LOTUS WORD PRO 96 TAKES WRITE APPROACH TO ON-SCREEN HELP

Like most Windows word processors, Lotus Word Pro 96 takes up a lot of real estate on your hard drive. It gives you several options, ranging from about 17 megabytes for a basic installation to a whopping 42 megabytes for the full treatment.

On-board help is excellent. You can search by topic, or just enter a question in your own words. I inquired about printing envelopes, always a challenge, and after a bit of reading was able to print one successfully, complete with postal bar code. Surprisingly, it wasn't as simple as the envelope-printing feature in the application's predecessor, Ami Pro 3.1, but after some trial and error, it did just fine.

The application's templates, or on-screen forms, are called SmartMasters and they have been polished and updated from the ones in Ami Pro. Call up a memo SmartMaster, for example, and it includes your company name, which you typed in when you installed the program. Nothing could be simpler, and the results are uniformly attractive.

Advertisement

Once your document expands, you'll notice file folder-like tabs that help you navigate through different chapters, or sections. There are lots of other goodies: the InfoBox, part of the SmartSense feature, allows you to do extensive formatting for text and frames. Spell check will highlight typos as you work and correct common spelling errors, and you can add words to the dictionary.

If you're on a network, you can use the application's team-writing capabilities. It works something like the old-fashioned paper editing, except that instead of trying to guess who made the inane comment about your wordy third paragraph based on color of ink or slant of the handwriting, you actually can read who did it.

And instead of the yellow sticky notes that invariably come back with your masterpiece, you'll get Comment Notes, which can contain anything from a few words about your command of the language to graphics that can be inserted to make the document more attractive.

Advertisement

Word Pro is part of the Lotus SmartSuite package, which includes Approach, 1-2-3, Organizer, Freelance Graphics and ScreenCam. But you can buy it separately as well.

The big question is whether you should upgrade from AmiPro 3.1 to Word Pro. The answer is if you're on a network and collaborate on projects, yes. If you're on your own, and you're happy with Ami Pro, and you're not running Windows 95, probably not. But if you are running Windows 95, Word Pro 96 is a bargain.

-- Harold Glicken, Knight-Ridder Strategy Games of the World

Parents looking to give their children an alternative to mindless video games should seriously consider Strategy Games of the World.

The new CD-ROM, designed for ages 8 to 14, offers three time-tested favorites called Go-Moku, Mancala and Nine Men's Morris. Each game is easy to learn but deceptively difficult to master -- adults will find it a challenge to win at the highest level of difficulty.

Advertisement

The CD-ROM is a complete package, offering instruction for children on how to play the games and tips for parents on how to maximize the learning experience.

Go-Moku is a Japanese version of the popular Chinese board game Go, which at first glance looks something like checkers. Two players compete against each other to place five stones in a row on the board, while trying to block their opponent from doing the same.

Mancala comes from central Africa and vaguely resembles backgammon, with two players moving beans around a board with the goal of capturing the greatest number.

Nine Men's Morris originated in ancient Egypt and was all the rage in Shakespearean England. The object is the same as tick-tack-toe -- putting three shells in a row -- but the oddly shaped game board opens up numerous possibilities for complex maneuvering.

Advertisement

Each game is presented with full-color, carefully detailed graphics, so you can see the wood grain in the Mancala board or the ridges on the shells in Nine Men's Morris. Animated characters surrounding the boards describe how the game is played and offer hints on strategy. There are sound effects to help sustain the illusion, such as the occasional tinkling of a bamboo chime as you play Go-Moku.

The CD-ROM is saddled with a few flaws. When playing against the computer, you often face an annoying wait of several seconds before your electronic opponent makes a move. And the computer-generated hints are occasionally too bland to be useful, such as: "Before you make a move, visualize it in your mind." Also, the CD-ROM offers a dull feature called "Real-World Strategies." At seemingly random moments, a "Real-World Strategies" sign appears. If you click the sign, you see a short video clip of people describing how they solve problems -- a truck driver, for instance, saying how he might have to change his route to avoid traffic.

A section called "Dear Parents," offering video clips of Edmark Vice President Donna Stanger giving advice, is better. Stanger explains the educational theory behind Strategy Games of the World and how games help children learn. *

Advertisement

-- Mike Langberg, Knight-Ridder Strategy Games of the World by Edmark Corp., $39; phone: 1-800-691-2985; for Windows and Macintosh. PLACES TO GO

Spending a little too mucht time on-line? For an amusing home page devoted to the bogus organization Internetters Anonymous, visit Richard Scott's World Wide Web site at http://www.itw.com/ rscott/ia. html/. For a more serious look at the many faces of addiction and helpful resources, go to the Web of Addictions page at http://www.well.com/ www/woa/. *

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7uK3SoaCnn6Sku7G70q1lnKedZK6zr8eirZ5nkqrAqrrErKpoaWlug3B8kGhpa2ecpMG2v4ywpqucXaW%2FsHmYb2StmZuawG7D0aKrnmWRpb2zu8Ccn2asn2K8r3nSnKmenZ5itaa4z2hwa5xkZ6%2BjsoydbWqbXWmwpn6Mcm6dbF1qhXaxlHJsnG5ka4Jw