sense am biance. The sound effects, on the other hand, game producers at Zombie have taken the awe of physics in the game. Fall from a ledge and are a big disappointment: flat and unimaginative. some talent of MTV animator Aid en Hughes and you float to the ground with no injuries. You can't interact with any of the charac flushed it right down the toilet. All the texture maps-even the gauges on the ters- not even the followers who grovel at your ZPC traps Hughes' industrial-style illustrations droning machinery-are dull, repeating tiles, ren feet-other than to kill them. They babble in an in the wretched Marathon 2 first-person action dered in subdued, washed-out earth tones. unidentifiable language, and their comments such The game does have a few as "Do you have authorization?" are translated saving graces. The musical score, for you in subtitles. You, on the other hand, are by Roland Barker (Revolting mute, even in the eight-player network mode. Cocks) and Paul Barker (Ministry) The worst part about th is dreadful game is is perfectly suited to the plot, in that it might discourage other artists and musi which you play a messiah leading cians from participating in the development of the revolt against a totalitarian new games-and that's a damn shame. regime. As the action heats up, - Michael Brown the tracks change from ambient synth beds to Eastern Bloc-style boot verdict marches. The 16-bit digital audio PRICE: $49.95 automatically pans as you turn COMPANY: GT Interactive/Zombie Scenes such as this come close to delivering the quality animation that around and move through the fans of animator Aiden Hughes will expect from this game. Unfortunately, PHONE: 212.726.6500 that quality appears only in the briefest of cut scenes. game maze, addi ng atmospheric URL: www.gtinteractive.com 94 • boot FEB 97 RE VIEWS edD--- Tryemo it out! e ooa on tfie bootDisc Norton Utilities 2.0 (D~rlitnsJD~on- lksnEJCPbefwlnotW~r~1.41rf I (D!SI'mctb]Somed lhe JhortctJ.rnj'OIIdeakiopwlrdt.ngt4)~prog-. Holden Caulfield would be proud l (D (Modem[ No I!Wldern foud (!) ~a!: I Thete is a ll'ismetched .,_.Give letk!r anio'mri f!U'dn DeW::e Rooting out evil and Win95 customization (D IFieSY$tern] ThefieSymtnvalleisnat~lo~~r~~~ corruption like a wishes with a simple I boot FEB 97 • 95 RE VIEWS System Commander 3.0 Gross hack makes good ~~~~~~~ A !i/i!l MS-DOS 6 . 22 It's a dirty job. Trying to get multiple operating several can share a single FAT parti· B '?.i'! PC-DOS 7 .B C .tHi~. Nove 11 DOS 7 systems to exist on one machine without them tion. System Commander keeps 0 ll0~1 0 PC -OOS/V ( .l(lptlnese) walking all over each other is a real headache. them out of each other's hair, tracks E l!.~ lJ i ndous NT f Un1x SCO Unix The bonehead disk partitioning and file system changes to configurations, and logs • ~ ri!rn ~ wit1dot.i~k~~•••••••••••••••• limitations left from the PC's birth only make new operating system installs. H · -- Netuar·e -1 I J.Jm1f' OS/2 Laptop, no netuor·k matters worse. The system architecture was never System Commander can also be J J.lfll~l' OS/2 on the netuor·k really intended to support separate but equal configured with account names and K OS'2 OS;2 v2 .1 L @[~ B lOS Setup OS's, and many OS's (particularly Microsoft's) passwords, limiting who has access M ftfl: Boot fr·on dr· ive A: N liB: Boot fi'OM 8:, SUilp A: n B: were never intended to share a machine. It's a to particular drives and setups. Tineout in: V sees gross situation, and only a gross hack such as Most of the problems with ~etup Qetail ! nfo-Uisk ~bout ~e l p Enter· to select System Commander can save the day. It does, System Commander turn out to be System Commander lets you boot into as many as 100 operating and does it as well as it can be done. beyond the software's control. For systems and configurations. By overwriting the master boot record on example, installing Win95 will over· your hard disk, System Commander takes con trol write the MBR block on the hard disk where and frequent backups are a must. But if you've of your machine when you boot up. You then System Commander resides, forcing you to rein· got the need, this is the tool to make it as pai n· decide which operating system installed on your stall the utility. The comprehensive manual goes less as possible. machine you want to boot from, and once you into great depth explaining the idiosyncrasies of - Chris Dunphy make your choice, System Commander shuffles many common OS's and how to work around boot verdict configuration files, hides partitions, and gets out them, but this can be confusing stuff. The manual PRICE: $99 of the way; leaving no trace in memory as your would benefit from being more thorough. COMPANY: V Communications selected OS boots. You can install OS's into Messing around with the partitions and boot PHONE: 408.296.4224 their own partitions, or if the OS's support FAT, blocks on you hard disk is not for the fainthearted, URL: www.v-com.com Advertising Representatives For questions regarding editorial content, 415.468.4684 advertising, subscriptions, back issues, or National Advertising Manager reprints: Angela Mueters ext. 171 territory: West Regional Advertising Manager Chris Coelho 150 North Hill Drive, ext. 170 Brisbane, CA 94005 territory: Midwest 415.468.4869 (subscriptions) 415.468.4684 (editorial) Regional Advertising Manager Juanita Nessinger ext. 152 territory: East (subscriptions and customers service) [email protected] 415.656.2486 (customer service) (editorial) 415.468.4686 (editorial) [email protected] PRODUCT PAGE URL PAGE COMPANY NUMBER COMPANY NUMBER INFO URL NUMBER 3Dfx Interactive 30 371 www.3dfx.com/ Micro soft 12-13 www.microsoft .com/games Am erican Institute Micro soft 26 www .microso ft.com/games for Computer Sciences 109 83 www.aics.com Microso ft www .mi cros oft.com/h ardware CH Products 108 110 www.chproducts.com Micro soft C4 www .microsoft. co m/games 10 111 www.con nectix.com NEC Technologies 16-17 250 www .nec.co m Creative l abs 116 www.creati ve labs. com Nimantics 23 252 www. nimantics .com 35 130 www.ea rthl ink.com SAS/Bazo oka 28 304 www .sasbazoo ka .com Goosebump Graphics 109 153 800.304 .4370 SegaSoft 20 305 www.segasoft .com Graphic Simulations C3 150 www.grap hicsim.com/ Sony Electroni cs 6-7 306 www.sony.com/technology 56-57 152 www. gtinteractive .com Ubi Soft 19 33 2 www .ubiso ft. co m 38 237 www.microforum .com WW Technologies 109 360 800.432.0018 We're committed to serving you ... To provide the best customer service possible, we have listed details of how to reach us below. SUBSCRIPTION INQUIRIES RENTING SUBSCRIBER NAMES If you have a change of address, invoice or renewal questions, or haven't received boot by the first day of the issue month, please contact us: boot occasionally rents our subscriber list to other compan ies that we think offer products of interest to our readers. If you would like your Write: boot name removed from this list, please let us know. Customer Service 150 North Hill Drive Brisbane, CA 94005 TECHNICAL SUPPORT FOR THE bootD/SC Call: (415) 468-4869 We are committed to bringing you the best poss ible disc every month. In E-mail: [email protected] the disc pages, we provide the phone numbers of the companies whose (type "boot'' in the subject line) demos are featured on the bootDisc! Please call these companies to Fax: (415) 656-2486 assist you with technical support. 