To all,
Did you give up PCTL or what?
Here is a news from COMDEX:
SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- PC Computing, the magazine for
technology-minded business professionals, has announced the hardware,
software, Internet and networking product winners of its prestigious 1996 Most
Valuable Product (MVP) Awards. The winners of these eighth annual MVP Awards
were announced here today at COMDEX/Fall, the giant computer trade show.
The MVP Product of the Year Award, one of the most sought-after honors in
the computer industry, went to Microsoft Corporation for its Microsoft Windows
NT 4.0 network operating system. Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.O and
Workstation 4.O also won the 1996 MVP Award for best Operating System.
Microsoft's Product of the Year win is significant on several fronts,
according to PC Computing editors. First, this is the second year in a row
that Microsoft -- which won last year for Windows 95 -- has been awarded
Product of the Year honors. And the Windows NT 4.0 win marks only the second
time in the seven-year history of the awards that a software application has
won MVP Product of the Year honors. PC Computing editors named Windows NT 4.0
MVP Product of the Year because it is singularly changing the face of
computing in corporate America.
Usability Achievement of the Year honors went to U.S. Robotics, for its
Pilot 1000 personal digital assistant (PDA). PC Computing editors laud the
Pilot 1000 for being "small enough to take anywhere and smart enough to hold
everything you need to get organized." Add to these benefits the Pilot 1000's
very affordable price and the fact that it runs for eight to 12 weeks on two
AAA batteries, and PC Computing editors say this product has broken important
new usability ground in the burgeoning PDA market.
Iomega was honored with the 1996 MVP Innovation of the Year Award, for its
Iomega Jaz Drive. PC Computing editors note that the Jaz Drive, a removable
one gigabyte disk, single-handedly created a new market for "personal hard
drives." It offers users virtually endless storage space to back up hard
drive files, the ability to read and edit projects instantly -- and it is
completely portable.
In the hotly-contested High-Performance Desktop Systems category, Micron
Electronics, Inc. took home the 1996 MVP Award for its Millennia Pro 2 400
Plus. Dell was honored for its Dell Dimension XPS P200s in the Workhorse
System category, and IBM won the Home/Multimedia PC category, for its IBM
Aptiva S78. Microsoft dominated the major business software categories,
sweeping the MVP Awards for Business Application Suite (Microsoft Office for
Windows 95), Word Processor (Microsoft Word for Windows 95), Spreadsheet
(Microsoft Excel for Windows 95) and Database (Microsoft Access for Windows
95). Personal finance and game software winners included Intuit, which was
honored in the Personal Finance category for Quicken Deluxe 5 for Windows and
in the Accounting category for Intuit QuickBooks Pro 4.0. The Game CD-ROM
Award went to id Software for Quake.
"Every MVP Award-winning product carries the distinction of being judged
the best in its class -- by a tough panel of uncompromising computing
experts," said PC Computing editor Wendy Taylor. "To select the MVP winners,
PC Computing's editors and lab experts conduct an exhaustive review of
thousands of computer products, evaluating each one for usability,
performance, technology, innovation and value. This rigorous review process
distinguishes the MVP Award from other publications' `best of the year'
product awards, since many of these are based on reader polls or popular
opinion," Taylor noted.
The list of 1996 MVP Award winners reflects many of the major trends in
the computer market over the past year. On the hardware side, the
proliferation of systems on the market today led editors to name four
finalists in each of the major systems categories, instead of three as in
years past. Another hardware trend spotlighted by the 1996 MVP Awards -- in
the portables arena -- is "thin is in." IBM, which took top portables honors
last year for its "butterfly" machine, was honored in the Traveling Portables
category for its super-thin, super-light weight IBM ThinkPad 560.
The Internet revolution is underscored by the MVP wins of several
companies whose hot new products and services are transforming the Internet
and its business applications on almost a daily basis, and turning the
Internet into the business platform of tomorrow. In a major upset, Microsoft
Internet Explorer 3.0 won the 1996 MVP Award in the Web Browser category,
defeating market leader Netscape Navigator 3.0. PointCast Network, which
created a new market by personalizing the delivery of news and data from the
Web, took home the Web Utilities Award.
America Online won the Online Service Award. AT&T, which permanently
altered the Internet service provider (ISP) landscape with its introduction of
its flat-rate service, won in the Internet Service Provider category for its
AT&T WorldNet Service. And Digital took home best Search Engine honors for
its AltaVista search engine.
This year's MVP Award winners span a record 68 categories, up from 40 in
1995, making the MVP roster a valuable buyer's guide. Editors expanded the
1996 product category list to reflect the continued growth of network
computing as well as the explosion of the Internet and related digital
technologies on the computing products industry. There are three new
Communications Hardware categories, for example: ISDN Adapters, ISDN Routers
and Videoconferencing. And Internet/Online categories, which numbered three
in 1995, this year total 12, ranging from Web Browsers to Search Engines to
Intranet tools.
Products in all categories that shipped no later than September 30, 1996
were eligible for consideration by PC Computing's editors for the 1996 MVP
Awards. The 1996 MVP Award winners will be featured in PC Computing's January
1997 issue, a much-anticipated issue, since many of the publication's
1,000,000 readers utilize it as a product buying guide and reference tool.
PC Computing is the magazine for business professionals who think
strategically and are motivated by the business benefits of new technology --
especially the vast potential of the Internet. Written in the language of
business, it empowers Business Computing Buyers with the practical information
they need to make smart computer product purchases. The editorial is
delivered in a style that is accessible and actionable and is focused on
usability, productivity, and the application of new products to business
solutions. PC Computing is the preferred information source for more than
1,000,000 primary readers.
