Could be you've been wanting to start building that family tree, design that backyard herb garden or set up the books for your home business. The best place to learn about software is on the Internet. If you don't have access, most programs are expensive enough to make it worth a trip to your local public library, which probably has free Internet access terminals you can use. Once you're on-line, visit the software's home page and some review sites. You'll find it at the Web address at the end of this column.
Many magazines have their software reviews on-line.
Ziff-Davis packages its reviews into the excellent Computer Shopper site, which also shows you the prices for programs at various merchants. Click on Software. If your library doesn't have Internet access, it may well have back issues of a computer magazine or two. Check the requirements. On the side or bottom of every software box is a listing of the basic system the program needs to run.