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All orders must be prepaid and sent to the following (type "boot" in the subject line) address: Fax: (415) 656-2486 boot Customer Service 150 North Hill Drive GIFT SUBSCRIPTIONS Brisbane, CA 94005 To order a gift subscription of Credit card orders: boot for a fellow PC lover, call Call: (415) 468-4869, M-F, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. PST 1-888-41MAGINE. E-mail : [email protected] (type "boot'' in the subject line) Fax: (415) 656-2486 Statement of Ownership Publisher: Matt Firme, 150 North Hill Dr., 226,945 B. Paid and/or requested circulation 1. Post Office Notice: Statement of Ownership, Brisbane, CA 94005; Editor: Brad Dosland, 150 Sales through dealers and carriers, street ven Management and Circulation for periodicals North Hill Dr., Brisbane, CA 94005; Managing dors and counter sa les: 45,150 51,431. 2. Mail class privileges as required by 39 US C3685: 1. Editor: Ingrid Bush, 150 North Hill Dr. , subscription 73,733 76,862 C. Total Paid Title of Publication: boot 2. Publication No. Brisbane, CA 94005 10. Owner: boot Magazine and/or Requested Circu lation 121,624, 128,293 10885439. 3. Date of Filing: 12/4/96 4. Inc., 150 North Hill Dr., Brisbane, CA 94005 D. Total Free Distribution 2,690 1,600 E. Total Frequency of Issue: Monthly 5. No. of issues 11/12. N/A 13. Publication name: boot 14. Issue distribution 124,314 129,893 F. Copies not dis published annually: 12. 6. Annual subscription date for Circulation Data below: October, 1996. tributed 1. Office use, left over, unaccounted, price: $39.90 7. Comp lete mailing address of 15 . Extent and nature of circulation given in spoiled after printing 4,672 1,538 2. returns known office of publication: 150 North Hill Dr., this order, number of average copies each from News Agents 150,104 95,514 Total: Brisbane, CA 94005 8/9. Complete address of issue during preceding 12 months followed by 279,090 226,945 17. I certify that the state· the headquarters of general business offices or actual number of issues published nearest fil ments made by me above are correct and com the publisher, editor, and managing edi•or: ing date, A. Total no. of copies 279,090 plete: Tom Valentino, VP/Operations & CFO. d Tryitout! o~tt1' 0 bootDisc Internet FastFind Internet FastFind's float Don't go online without it ing round window leads Sure it's fast, but Internet Fast document that can be sorted by line and hourly you to the eight excellent tools Find's real forte is its versatility. page or, better yet, by site. While checks, you can rest in the suite. At the core of this suite of Inter· you can set the maximum number assured you are con net utilities is the WebFind program of matches returned and the dura nected. 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IN!dt qlola. s..cta ...... ol Notify button that allows you to you visit a familiar Explorer inter The Internet can be a real jungle ~ set the utility of the same name . face, allowing you to tab frequently and FastFind will help you cut your ..:Jr::= ~ Basically, this handy tool keeps an visited sites and download files by way through the growth faster than ~loi ) : Daw.. a machete...... R...qn... eye on your favorite sites, checking just dragging and dropping them to h:Q : ~ R~ at user-defined intervals, and the your hard drive. NetFileFind allows - Brad Dos/and ~/ : Ocr& ~ TM ) : R~F.._ U1 50 .... Wti:C•••II'"'W~ 111 SO~ icon installed in the taskbar blinks when any of the sites you've marked il lntemet Webflnd boot verdict 1 Fasfflnd are changed. This is great for keeping You can monitor the progress of a up with the latest uploads to a share PRICE: $49.95 PHONE: 800.765.7839 WebFind search in progress. ware/demo site. With a dedicated COMPANY: Symantec URL: www.symantec.com ...,...... _____.._ _,____,_ ~ ...... -___.. -_-,..... -...... ,. -__-__.,_ ____ ...,...._ ...... ,., ...... __ _ _ 4 _ ...... __ ... - 4 ___ ...... Java Cafe -- 4_o1_ s._ "'"'" "' ---- ,.__..... ·.. -...... -,_ ...... -_____ -_, _ .. -_,_ ...... just what the doctor ordered ------_, ___.._ --_ ...... ,_a_.,_.) _ .,_ .._ ..... "' .,_ ...... _...... ·- ·--- .,______...... __,....._ ~ ---...... _.- ...... - ...... So, you're daydreaming of amazingly cool Java java Cafe's - .jooO ...... ---·- ·- ~ - ... - --~- content, but figure it's a hassle to create. An Hierarchy Editor dis evening with Symantec's java Cafe will convince plays a graphi you otherwise. cal view of all the Actually, Java experts will love Cafe as much classes contained in as novices. Almost every feature we've come to the current project, including the java class libraries. The two-way features of expect from high-end project-oriented tools is the Hierarchy Editor let you visually included here, as well as a few you probably modify the hierarchy by dragging haven't seen before. inheritance lines with the mouse. Cafe IDE showing a default AppExpress-generated appUcation Everything you'll need to create whiz-bang loaded in the project view, with the hierarchy and class methods displayed and a custom form under design in Cafe Studio. Java content is included. Get yourself oriented pa inless; no fussing with a separate with the ProjectExpress feature, which takes you browser necessary. By the way, it is just as Our prescription: Make two applets and call from zero to basic apple! in less than a minute. easy to create stand-alone Java applications, us in the morning. Java makes you feel good, Name your project and its location on your hard which Cafe can run with its super-fast Java VM and Symantec's Cafe relieves the headaches of drive, and Cafe creates a starter set of files (Virtual Machine) . Java development. including Java source, a resource file, and a The text editor and debugger are impressively - Neil Redding bare-bones HTML document that embeds your flexible and rich . Especially powerful is the Hier applet. At this point, use Cafe Studio to lay out archy Editor, which makes for quick navigation boot verdict whatever menus, buttons, GIFs and such you and rearrangement of both your own Java class want in your applet; the corresponding Java es and those you import. There's no better way PRICE: $129.95 COMPANY: Symantec to understand what's going on under the hood source is dynamically created and maint(lined as PHONE: 800.441.7234 you edit. When you're ready to run your apple!, than browsing Sun's Java class library, and Cafe URL: www.symantec.com Cafe's built-in Applet Viewer makes it practically makes it extremely easy. 98 • boot FEB 97 RE VIEWS Tryitout! onemo tne edbootDisc :!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CyberGladiators There can be only one CyberG/adiators is, simply put, one compete with Tekken 2 on the PSX player control of the most impressive PC fighting or Virtua Fighter 3 in the arcades, is tight and games ever. it easily grinds FX Fighter into a responsive-the Abandoning 2D sprites, Cyber· pulp, and gives Virtua Fighter PC a only caveat Gladiators' protagonists are light run for its money. being that sourced, texture mapped polygon Motion capture makes CyberG/a you'll need the models, albeit low polygon-count diators' combat hauntingly realistic, fastest Pentium ones. This results in some rather while Direct3D support ensures and a Direct3D- Nothing beats a good kick in the gut to help loosen your square looking fighters. But hey! those armed with a compliant 3D compatible cybernetic bolts. They're supposed to be robots, accelerator will see some serious accelerator to get the most bang for opponent while they're picking up a right? Don't doubt CyberG/adiators' polygon pushing. On a Verite-based your buck (thankfully, you can adjust weapon is ridiculous. graphical prowess-while it may not card, you'll instantly appreciate the detail levels down to suit your sys Sierra's first foray into the fight· power when vastly-improved frame tem if it can't pump the polygons). ing game arena is a bold first step. rates, and bilinear filtering engage. Is CyberG/adiators perfect? No. CyberG/adiators, while not flawless, Motion blurs and radiosity lighting Where's the combo meter? The packs the visual seductiveness