The CD ROM is strictly standard in its use of file structures and so forth, and when you insert it into your machine it will run automatically. After the tank crunches the crunchies you will be faced with a screenfull of options. The most important is the set of MP3 files that constitute the novel Hell’s Faire in audio format. (Do whatever it is you do to arrange the transfer of those files to your portable player.) Then there are the text versions of all those novels. You are given the option of “downloading” the titles in several formats. For those of you who have Microsoft Word installed, the RTF format is best. (Honestly, this is a debatable point, but hey, I’m writing this and that’s what I think. Arnold Bailey, baen.com’s Webmaster and CD ROM designer disagrees, but he thinks everything is so self evident we don’t even need this orientation.) All others who do not want to use Palm Pilots or some such are advised to stick to the Internet browser format (html). The browser option is pretty bullet proof, and will allow you to read the manuscript on-screen with minimal fuss in the font color, style and size you prefer.
On the other hand, if you want to play with the disk and files, the structure is standard. Take any file manager that can handle CD ROMs, including Microsoft Windows Explorer, and you can examine the CD’s contents to your heart's delight. The audio book and the sound samples are all MP3, and the pictures are all JPG extensions. You almost certainly have sound (Microsoft’s Media Player) and image-display software (Microsoft Photo Editor, Adobe Photoshop, Internet Explorer) that will handle the extensions. The simplest way to handle David Mattingly’s animated screen saver is to just click on “install.” About the role-playing game (RPG): it starts with its own introduction, which includes instructions. If you like this sort of thing, check into baen.com, where there may be a bunch of people in the back playing a game. Just remember, as with every other file on this disk, you can copy it, and you can give it away, but you may not sell it!