
     GEOWORKS PRO 
     An Alternative To Windows  
     by Vito Michelozzi  
 
     PC Computing magazine in their July 1992 issue, page 154, stated: 
     "If you were challenged to prove before a judge that Microsoft is 
     fallible, and that MicroSoft products aren't always the best in 
     their class, what programs would you choose as Exhibit A? Desqview 
     is tempting, so are Norton Desktop for Windows and DRDOS 6.0. But 
     there's one even one more remarkable piece of evidence; GeoWorks 
     Pro."  
     
     After more that two years of hands-on experience with GeoWorks Pro 
     and its predecessor, I can't agree more with PC Computing. Although 
     I also use Windows 3.1, my GUI program of first choice is  GeoWorks 
     Pro. I began using Geoworks Pro, a graphical user interface, in 
     1989 on a Commodore 64. I then successively advanced to a 80286, 
     80386, and now a 80486SX 25 MHZ with 4 MB of RAM and a 169MB hard 
     disk. I have nothing but praise for its many easy-to-use features. 
     While GeoWorks Pro may lack some sophistication of Windows, it 
     nevertheless makes up for these shortcomings with some real 
     strengths. Such as: high quality laser-like printing with a 9-dot 
     matrix printer.  The ability to pin complete menus on the screen for 
     quick access.  Overall ease of use. 

     GeoWorks Pro's major drawback now is the almost total lack of 
     third-party applications although it does come bundled with 
     Borland's Quatro Pro SE (an excellent entry level spreadsheet 
     program) and America Online (a communication program). If you're 
     looking for an efficient and easy to use program for home or office, 
     GeoWorks Pro is a satisfactory choice.  Over the years I have 
     created numerous newsletters, pamphlets, booklets, signs, banners, 
     flyers, and advertising circulars.  I don't claim to be a 
     consummate expert on GeoWorks Pro because it seems to me that no one 
     can fully master a computer program. Otherwise there wouldn't be a 
     need for such books as "DOS for Dummies" (over 1,000,000 copies sold).  
     
     Most programs contain some little feature that always elude us. 
     Even so, I have found Geoworks with its built-in applications and 
     accessories is more efficient and easier to learn. It's less 
     intimidating than other similar programs I've used including Windows, 
     Dosshell, and Nortons Desktop. 
 
     Choose Your Level 

     There are three levels of use in GeoWorks Pro: Beginner, 
     Intermediate and Advanced. Geoworks builds from the beginner level 
     of simple concepts, to the most advanced operations. When you first 
     boot the program the first thing that appears is an attractive 
     Welcome screen. It displays three large illustrated buttons, 
     Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced plus a smaller button for access to 
     the DOS screen.  The DOS screen creates attractive buttons for each 
     DOS application and can launch DOS programs. Buttons are included 
     for many popular programs or you can design one to suit your taste. 
     GeoWorks Pro uses the same type of menu bar, window movement, sizing 
     and scrolling controls as Windows. Only it's organized differently. 
 
     The File Cabinet 

     The file cabinet is the centerpiece of GeoWorks Pro. From the File 
     Cabinet you can open documents as well as manage files, directories, 
     and disks. This is all done with a point and click actions of the 
     mouse.  Files and directories may be created, copied, moved and 
     renamed without using a single cryptic DOS command. A directory icon
     can be selected with the mouse and dragged to a wastebasket icon to 
     quickly delete the directory and all its contents in one simple easy 
     swoop. You can't do this from Windows. Files and directories can be 
     moved to a new location or copied by dragging it with the mouse or 
     by using Copy and Move buttons. 
 
     GEOWRITE 

     GEOWRITE is a full featured word processor.  It includes nine fonts 
     from 4 points to 792 (at any angle). It features a wide selection of 
     sizes and fonts for bold, italic, underline, strike-thru, 
     superscript, subscript..  You can create multi-column documents with 
     graphics. Importing and exporting text files is easy.  Color can be 
     added to text as well as to graphics. You can type letters, sales 
     reports, memos, job resumes, and many other documents using built-in 
     templates. GeoWrite uses outline fonts that result is smooth crisp 
     printed text and graphics, on the screen and on paper. You can use 
     it to create a multi-column newsletter, with pictures and clipart 
     copied from GeoDraw. There's a built-in spell checker with a 100,000 
     word American English dictionary. There are three printer options: 

     High - Laser-like or jet ink quality.  
     Medium - Near letter quality.  
     Low - Fast draft mode. 