Ziff-Davis, a Softbank company, is the leading publisher of magazines
about computers and the Internet. In addition to PC Computing, its U.S.
publications are: PC Magazine, PC Week, Computer Shopper, MacUser, MacWeek,
Windows Sources, Computer Life, Family PC (with the Walt Disney Company),
Computer Gaming World, Electronic Gaming Monthly, EGM2, P.S.X., CyberSports,
Intelligent Gamer, ZD Internet Magazine, Inter@ctive Week (published with
Inter@ctive Enterprises), Yahoo! Internet Life, and Internet Underground.
Ziff-Davis also publishes or licenses an additional 60 titles that are
distributed in more than 100 countries around the world.
ZD Net, the company's online service, is also the leading provider of
content about computing and the Internet. With the debut of "The Site," a
daily, primetime TV program co-produced by ZDTV and MSNBC, Ziff-Davis also
becomes the leading producer of television programming about the digital
revolution. As a result, Ziff-Davis is rapidly becoming the leading provider
of an integrated system of print, online and broadcast media that reaches all
the audiences with a special interest in computers, the Internet and digital
technologies. As part of producing the most dependable product reviews, Ziff-
Davis also operates ZD Labs, the world's largest independent computer product
testing facility, and the Ziff-Davis Benchmark Operation, a dedicated
benchmark development facility that produces industry-standard benchmarks.
High-Performance Desktop System
Micron Electronics Millennia Pro 2 400 Plus
Workhorse System
Dell Dimension XPS P200s
Home/Multimedia PC
IBM Aptiva S78
Network Server
Hewlett-Packard NetServer E 30 5/166 Model M2100
Web Server
Sun Microsystems Netra Internet Server I 1/140
Multimedia Portable
Toshiba Tecra 730CDT
Workhorse Portable
Dell Latitude XPi P133ST
Traveling Portable
IBM ThinkPad 560
Desktop Color Printer
Canon BJC-620
Network Color Printer
Lexmark Int'l Optra C
Desktop Black-and-White Printer
Hewlett-Packard LaserJet 5P
Network Black-and-White Printer
Lexmark Int'l Optra Rn+
Scanner
Hewlett-Packard ScanJet 4c
17-inch Monitor
Eizo Nanao Technologies FlexScan TX-C7S
20/21-inch Monitor
NEC Technologies MultiSync P1150
High-Performance Graphics Accelerator
Matrox Graphics Millennium
3-D Windows Accelerator
Matrox Graphics Mystique
Desktop Storage
IBM Deskstar 3 Model DAQA-33240
Network Storage
MegaDrive Systems Enterprise E-8
Removable storage
Iomega Jaz drive
Multimedia Hardware
Creative Labs Sound Blaster AWE32 PnP
CD-ROM Drive
Panasonic Big 5
Input Device
Visioneer PaperPort ix Scanning Keyboard
Digital Camera
Canon PowerShot 600
Small Office/Home Office Hardware
Hughes Network Systems DirecPC Satellite Dish
Presentation Hardware
In Focus Systems LitePro 620
Modem
U.S. Robotics Sportster Winmodem
Networking Hardware
Bay Networks Netgear FE508
ISDN Adapter
3ComImpact IQ
ISDN Router
Ascend Communications Pipeline 50
Videoconferencing
PictureTel Live200p
Business Application Suite
Microsoft Office for Windows 95
Word Processor
Microsoft Word for Windows 95
Spreadsheet
Microsoft Excel for Windows 95
Database
Microsoft Access for Windows 95
Document Management
Caere OmniPage Pro 7.0
Personal Finance
Intuit Quicken Deluxe 5 for Windows
Accounting
Intuit QuickBooks Pro 4.0
Management Software
GoldMine Software GoldMine 3.2 for Windows 95 & Windows NT 4.0
Personal Information Manager
Lotus Organizer 97
Communications Software
Traveling Software LapLink for Windows 95 7.5
Business Graphic
CorelDraw 6
Desktop Publishing
Microsoft Publisher 97
Illustration and Image Editing
Adobe Systems Photoshop 3.0.5 for Windows
System Utilities
Symantec Norton Utilities for Windows 95
Operating System
Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 and Windows NT Workstation 4.0
Network Utilities
Network Integrity LANtegrity
E-mail and Collaboration
Novell GroupWise 5
Application Development
Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition
Multimedia Development
Macromedia Director 5
Business and Reference CD-ROM
Rand McNally TripMaker 1997 Edition
Entertainment CD-ROM
Turner Publishing Our Times Multimedia Encyclopedia of the 20th Century
Game CD-ROM
id Software Quake
Web Browser
Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0
Web Communications
VocalTec Internet Phone Release 4
Web Utilities
PointCast Network
Web Site Management Tool
InContext WebAnalyzer
Online Service
America Online
Internet Service Provider
AT&T WorldNet Service
Web Page Publisher
Microsoft FrontPage 1.1
Search Engine
Digital Equipment AltaVista
Browser Add-in
Macromedia Shockwave
Web Server Software
Microsoft Internet Information Server
Web Development
Symantec Cafe
Intranet Tool
Mustang Software Wildcat! Interactive Net Server Business Edition
Usability Achievement of the Year
U.S. Robotics Pilot 1000
Innovation of the Year
Iomega Jaz drive
Product of the Year
Microsoft Windows NT 4.0
SOURCE PC Computing
CONTACT: Nancy Garafano of Ziff-Davis, 415-547-8062, ngarafan@zd.com, or
Sandy Baird, 619-485-8837, sandbaird@aol.com |