and heighten the visual splendor. practice mode? For a 3D game, responsive gameplay to warrant Gameplay, fo r once, hasn't been lateral movement is sorely missed, some serious gamepad spanking. compromised for a pretty picture. and the fact you can't hit an - Andrew Sanchez Timing your hits to create combos may take some practice, but there's a method for chaining attacks boot verdict Get ready to rumble across storm torn together. Auto-chain combos and PRICE: $39.95 PHONE: 800.757.7707 cityscapes in CyberG/adiators. throws are also in full effect, and COMPANY: Sierra On-Line URL: www.sierra.com Pray for Death isn't lacking in Pray for Death the gore department. Going strictly on Instinct "Kids really dig Nintendo's Killer Instinct. Let's talizing settings for your beat make a version for the PC!" The idea probably downs. From the inner sanctum of sounded good a year ago, but today, even Street an Egyptian tomb to the watery realm of Cthulu, chain of hits on top of the current attack. Expect Fighter is jumping from 2D sprites to 3D polygons. Pray for Death hosts some of the largest and to get slapped upside the head with 21-or-more Does the world need another 2D figh ting game? most lively animated 2D sprites (also passed hit combos (except if you know the combo In yet another nameless tournament (this through Lightwave 3D) ever seen in a PC fighting breaker which stops your pesky opponent from time sponsored by Death himself), Pray for game. To shove these megasprites around, you'll whupping your sorry fanny). More traditional Death has you commanding one of 10 souls will need a powerful Pentium to keep the frame rate Street Fighter-sty le individual punches and kicks ing to beat the spirited crap out of one another. up, despite the 320x200 256-color graphics. Visual are also used, but to a lesser degree. Pray for Death is drop dead gorgeous-with sparkle and panache-from semitransparency, Despite some cool fighters and the awesome stunning Lightwave 3D backdrops providing tan- radiosity light sourcing, to some truly cool reflec 3D-rendered graphics, Pray for Death steals one tion-mapping effects (watch the watery floor in too many concepts from Killer Instinct to be Cthulu's stage for example)-make Pray for called anything other than a knockoff. If imitation Death one of the best looking PC slugfests ever. is the highest form of flattery, Nintendo must be Unfortunately, gameplay doesn't come close really flattered. - Andrew Sanchez to matching the sa ucy looks. Unless you Pray for Death on a fast Pentium, expect combat to be sluggish and control to be unresponsive. The boot verdict game's timed chain combo system (stolen from PRICE: $29.99 all together now-Killer Instinct), initiates a multi· COMPANY: Virgin Interactive Ancient other-dimensional god vs. mechanized killing hit combo with a simple command . Entering PHONE: 800.874.4607 machine. Hmmm ... sounds like a fair fight to me. another command during the combo adds another URL: www.vie.com boot FEB 97 • 99 Hard Drives With Room to Grow Into Barracuda 4LP and Tomahawk 9 BARRACUDA TOMAHAWK Formatted capacity (GB) 4.35 9.1 You're in the middle of saving the long-term solution. Bite the bullet Interface Ultra-SCSI Ultra-SCSI single most important file of your and buy a bigger drive. Discs 5 12 life, when the following message The bootlab recently tested two Cylinders 5,288 4,735 flashes across your screen: "You new drives-Seagate's Barracuda 4LP Height (inches) 1 1.625 Width (inches) 4 4 have run out of disk space on drive ST34371W and Micropolis' Toma Depth (inches) 5.47 5.75 C: ." Sure, you could always delete hawk 9 3391WS. Both drives were Weight (pounds) 1.5 2.0 programs to make space, but that compliant with SCSI 3, SMART (Self paltry one gig drive that came with Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Recorded Transfer Rate 1240K/sec lOlOK/sec your PC would just fill up again Technology), and SCAM (SCSI Con Average Seek Time 8 seconds 8 seconds Data Throughput 25.9MB/sec 26.1MB/sec overnight. You need a figured Automatically) protocols, Boot Up Time 57 seconds 58 seconds and both are rated for a one mil- lion hour MTBF (mean time between failures). In fact, the only major differences were We tested the drives in our In terms of raw performance, the the storage capacities and standard 166MHz Pentium machine, Barracuda edged out the Tomahawk, 1 tags-the Barra equipped with 16MB of RAM, a Dia with a data transfer rate of 1240K/sec cuda's 4.3GB cost mond Stealth 3D 3000 XL video card, to 1010K/sec respecti vely. In terms $1,100, while the and the always trusty Adaptec 2940 of data throughput however, the Tomahawk's 9.1GB Ultra Wide SCSI controller card. We Tomahawk nicked the Barracuda, cost $2,900. tested with Ziff-Davis' Disk WinMark, but by only 0.2MB/sec. Both booted and Norton Utilities' Disk Through into Win95 in less than a minute, put (emu lating a multitasking envi and handled streami ng video with ronment) . We also streamed video equal aplomb. using Intel's Smart Video Recorder But basing your purchases and Asymetrix's Digital Video solely on empirical Producer, and clocked boot data is a bad times for Win95 . idea-think The Barracuda posted excellent performance and provides 4GB of roomy storage. I' If you're running DOS or Win95 (OSRl release), your partition sizes will be restricted to a maximum of 2GB each. Only with NT or OSR2, will you be able to assign 100 percent of the drive space to one partition. Systems with an advanced BIOS will allow you to boot with either an IDE or a SCSI. For systems that don't, you'll have to remove your IDE hard drive, and adjust the CMOS parameters before you can boot with the SCSI drive. After you've created the DOS, Logical, and Extended partitions, don't forget to set the active partition. Otherwise, your system won't boot! Don't install two versions of the same operating system on the same While the Tomahawk 9 provides partition, unless you're running nifty tools such as System Commander. If plenty of storage capacity, it won't fit you wa nt to run multiple OS's, use separate partitions. into a standard 3.5-inch drive bay. It's about 0.6 inches too tall. 100 • boot FEB 97 RE VIEWS I! Make sure the manufacturer, or the store you purchased from , has a liberal return policy should anything happen to the drive. • Stick to well-known manufactur· ers - your data is too important to trust to a stranger. Inspect the drive to see how it's made or how well it's been cast. "~ Until a few months ago, 5,400rpm '"'11514 ~ ... drives were the norm. Current drives with a 7,200rpm spindle speed gener· ate a lot of heat, and have just recently proven to be reliable . Drives with a lO,OOOrpm spindle are expected in CD -=.J ~ late 1997. Ever wonder where all that room on your Accept nothing less than a fi ve 1.2GB hard drive disappeared to? With year warranty. Cluster Analyzer, you'll wonder no more. long·term reliability. A drive with the PartitionMagic 3.0 fastest transfer rate known to man is useless if it crashes a couple of months after being installed . Hard drives should You've got the power have a minimum MTBF rate of 250,000 to 300,000 hours (and newer drives are Unleash your disk partitioning prowess with Parti· shortcut to a full DOS session (not a windowed rated for one million hours) -anything tionMagic 3.0, a potent program that deserves a DOS shell) for all the important wand waving. less, and you're looking for heartache. home on your hard drive. The inclusion of IBM's Boot Manager is ques· But even if the MTBF rate falls Disk partitioning has always been an arcane tionable, (we prefer the robustness of System within these guidelines, many manu science left to the venerated of tech no-magi. But, Commander fo r multi-operating system/multi-boot facturers accelerate the testing process, with more and more folks discovering the plea scenarios) , but MicroHelp's Application Mover and statistically interpolate the data sures and perils of multiple OS's and ever-larger comes in handy fo r sp iriting programs and the ir (for example, they may consider one hard drives, the necessity to learn the dark arts related files from one partition to another. hour of testing equal to four hours of becomes inevitable. But, with the limitations of Real-world use proved easy-our new real use) . And since only a small sample DOS's FDISK and FORMAT command, what's an Quantum 3. 