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Most computer users need graphics once in a while, even text‐oriented people like the author. While there have always been many different tools for manipulating and creating graphics on DOS computers (and better ones for Macs), Windows has made such tools more common, less expensive, easier to use, and much more powerful. After defining some basic terms for computer‐based graphics and discussing sources of raw material for those who aren't artists, the author summarizes varieties of graphic software for Windows (and other operating systems). He then describes examples based on personal experience and evaluates two sophisticated graphics packages that libraries can obtain for modest prices. Either package will serve users well, and both packages come with substantial collections of graphic source material (clip art). Finally, the author adds notes on the PC literature for July‐September 1993.

It takes more than a computer, hard disk, diskettes, display, keyboard, and software to make a fully productive computer system. In this article, the author discusses the finishing touches: some of the peripherals (excluding printers) that you will want to consider for your new or existing personal computer. You might even consider the “ultimate peripheral,” a portable computer. The second section of this article divides portable computers into their basic categories, discusses the premium you pay for portability, and notes the greater importance of vendor survival for portable computers. The first quarter of 1993 seemed unusually rich in noteworthy articles in PC magazines. That may be at least partially because PC Sources has increased its editorial scope and partially because the author is now including several Windows‐specific magazines (one new) in the mix.

There's never been a better time to buy a PC, whether it's your first system, a replacement, or an addition. Values have improved enormously in the past year, and you can now get reasonably good values even from the traditionally high‐priced vendors. That doesn't mean you should automatically buy the best‐known brand. You'll still do much better by evaluating your needs, understanding what's important in a PC (and how to look for it), and looking over the marketplace carefully. If you're reading Library Hi Tech back‐to‐front, skip to Looking Back #1: it provides important background for this article. In this article the author discusses various aspects of PC purchasing in 1993, focusing on what matters now. He discusses the numbers that count, critical aspects of a system that are sometimes ignored in reviews, and the advantages and disadvantages of bundling. He offers some notes on brand names and suppliers, but cautions that completely safe purchases are nearly impossible. The article concludes with notes from the literature received between October and December 1992.

Recent Trailing Edge articles have discussed typefaces and graphics. This column discusses putting it all together: economical desktop publishing. There has never been a better time for libraries to become desktop publishers, and some will find that doing so requires no new software or hardware. The author discusses changes that have made desktop publishing such an appealing and reasonably‐priced proposition in 1994 and some of your options for getting started and moving on. He brings the typeface discussion up to date with a startling recent development and defines the difference between true desktop publishing and the spare‐no‐expense field that the “desktop publishing” magazines cover. A sidebar notes a series of desktop publishing workshops that the author is offering as part of LITA's regional institutes program. Finally, the author adds notes on the personal computing literature for January to March 1994, now including some Macintosh magazines and, soon, CD‐ROM/multimedia publications.

Somehow, without loading up on games or owning a sound card, the author has 28 CD‐ROMs at home, with more on the way. How did all these discs get there and what do they say (if anything) about the CD‐ROM marketplace? When are CD‐ROMs marvelous new publishing media, when are they essentially compact diskette replacements, and when are they wastes of good polycarbonate? The author goes through his motley collection, noting some highlights and some messy situations. After all this grumbling, the author adds notes on the personal computing literature for April through September 1994.

You can buy and use a personal computer without understanding the language—but it's a little hard to read these articles, and a lot harder to understand the Held thoroughly. The author starts a new sequence of Trailing Edge articles by denning some of the terms used in the articles and in the field and mentioning some of the other terms you'll see used but rarely defined. The author also provides notes from PC literature for July‐September 1992. For a year in which prices were supposed to stabilize, it's been a remarkable summer: the new general‐purpose machine is supposed to be a 50MHz 486DX2, a well‐equipped 486SX now goes for less than $2,000 complete, and even the hottest new machines are coming out at reasonable prices.