Background music is Copyright © 1996, 1997 by Michael D. Walthius. All Rights Reserved.
efore
I begin I feel obligated to tell you who I am and what I do since
that is most likely relevant. I retired after 29 years of service
with the USN in 1991. Since then I have taught undergraduate and
graduate courses in aeronautical science for Embry-Riddle
Aeronautical University. For the past few years I have been taking
care of most of the computer needs for several non-profit agencies in
my home town. As an unpaid volunteer I develop databases, install
software, check out donated computers, conduct training, solicit
bids, etc. I have also been involved either directly or indirectly in
the development and publication of 4 different newsletters by these
nonprofit agencies. I have evaluated graphics and multimedia software
for our PC User's Group and for a West Coast newsletter. I have a
Masters Degree in Aeronautical Science and I am a member of Mensa. I
state this information about myself so anyone who reads this will
realize that I do not produce artwork for magazine ads, billboards,
posters, etc. and I am not employed by any software company although
I am a beta tester for 3 companies. When I first started working with
computers 8 or 9 years ago, I subscribed to every computer magazine
on the market. In fact I still do. I eagerly read the software
reviews and frequently purchased what they recommended. In the first
year I wasted over $1000 for software that didn't work as
represented. I particularly remember one disk utility that could low
level format your hard drive without loosing any data. I purchased it
only to discover it was useless for SCSI hard drives. I vividly
recall rereading every review in several magazines thinking that I
had missed something. Nowhere in any of the 5 or 6 reviews did it
mention the software did nothing for SCSI hard drives. Of course I
couldn't get my money back since I had already opened the package and
installed the software. I have been very leery of reviews ever since
and prefer to do my own reviews where possible.
fter
I began these reviews in March 1996 I have received quite a bit of
e-mail asking various questions. One common question is: "Do you
recommend this software"? How can I recommend or not recommend
software when I don't know what the user needs? If I were an
automotive consultant should I recommend a small car to someone who
may have a large family? Should I recommend a station wagon to a
wealthy young bachelor/bachelorette? The reader should analyze their
individual needs, read the review then make their own determination.
I will be glad to provide free advice if I have all the facts.
Another question that comes up is: "What is your review
criteria"? I don't follow any specific written guidelines when I
review software. What I do is install the software then see if the
documentation will educate me sufficiently to do what the software
represents itself capable of doing. Actually the software practically
reviews itself based on the documentation provided. Documentation is
critical. The most powerful graphics application in the world is
useless without documentation that describes all of its capabilities.
In other words I try to use the software as the consumer would. Once
in a while this question comes up: "Why do some of the images
overlap"? None of the images should overlap if your monitor is
set for a resolution of 800 X 600 or higher and the font settings are
Times New Roman 12 points in the options/general preferences/fonts
area. Most of the software I review is graphics/animation/3D type
software and you really need at least this resolution to work in it.
Netscape seems to work best. Some people have experienced problems
with MSIE 3. Apparently that browser has difficulty with tables.
Other font settings will cause image overlap. The pages are very
graphics intensive and thus take a while to load. Two to three
minutes per page is not unusual.
recently had several email correspondences with a person who had
purchased one of the 3D animation applications that I had reviewed.
He was very upset that his computer constantly locked up everytime he
tried to do any work with that application. He asked if I had ever
experienced any lockups. I told him that I had experienced an
occasional crash with that software but in my experience most of
these 3D animation/modeling applications will lock up once in a
while. His response to this bit of news bordered on outrage. He sent
me a diatribe about how no one should ever review software unless
they used it a lot, etc. I told him that a frequent user of any
software package would likely be a worst possible choice for review
since people become very attached to stuff they use a lot and are
unlikely to level much criticism towards it. I further informed him
that I was certain that the software in question had been around for
quite a while and since I hadn't seen anything negative like he was
describing then the problem must lie somewhere on his computer. I
urged him to check the manufacturer's web page for information and if
necessary call tech support. Fortunately he did this and discovered a
conflict with the software and the printer driver he was using. Once
he changed his printer driver to a newer version the problem went
away and never came back. Another issue that is of some concern to
software companies is the copyright of their printed material. A
popular misconception among software manufacturers is that no part of
their documentation may be reproduced in anyway whatsoever. This is
incorrect. What I do as a review is a critique/criticism of the
documentation. This is considered fair use under copyright law.
Furthermore I have no commercial business or income in any way from
this website which is another consideration under fair use. Check the
fair use section of the Copyright
Website for more information. If you believe you would like to
write an in depth review let me know. If you are a software publisher
and have a graphics, multimedia, animation or authoring package you
would like reviewed, let me know. I will probably be interested.
Roger A. Moncrief e-mail
All pages copyright© Roger A. Moncrief, Indepth Reviews, 1996, 1997, 1998
Thanks to Judy Gefter, !LuM! and Charles Blaquiere for their advice and counsel, some I heeded and some I didn't.