2 Tomahawk SCSI drive was parti· of drives are ever tested, the MTBF aspiring acolyte to do? tioned with ease. And with PM3.0's easy-to· rating is less than precise. Having said Enter PartitionMagic 3.0. understand visual cues, you'll be extending those that, both Seagate and Micropolis Building upon the solid found ation of Parti· partitions in no time. Moving free space and consistently produce quality products, tionMagic's on-the-fly resi zing and repartitioning adjusting partition sizes to meet your cluster effi so both drives are re commended. techniques, PM3.0 adds features to an already ciency needs is as simple as sliding graphical - Bryan Del Rizzo impressive package, with the inclusion of bidirec· bars around. You can resize and modify existing tiona! Win95 OSR·2/FAT32 support (convert to partitions, but like everything exciting in life, and from FAT), and NTFS support for NT 4.0. A you'd better ta ke precautionary steps (back your new Cluster Analyzer tells you how efficient your data up) before invoking this spell. data storage on a drive is, and suggests solutions Partitioning is never an easy or comfortable boot verdict to keep data overhang to a minimum (although subject. But, with massive hard drives becoming a part of the landscape and the ever-looming PRODUCT: Barracuda 4LP many times PM3.0 recommends cluster sizes that PRICE: $1 ,100 ($0.25/MB) are just too unreasonable-don't ask us to reparti· danger of cluster overhang, you need power at COMPANY: Seagate Technology tion a 512MB hard drive down to 120MB!). your disposal. If you don't have Partition Magic PHONE: 800.732.4283 All the tools you've grown to rely on are still 3.0 in your arsenal, you don 't deserve the title of URL: www.seagate.com here (resizing, creating, formatting, and moving "power user." partitions), and they're more robust than ever - Andrew Sanchez boot verdict before. Copying or backi ng up key partitions is boot verdict as simple as invoking PartitionCopy. PRODUCT: Tomahawk 9 But, don 't be fooled by the installation pro PRICE: $69 PRICE: $2,900 ($0.32/MB) gram and the general look of PM3.0-it may COMPANY: PowerQuest COMPANY: Micropolis appear to be Win95-based , but behind the smoke PHONE: 801 .226.8977 PHONE: 800.395.3748 URL: www.powerquest.com URL: www.micropolis.com and mirrors it's still a DOS application that will boot FEB 97 • 101 Basketball Madness Breakin' ankles on the hard courts Developers nowadays throw enough technique and technology (not to Video basketball comes in two flavors these days: sma ll squad compe mention money) into slamming every available bell and whistle into bas tition with cartoon physics and full squad season sims. ketball games that even Michael Jordan's getting jealous. Old-school 20 This month we've scouted out four NBA draft picks fo r you to co nside r, sprites have been blocked out for motion-captured, texture-mapped poly plus a couple of bonus babies ripe for signing. It all comes down to wha t gon players dribbling to CO-audio beats. The schoolyard game has grown you like, but just ask yourself one question: Have you got the lo ve? up as quickly on screen as it has on the court. -Jason Boor d Tryitout! re ally separates Hang Time from the pack is the opti on to cre ate your ow n player. Sure, you can 0 always play as you r favo rite NBA star, but now o~tW you can share the joy of jamming on David bootDisc Robinson's aircraft ca rri er fl attop. Des pite all th is ad rena line, Hang Time still NBA Full Court Press has fl aws. For sta rt ers , is it a fash ion statement Draws the foul to make sprites extrem ely pixelated? If it we ren't Two years ago, Full Court Press might for the jersey colo rs, you couldn't tell Penny fro m have been a goo d basketball game. To Pippin. And , when dribbli ng "coast to co as t, " th e day, it simply lacks the heat any self game tri es to move so fast that the an imation respecting basketball ga me must generate. skips, makin g playe rs loo k choppy. But what In the alchemy that is game design, really stinks is the announ cer. Same old phrases Full Court Press sacrifices "in yo ur face" and a lame-ass vo ice. We wa nt pi zza zz, embell arcade action for too ma ny simulation-like Not even 1280xl024 SVGA (albeit 20 sprite-based) can save ishment, unrestrained flagrance. We want guttural qualities. The stat charts are so com pre- NBA Full Court Press from flat gameplay. so unds that catapult us back to our primal roots. hensive that yo u'll feel mo re like Alonzo Des pite a co uple of annoying shortcomings, Mourn ing's accountant than 'Zo himself. And the overall game play of Hang Time outweighs wh ile the up-to-date slats can be edited to fol NBA Hang Time those discre pancies . With NBA Jams getting gray, low the season's transactions , it's a grueling and Breath the air up there Hang Time is a definite go-to player. time-cons umin g process. When it co mes to sheer arcade actio n, NBA Hang Desp ite Full Court Press' incredible 1280x1024 Time wears the ri ng. Following in the sneake rs reso lutio n in 256 colors, th e three-quarter iso of NBA Jams, Hang Time takes dunking and add s boot verdict metric view (ad justab le between a ha lf-court cam the most exagge rated ha ng time imaginabl e. PRICE: $39.95 and a cl ose -up quarter-co urt shot) looks archaic NBA Hang Time is a soli d arcade-to- Pe trans COMPANY: GT Interacti ve by today's stan dards. Th e rend ered players sport lation. It moves rea lly fast, has cool background PHONE: 800.610.4847 th ick black outlin es to se parate them from the mus ic, and most im po rt antly, it has so me of the URL: www.gtinteractive.com backgro und, and th is creates the impression th at most outrageous dunks eve r witnessed. What the teams are made up of stained-glass creatures. Wh en viewed close ly, the motion-captured 2D sprites still get pixelated, even at the highest ' r graph ics reso lution. In addition, th ere's nowhere f.ifr!~t~.PO.~~ ~P . near enough variety to the ir moves-the players Queen of the Court is a state-of basketball fundamentals. It's a all dri bble, shoot, and hunch ove r exactly the the-art "around the world" inter- simple game ... with a stripper. same. It's li ke clo ne ball. active stimulation, l mea n simu You flick the ball in the hole by The on ly fl oatation device that keeps this lation . The idea here is to beat holding the mouse button and ga me from si nki ng is rea l-life anno un cer Kevin th e three honeys of hoop at a slidin g the mouse. lf you win, Calabro. His co nsta nt strea m of witty co mments "friendly" game of horse. Now you see a thumbnail digitized rarely repea t and add authentic basketba ll flavo r. don't be fooled, these so- ca lled fl ick of some half-naked lady. Queen of the Court may not be the basketball sim of the Eve n with its fo ur-p laye r modem opti on, this honeys are Atlantean's "top ball Bigger video would be nice, year, but it does have a few game is just bland. ha ndlers." [Their words, not ours.] but with out it, there's very little redeeming qualities. just rea lize this ga me wa sn't to get excited about. boot verdict developed to fine-tune your - JB PRICE: $44.95 boot verdict COMPANY: Microsoft