The following profile of me ( Mike VanHorn ) was produced by Microsoft for the official Microsoft Works web site in 1997. Since then, Microsoft has redesigned their web site and done away with the user profiles. However, they were nice enough to send me the files associated with my profile, and have permitted me to display it here. Of course the toolbar and other images aren't here, and the table-based, IE-favoring formatting has been removed ( it's actually HTML, now ). However, the text is the same.
Thanks to Sharon Salivaria, who interviewed me for the profile, and Gregg Something, who is now on the Microsoft Works web team and sent me the profile files.
Mike Van Horn uses the Web to help other Works users
by Sharon Salavaria
Recently, we came across a Web page that offered advice on using Microsoft® Works as well as templates for Works 3.1. Being curious, we contacted the Webmaster, Mike Van Horn, and discovered a longtime Works user.
The Swiss army knife of software
"Works gives me everything I need."
Mike Van Horn
Mike has used Microsoft Works ever since he learned Works 1.0 for DOS on his father's Tandy 1000 286 computer. "Mostly, I think of Works as a Swiss army knife," said Mike. "I carry a Swiss army knife around in my pocket because it's the most useful tool on the planet. Works is kind of the same way. I don't really need the high-end word processing that Word would provide me. I don't need a really high-end spreadsheet like Excel. I don't need complex databases like Access would give me. Works gives me everything I need. And everything I've ever asked it to do, it's been able to do it."
Works even helped Mike make it down the wedding aisle. "I got married in March," he said, "and if it hadn't been for Works, we wouldn't have gotten the invitations out. We had a database of people to send them to for the shower and another database for the wedding. So we might not have had a successful wedding had it not been for Works."
Click the image to view it.
Doing what comes naturally
While attending college at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, Mike started authoring Web pages. "It was just by chance," said Mike, "that a lady sent me e-mail saying that she had seen the home page and all the Web server work I did for the School of Engineering and Computer Science, and wanted me to do some Web pages for her. That project worked well for me, so I've been trying to advertise and get more jobs since then. I really like doing Web pages. It may be silly, but it comes naturally to me."
"Some people build model cars," he continued. "I build Web pages. I'm always looking for something that I'm interested in or that I use a lot that I can put on the Web for other people. I'm still using Works for Windows 3.1, and I figure that there are a lot of people like me who haven't upgraded their hardware to get Windows 95 installed. So I went through my databases and spreadsheets and uploaded them and ended up with a Works page."
Mike's efforts have paid off. He gets a lot of feedback and recently started a Frequently Asked Questions list. As he described it, "Every night when I check the log, there are about four or five hits on my Works page and a lot of them are downloading my templates. It makes me feel good that someone is using them and getting the use out of the templates that I hoped they would."
A family that Works together
At home, Mike's wife, Angie, uses Works to bill her clients and to write love letters to Mike. His in-laws are also Works users. "My mother- and father-in-law bought a high-end Pentium with Works 4.0," said Mike. "Every time I go up there, I usually go in and play with Works. My sister-in-law is a senior in high school. She's done a couple of reports in Works. She's pasted stuff out of Encarta and into Works for her reports."
And until recently, Mike's father was still using Works 1.0. "It's really been everything he ever needed until he bought a color printer about three months ago," Mike explained. "Of course, we couldn't find any drivers for Works 1.0, but I found somebody who still has a copy of Works 3.0 for DOS, so I have to get that over to him so he can upgrade and start printing in color." Mike is eager to use Works 4 and eventually plans to upgrade his 486 so he can install it. "I have Windows 95 and Windows NT at work," he said, "and if I can con them into it, I'm going to get a copy of Works 4.0."
If you're using Works 3.1, check out Mike's Web site (but first read this disclaimer ). He has wedding templates, HTML authoring contracts, a bowling score sheet, and much more on his Web pages.