CompuServe Thread

I don't have 20 CD's, Top 10 + Worst 10, yet. :} I would like to vote the following however: TOP Microsoft Cinemania Just Grandma and Me Worst World Atlas (ToolWorks) My humble opinion.

BEST Computer Select (despite their boneheaded licensing schema and lack of graphics) Street Atlas (despite a few mistakes in the data) WORST CIA Fact Book (gimmee a break) Mayo CLinic Family Health Disc (on the order of "the lungs are in the chest, the bowels are in the abdomen) World Atlas

Jan…Let's see. Best: Microsoft Cinemania Microsoft Bookshelf/Word for Windows Library of the Future Worst: Timetable of History/Science & Innovation (horrid interface)

We don't have that many, either, but my votes are: BEST: Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective Mega Demo 1 from Profit Press – very nice interface and a great deal. WORST: CD Game Pack II However, Christmas is close… who knows what we'll find under the tree!

Jan, here are my votes for top and bottom: Top (in no particular order): Microsoft Musical Instruments Microsoft Cinemania Microsoft Multimedia Beethoven Microsoft Word/Bookshelf Street Atlas USA Bottom: U.S. Atlas (Software Toolworks)

Maybe another way to do this BEST/WORST thing is to have people list all the CD-Discs they own, and issue a rating of 1 to 10 for each one. That way, you can compile all the numbers and get an idea of each participant's view and tastes. You might also find people to write reviews of discs they own that you haven't already found authors for.

Hi Jan, Here are my best and worst: Best: (Not necessarily in this order) Comptons Encylopedia (9) Library of the Future (9) – 2nd Edition: (over 950 literary works on 1 CD) PC-SIG GAMES (10) – (Includes Wolfenstein 3D, Commander Keen, and others) Audubons Birds/Mammals (8) – The graphics are great. Could use more sound Worst: CIA World Factbook* (1) – Not enough substance for the price. You can get much of the same information in an atlas or encyclopedia. The info is in a text format that disallows any comparisons of facts. Software Toolworks Atlas (3) – It might be better if the maps would allow greater detail. My opinions & ratings of other CD-ROM DISCS I OWN: DEATHSTAR ARCADE BATTLES (6) – Good shareware value for the $20 price. TOO MANY TYPEFONTS (6) – Same as above CLIPART GOLIATH (4) – Some good clipart, some bad clipart. The editors were lazy and left in alot of junk and low resolution images. Still, it's better than searching for clipart on-line. MICROSOFT BOOKSHELF (8) – Good reference tool PHONEDISC USA (2) – The information is dated and many addresses are missing. FAMILY DOCTOR (7) – Good reference tool. SONY LANGUAGES OF THE WORLD (3) – It is a fine reference tool, but it is only a dictionary that does word-by-word translations. A better application would be a complete document translation program on CD-ROM.. I'd rather have "German document in… English document out." * You might remember that I wrote a review for you about the CIA World Factbook… The more exposure I get to other CD offerings, the less I like The world Factbook.

My best so far – Danger! Hot Stuff. Worst – unquestionably- "Mammals" no wonder they gave it away free with the drive – it only runs with the manufacturer's hardware (IBM/MS mouse for example)

The Multimedia Beethoven is great for someone like me who knows nothing about music theory and is happy to learn. I've been humming the ninth symphony all day!

From my limited CD library–would vote for the following: Mega Movie Guide (for DOS) Would have bought Microsoft Cinemania but it's for Windows Only. Is there a DOS version? Toolworks Reference Lib. Timetables of History

The best MS Beethoven's 9th (10) MS Word/Bookshelf (10) Corel Draw 3.0 CD-ROM (10) New Grolier MM Encyclopedia (8) The Worst Mavis Beacon Teaches typing (5) Great Wonders of the World (5) Where in the World Carmen Sandiago (5) Guiness Book of World records 1992 (5)

Hi Jan, Don't have a best/worst list for you, but I was planning on posting a short review of "Berlitz Think And Talk – Spanish" cd-rom I just got. Have just tried it briefly but it seems pretty slick. About 8 cd-rom disks for $ 125 mail order, the first disk is programs/dictionary and the rest are lessons, 60 in all. Each lesson presents on-screen illustrations with accompmanying dialogue through headphones/speakers. Best part – no English-Spanish translation – you infer what is being said from the illustrations. The method is to listen to the dialogue several times, then proceed to pronunciation, reading, writing and other exercises. This is supposed to model learning the language as you would if you were a child first learning to speak. BTW, the product is made by HyperGlot and marketed by Berlitz. Windows-only. Regards, S.H.

Jan : Great idea – maybe this'll turn into a regular pre-Christmas event. Probably should start a little sooner – give the spouse a chance to react to my wish list <s>. CD Carmen [5] Great way to learn, but real tough to install. Inadequate documentation. Lots of hardware conflicts. Would be nice if it were an MM application – then you could check on other data sources to find out where an obscure place is. MM Beethoven [5] Super music teacher!! Still have a problem with MIDI settings. Inadequate documentation. Sierra King's Quest V [5] Great sounds. Good animation, only one problem (the tailor's needle). Raises the question of how to fix 'bugs' on a CD. Toolworks World Atlas [4] Needs more detailed maps – roads, towns, etc. Music playing problems although the voice comes through fine. Suspect a MIDI problem. Inadequate documentation Britannica Family Choice [4] Good intro for youngsters to PC learning games. Compton's Encyclopedia [4] Almost an MM application. Doesn't use Windows conventions for cut&paste. Sound problems. Inadequate documentation Mammals [3] An excellent example of one of the first generation of multi-media apps. Too bad there hasn't been another release. Inadequate documentation. All of the rest in my shoebox (great place to store them <s>) are text based apps that were promoted as MM apps with my CD bundle (Tiger Software). I don't use them any more. Monarch Notes [3] Guinness Disc of Records [2] The Family Doctor [2] US Atlas [1] World Fact Book [1] US History [1] Time Almanac [1] Toolworks CD Game Pack [1] With all of the space on a CD you'd think that you would find complete troubleshooting documentation – NOPE. Merry Christmas, and to all a good night.

On a scale of 1 (worst) to 5 (best): (Hidden Gem, from Canada). Coreldraw world contest winners (on scale of 1 to 5, this disk is a 10!!!!). Comes with two glossy coffee-table books of the worlds greatest corel-draw drawings. Spectacular professional artwork, you won't believe it's corel draw! The CD includes every drawing in the two books. If you want to see some of the best computer artwork from 1990 and 1991 (one year for each book), send me E-mail and I'll dig out the address to get this spectacular CD-ROM collection. You need Corel Draw for Windows, 2.0 or 3.0 PC-SIG #10 Earns a 5. I never download utilities anymore. Doesn't contain wolfenstein, though. Printed 9/91 Family Doctor. 4, if you think you need it. My fiance unfortunately has rhumatoid arthritis, and this CD contains great info on almost any prescription drug on the market (among other useful info). very current, copyright 1991/1992 Coreldraw 3.0 5 This disc contains more clipart than you'd want to stick in a year of newsletters. So Much Shareware 3 Not as useful as PC-SIG #10, and cheesy interface. Bibles and Religion (Shareware collection by Chestnut). 3 Not as useful as I expected, better off getting Bible Library, IMHO. Dictionaries and Language (Chestnut Shareware collection). 2 I found only one program on this disk worth the registration price.

Good idea! We've only got two, but we love the Microsoft bookshelf and hate Composer Quest from Mr. T. software. It's written in toolbook, runs slowly, and crashes when you play the game. I'd be happy to write some reviews for you–I'm a professional writer as well as a computer junkie.