BKMCWDXL.RVW 950210 "Mac, Word & Excel", Tom Lichty, 1994, 1-56604-130-9, U$24.95 %A Tom Lichty majortom@aol.com %C PO Box 2468, Chapel Hill, NC 27515 %D 1994 %G 1-56604-130-9 %I Ventana Press %O U$24.95 800-743-5369 919-942-0220 fax: 919-942-1140 dludlow@vmedia.com %P 320 %T "Mac, Word & Excel" A few years ago, a study got some major press which "proved" that the Mac was easier to use than MS-DOS. What the study actually measured was the number of programs that people said they used. MS-DOS users supposedly averaged four programs each, while Mac users almost doubled that, by using seven. I'm still leery of both the logic and the protocol of the study, but my strongest reaction was that this study must have picked a very atypical user sample. While there are many fine and varied programs for specialty use on the Mac, I find most Macs in general office use have a very standard choice of applications. Which is all by way of saying that Lichty's plan of including Word and Excel in an introductory Mac book is a very reasonable one. He gives the basics, and follows it up with some discussion of "combination" documents which use the features of both application. I must admit to some moments of worry at his recommendation of "a playful attitude" in the introduction: this is often a signal that the author has left the actual practicalities of the program "as an exercise to the reader". In this case, however, Lichty's material is friendly without ever getting too cute. (I do think the book would have survived without "important tips" such as the composition of manila tag, or how to buy lead type, but the reader can survive with them, as well.) Most of the content is well chosen, although business users may want to look elsewhere. Tables, in Word, are mentioned only as an available feature, and sorting gets the most cursory coverage. Mail merge, though, is covered quite well. This makes a good, single source start for those in a general office environment. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995 BKMCWDXL.RVW 950210 ============= Vancouver ROBERTS@decus.ca | "The only thing necessary Institute for Robert_Slade@sfu.ca | for the triumph of evil Research into rslade@cue.bc.ca | is for good men to do User p1@CyberStore.ca | nothing." Security Canada V7K 2G6 | - Edmund Burke