WPC 2BVgW?3|Hman 10pt (ASCII) (Port) (FW) aeWA,,}}Wo> PA"^(08Tx,@DT$8(,TTTTTTTTTT0,Ltlt|pd<@pp|dp\hxltdpH,DT(XTHTH0HX,,T,XXTT8@0XLpD@@TTTIYMSRIYMSR.PRS}Wo> PA,,0#o2  W\3|W"^,40\p(88T,4,4\\\\\\\\\\00Xllxtl`x(ThXxhpl`thddd<4 PA,,0#o2 gqsE"^(88T(@@T(8(,TTTTTTTTTT,,Pptth(,s}q}S `> XiA2{   nvgSwiss Roman 10pt (ASCII) (Port) (FW)Swiss Roman 8pt (HP Roman 8) (Port) (FW)Dutch Roman 10pt (ASCII) (Port) (FW)Dutch Italic 10pt (ASCII) (Port) (FW)Swiss Italic 6pt (ASCII) (Port) (FW) aeWA,,}E}Wo> PAb?F5$,%Fo> PfQZ^hVA(,N}d}V [ PAaeS>(,s}q}S `> XiAh :=3&,3t> XA2   aeWA,,}E}Wo> PAb?F5$,%Fo> PfQZ^hVA(,N}d}V [ PAaeS>(,s}q}S `> XiAh :=3&,3t> XA8?3&,,3 [ PA@yj4@@@@@@@@@@@@@ D8iwpwpwwpwwwwFwwpHwwIwwpJwwKwwFwwGww%  ww&  ww&  ww& ww&ww& ww% ww* ww)wwKww?ww?ww@wwwwAwwAww@wwKww 8ww 9ww 9ww 9ww 9ww 9ww 9ww 8wwKwwpJwwIwwpHwwEwwpwwwpwwpwi <<d    ,,  Fo> PfQ IYM Software Review "3,4 4" Page 27 y%,dddy   8%҇ }V [ PAd XIf you're brand new to computers and need to become minimally productive in a very short period, Instant Business ah  Software will help. Further, if you can live with the system ah  limitations imposed by these programs and don't want to puzzle out the method for invoking the features found here with full featured word processing, graphics, and database programs, give the Instant Business Software family a try. ah  However, if you are reasonably proficient in a more complicated software application or two (or plan to be), the limited functionality and heavyhanded implementations in these products should keep you away.   Act 1 Plus Accounting ă  Cougar Mountain Softwareă XThe accounting software market is a collection of products of various heritage, means, and prices. You can spend next to nothing on an integrated program such as MUSA's Pacioli ah  2000 (see review, this issue), and your satisfaction level will ah  differ depending on your needs and sophistication level. Then again, you can spend many thousands of dollars on a modular system such as those offered by MACOLA Software or IBM, and your satisfaction level will still differ depending on your needs and sophistication level. Umm . . . so what's the difference? y!a vyjddPROFILEy U 1  1 D!A(0 ddq>( 3t> XA  Product Name  3 [ PA,  :=  Act 1 Plus $199.50 Cougar Mountain Software 2609 Kootenai Box 6886 Boise ID 83707 (800)7279912DXToo often, there isn't one; at least, not one that the typical buyer of shrinkwrapped software will notice either at installation or in use. For those who take this statement to mean "go buy what's cheap", we offer this modifier: buy what will serve your needs. A program that applies artificially low $88 ! 7$limits over the number of ! 7customers that it can handle ! 7will one day make you un! 7derstand what it feels like ! 7to run up against a brick ! 7!0 7wall. OOPS! Nowhere to ! 7!0 7go. ! 7!0 7XAct 1 Plus should do nice ah ԭ! 7!0 7ly for many users. Priced ! 7!0 7similarly to Peachtree Soft! 7!0 7ware's venerable Complete ah  ! 7!0 7Accounting, It's faster, every ah  ! 7bit as powerful, and in spite ! 7of a primitive interface (or ! 7perhaps because of it), is ! 7easier to use. ! 7XThis statement formed  '88after we started with a not particularly high opinion. Act 1 ah  Plus is packaged in a box containing two sturdy binders that ah  must be assembled from shrink wrapped contents. This is acceptable and in fact a standard compromise in software that uses such binders rather than bound books. However, the contents of one package are much larger then that of the other, the tabs to separate sections are packed in the wrong order, and without directions for assembly (admittedly, rare), a sense of confusion exists before you even install Act 1 Plus ah  on your hard disk. Furthermore, an installation process that takes all decision making out of the hands of the user save for drive and directory designation and the option of install5 :0! 7<(!0 7$!5Ԯing sample data files modifies the "FILES=" statement in your CONFIG.SYS file, neither asking permission nor first making a backup. The setup routine that installs an incremental upgrade shipped to us several weeks after the release of the latest version (8.0) of Act 1 Plus repeated the offense. ah  IKExclusive of the demo files, Act 1 Plus occupies nearly 4.5 ah  megabytes of disk space for the many small overlays that make up the bulk of the program and account for its extraordinary speed and low RAM overhead the 180 kilobytes of memory required includes a 64K data area! The low overhead is possible, in part, because Act 1 Plus displays in simple text ah  mode with no effects such as exploding or dropdown menus to clutter RAM or be addressed every time the program is looking for a particular piece of information. You can choose the colors used by Act 1 Plus, but even the code that ac ah ԭcomplishes such a change is external to the main program, in a utility that also allows you to change the default mapping of functions keys and network and terminal operations, plus further enhance program operation speed by controlling the update of files (batch or real time) and the use of a RAM disk for faster sorting. IKIn spite of its length (well over one thousand pages) and meticulous attention to just about every detail of Act 1 Plus ah  operation, the documentation is frustrating. Some introductory chapters are located near the back of the second manual, without a tab to point them out, and besides general operations instructions and interface explanation, instructions for placement of the included function key stickers for such actions as "save", "cancel", and the like are located here. Since directions for using the aforementioned mapping utility are ! 7also in these chapters, you're likely to spend some time ! 7swearing at your keyboard. ! 7IKOther instructions lead you to believe that a partial installa! 7tion of the system is possible. This can in fact be affected by ! 7removing the overlay files that are used for the modules you ! 7!0 7won't use, as they are prefixed with the same two letter ! 7!0 7combinations that identify the modules internally, but only ! 7!0 7the extremely competent (or brave) should attempt this. The ! 7!0 7"partial installation" references appear to allude to the fact ! 7!0 7that to use a module with any of the 250 companies Act 1 ah  ! 7!0 7Plus allows simultaneously, it must specifically be set up. ah  ! 7!0 7Finally, the tutorial is severely lacking in real world examples. ! 7It consists of about twenty pages of "this is accounting", a ten ! 7page "case study", and a section that shows of two or three ! 7features of each module, all in fifty pages. There is no on! 7line help, but each screen provides some guidance as to its ! 7own use. In its defense, the documentation makes specific warnings about and highlights instructions whose correct first time execution is critical. IKOne of the noteworthy features of Act 1 Plus is optional, ah  dual level password protection for each of its modules (General Ledger, Check Reconciliation, Accounts Receivable, Order Entry/Invoicing, Inventory, Purchase Order, Accounts Payable, and Payroll), plus the Lynx ASCII file data exchange ah  facility (a full featured program in its own right that is recommended primarily for those with some programming background). Others include built in monthly budgeting facilities in General Ledger, the ability to retain account totals for as long as one hundred years, and flexibility in the