*** GIZMOZ Productivity Set *** ================================ by A. Jamal, New Zealand Gizmoz 2.0 comes on one disc full of programs ... 22 of them to be exact. Since the disc does not have Workbench files on them one can appreciate the amount of software one gets. Each program is a stand-alone product which can be copied or dragged into your application discs or hard disc. The programs are listed below with brief descriptions of each: 1) MemoPad - Workbench Notepad equivalent but with better features. Can be used as an editor as well 2) Calendar - more of a diary for your record of birthdays or appointments (up to 50 lines of text). Has REMIND option to remind you of your appointments etc. 3) Rollodex - more like an alphabetically indexed book that you can use as an address book. It will even dial your mate's number if you have a tone-dialling phone (Australia and New Zealand)! 4) Black Book Print Utility - is the printing utility for use with the above three programs 5) Hotkey - Macro key programmer, will really help save time with your repetitive tasks [ED. NOTE: If you close Hotkey, the program doesn't go away - you can recall it at any time with CTRL-ALT-RETURN. Undocumented feature, courtesy Amigan Apprentice magazine.] 6) Scientific Calculator - has complete set of scientific functions and 16 digits of internal accuracy is claimed 7) Financial Calculator - can calculate several financial problems such as interest, payments, future value and present value of annuities. 8) Programmer Calculator - has complete logical functions as well as binary, octal, decimal and hex bases in variable word sizes. All three calculators have a TAPE option where keystrokes and results are stored, displayed or printed out as required. 9) FastPrefs - changes your preference settings without having to run the Preference program 10) Quickmouse - speeds up mouse pointer movement faster than Preferences 11) Joymouse - lets your joystick take over your mouse's duties 12) Annouce - a graphical Say command 13) SuperLife - the old 'life' game 14) Graph - enchance your data presentation 15) Cuckoo Alarm Clock - full featured "Black Forest" style alarm clock. 16) Icon Maker - make icons for anything; will also make icons of your IFF pictures that look like the pictures themselves. Also has capability for changing types to Tool, Drawers etc. 17) Terminal - communications software; not perfect but good enough for your everyday BBS roamings 18) PopUp - for making popup screens to display various information 19) Compress - data/program compression; will cut size down by as much as 45% depending on file type (don't bother with high-res HAM images) Better than ARC because it will archive the icon of your file automatically if it has one. 20) Encrypt - data/program encryption by your own password, keep prying eyes out..especially if you're passing files thru' BBSs 21) FreeList - graphically displays memory status 22) SetPriority - for changing priorities of current tasks running on your Amiga. Can be VERY useful for speeding up your system but care must be exercised or you'll get an unhappy Guru! Gizmoz 2.0 has been significantly enchanced by the people at Digital Creations since its last release. For a start there are more programs than before. One of the reasons for this is because each of the programs is now much smaller in size and so more can be put on the same capacity disc (Version 1.0 was also chock-a-block full). Bugs are almost non-existent, I personally have not encountered any from each of the programs. Apart from reduced size and program efficiency, each of them has been improved by added features and "pizzazz". Some of my favourite are the calculators ... the buttons even depress down as you click or use the keyboard equivalent! Every Gizmoz program can be started from the workbench as well as CLI and what's more they all share common features that further aid their ease of use. For example the file requesters are like mini-dirutils, where the listings are divided into three catagories: files, directories and clipboards (if the particular program supports the Amiga clipboard feature). Changing directories takes nothing more than a click in the directory name and then choosing an action gadget or you can enter the actual path names. Even better you can just double click on the directory name and away you go. There are also keyboard equivalents for navigating the file requesters as well as performing the various tasks of each program. They are all compatible in that you don't have to memorise twenty different keyboard equivalents just to cut and paste data for different programs. Each of the programs also has a "SmallWindow" feature so if your screen is too cluttered up with your multitasking ventures just double click your right mouse button and Presto! the program turns into just a drag-bar! Oh yes...they do multitask and they behave very very well too; each program will not hog the system if it's not actually doing anything and each will return all resources when closed. Not everyone will use every program on the Gizmoz set but I found them to be EVERYWHERE on my discs with the exception of SuperLife and FreeList. Just the calculators alone are worth the US$60.00 I paid for the program Gizmoz 2.0 is very highly recommended for the average as well as the power user (try changing the task priorities and see your Amy excel in performance). The little touches of "pizzazz" make each program very professional looking as well as enjoyable to use. GIZMOZ 2.0 by Digital Creations, Inc. 1333 Howe Avenue Sacramento CALIFORNIA 95825 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ END OF GIZMOZ.RVW ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^