IBM Users Get the Works in New 2.0 Version

The most-purchased categories of business application software are spreadsheets and word processing. Add database software and toss in a communications program and you’ve got the basic applications that a serious computer user needs.

You also have a description of Microsoft Works 2.0, the new version of the 2-year-old integrated software for IBM and compatible computers that combines all four functions. (Works 2.0 for the Macintosh came out a year ago and is quite similar, but it lacks a thesaurus.)

Priced at $149 and widely discounted, Works 2.0 is aimed at new-to-intermediate users and is well suited to laptop computer usage because the program files will fit onto a single 720-kilobyte, 3.5-inch diskette.

Works 2.0 is not really a cut-down, pasted-together version of any of Microsoft’s other programs, such as its Word word-processor program, Excel spreadsheet or Windows graphics environment. Yet it is reminiscent of all three.

There is a simplified, Windows-like look to the program, with pull-down menu headings across the top of the screen. When you work on a file, it is enclosed in a Windows-like frame complete with vertical and horizontal “elevator” indicators along the side and bottom to indicate your current position in the file relative to its total length.

Each window can be divided into two or four “panes,” each of which can show a different part of the file.

There is even a small button in the upper-left corner of the frame that allows you to close that window if you click on the button with a mouse-controlled cursor. You don’t need a mouse to run the program, but it is much easier if you do use one.

Up to eight files can be open on your screen at once, and they can be a mix of word processing, spreadsheet, database and communications. You can move instantly from one to another, cutting and pasting text, tables and graphs between them.

It is meant to be an all-encompassing work space, and, in fact, it comes pretty close to being just that. Built-in accessories include an alarm beep to remind you of appointments, a pop-up calculator and a means for dialing telephone numbers on your screen through the computer modem.

The word processor lacks some of the sophisticated formatting features of Microsoft Word, but it does have a variety of tab stops to aid in creating tables, as well as a spelling checker and a thesaurus.

It also lets you take advantage of all the type styles and sizes available for more than 200 laser, dot-matrix and ink-jet printers on the market. If you run the program in graphics mode, you see boldfacing, italicizing and underlining on the screen as you type. The exact look of a page with all the font renderings and inserted spreadsheet charts can be previewed on the screen before printing.

The spreadsheet provides for more than a million cells of data in a matrix 256 columns wide by 4,096 rows deep. There are 57 mathematical, statistical and financial functions available.

Among the business math functions are depreciation by double-declining method, future value of an annuity, internal rate of return, net present value, loan payments, interest rate, salvage life and others.

Once a spreadsheet has been created, 11 varieties of charts can be automatically prepared from any portion of the data. They include traditional bar, line and pie charts, and a high-low-close chart for stock market data. Up to eight such charts can be attached to each spreadsheet.

The charts themselves can be annotated to change size, colors, type sizes and styles, and to add legends and other text as desired.

A chart can be quickly inserted into a document, provided that both the spreadsheet from which it comes and the document into which it goes are open on your computer screen. When such a link is established, any change in the underlying spreadsheet automatically updates the chart in the text file.

The database is fairly simple to use, yet offers a lot of power and flexibility. All 57 spreadsheet calculation functions can be used in the database as well. Text fields can be several lines deep and contain up to 256 characters. Notes can be attached to each form in a database to store reminders that are not part of the data.

The data can be viewed on a form, like a file card, or in a list, like a spreadsheet. Printed reports are automatically created and can be customized. Up to eight different forms can be attached to each database.

Sample databases for storing addresses, appointments, checks and inventory are included with the program.

The communications module was flawed in the production version of the program that I tested. If I set it for the proper error-checking communications parameter (called a “parity bit”) of the services I use, it would not work on one computer-modem combination that I tested, and on another it worked but gave spurious error messages. However, when I set it to “mask” the error-checking parameter, it ran just fine.

When it did work, it was simple to use and included a buffer that stores incoming data on the screen so that you can scroll back through and cut and paste to other files. It provides a way to automate the sign-on to remote computers.

Microsoft Works 2.0 is an impressive buy. It certainly serves its intended audience of small business, home business and educators.

There is no user manual, just a reference book that describes commands and functions in alphabetical order. Substituting for a user manual is an extensive set of on-screen help text and tutorial lessons.

There was nothing in the reference manual or in the on-screen help and lessons that even hinted at how to print an address on an envelope in a laser printer, which is a basic need for any business word processing.

I had trouble copying a spreadsheet chart into a document. It worked perfectly the first time, but thereafter, all I got was a gaping white hole on my page, both in screen preview and printed versions. The mysterious problem at least limited itself to one particular word processing file.

Look for a flurry of books, spreadsheet and database templates and a newsletter to help you unlock the power inside Works 2.0.

MICROSOFT WORKS 2.0 A $149 integrated program for IBM and compatibles. Features: Combines word processing, spreadsheet, database and communications into seamless Windows-like user environment with common commands and up to eight overlapping files open on screen. Requirements: IBM or compatible computer with 512 kilobytes of memory and a graphics monitor. Although it works on floppy disk-only computers, full installation of the help files and lessons requires a hard disk. Expanded memory, if available, allows larger spreadsheets. Publisher: Microsoft Corp., 16011 N.E. 36th Way, Redmond, Wash. 98073-9717. Phone: (206) 882-8080.