PHONE: 800.426.9400 PRICE: $29.95 PHONE: 800.822.8339 URL: www. microsoft.com COMPANY: Atl antean Interactive URL: www.atl antean.com 102 • boot FEB 9 7 RE VIEWS NBA Live '97 This game's got game Of all the basketball games available for the PC, NBA Live '97 is the best EA suc cessfully com bines sim-style options and arcade action into one game. This game is, no doubt, the game. Despite reliance on 20 sprites, NBA Hang Time's The action begins with intense arcade action is hard to beat. an intra packed with more real NBA highlights th an any NBA jam Extreme living being has ever wit- Glorious SVGA pies of your favorite NBA stars are tasty snacks to NBA Live Is it the shoes? nessed. After recuperating, '97's main course. Time was that even the heartiest hoops bogged select from four levels of down when it came time for five-on-five play. challenge: rookie, starter, all-star, and superstar . u·~ 1!1 Thus was born the two-on-two format, embell and all the NBA teams, complete with players, ished, of course, with outrageous antics. Well, stats, and logos. This already blows away half of £.1/TI~!F.uclfor t~rel! .. with hoops sims becom ing more complex and the competition. Swiveling camera angles add to Michael Jordan, the best basketball player adding more depth, games such as NBA jam the in-your-face gameplay. The 640x480 SVGA in the world, is matched up against some Extreme and NBA Hang Time are becoming less texture-mapped polygon players run at silky ef the galaxy's toughest "monstars" in appealing. On the other hand, dunking a flaming smooth frame rates. Acclaim's Space Jam. ball from the three-point li ne still provides What more could you possibly ask for? Shiny Slamming the ball home with Yosemite smooth satisfaction. courts? They're there. Sam has never been more fun. Of course, NBA Jam Extreme still has that popular two EA really focused on slats, graphics, and there's never been the opportunity before. on-two slamfest feeL With roster updates, a sub most importantly-gameplay. Even though the Space }am has stats on all the Looney stitution feature, and the addition of the "Extreme" game speed is on the slow side, the overwhelm loons characters, hilarious power ups, and a button, it's hard to say why this game has lost ing amount of options compensate. Not on ly can LAN option. Play head-to-head, two-on-two, its edge. Gone are the sprite-based characters you trade dead wood bench riders and draft the or play for all the marbles in a three-on from the originaL This version's 640x480 DirectX free agents that'll be the difference between a three Monstars vs. loons tournament. enhanced texture-mapped polygon characters are ring or a ride home, but you can also create cus This is a fun basketball game. identical to the arcade quarter muncher. Missing, tom players down to the smallest detaiL But don't expect too much from the though, is the shattering of the backglass. Man, Even if you master the superstar difficulty, 320x200 256-color VGA graphics. The blocky that always felt good. Still, the new Extreme but modem and LAN gameplay make it possible 2D cartoon characters possess just enough ton allows extraord inary dunks. Tap the Extreme to play against the best That would be me ... animation to make the players look like button for ankle breaking crossovers. Overall, the just kidding. they're dribbling and running down court. player animation is fluid and the game moves Nothing competes with NBA Live '97. The If Acclaim had gone the extra mile and exceptionally fast dunks, the three-point fadeaway, the announcer... added more colorful dunks, that might The Jam series could last forever, with the This game simply has it aiL In fact, it should be have compensated. proper embellishments. Unfortunately, with com mandatory that you own this game. This cartoon jam-o-rama coulda been a petition such as NBA Live '97, th is game will contender; instead it just leaves me feeling only be a success in the arcades. kinda flat - }8 boot verdict PRICE: $39.99 COMPANY: Acclaim PHONE: 516.656.5000 URL: www.acclaimnation.com A picture-perfect arcade translation makes NBA jam NBA Live '97's texture-mapped polygons fly up and Extreme a contender. down the court. boot verdict boot verdict PRICE: $49.99 PRICE: $54.95 COMPANY: Acclaim COMPANY: Electronic Arts PHONE: 516.656.5000 PHONE: 800.245.4525 URL: www.acclaimnation.com URL: www.ea.com Daffy Duck dunking? Space jam lets you live out your cartoon fantasy. boot FEB 97 • 103 RE VIEWS Jryemo it out! don tlie· e bootDisc Unlnstaller 4 Playin' it safe Junk, debris, crap, garbage. Call it what you like, but it's there, and trashing the junk with a dedicated utility is the only way to go if you want to clean up fast and safe. Complete uninstallation help for systems running Win95 and NT is available with the latest version of Unlnstaller. Unlnstal/er 4 works equally effectively with apps installed before or after activation of the program. It gives the flick to the usual unneces sary Windows system files: duplicate files, screen savers, fonts, multimedia • \ tflll"' Teac's CD-512E is but one files, help files, etc.; but also performs more complex evictions with ease. of a growing number of 12x CD ROM drives begging for attention. Smartlinks technology creates a database of the apps and file inter relationships on your hard disk and checks your system's DLLs, VBXs, and OLEs to see exactly which are safe to delete. LNKs files can also be located and the outdated ones removed. Report Name: Master Log CD-512E 12x Report Date: 11/18196 3:20PM Total Space Freed: 331 .35 MB Talai Events: 63 Talai Fies Deleted: 9491 How much is that 12x in the window? Teta! Size of Fries Deleted: 331.35 M8 Net Freed by Unlnstaller Largest File Deleted: 11.00 MB 325.42 MB Average Size of Deleted Files: 35.75 KB Buying into the next breed of 12x CD-ROM drives is like getting a Registry Entries Mod~ied: 14 puppy: they all claim excellent pedigrees, they all desperately need a Number of Backups/Archives: 57 new home, and there's more of them popping up every day. On the Size of Backups/Archives: 5.94 MB Net Disk Space Savings: 325.42 MB surface, the CD-512E looks like a strong pup. The CD-512E is Teac's entry into the brutal 12x CD-ROM drive pit Total Disk Space 1.19GB fight-going toe-to-toe with Toshiba (see boot 05), and Mitsumi (see page 84) in a battle for speed supremacy. 1 ...- ~ The CD-512E's specs show some teeth : an EIDE/ATAPI interface (sup • Total Disk Space on System • Space Freed by Unlnstaller 4 porting DMA Model), 1800K/sec sustained data transfer rate, and 160ms access time. Teac packs in real-mode DOS drivers and a DOS audio-CO Graphical representations in the Reports section player for those who think resistance to Win95 isn't futile. As a side include pie charts and graphs that clearly present a summary of Unlnstatler's activity. note, this CD-ROM drive has the fastest caddy-less tray loading mecha nism I've ever seen-it moves like lightning! Version 4's Smartlinks work just as thoroughly as in previous ver Reality, unfortunately, comes back to chomp the Teac CD-512E like a sions, but far more rapidly, taking 20 seconds to scan my system (pretty rabid Rottweiler; starting with a smaller than expected 128K cache, per snappy compared to the two minute wait with the previous version); and formance is disappointing.. . considering its pedigree. The CD-512E's are automatically updated as apps change, so unlike version 3.5, you don't average transfer rate of 954K/sec places it below Toshiba's XM-5702B have to make a point of regularly updating your Smartlinks database. 