Cambria Computer Users Group
Product Reviews
ChessMaster 9000
Feral Interactive
www.feral.co.uk
Price: $40.00
Review by Ron Sampson
ChessMaster 9000 is the latest in a long line of Chessmaster games going back to 1986 when it came out in DOS and Apple II as chessMaster 2000. Chessmaster 9000 is the first one written for Mac OS X.
Why pay $40.00 for a chess game when you can play for free?
OS X comes with a so-so chess game with two levels of difficulty: hard and almost unbeatable (unless you have played chess for many years and are very good). With Chessmaster 9000 you get much more.
All together there are 7 areas (called Rooms)
The classroom where you learn to improve your game, whether you are a beginner or a grand master.
The Game Room where you play unrated games (will not count in your Overall rating), at any level.
The Tournament Room where you play rated games (you cannot take back moves, no coaching and no hints and all
games count in your rating)
The Library holds more than 800 Classic games including grandmaster level games from 2001 and 2002.
The Kids Room where kids can learn chess basics and practice their game.
The Database Room with over 500,000 games.
The Chessmaster live Room where you can go online and play with others in real time on the Internet.
Pros:
You get lots of control over game parameters, options and Chessmaster 9000 players.
Ease of installation.
Cons:
You must have the DVD in drive at all times when you play, a drain on the battery if you're using a laptop.
The Program did crash the first time it started after install, but never again.
| System Requirements |
Minimum |
Recommended |
| Mac OS: |
Mac OS 10.2 |
Mac OS 10.3 or above |
| Processor: |
700 MHz |
1 GHz |
| Memory: |
256 MB RAM |
512 MB RAM |
| Graphics Card: |
16 MB VRAM |
16 MG VRAM |
| Hard Disk: |
1.3 GB |
1.3 GB |
| Controls: |
Keyboard & Mouse |
Keyboard & Mouse |
| Drive: |
DVD |
DVD |
| Quicktime |
Quicktime 6 |
Quicktime 6 |
If you like chess and are serious about it you should get this great chess game.
Product reviewed: Microsoft Digital Image Pro 9
Reviewer: Ron Crummitt
Date: 6/17/04
The Microsoft's Digital Image Pro 9 software that was presented to our club members was a big hit. Our membership is made up of mainly older people who need to have simplicity and easy of usage in their new software. This application fit like a glove. At first, it can look quite daunting, however the initial tour and subsequent instructional videos were helpful from the start. I think itâs very important to address your new software to the less than sophisticated customer.
This software is most certainly a step up from Microsoft Picture it. Since many members spend a lot of time surfing the web, it was fun to be able to copy and paste a picture off of the web to Digital Image Pro and edit it. The effectiveness of the Smart Eraseä and the Blending Brushä was noted. I was able to make a Calendar on line and insert a picture of my niece showing how they could do the same with their grandchildren. Also, it goes without saying, that the remove the Wrinkles feature was an instant hit. The Archive Pictures Wizard was very helpful in organizing and reviewing pictures saved.
All in all, our members were quite impressed with the attention to their simplicity needs throughout your software, and many said that they were ready to buy it.
