You've finally made it home after a tough day at the office. Now it's time to kick back, pop open a brewski, and get ready for some quality personal time -- with your Mac.
But first come the chores -- such as making sure that you can retire, as planned, at age 45. Quicken Deluxe 6 CD-ROM for Macintosh, the personal-finance champion, will not only help you plan your retirement strategies but it'll also take care of such mundane matters as balancing your checkbook. You keep your financial records safely stored on a Zip cartridge -- the rugged 100-MB complement to the convenient, low-cost Zip drive.
Chores done, you flip through your CD-ROMs to choose this evening's relaxation: Should you waste a few hundred aliens in Marathon, the fast-paced find-'em-and-kill-'em game? How about something a bit less visceral, such as You Don't Know Jack, the funny, hip quiz-show game? It's a kick, but you don't feel like taxing your brain tonight -- and, besides, Jack's more fun with friends.
How about raising your spiritual horizons above your steadily warming beer by perusing the Microsoft Wine Guide? Nahhh -- tonight's blankness is definitely not Sauvignon. Browsing through Passage to Vietnam's striking images could easily fill an hour or more. But not tonight.
No. Tonight -- alone, with no one watching -- you're going to indulge in an hour or two of Thinkin' Things Collection 3. Sure, it's supposed to be for 7- to 13-year-olds, but, hey, you still haven't got the Fripple House brainteaser right the first time, and maybe the Stocktopus trading game will provide some tips on how to move that retirement date a little bit closer.
Personal Organizer
Quicken Deluxe 6 CD-ROM for Macintosh
Intuit
The personal-finance leader adds a wealth of new features.
Finalists
Claris Emailer 1.0v2
Claris
Conveniently consolidates messaging from multiple sources.
Now Up-to-Date & Contact 3.5
Now Software
The quickest, easiest product for getting organized.
Personal Storage Product
Zip drive
Iomega
100 MB per cartridge of rugged convenience.
Finalists
Joule Portable
La Cie
Low-priced family of elegant portable hard drives.
Panasonic PD
Panasonic Communications and Systems
A 4x CD-ROM drive and a 650-MB optical drive in one.
Action Game
Marathon
Bungie Software
The best networkable alien slaughterfest.
Finalists
Doom II
Id SOFTWARE/GT Interactive Software
Kill it if it moves -- it's probably a hell-spawned mutant.
Power Pete
Macplay
No blood, no guts -- just humor and a fast-paced rescue game.
Strategy Game
You Don't Know Jack
Berkeley Systems
A fast-paced, sardonically hip game show.
Finalists
Full Throttle
Lucasarts
A clever script enlivened by tricky puzzles and brutish biker brawls.
Buried in Time: The Journeyman Project 2
Sanctuary Woods Multimedia
Hopscotch through history in this rich, complex whodunit.
Reference Product
Microsoft Wine Guide
Microsoft
Oz Clarke's entertaining guide to the pleasures of wine.
Finalists
Microsoft Cinemania 95
Microsoft
Stills, clips, and sound bites from films of every era.
Picture Atlas of the World
The National Geographic Society
A tour-de-force tour of the world.
Documentary Product
Passage to Vietnam
Against All ODDS/INTERVAL Research
Striking images enriched by photographers' insights.
Finalists
Bob Dylan: Highway 61 Interactive
Graphix Zone
A behind-the-scenes look at the rock poet's creative process.
A Passion for Art: Renoir, Cezanne, Matisse, and Dr. Barnes
Corbis Publishing
Gorgeous artwork and the intriguing story of their collector.
Children's Software
Thinkin' Things Collection 3
Edmark
Creativity and critical thinking can be a blast.
Finalists
Elroy Goes Bugzerk
Headbone Interactive
A determined kid and a wisecracking dog stalk the wily Techniloptera.
Hollywood
Theatrix Interactive
Animated actors speak and perform kid-written scripts.