A GOOD PROGRAM BY DESIGN?
A Review of Microsoft Publisher 97
by Rich Cunningham
One of the benefits of home computers is being able to doing creative and
artistic things that originally required a great deal of talent, or knowing
someone who had a great deal of the same type of talent. When growing up, I
was envious of other people who could take pencil and paper and make a
masterpiece. To me, a stick man was a work of art.
When computers were first introduced for home use, software publishers rushed to create programs that would let them be used at home. Personal productivity products became very popular. Among the first was a program called Print Shop, a printing program that allowed one to create cards and flyers at home. Word processing programs became popular, so that a home user could now type letters without strike-overs. I used one called AtariWriter, and it was very nice. But as the technology of computers developed, so did the complexity of the programs, and so did the tasks that these programs could accomplish.
One of Microsoft's home productivity products that has proved popular is
Publisher. I first used Publisher 2.0 in 1993. I switched to Publisher 95
last year, and only a month ago I purchased the latest incarnation,
Publisher 97. (Before I'm accused of having a pro-Microsoft bias, I want to
point out that I was a long time user of Pagestream and Calamus on the Atari
ST platforms. Both are excellent products, and are being ported over to the
PC platform.) The latest version of this program is a marked improvement
over it's predecessor, and has enough features that set it aside from it's
competitors that it is worth taking a look at.
For the record, Microsoft Publisher 97 is a desktop publishing program that allows schools, charities, homes and clubs to create effective and professional publications. Some of these publications include brochures, postcards, labels, business cards, banners, and much, much more. But the most attractive feature in this new version is the ability to create web sites while keeping the intricacies of HTML programming hidden. This feature alone makes this program worth the $79.99 suggested selling price.
Using Publisher 97 is very easy, since it incorporates a Task Wizard to
perform the majority of the design functions. When the program is first
started, this menu comes up and allows the user to either choose a new
design, or open an existing publication. For example, to create a flyer, the
user is stepped through a series of questions about how it will look. Page
orientation, page style (classic, jazzy, modern, etc.), font style, clip
art/pictures, etc. are added to create the basic document. After it is
created, the user is then given the option of fine-tuning the design by
incorporating text, changing or adding clip art/photos, and other
embellishments that can add to the design. There is also an option to
prepare this document's data and save it so it can be taken to an outside
professional print shop. Of course, there is also an option to create a
document from scratch, using the full range of tools that are provided
within the program, including Word Art. Word Art is the feature that allows
text to flow smoothly around or within objects. Creating a Web page is just
as easy, much easier than any other program that I have found anywhere. You
simply follow the wizard instructions, and Publisher does the rest.
Among the other new and improved features are:
Clip Gallery Live: a free image clip resource available over the internet from Microsoft's Publisher Web site. It provides a constant supply of clip art, as well as audio and video bits,
Mail Merge: which allows users to create address lists from within Publisher, or import the same from MS Word, MS Works, MS FoxPro, and other programs,
Font Preview menu: allows the preview of a font before applying it to a document. This is available as pull-down menu.
Word Story Editor: allows users to export Publisher text to MS Word for editing, as well as importing from Word, Works and WordPerfect. It is also possible to import graphs and charts from MS Excel as well.
When Publisher was first created, it was envisioned as a product that would
allow home users to have the same tools as businesses, and do the same
tasks. But this product has grown beyond that, in my opinion. While it is
still an excellent product for the home user, it now has the ability to
deliver quality products for many business applications. This program will
never replace Corel Draw, or Adobe Printshop, but then it isn't trying to.
It is a program that is aimed at a certain market, and it hits that target
in the dead center. It gives a very solid return on one's investment, and
that is really the true measure of a program.
There are a couple of minor snags, but only minor. For example, on the box it states that the program needs 6mb of ram to run, 8mb for Windows 95, or 12mb for Windows NT. But the program will only run on 95 or NT. A small oversight? Also the box lists 9.5mb hard disk space for minimum installation, and 116 for typical. But the installation process only gives a Complete (190mb) or Custom (up to 96mb) set up to choose from. There are no instructions on what constitutes a minimum install, or what components can be left off to save space. Given the size of this program, more attention should have been paid to this detail.
On the positive side, the manual included with this package is excellent,
which is rapidly becoming a rarity with Microsoft, especially with the CD
products. It is also available on 3.5 inch disks and CD ROM. This is a nice
feature, especially for users that are upgrading and don't have CD yet. As
near as I can tell, the only difference between the is the amount of clip
art included with the program (5000 pieces on CD, 400 on floppy).
Microsoft Publisher 97 is a great program that, like a good wine, continues to improve with age. A user could look a long time for a program that does so much for so little, and I don't think they would find one. This program should be a part of any home library.
Multimedia Cafe Scorecard
| Product: |
Microsoft Publisher 97 |
| Company: |
Microsoft Corporation
|
| Cost: |
$79.99 ($20.00 rebate for previous users) |
System Requirements:
IBM: 386DX microprocessor (486 recommended); Windows 95 or Windows NT 3.51
required; 8mb ram(Win 95), 12mb ram (Win NT); 9.5mb hard disk space (minimum
install), 116mb (typical install); CD ROM drive (for CD ROM version); VGA or
higher-resolution monitor; MS Mouse or compatible pointing device;
(optional) 9600 or higher baud modem for online features (28,8000 baud
recommended; Web Browser and Internet access required for MS Clip Gallery
Live and Web Site Preview
Available on 3.5 inch disks and CD ROM
Macintosh: Not available at this time
Breakdown:
Educational Value 3
Concept 4
Depth 4
Interface 4
Overall Score:
Copyright © 1997 InfoMedia, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.