The pre-meeting Windows SIG was run by Mary Sheridan, Program Chairman. This SIG should be a regular occurrence at the beginning of future meetings beginning at 6:00 PM. After a short discussion, the introductions and announcements began at 6:45 PM. Merle announced there would be two drawings, with hardware being part of one drawing. We are still putting together the Visual Basic SIG so get ready if you are interested. The IDT/Centaur demonstration of WinChip began at 7:00 and lasted until about 8:15. Following a short break the meeting concluded with the door prize drawing. The amount brought in from ticket sales was $53.50.

The WinChip demonstration was presented by Mike Bruzzone of IDT/Centaur. Mike began by passing out several handouts for the group to read. This interesting information was about who Integrated Device Technologies (IDT) and Centaur Technologies are, what chips they produce and why. Mike also announced that he brought four motherboards (with WinChips in them) for the group. For every motherboard that is reviewed in this newsletter the reviewer will receive an upgrade (faster) chip. He also said that if we review the two designated motherboards the group will receive a complete PC.

The major portion of Mike's talk was about the technical side of PC Chip manufacturing. We learned a wealth of information about the side of computers, chips, software, marketing, and manufacturing that we all normally don't even think about. He talked about the advantages the WinChip brings to the market and what target markets the WinChips are aimed at. For example, the low power consumption of these chips makes them attractive to notebook manufacturers.

Two motherboards were used for the drawing, two boards for club use and two motherboards were given to the group for review. If you are interested in reviewing one of these please contact Merle Nicholson, president of the group.

The door prize followed a short break. Mary Sheridan won the 50/50 drawing. Roger Waters and Mary Sheridan both won a motherboard (with WinChip) donated by IDT Centaur.