Reviews related to : Focus software
This is an updated version of the ‘All Tests’ product I reviewed last year. The driving ‘Theory’ test has recently been made harder and now you need to answer 50 rather than 35 questions.
Yes it is now harder to pass the theory test, the questions to answer have increased from 35 to 50 and the cost to take the test has risen from £21.50 to £28.50. All the changes including the new questions are contained in Driving Test - All Tests - 2007/2008 edition. You can now learn on the move as the theory test questions can be downloaded to your iPod or other portable media player.
I do not get to see that many games but now and again it is nice to regress and see just what originally tempted me to a life in computers. I think my first foray was with a Commodore Pet, however a Tandy model 1 was my own first PC.
This is a rallying game over a range of surfaces using a range of cars. It was originally produced by Invictus and while the 210 seconds from initial load to being ready to start has a lot of good graphics you will be pleased to know that most of it can be cut out.
With children learning to type at school I fear the market for typing tutors have reduced greatly and perhaps only those 30 plus today still have need of this tool.
A name that sticks in the mind from around twenty of so years ago was Mavis Beacon and her typing teaching was certainly what improved my two finger skills to just about being able to touch type. is designed to be used by several people as you need to enrol and enter certain basic information, age under 13, 13-20, 21-30 or over 30. You need to state your level, beginner, one or two finger typist, or a touch typist.
I reviewed another product in the same series from Focus five weeks ago ‘Secrets of the Mind’. That I seem to remember came of two CD’s this comes on one, does this mean we know more about the mind than the universe?
The bold statement on the front of the DVD box reads 'everything you need to know about The Big Bang, Astrophysics and Space'. The CD needs to be in the Rom whenever the product is used so only 34MB of hard disc space is taken by the installation and I suspect that a doctored copy of Quick Time is what takes most of that.
Look back via the search button on the site front page and enter Family Tree or Build a Model Railway to find earlier versions of both these products, in both cases Focus has added even more value.
Create Your Own Family Tree Genealogy Suite from Focus Genealogy is a subject near to a lot of people since smaller families became the vogue, when large families were in fashion lots of people were around with all the required information and so lack of information on great uncle Jack. There are - according to the information on the DVD style box - six items on the supplied CD-ROM. First the item you are expecting Family Tree Legends (Deluxe Edition).
This package from Focus come on no less than five CD’s and contains four different but connected products. The connection is knowledge, two from Britannica and one each from Oxford and Penguin Hutchinson.
Encyclopaedia Britannica This is the standard edition published in 2006. Yes there will be a small number of facts that have changed - but not that many - it is one of the two main encyclopaedias published for the UK market and considering this at 2/5 of the price you are paying less than £6 for it. Over 43,000 articles and including a world atlas amongst other modules the answers to your questions will probably be in here.
It’s been a while since I have reviewed an educational product. This one is from Focus, it has some great maps with views from space and satellites but the info is the king.
If you leave the DVD in the drive you can have a 290MB installation, however should you prefer to store it away safely then a full install took 3.6GB on my PC but amazingly it took only 10 minutes to complete. Windows ME or later is required along with a Pentium III 500 or better, 310MB of memory (or 3.6GB for full install) 1024x768 screen resolution in 16bit colour and a DVD drive.
Until now this has been sold in modules – just like the test itself – now Focus have offered the whole package on two DVD’s and amazingly it is all sold for £9.99
I am no chess expert, but I first played at school some many years ago, I never really progressed beyond the basics, normally I can manage to avoid ‘fools mate’ but with this package I should improve.
Fancy tracing long lost relatives for less than a tenner? Family Tree Legends from Focus can set you up and you get a FREE 30 day subscription to thegenealogist.co.uk
Do you find Sudoku too easy? I don’t, however if you do or if you are bored by always having all the 1 to 9 numbers why not try Karuro.
Not only is this available on a two CD offering but also on a DVD designed to be used on a standard DVD player, so with the latter no PC required.
You will recently have seen my review of the 2006 version on DVD, now Focus have acquired the rights to the 2005 version on CD and that means £9.99.
It is not an exaggeration to say correct assessment and intervention using this package could save a life in an emergency.
Something a lot of small – and some not so small – boys want to do, however this would normally need a great deal of space and a fair amount of money.
It’s been a while since I have looked at something for the kids but these two CD products in a single DVD case from Focus are certainly worth a look.
Chessmaster has been around in one form or other for a long time it is actually a UBISOFT product but this version is republished by Focus at £9.99 and for that you get quite a lot.
Quite a proportion of what Focus republish are Education packages either with a large or small ‘e’ here I am looking at two packages that are unlikely to appear on most school timetables. The advantage here is that they are useful even long after school is past.
The 'Teaching You' series uses video and pictorial sequences along with other aids to show you 'how to'. Neither of these guides will ever make you an expert but they may just help you along the way. As with any 'Skill' the biggest input comes from yourself and that is simply hard word.
For most of us once school or university are finished then exams seem to matter less. However there is a theory that ‘use it or lose it’ could well apply.
This is not by any means new, in fact I first played it as a child and I don’t think it was that new then. It first came out on a PC some years ago, this version was recently released by Focus in their £9.99 range.