Computer magazines annually vie with each other to review the previous year's hardware and software OutPut and select "the best", for awards. As anyone who has followed the selections knows, they do not always agree with other and, in some cases, columnists' selections don't agree with editors in the same journal.

Lack of concord, selection of products that don't have staying power, and inability to settle on a uniform best" may be a comfort to those of us trying to select appropriate technologies for our libraries. PerhaPs part of the problem is overlapping technologies and operating systems. With a reborn UNIX, several versions of DOS, and Windows and Presentation Manager offering a Macintosh-like interface, new versions of the bus (MCA, EISA), and at least four CPUs, librarians as well as the general Public may be justifiably confused about what's hot and what's not.

Perhaps recognizing that the forecasting business is fragile, some journals have resorted to the use of reader surveys and user polls to select the best products. While individually imperfect, taken together the selections can be useful indicators of general microcomputer technology directions and can serve as a guide to new developments in technology that have potential impact on information management in libraries. But all views should still be tempered by our own skills and needs. Sometimes the most important factor is what is needed rather than what is technically the best.

Ms column describes some of these trends as illustrated by the hardware and software product selections from some major Microcomputer journals. It does not include all of the products please refer to the issues cited for complete information - but rather selects some that have received awards in major categories, such as spreadsheet management, databases, and hardware, and others that seem related to the uses, potential, and need for new technologies in libraries.

Hardware

Microcomputers

In contrast to the splashy introduction of 80386-based micros a couple of years ago, I did not see a lot of new microcomputers touted for advanced features or significant progress in this year's awards. In fact, Richard Landry in PC World viewed th, PC as "largely stalled in 1989."

Neither did PC Magazine find a machine that stood out from the crowd sufficiently to merit a Technical Excellence Award in 1989. It gave the nod again to Compaq Deskpro 386/33 Compaq Computer, 20555 SH 249, Houston, TX 77070) as best of 1989. But with a base price in excess of $10,000 and even more for larger hard drives and added memory, it probably was on few library wish lists.

Byte recognized the beginnings of a new CPU hardware era with - award to the 80486 microprocessor from Intel, and followed Jerry Pournelle's lead by recommending the 80486-based PC that he refers to as "Big Cheetah" (Cheetah International, Inc., 1003 W. Cotton St., Longview, TX 75604), more formally Cheetah Gold. A 25-MHz tower micro, it includes 4 megabytes of RAM as standard. Byte saw its performance as outstanding for the price.

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