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Hurricane 98 is pretty much a no-brainer buy for anyone who logsserious time on a PC every day. It lives up to its primaryfunction--speeding up launch times for your programs. Equallyimpressive: It accomplishes this feat automatically. Simplypoint-and-click your way through an easy installation wizard, andyou're done. There's no further tweaking, no learningcurve. Of course, for those who insist on getting under the hood,Hurricane 98 can be customized and tweaked manually. Other benefitsinclude speeded performance from a cold boot, PC-to-printer, RAMand removable drives, such as a CD-ROM or ZIP.
Hurricane 98
List price: $39
Requires: a 486 computer, Windows 95 or 98, 16MB RAM, 20MBhard-drive space, CD-ROM
Maker: McAfee (Santa Clara, California)
Phone/web site: (408) 988-3832, http://www.mcafee.com
Joe Dysart (joedysart@aol.com) is a softwareanalyst and Internet business consultant in Thousand Oaks,California. His work has appeared in more than 40 publications,including The New York Times.
Making Contact
Act! 4.0 is a truly powerful program for managing any databaseof business contacts. One of its greatest strengths: You cancustomize it without an inordinate amount of irritating gyrations.Another: its ability to actually interface with other programswithout resorting to (and begging for) tech support to make ithappen. Coolest new features: easy data synchronization with otherACT! users on your staff and quick access to popular Web sites forbusiness information.
ACT! 4.0
List price: $199
Requires: a 486 computer, Windows 95 or NT, 8MB RAM, 40MBhard-drive space, CD-ROM, VGA video or higher
Maker: Symantec (Cupertino, California)
Phone/web site: (800) 441-7234, http://www.symantec.com
Get Animated
Too often, Web-related software seems designed by digeratidetermined to make you "pay your dues" before you canuncover the secrets of its use. Thankfully, this isn't the casewith WebSpice Animations. Simply pop in the CD-ROM, point and clickfour or five times, and presto--you've lifted the animation youwant from this program to your Web page. Choose from 3D animatedobjects, letters, words, buttons andarrows . . . and leave people wondering how youbecame so gifted in Web design so quickly.
WebSpice Animations
List price: $149
Requires: a 486 computer; Mac II, Quadra or PowerMac; 8MBRAM, CD-ROM
Maker: DeMorgan Industries (Stamford,Connecticut)
Phone/web site: (203) 938-8805, http://www.webspice.com
Taking Credit
Credit Builder Professional is an exhaustive database programdesigned for start-ups looking to make their credit squeakyclean--or simply to ensure they're already platinum-worthy. Forthose already in trouble, there are hordes of helpful lettertemplates and a library of data devoted to your credit rights. Forthose who've hit easy street, there's CardSmart--a modulethat recommends the right credit card to fit your needs based on afew, pointed questions. You can also help bulletproof youreligibility for a wide range of loans.
Credit Builder Professional
List price: $49
Requires: a 386 computer, Windows 3.1 or 95, 4MB RAM, 6MBhard-drive space, CD-ROM
Maker: Intelliquis (Draper, Utah)
Phone/web site: (801) 553-1127, http://www.intelliquis.com
Sharper Image
Probably the greatest strength of Hijaak Pro 4.5 is its ease ofuse. Essentially, if you know how to use Windows, you'llintuitively grasp how to use this program. Graphic artists are sureto like the fact that they can play in Hijaak Pro for hours,tweaking and fine-tuning the look of a pix. Time-pressedbusinesspeople will be grateful they can get in and out of agraphics conversion in a minute or two. The Kahuna of converters,Hijaak Pro converts between 85 file formats, does custom screenshots, and creates print images and thumbnail catalogs--andthat's just for starters.
Hijaak Pro 4.5
List price: $99
Requires: a 486-66 computer, Windows 95 or NT 4.0 (Pentiumrecommended), 16MB RAM (32MB recommended), 25MB hard-drive space,CD-ROM
Maker: IMSI (San Rafael, California)
Phone/web site: (415) 257-3000, http://www.imsisoft.com
Timing Is Everything
Day-Timer Organizer 2000 is an entry-level program for thoselooking to track their business contacts and engage in detailedtime management. Hard copy Day-Timer users will feel right at homewith the program's paper organizer format; others should findits use intuitive. Coolest features include daily, weekly andmonthly views; scheduling conflict alerts and resolution; and datasynchronization with PalmPilot and SharpWizard handheldcomputers.
Day-Timer Organizer 2000
List price: $59
Requires: a 486 computer, Windows 4.0 or higher, 10MBhard-drive space, CD-ROM
Maker: Day-Timer Concepts (Lehigh Valley,Pennsylvania)
Phone/web site: 800) 225-5005, http://www.daytimer.com
Dollars And Cents
A great program to cut your teeth on before moving up toQuickBooks, Quicken Deluxe 99 is Intuit's bigger-brotherprogram for managing small-business finances. I started usingQuicken four years ago after it reduced the monthly agony of billpaying from an hour and 15 minutes to 20 minutes. I haven'tlooked back since. Fortunately, they haven't spoiled theprogram in the upgrade process--they've just made it morepowerful and versatile.
Quicken Deluxe 99
List price: $59
Requires: a 486 computer, Windows 3.1, 95 or NT 4.0, 12MBRAM, 37MB hard-drive space, CD-ROM, 14.4 Kbps modem for onlinefeatures
Maker: Intuit (Mountain View, California)
Phone/web site: (800) 446-8848, http://www.Quicken.com
Lawyer In A Box
Attorney Pro is a must-have database program for any start-uplooking to cut costs by doing preliminary legal legwork beforecalling an attorney. Balloon prompts guide you through thecompletion of 2,500 legal documents. A search engine helps youchoose the right form for the task. Included are forms foraccounting, franchise and leasing, among others. Plus, you canchoose from 500 letter templates for common legal problems. Onlycriticism: no attorney jokes.
Smart Attorney Pro
List price: $149
Requires: a 486 computer, Windows 95 or NT 4.0, 8MB RAM,minimum 70MB hard-drive space, CD-ROM
Maker: American Institute For Financial Research(Morrisville, North Carolina)
Phone/web site: (800) 791-1000, http://www.sbsn.com
