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But the best of the new business games are three fast-paced simulation programs that re-create the stock, real estate and commodities markets: Blue Chip Software's Millionaire, Baron and Tycoon. For $60 each, these startlingly realistic games let players dip their feet into the volatile market for stock options or pork-belly futures--without having to take a bath.
CLOCKS AND CALENDARS. Also selling well these days are some low-cost packages that equip personal computers with electronic versions of the aids found on conventional desktops: clocks, calendars, calculators, note pads, Rolodexes. Software that allows a PC owner to check the time, look up an address or remember an important luncheon appointment has been available for years. But switching from a clock to a Rolodex usually means shutting down one program and starting up another--a laborious exercise that generally is more trouble than it is worth. The key to these handy new programs is that they can be called up, used and put aside in a flash without disrupting the main task being done with the computer. The most popular packages in this group include Borland Software's SideKick ($50), Software Arts' Spotlight ($140), Bellsoft's PopUps ($40 to $80 each) and PolyTron's Poly-Windows ($50).
MANAGEMENT AIDS. Most programs aimed at business executives automate time- consuming chores that are more efficiently done by underlings: accounting, typing, record keeping. Now there is a new genre of software designed to help managers with one job that they alone can do: making the final decisions. One of these new programs, Lightyear ($495), automatically weighs the pros and cons involved in, say, choosing where a new plant should be built. The executive starts by listing the factors that will influence his decision: How high are local property taxes? What are the prevailing wage rates? After supplying the relevant data for each alternative building site, the executive simply hits a button and lets the computer come up with a recommendation. Naturally, the last word does not rest with the machine. The user is free at any time to adjust the criteria and watch how those changes affect the proposed outcome. Thoughtware's Trigger ($495), another management assistant, helps an executive track his business's performance. Should sales, costs or inventory, for example, get too far out of line, the program warns the boss and automatically generates a memo to the manager responsible, asking for an explanation of exactly what went wrong and a plan to fix it.