Santa Clara, California-based Gold Disk Inc will ship version 2.0 of its Astound for Windows presentation software this quarter. Bundled with Astound 2.0 is Astound Studio, a collection of separate editors, each of which can manipulate a particular media format for use in an Astound presentation. Astound 2.0 for Windows incorporates Editable Handout Masters, New Chart Types and Simplified Text Editing. Additional features added in the new release include Astound Media Manager, a Slideshow Optimiser, a Slideshow Control Panel, and control over external devices such as laser disk players via MCI scripting and enhanced interactivity. New features include the Astound Media Manager for easier access and storage of reusable clip art. Astound’s Slideshow Optimiser automatically analyses the user’s presentation, then suggests fixes for improving its performance. Astound 2.0 for Windows has new charting capabilities including support for bubble charts, spider plots, and pictograms. It includes the ability to add sound effects and music that continue across multiple slides, the ability to add sound to transitions, the ability to add MCI objects which will trigger any user-defined MCI script at the appropriate point in the timeline and slide markers that enable users to label specific times during the slide duration for purposes of jumping to these points. System Requirements are an 80386 personal computer with 4Mb RAM running Windows 3.1 and VGA monitor, 8Mb is required to run Astound and Astound Studio. A Windows-compatible sound board is required for sound. Astound retails for $250.