1030K/sec, while access time actually clocked in at 163ms (slower than Other improvements include a completely overhauled interface that's other 12x CD-ROM drives, which clock in at 125ms). And CPU utilization clear and easy to navigate, and a Group Delete featu re so you can delete, collared a whopping 85 percent! Until motherboard manufacturers and archive, or move all the apps in a folder in one hit, making for speedy Microsoft get their act together with bus mastered DMA EIDE devices uninstallation: a 60MB program takes a quick 20 seconds with Uninstaller and proper implementation and support (see boot 05's sidebar with the 4, compared to a four minute wait when using version 3.5. Toshiba 12x review), your results with any EIDE bus mastered device Improved reporting in version 4 provides thorough descriptions and will vary. Video playback (whether in Win95 or DOS) is smooth and graphical analysis so you can keep precise track of changes made to flawless - no herky-jerky video or choppy audio, whether in Wing Com the Windows Registry, making this uninstaller utility even safer and mander tV's 16-bit cinematics, or Window's AVI test clips. allowing you to get really specific with your clean-up. (And should you Moving beefy files proved easy, with the CD-512E transferring 579MB get carried away with your deletions, the Automatic Backup feature from CD to hard drive in 5 minutes and 39 seconds; while loading time restores files before you have the chance to say "Doh!") for WCIV's first mission clocked in at 8.47 seconds. Not bad ... but we've It isn't as aggro as many other uninstallers, but Unlnstaller 4's cau seen better. tion, intelligence, and thoroughness are preferable to a load of brainless The Teac CD-512E doesn't bite but will have to howl louder if it muscle flexing. wants to get attention and ultimately find a home. - Ingrid Bush - Andrew Sanchez boot verdict boot verdict PRICE: $39.99 PHONE: 800.777.3322 PRICE: $149 PHONE: 213.726.0303 COMPANY: MicroHelp URL: www.microhelp.com COMPANY: Teac URL: www.teac.com 104 • boot FEB 97 RE VIEWS Jryemo it out! don the· SkyNet e bootDisc Limited SkyNet, Bethesda's sequel to Ter Unreal, 3DRealms' Prey, and Lucas· lack polygon count. minator: Future Shock, will blow you Arts' }edi Knight: Dark Forces 2 This may not be bad away with multiplayer carnage, new pushing the envelope even further, for the airborne missions, and sharper graphics (it what does SkyNet offer? Not much. Hunter-Killers and will even update Future Shock if you Despite boasting 640x480 256· earthbound Goliaths, Battle as one of john Conner's Resistance fighters or own it); but behind all this lurks the color graphics, SkyNet's low-resolu but the T·800s look crush humanity with a chrome fist in Bethesda's SkyNet XnGINE, Bethesda's contender to the tion texture maps are almost devoid awful-boxy heads and pointy toes LAN or Internet connections (via 3D polygon engine throne. of colors and succeed in turning make these soulless killing machines Kalil allow you to join the ranks of XnGINE looked impressive six post-apocalyptic Los Angeles into a resemble erector set models (and the human Resistance or enter the months ago. But today, id's Quake drab place (whether on foot, in a the humans look even worse). Horrid hyperalloy combat chassis of a Ter· sets the standard; and with Epic's Jeep, or by air). While frame rate FMV briefings and digital sound minator in a fast and furious frag was acceptable in SVGA, it was far effects that sound as if they were fest (but there's no head-to-head via from smooth. Too bad Bethesda lifted straight from Doom don't help modem or serial cable). decided not to support any 3D accel matters either. SkyNet is a game that tries to eration with XnGINE games. Another The final straw is when you get shoehorn multiplayer aspects into solution would have been to offer stuck inside a stationary object and an existing engine, but winds up more resolution options (360x240 the only way to escape is to reload/ forgetting about gameplay. or 400x300). The sight of your 2D restart the level. - Andrew Sanchez weapon in the foreground looks dated in XnGINE's 3D world, as do the many pixelated sprite-based boot verdict Phased-plasma rifles will teach those objects strewn about the landscape. PRICE: $39.99 PHONE: 800.677.0700 machines the error of their ways. The antagonists in SkyNet still COMPANY: Bethesda Softworks URL: www.bethsoft.com e compatibility, don't be -the card is hardware ADPCM Sound Blaster-compatible too. The card features binaural stereo enhancement (the poor 12x Multimedia l boot FEB 97 • 105 Try it out! emo on the Castle Infinity bootDisc Infinite online fun for the younger set Within the safe confines of Castle Infinity kids including the Hall of Science, Chaos can engage in rousing multiplayer gaming online Corridor, and Art U-See'Um. These are via their existing ISP account. side-scrolling environments-47 in all While exploring the Castle, you can chat with other players by As many as 1,000 kids can play simultane inhabited by evil monsters (including an typing comments in these word balloons. ously, so emphasis is placed on teamwork and obnoxious, snot-nosed brat named Irvin cooperative play; a refreshing change of pace LePoe). Kids will need to collect a series of also features a language filter, so if someone from violent head-to-head action. The Minisub, monster repellents, ranging from air freshener to tries to utter a profanity either in real-time con for example, won't function unless four kids atomic Limburger cheese, to get rid of them. versation or in a postcard, the offending word(s) team up to operate its propellers. Castle Infinity looks and sounds great. The are replaced with the word "flower." The game is set in two locations: the child's backgrounds and game scenes were produced · With its emphasis on cooperative play and room and the castle. While in their room, kids can using 3D Studio and Photoshop, and all the communication, Castle Infinity gives children a read and write, send and receive postcards from animated cut scenes were drawn, inked, and great opportunity to play on the Internet. Just other children registered in the Castle, and also painted by hand . The voice-over tracks were make sure your ISP doesn't charge by the hour. check their progress in the game. produced by the San Francisco a cappella - Bryan Del Rizzo The adventure portion of group The Bobs. Castle Infinity takes place in Unlike allowing kids to surf the boot verdict seven distinctive halls, web unattended, Castle Infinity is a supervised playground. Starwave PRICE: $39.95 unlimited version Since real kid DNA can't exist employees patrol each hall, moni- ($9.95 four-hour limited version) in the Castle, you'll have to plus ISP charges select a new torso, head, and "'-~!!~~!!!!!!!I to ring progress and conversations, COMPANY: Starwave legs using a contraption called and a Security Alert feature allows PHONE: 206.957.2000 the You-Matic Transmogrifier. kids to flag any wrongdoing. The game URL: www.starwave.com Virgil Reality Tryitout! emo don ttie Sounds of science bootDisc Virgil Reality is a thoroughly engag library in a madcap format that will Reality (voiced convinc· ing trip through the world of sci appeal to kids and parents alike. ingly by Charles Fleischer) ence, combining an interactive labo You're guided through this ani who explains, educates, ratory and an encyclopedic science mated universe by Professor Virgil and encourages scientific experimentation. Along the way, view historic film In Virgil Reality you can explore lots of cool inven footage from the National tions including the world's first submarine. Archives and NASA, or check out Virgil Reality's animation and wacky inventions such as the Police production values are top notch, Hooking Car and Alarm-0-Bed. Browse (including the catchy "Biology Song" biographies of famous inventors, such co-written by Fleischer and Scott as Enrico Fermi (the Manhattan Pro Paige, the former saxophonist for ject) and Ada Lovelace (the world's Pink Floyd ). first computer programmer); perform If life were a science fair, Virgil simple experiments to discover basic Reality would win the blue ribbon scientific principles; or view slides for sure. on an electron microscope. - Bryan Del Rizzo boot verdict PRICE: $39.95 PHONE: 800.884.8863, ext. 77 COMPANY: 7th Level URL: www.?thlevel.com That's not Santa Claus! It's Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone. 106 • boot FEB 97 Hot Swapping Windows 95, NT, orientation, and are appropriate for all Adaptec's new AHA-8940 PCI-to-1394 and OS/2 Warp ages, ranging from pubescent teens Host Adapter takes compatible. The to men and women going through new IEEE-13~serial cmnrr1urnca.nons device is equipped menopause. The disc is priced at standatd-commonly lmown.a.s-f'i-re,.