     In addition it offers margin settings, spell checker, header, footer, 
     alignment, and tab settings. You can work with multiple documents 
     and switch between the open document through the Window menu. 
     Multiple documents can be overlapped so the title bars for each is 
     visible. Or you can go to a full-size window mode with the main 
     document on the top and the rest underneath it. 
 
     GeoWorks Pro provides a wide selection of templates: 
     
     * Cards -Birthday, Anniversary, Card Borders, Invitations, Thank You.  
     
     * Business Forms - Purchase Order, Memos, Invoice, Bulletin, 
       Credit Memo, Expense report, Fax 
       
     * Templates - Letterheads, Newsletters, term papers, posters 

     * Signs and Award Certificates. 
 
     Templates are preformatted. All you have to do to create a 
     professional looking document is to open a template and add your 
     text and even graphics. 
 
     GEODRAW 

     GEODRAW is a powerful and easy-to-use drawing application for 
     producing full-color graphics with integrated text. You draw 
     full-color charts, graphs and any other picture you want, using an 
     array of eight drawing tools. The addition of an erase tool would be 
     a big help in editing graphics. The program can rotate, fuse, scale, 
     expand, shrink and color any element of your design. It can import 
     clipart and pictures from other directories. Images and graphics can 
     be instantly sized, rotated, copied, color-filled, pasted and flipped 
     horizontally or vertically. 

     Quattro Pro Viewer 

     The Quattro Pro Viewer can either launch Quattro Pro SE or it can 
     open an existing spreadsheet to look at it. With a double-click of 
     the mouse a spreadsheet file can be merged into a report or 
     presentation prepared in GeoWrite. The Viewer is used only for 
     viewing spreadsheets. To work on an existing spreadsheet or create 
     a new one you must launch Quattro Pro SE.  GEOCOMM is used with a 
     modem to communicate with other computers over the telephone lines. 
     It can send and receive files, access information services, and log 
     into bulletin board systems. You Also can download files, programs 
     and information. 

     GEODEX   

     GEODEX keeps an address and phone record of friends, relatives, 
     businesses and can print lists of names and phone numbers, or 
     mailing labels. With a modem, GeoDex dials the phone for you. 
     Searching for a name and making changes in the directory is easy to 
     accomplish. 
 
     NOTEPAD 

     The NOTEPAD is a simple text editor for working with DOS text files 
 
     SCRAPBOOK      

     The SCRAPBOOK stores images and blocks of text. It will import 
     graphics from other DOS programs as well.  
     
     For the game-minded, Geoworks has added the solitaire card game, 
     Klondike and the fascinating Tetris game. 

     A big plus for GeoWorks Pro is its ability to pin down menus and sub 
     menus to the workspace while making changes to text and images. You 
     can make a series of selections from a menu without having to pull 
     it down each time. Once a menu is pinned on the workspace, it can be 
     moved around and placed wherever it is needed the most. This feature 
     is lacking in Windows. Another plus for GeoWorks Pro is its ability 
     to save files using 32 characters in the file name, rather than the 
     limitation of 8 characters allowed by DOS and Windows. 

     GEOPLANNER 

     GEOPLANNER contains a yearly calendar and an appointment book. You 
     can schedule appointments and meetings and have GeoPlanner 
     automatically remind you. Recurring events like birthdays, 
     anniversary, and weekly meeting also can be scheduled. I have found 
     DOS applications that I use frequently, Quattro Pro and Quicken for 
     example, run significantly faster under GeoWorks Pro than do their 
     Windows' counterparts.  All-in-all GeoWorks Pro is a well designed 
     and worthwhile program to have. It compares quite favorably with any 
     of its competitors. I highly recommend QuatroPro especially to new 
     users where they have a choice. 

     GeoWorks Pro runs on a 512K XT, 286, or 386SX and it's as fast as 
     Windows on a 486DX. A hard disk is needed with at least 6MB of 
     memory, significantly less than required for Windows.  

     GeoWorks Pro is produced by: 
     GeoWorks 2150 Shattuck Ave. Berkeley, CA 94704  
     Phone: (510)644-0883  
     Suggested List Price: $199.99  
     Street Price: $139.99  
