Thousands of products and technologies are announced each year, but few manage to fulfill the potential of their spec sheets. Yet every year, a select group of hardware and software delivers innovations that reset our expectations by allowing us to work in new ways.
Each year, we honor those top-tier products with the BYTE Editors' Choice Awards. Awards of Excellence showcase technical innovation that sets a new standard for a product class. Awards of Distinction single out products that are important from a
technical, features, or price standpoint. Awards of Merit go to products worth noting for an interesting feature or price.
Our award winners represent a breadth of technologies, yet all
the honorees have something in common: They all continue to make computing exciting.
Awards of Merit
Acer AcerNote Nuovo
Notebook with innovative power-saving technology. Acer, San Jose, CA; (408) 432-6200;
http://www.acer.com
.
Apple Newton OS 2.0
Existing problems have been fixed, and this PDA OS offers better connectivity compared to earlier iterations. Apple Computer, Cupertino, CA; (408) 996-1010;
http://www.apple.com
.
Asymetrix
ToolBook II Instru
ctor 5.0
The leader in multimedia authoring tools. Asymetrix, Bellevue, WA; (206) 462-0501;
http://www.asymetrix.com
.
Borland C++ 5.0 Suite
Major revision of a classic, with bundled products that take developers from project inception to deployment. Borland International, Scotts Valley, CA; (408) 431-1000;
http://www.borland.com
.
Canon inks
Photorealistic inks for ink-jet printers improves reproduction of photographs
. Canon Computer Systems, Costa Mesa, CA; (714) 438-3000;
http://www.ccsi.canon.com
.
Cheyenne's ArcServe 6.0
Excels at file-level backup and restoration tasks. Cheyenne Software, Roslyn Heights, NY; (516) 484-5110;
http://www.cheyenne.com
.
Connectix VideoPhone 1.1
An easy-to-use and inexpensive package for basic videoconferencing. Connectix, San Mateo, CA; (415) 571-5100;
http://www.connectix.com
.
Emultek's Rapid ST
Without programming, this innovative product lets you create sophisticated simulations for computer-based training or product demonstrations. Emultek; Jerusalem, Israel; +972-2-587-0770; U.S. 1-800-emultek;
http://www.emultek.com/
.
Hewlett-Packard Vectra XU 6/150
Best of the first dual-CPU 150-MHz Pentium Pro PCs we tested. Hewlett-Packard, Palo Alto, CA; (415) 857-1501;
http://www.hp.com
.
Hewlett-Packard Deskjet 1600CM
Network-ready color ink-jet printer with stunning output. Hewlett-Packard, Palo Alto, CA; (415) 857-1501;
http://www.hp.com
.
Innovative Software's OEW for Java
Object Engineering Workbench provides a visual programming environment for Java. Innovative Software GmbH, Frankfurt, Germany; +49 69 236929;
http://www.isg.de/
.
Macromedia Freehand Graphics Studio 7
Four cross-platform graphics programs that provide everything from illustration and page design to 3-D modeling. Macromedia, San Francisco, CA; (415) 252-2000;
http://www.macromedia.com
.
Microsoft Exchange Server
E-mail on steroids. Microsoft, Redmond, WA; (206) 882-8080;
http://www.microsoft.com
.
Microsoft
FrontPage
Easy-to-use development tool for less-complex Web sites. Microsoft, Redmond, WA; (206) 882-8080;
http://www.microsoft.com
.
Netscape LiveWire
For content-rich development of complex Websites, LiveWire is especially effective when you team it with server-side JavaScript. Netscape Communications, Mountain View, CA; (415) 254-1900;
http://home.netscape.com
.
Novell GroupWise 5
Significantly improved document management capabilities added to messaging, calendaring, and scheduling tools. Novell, Orem, UT; (801) 222-6000;
http://www.novell.com
.
Star Division's StarOffice 3.1
An office suite that is one of the first to integrate Web features. Star Division, Edina, MN; (612) 943-1565;
http://www.stardiv.de
.
Verilog's ObjectGeode
Object-oriented CASE for the real world. Verilog, Bagnuex, France; +33 1 665 7070.
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1997 Editors' Choice Awards: Awards of Merit