---ao• with dual slots to only $29.98. F"ir? for ~peeCl transfer rates ac.cQ!!'modate two Mentorom Multimedia: 800. 214.3668; / and hot-swapping peripherals. With Type f/II-cards, or www.mentorom.com one Type If !I card /datatransfer rates of up to 200MB/sec, lmmunoblology 101 the AHA-8940 guarantees data transfer and one Type III card. Immunobiology Bookshelf is a compre ,.---""-- ....,..""---..!..--- through the use of isochro Simple Technology: 714.476.1180; nous transport of multiple www.simpletech.com hensive electronic database containing time-critical data streams. numerous reference resources in the stndy of immunology. The $59.95 disc The card is designed to GotchaJ connect up to 63 devices From A!Tech comes A!Gotcha!, an contains the complete text and illustra via easy-to-use cables and affordable, external hardware solution tiens of two connectors for true Plug-and-Play. for digi~ artists, graphic designers, and PRODtJCJ Windows NT 3.51 and 4.0 are currently home PC enthusiasts. With a click of a supported, witll support for Win95 on ~ utton, A!Gotcha! grabs inlages from A~NOlJNCEMENTS: the way. Developer kits are available any video source and stores them in now for $59 ~ retail stand-alone and any standard recent ~eviews Jll EYITELL US, WE OEM units are expected to ship in early format A!Got- and case stnd ..Jl?> 96, but pricing has not yet been cha! also in- ies; 10,000 references from MED LINE ldetermined. eludes ARENA ,abstracts; and Kinemages, interactive_ IT 3D graphics of the major inlmunologi- ''SSALON ~ Adaptec: 800.442.7274; design and T www.adaptec.com PhotoMorp~2 cal molecules. \ $lack 'em, Danno L-.....:l~---_j software, en- The CD-ROM also features hyper ut a MediaStak Multimedia HIOO Collect T\ abling users to model and render 3D text links between the three main pub Management System in your office Lost on the information ruperhighway? objects, as well as aninlate. and morph lications, and the ability to select and and you won't use your CDs as coast Browse the Internet & Web\Yellow captured inlages. A!Gotclla! supports manipulate illustrations and captions to ers anymore. MediaStak features ~;..••1111~ Pages. This book high resolutions up .to 1600xl200 and spruce up your presentations or reports. removable insert trays for about $18 helps you {ind the both composite and S-video. The pack- Garland Books: 800.627.6273; that accommodate up to eight types best and m'bst age retails fo $199. www.garlandpub.com of computer media including CD interesting s1 es A!Tech: 800.882.8184; ROMS, diskettes, data cartridges, on the web. www.aitech.com A Spelunking We Will Go 0 \ \ and videotapes. Modular units rang Thousan~s HAI'D for the Ham Fisted Cavewars is a game of exploration, ing in price from $109 to $179 stack new and rersed :.:-"'\ . sites are included. ~..... If yo\''re tired of those teeny keys on exploitation, and empire building set together vertically and horizontally, Editor Harfey Hahl yourJnotebook computer, check out the in the underground fantasy world of and can easily be transported using Ibido. Any combination of up to five I warm and humorous descrip- NoteBoard. This full-s1zed key~oard an optional trolley base. Each drawer tions of the electronic directory, alang_ stands drrectly over a notebook s key- human and five computer controlled features an anti-tip device and stop players can play, taking on the charac I mechanism to prevent drawers and with his personal treasury of interesting board, to dehver facts, jokes, Internet discoveries, and all the function- teristics of eight distinctive races. The data from fa lling out game consists of five original levels, Abbot Office System: 800.631.2233 souvenirs. The price of$29.95 includef} alltydofa full. a hot-li nked version on CD-ROM SIZe keyboard but users can create their own on the Wall Osborne News: 510.549.6600; . without the riling www.osbome.com cluttered work- entire universe What? That 21-inch monitor isn't big space caused by of random under I ~nough for you? Consider the $3,595 Front Row and Center a docking station or a conventional ground worlds ~agniView498, an LCD projector Throw away the cheap speakers that external keyboard. Cavewars also with state-of-the-art 800x600 SVGA came bundled with your system! Hook The Note Board features full-sized features 48 I;llagic resolution. up Cambridge SoundWorks' Movie keys, a built-in wrist rest, dedicated spells, thre ~ types Lightweight and Works, a power numeric pad, and four adjustable feet of technologies/ portable, the ful new home that allow users to position the key four types of magic, and weafons J!ang- MagniView 498 theater speaker board at six height levels. The Note ing from swords and flintlock mu~ kets , weighs only 6.5 system for use Board also features LaunchBoard soft to assault rifles and flex a¥J1.or. )h vest pounds and fea with Dolby Pro ware to link function keys to web sites in research, and you can even build tures a~ree-~ att stereo speaker sys Logic and AC3 and applications. The Standard version cannons, ;pcmored ca~S' and ,self-pro tem, acti e-matrix screen, and built-in surround-sound retails for $79.95; the Plus version pelled artillery. Cavewars is available support fo TSCs PAL, and SECAM systems. Movie includes a mouse and retails for now for $69.95. video. The you mag re~ote~ boot FEB 97 + DO marl AllULT Ct>-ROMs! OVE.R 600 TITLE.S IN srocK! \IIILL SE./Ir ANY ?RICE.! FREE SH IPPING. AIRMAIL. WORLDWIDE! VISA. MASTERCARD. AMEX. D ISCOVER. C HECK. CO D (800)"}04-47"}0 24 «R &/7 ~ ~YS (216)254-2609 IN TERN ~ T I ON ~ l (216)254-1206 Hx G OOSE BUII\P G RAPHI CS. B OK 516i' , 11\ENTOR.OH 44061 (11\USTBEOVERztl AcTRE SS ES UNCOVERH ...... ~")9 HOMl Boys I , a (GERMAN GAY)\")9 AMAHUR NUHS ...... $")9 INCOGNITO (GERMAN BoNHGl) ")9 ASIAN NUHS ...... ~")9 JA?ANlst ?tAUS I OR a .. ... ")9 BARHY 18 ...... $")9 MAkl YoUR OWN ORGY (GA!o\t) ")9 BtU I , a . ") OR i'RIMl (GAY) .. $")9 MANPOWER (GAY) ...... ~")9 BoRI S VAlllJO FANTASY ART . $")9 NIX ?IX 1\oT ?IX l,a, "),4 OR S$")9 CHERRY ?o?HRS I OR a ...... ~")9 NUUl CE.UBS ...... ~")9 CLIP ART E.ROTICA ...... ~")9 i'E.NTHOUSll, a , "), 4 , S OR 6.