Background music is Copyright © 1996, 1997 by Michael D. Walthius. All Rights Reserved. Review by Scott Nicholson he first thing I noticed when I opened the Better Homes and Gardens Kitchen and Bath software from Books That Work (now Sierra) was the emptiness of the package. The box held nothing but a CD-ROM, a Quick Start Card, a registration Card, and a License Agreement. The box also contained a card for a trial subscription to PC Novice Magazine. Since the Quick Start Card was the only thing that resembled documentation of any kind, that was where I first turned my attention. The card contained instructions on "How to Install", but the instructions assumed that the Windows 95 "Autostart" feature for CD-ROMs was enabled and working properly. No help is given to those who have turned off this feature, or who have an older CD-ROM that does not support it. It is likely that anyone in such a situation would have enough experience with installing software that they would know to run the "Setup.exe" program on the CD-ROM, but I feel the Quick Start Card should have contained such instructions. or those with a working "Autostart" feature, installation is a breeze. The setup program offers a choice of a "complete install", which consumes approximately 11 MB of hard disk space, or a "minimal install", which leaves most of the program files on the CD-ROM. The user may choose the directory to install the program to, or accept the default directory. When the installation is complete, the user has the option of registering online or completing the included mail-in Registration Card. The first time I ran the program, I immediately ran into a problem. The setup program had incorrectly created the shortcuts in the Start menu, and the program simply would not run. After some tinkering in the shortcut file, I discovered the cause of the problem. At setup time, I chose to install into a directory called "Kitchen and Bath" on my D: drive. The spaces in the directory name had caused the shortcuts to be created incorrectly. I was able to fix the shortcuts by including quotation marks around the program path and filename. Installing to the default directory or to a directory with no spaces in the name would also have corrected the problem. The next problem I ran into occurred when I tried to run the program without the CD-ROM in the drive. Instead of informing me that the CD-ROM was required to run the program and giving me a chance to insert the disc and continue, the program popped up a rather cryptic "Can't find a needed file ("gPaletteFilename"). Have you run the installer?" message. Considering the fact that I was never told the CD had to be in the drive to run the program, I felt that this behavior was an example of extremely poor programming. ith the CD-ROM in the drive and the shortcuts fixed, I was finally able to run the program, and things started getting better. I was presented with an attractive interface, and a friendly voice welcomed me to the software, and recommended I follow a "Guided Tour" since this was my first time running the software. The Guided Tour consisted of a brief audio explanation of each function of the "Kitchen Design Wizard" and a video demonstration of certain steps. The Guided Tour was paralleled by a brief set of instructions in the Quick Start Card. The Guided Tour will only run automatically the first time you run the Kitchen and Bath software, but you can run it again at a later time by pressing the "Guide Me" button available on each screen in the Design Wizards. Guidance is also available in many other areas of the program via a "Guide Me" button.

The Design Wizard he first step in the Design Wizard is to choose which of five basic room shapes best matches the shape of your own kitchen. This choice is merely a starting point, and the rooms can be resized, and their shapes changed, later in the wizard. The next step is to choose rooms that adjoin the kitchen or bathroom. A list of is given, and you are allowed to choose up to two unlisted rooms, which you can type your own names for. The Kitchen Design Wizard includes a Breakfast Nook, Pantry, Dining Room, Living Room, Closet, Laundry, and Hall in its list of adjoining rooms, and the Bath Design Wizard includes a Bedroom, Closet, Linen Closet, Walk-in Closet, and Hall. In step 3 you arrange the rooms in relation to each other, and size them to the proper dimensions. While running the Guided Tour, a short narrated video demonstrates this process. Measurements are given for each room when you select it, and rooms "snap" to one another as you are moving them around, making it a simple matter to align them perfectly and precisely. A click of the mouse on a button in the middle of each room will rotate the room 90 degrees, and resizing the rooms is as easy as resizing a program window in Windows. Also, at this stage, you have the option to add a room, delete a room, or change the shape of any of the rooms. When you have the rooms situated in relation to each other, it is time to add the doors for step 4. Several doors are lined up at the top of the program window. You simply drag the door that best matches your design and place it where you want it. The door will automatically rotate depending on whether you drop it on a vertical or horizontal wall. Doors cannot be resized at this stage, but can be at a later stage in the design process. Here you are given the option to return to the previous step, if you decide that you need to fine-tune the layout of your rooms. The next step is to add windows to your plan. Again, several choices of window styles are given, which you drag and drop on the desired location.The last step in the Design Wizard is to add appliances or bathroom fixtures. You are given several appliances (dishwasher, freezer, wall oven, cooktop, sink, refrigerator, and stove) or fixtures (pedestal sink, tub, shower, bidet, toilet, and sink) to choose from. The wizard automatically places a refrigerator, a stove (or range), and a sink in your design if you are designing a kitchen, or a toilet and sink if you are designing a bathroom. These can be moved into the desired location or deleted to make way for other appliances or fixtures (if, for example, you wanted to delete the stove and replace it with a cooktop and wall oven, or replace the sink with a pedestal sink). Additional appliances and fixtures can be dragged from the palette at the top of the window and dropped into place. When you have completed each of the steps in the Design Wizard, you click the "Build Now" button to build a 3-D model of your room. At this point you are given a warning which, in essence, explains that modifications to the shape and size of each room are more easily done in the Design Wizard. You are given the option to remain in the design wizard to make further changes or continue on to the Designer. You are also given the option to save your design at this point. more All pages copyright © Roger A. Moncrief, Indepth Reviews, 1997 Thanks to Judy Gefter, !LuM! and Charles Blaquiere for their advice and counsel, some I heeded and some I didn't.