Test reports
|
Test reports
|
Tested on:
A3000T
2MB chip-RAM, 92 MB fast-RAM
Kickstart 40.68, Workbench 45.1/OS 3.9
Cyberstorm MK68060
PicassoIV
Installation could be a problem. The package is provided via three emails, each with one DMS file. Unfortunately, there are no instructions on what to do with these files. For those of you who have never worked with DMS-files before, a short guide: Obviously you need the DMS program. a) start DMS with option "write" and name (complete path) of DMS-file, for example "DMS write Work:Geoworld1.DMS" b) insert disc in df0: and confirm c) repeat this with the other files (each with another disc). After that, Geoworld can be installed from these discs via installer.
After starting Geoworld, a requester pops up for choosing screen mode. Tip: don't use 24-bit modes, because in this mode the message appears: "Landkarte leider noch nicht verfügbar." (engl. map is not available), followed by a screenmode with 32 colours. At 1024x760 the screen doesn't fit completely, so use 800x600 with 256 Colours. Even if a 24-bit mode is selected, only 8-bit will be displayed. That should be sufficient.
Hard to go wrong. You simply have to click on a country on the worldmap and a map of that country will appear with plentiful text information. There are about 220 countries available as yet.
If you enter the name of a specific country in the controlwindow (wildcards are supported), the country will be shown directly, or a requester with all possible countries will pop up. Alternatively you can click on a country on the worldmap. The country will fill blue, and the information be displayed in the info window.
Geoworld offers answers to the following questions:
Very interesting also is "maxi-search". This feature allows searching for a country or town - sorted by size, inhabitants, postal code, etc. Try it, it's fun ! By the way: searching by phonenumber would be great.
a. Country selection ("Länderauswahl")
A requester with all 220 countries appears. Unfortunately it is not possible to change its size. In the menu you can select a sorting method (region, inhabitants, etc.). What is the smallest city ? (Vatican City). Unfortunately there is no sorting method "up-wise".
In the info-window for countries, there is a cycle-button called "general" ("allgemein"). A click on this button lets you browse through all provided information. There are some errors, which apparently are caused by using MagicX with Cycle-to-menu-function activated. Sometimes the description in the gadget disappears.
b. City-selection
This is another unchangeable requester listing 6119 cities, including 1889 in Germany. You can reduce the number of listed towns by entering a search key and sorting by different criteria, e.g. date of founding.
c. Both
This menu is available if the map-window is activated. On my system the menu-description of the chosen menu is hardly readable (turquoise). MagicMenu could be the reason for that. For both requesters I miss a function to position them and/or a limitation in the city-requester, when being called from country-info (USA has 1178 cities !).
d. Currency-calculator
The currency-calculator is very nice. You can calculate rates between any currencies. The number of currencies in the world is amazing. An update-function for currency-prices would be great (euro).
Unfortunately, the map-windows are not positionable. A click on windowborders of the world-map leads to the message "Landkarte noch nicht verfügbar" (map is not available).
Choosing (in preferences) a blinking arrow over the selected country on worldmap doesn't work on my system. Sometimes the arrow appears, but over the wrong country. On the other hand, it works with cities. The description of cities is mostly difficult to read or impossible (cities very near together or text written over the city).
If this review has given the impression Geoworld is no good, nothing could be further from the truth.
I love GeoWorld, because it provides very easy access to extensive information about 220 countries. I don't think there is one country missing... Looking at the list of international associations for example, you will find many things you never knew before. Certainly, a lot of time has been spent collecting all this information - Great! And there are regular updates available.
There is nothing missing in the functionality of Geoworld, but the claim of being a full geography-program can't be accepted. Missing is information about rivers, seas, mountains, countries and counties, etc. GeoWorld shines in information about countries and cities/towns. Additionally you get a program for searching postal codes. In terms of price-performance, I classify it as "very good".
For those who are interested in countries and cities/towns, or those who want a fast comfortable search engine for information about these topics, Geoworld is highly recommended. In these areas, it beats any atlas.
Geoworld is available for DEM 24.90 (appr. EUR 13). More informations can be found on http://www.amigasoft.de .
Dietmar Bertelsbeck <DBertelsbeck@t-online.de>«