$59 CUM SHOT S ...... $")9 RARE. PICS a (WAHR SPORTS) .. $")9 Ill< ?IE.T SCHE (GERMAN Hll) . \")9 Rons ~CHAINS CBoNHGE.) . . $")9 E.ROTIC RHHR (STORIE.S) ... ")9 SlALH WITH A ki SS I OR a ... $")9 FOR \j/OMlN ONLY...... ")9 SHACkU~ CUHS ~TOUGH STUFF~")9 FoRBIUHN SUBJlCTS ...... $")9 STARS~ MOUHS1 (GIFs) .. . .. $")9 GAY Wouu I , a OR") ...... $")9 SYLT-MAUCHEN I OR a (NUHS)~")9 GIRLFRitNU TRACI , OR TERI .. .. ~49 THAI BoNUAGt ...... $")9 1\ACkER CHRONICUS a ...... $")9 TI FF ANY (AMAHUR NUHS) .. . $")9 1\ARU CoRt a ...... $")9 TRANZ (CHICkS WITH U.. kS) . . $")9 1\ARU CORE. Glfs ...... $")9 VILLAGt COLUCTION Ca Clls) $49 Product Information Number 153 Welcome to the AICS Virtual Campus • Earn B.S. and M.S. in Computer Science • DISTANCE EDUCATION - ...... • Approved by more AMERICAN INSTITUTE than 250 companies COMPUTER • Follows ACM/IEEE SCIENCES guidelines ACCREDirn> • Thousands of students MEMBER Free catalogue 1·800·767-AICS ~ WorldA~ation throughout U.S. ofUnivenities or http://www.aics.edu and Colleges Product Information Number 83 Product Information Number 360 RE VIEWS boot isn't like any other computer magazine, and neither is our product evaluation process. We don't test equipment in the cold, sterile environment of a warehouse-sized lab, and we don 't write our reviews based on the The test scores that lab For ou r tests, we use Ziff depth (they're also tested at In our real-world tests, bootVerdict Davis' WinBench 96 suite higher resolutions, if higher we measure how long it Th e fastest computer in coat-wearing technicians of benchmarks to measure resolutions are supported). takes a system to perform the world is useless if it's scribble on clipboards. CD-ROM and hard-disk drive We judge DOS video per specific tasks: rendering a poorly designed. That's performance (kilobytes per forma nce by measuring the video transition in Adobe's why we evaluate a host of subjective criteria in addition Our review scores second), as well as graphics number of frames per second Premiere, applying a to rigid benchmarks. We are based on a combi speed under Windows (mil that a system is capable of Gaussian-blur in Photoshop, look at a mach ine's overall nation of objective lions of pixels per second) . pumping out while playing and rendering a wireframe design, its ergonomics, AU systems are tested at games such as Descent II scene in NewTek's Light expandability, ruggedness, benchmark testing, 1024x768 resolution with 16- (at 640x400 resolution) and Wave 3D. and advanced feat ures . bit color depth. AU note Quake (at 640x480 resolu The performance is We also ca refully consider real-world performance, books are tested at 800x600 tion on desktop systems; gauged on a scale of 1 to 9 a man ufacturer's component and our subjective resolution wi th 16-bit color 320x480 res on notebooks). in each of these areas; we choices, including the quality then average the scores, and of the sound card, speakers, modem, keyboard, and evaluation of features, arrive at an overall perfor mouse. We count expansion performance, and mance rating. The details of slots and dri ve bays. We the many less tangible each test (s pecific frame take off the ca se and put it counts and such) are always back on . We plug in drives characteristics that available on the bootNet Web and cards to judge how site at www.bootnet.com. easy-or difficult-it is to go into a product. All Our performance scales expand the mach ine. These of our evaluations are are based on systems that might seem like minor co n we co nsider to be among siderations, but they have an enormous impact on the based on hands-on the best in their class, and Our Reference Our Reference leve l of satisfaction a new we change those reference use of the product. Notebook PC computer delivers. Ou r final [)e~~~~P . PC: ... . standards every six months. rating is an amalgamation Gateway's P5-166XL is our We selected Fujitsu's If the system reviewed of th e objective benchmark Only the best reference desktop com Monte Carlo as our refe r equals or exceeds the per ratings and these subjective earn enough puter because it's a work ence notebook because formance of the reference judgements. horse, delivering solid respect to be of its excellent benchmark platform (a score of fi ve or 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 VRA M, instead of the dial is gree n; if it sco res a choice award . cially 200MHz Pentium slower DRAM, resulted fo ur, 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. 110 • boot FEB 97 !~,~ ,,.~!!!~~~~! sage who brought you the Shetland L'ii '-Chip®. " •H EAD Avisionary new book filled with ... " FEARLESS Predictions ... T he traditional hard di sk will soon be harder to find than a Turbo Regal that ain't got a ding on its fanny. The future of data storage, see, is in fish eggs-dynamically distributed, readable, writeable fish eggs. The key lies in selective breeding. KellmoreCo fi sh eggs will be geneticllllY predetermined to stack themselves in neat little strings of ones and zeros. All it takes is a little electrochemical zippy-zap, and Charley the Tuna is working for you, boss. Of course, my men in R&D say the idea won 't fly, but I've got a diagram on a cocktail napkin that says they 're wrong." " Fond MEMORIES ... It was 1989. I had just finished the second day of Comdex, and me, a guy from Electronic Data Systems, and a couple of off-duty policemen were getting rowdy at the BOLD Visions... Satin Saddle, shooting liar's dice, and watching the hoochie- "T o celebrate our great nation's unconquerable can-do coochie show. In walks this skinny fella to use the pay spirit, KellmoreCo has ponied up the jingle to launch the phone. He's still got his convention pass around his neck. I most ambitious archiving project of all time: The Library of ask him what company he's with, but he just ignores me. So Congress Hyperlink-o-Rama. Every document in the Library I ask him again. No answer. And I ask him again. Still no of Congress will be scanned with OCR software, saved as answer. By this time, Perot's falling out of his chair laugh- ASCII text, and entered into a central database. Every single ing, and the two smokies are egging me. So I get up, drag word in the database will then be hyperlinked to every other the guy into the john, and start working him over. Pretty single word in the database, and, just like that, boom, you've soon the EDS fella and the cops are getting their licks in too, got the most powerful record of human thought ever imag- and when the guy passes out, we dress him up in ..\ ined. I reckon this will require about 600 terabytes of hard one of the stripper's cowgirl costumes, smear ~\ ••, disk space, or about 50 to 60 pounds of mutant fish eggs. Of lipstick all over his face, and leave him in the "~\'l~~Jt\~ course, the boys on the fifth floor say I'm off my rocker, but lobby at Caesar's. Between that and all the 6•' &\ ~~9 I...... say the American people are capable of anything." hookers, that was my favorite Comdex ever." '~ 7' ~ THE MAN THE EMPIRE Jack Kellmore: industrialist, billionaire, patriot. KellmoreCo International owns and operates a number of thriv A gurgling infant in swaddling clothes, John Joseph "Small Block" ing research centers across the planet. In addition to the origi Kellmore was discovered in 1952 in the returns lot of Bucky Peete's nal triumvirate of facilities in Feedbag, Nebraska, Scab City, Parts 'n' Sparks of Pissant, Nebraska. For the next 22 years, the Missouri, and Sump Pump, Ohio, the KellmoreCo dream extends to Bangkok, star-blessed maverick lived at the Pissant Technical Institute For Beijing, Buenos Aries, Jakarta, Mexico City, Vladivostok, and , most recently, Boys, where he studied theology, plastics, and automotive sciences Bhopal , India. The privately owned corporation currently employs some 58 under Father Joseph "Big Block" O'Gallagher. In 1976, Kellmore senior engineers who oversee a work force of more than 62,000 spirited day shifted his attention from muscle cars to muscle computers, and celebrated the nation 's laborers. In addition to manufacturing microchips, conducting pure research bicentennial by graduating magna cum laude from the Control Data Institute in Grain Silo, experiments, and financing American political campaigns, KellmoreCo Inter Kansas. In 1977, he returned to Nebraska to open Kellmore Co 's flagship research center in national owns 80 percent of the world's PVC tubing market, and makes the downtown Feedbag. perfume ads that appear in all those high-class magazines. boot FEB 97 • 111