Software and Product Reviews

Following is a list of computer software products that I have reviewed. All of these reviews are for PC-compatible Windows versions of the products, and most were published in the PC Register, the monthly publication of the East Tennessee Computer Society (ETCS). There are no screen shots here...only information (sorry folks, I just don't have the web space for lots of graphics!).

I hope you find my reviews informative and useful ... Gary Hartman

An Important Message...

Applications:

DesignCAD 2-D - computer-aided design - January 1996
Lotus Forms (Lotus Corporation) - electronic forms - November 1994
Money Maker - financial - May 1995

Astronomy Software:

Distant Suns - First Light (Virtual Reality Laboratories, Inc.) - May 1996
Redshift (Maris Multimedia) - March 1995
Redshift 2 (Maris Multimedia) - March 1997

Birding Software:

BirdBase + BirdArea (Santa Barbara Software Products) - July 1999
Birds of North America 2.0 (Thayer Birding Software) - May 1997
Birds of North America 2.5 (Thayer Birding Software) - September 1999
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Guide to Birds of North America Ver. 3 (Thayer Birding Software) - March 2002
Know Your Common Bird Songs (Axia) - March 1996

Music Software:

Encore 4.0 (Passport Designs) - music notation - March 1996
Guitar Pro 4.0 - April 2004
NSA Song Player (Derek Stottlemyer) - improve your knowledge of guitar chords and scales, and learn tablature with this shareware - February 2001
SLOW GOLD (World Wide Woodshed) - slow down music without changing pitch...GREAT learning tool! - June 2004
SmartScore (Musitek) - sheet music scanning - September 1999

Educational / Reference:

Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia - 1995 Edition - March 1995
Earthcare Interactive (Wayzata) - August 1995
Eyewitness Encyclopedia of Science (DK Multimedia) - February 1995
Internet Kids Yellow Pages, The (book) - October 1996
Lion King Animated Storybook, The (Walt Disney Computer Software) - May 1995
PC Study Bible (BibleSoft) - December 1996

Hardware:

Saitek X36 Flight Control System (Saitek) - March 1999

Games:

Ascendancy (The Logic Factory) - turn-based strategy - May 1996
Battles In Time (Quantum Quality Productions, Inc.) - turn-based strategy wargame - August 1996
Blood and Magic (Interplay) - real-time strategy in a fantasy setting - March 1997
Dawn Patrol (Empire Interactive) - WWI dogfighting - March 1995
Dinotopia: Living the Adventure CD-ROM (Turner Interactive) - adventure - September 1996
Earth 2140 (Interplay) - real-time strategy - March 1998
Greg Norman Ultimate Challenge Golf (Grolier Electronic Publishing) - June 1996
Interstate '76 (Activision) - action - September 1997
Lunicus (Cyberflix) - action - December 1994
Magic & Mayhem (Bethesda Softworks) - real-time strategy / role-playing - March 2000
NFL Fever 2000 (Microsoft) - football - April 2000
Settlers III (Blue Byte) - real-time strategy - June 1999
Settlers III: Mission CD (Blue Byte) - expansion disk - October 1999
Settlers III: Quest of the Amazons (Blue Byte) - expansion disk - January 2000
Skins Game at Bighorn, The ( Interplay Productions) - golf - February 1996
Skyborg: Into the Vortex (Skybox)- adventure - January 1997
Star Rangers (Interactive Magic) - space combat - June 1996

And just in case you're wondering, following are my favorite games (I hope to provide detailed reviews soon). I've killed more time with all of these than I want to admit:

Age of Empires (Microsoft)
Age of Empires: Rise of Rome Expansion (Microsoft)
Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings (Microsoft) - In my opinion, the greatest computer game ever made. It'll be tough to top this one.
Age of Empires II: The Conquerors (Microsoft) - Expansion pack for Age of Empires II...significant improvements on an already great game.
Age of Empires III (Microsoft) - Real-time strategy in the "New World" (Central and North America).
Age of Wonders (Gathering of Developers) - Incredibly deep turn-based fantasy/strategy game.
Baldur's Gate (Interplay)

Civilization II (Microprose) - It's amazing that you can now get this classic strategy game of world domination for under $10...an absolute steal if ever I saw one.
Diablo (Blizzard)
Jack Nicklaus 6: Golden Bear Challenge (Activision) - Great golf game with an exceptional course designer. I've seen this selling for just under $15, but this is a steal at any price!
Morrowind: The Elder Scrolls III (Bethesda Softworks) - Fantastic open-ended role-playing game that consumes vast amounts of time...I love it!
Pharaoh (Sierra) - City-building simulation in ancient Egypt...also watch out for the expansion pack, Cleopatra.
StarCraft (Blizzard)
Total Annihilation (Cavedog)
WarCraft II (Blizzard)