In a surprising move, Apple Computer, Inc. has discontinued its 
much-lauded PowerBook 540. The company cited unexpected demand 
for the product, unavailability of the 540’s grayscale active-matrix 
display and the consequent inability to deliver the product to custo-
mers as the reasons for its decision. Apple indicated that it had ex-
hausted the worldwide inventory of the display and that the original 
manufacturer would no longer be producing it.

In a related announcement, Apple Canada stated that for similar reasons it would no longer be able to offer the PowerBook Duo 280. The product will remain available in the Untied States for the time being.

Since their introduction in May, Apple had experienced a slew of supply problems with both the PowerBook 540 and 540c. In addition to the limited availability of active-matrix displays, a bug in the 33MHz ‘040 processor (used in the 540c) hindered delivery of the high-end PowerBooks (see MacSense Issue 9). 

Apple continues to offer the PowerBook 520, 520c and 540c. At press time, Apple had not adjusted any pricing to accommodate the gap in the product line, but had indicated it was ex- ploring different configurations of the 520c and 540c to address customer’s needs.

 

At long last, software giant Microsoft has announced new versions of  its renown applications which are accelerated for Power Macintosh. 
To ship in September are Excel 5.0, Word 6.0, PowerPoint 4.0 and 
Office 4.2, for both Macintosh and Power Macintosh platforms. 

Excel 5.0 – Incorporating new features such as the TipWizard 
(which gives the user tips on how to be more productive), Pivot-
Table (which allows for three-dimensional spreadsheets) and a Workgroup Toolbar (for quick access to file sharing and sending e-mail), Excel 5.0 supports System 7.5’s QuickDraw GX and includes the Applications Edition of Visual Basic. Microsoft Excel 5.0 requires at least 4 mega- bytes of RAM, and 8 megabytes is recommended. Pricing is expected to be $460 Cdn. ($339 US.), with upgrades having a net cost of $135 Cdn. ($99 US.) after redeeming a coupon included with the package. 

Word 6.0 – Microsoft’s latest update to Word delivers over 150 new features and enhance- ments, including up to 100 levels of undo, editable print previews and support for System 7.5’s QuickDraw GX. Word 6.0 also incorporates Intellisense features such as AutoCorrect, which corrects frequently misspelled words on the fly. In addition, the package also ships with Word- Basic, a cross-platform macro language which supports AppleScript. Microsoft Word 6.0 re- quires at least 4 megabytes of RAM, and 8 megabytes is recommended. Pricing is expected to be $437 Cdn. ($339 US.), with upgrades having a net cost of $135 Cdn. ($99 US.) after redeeming a coupon included with the package. 

PowerPoint 4.0 – Packed with enhancements such as Cue Cards (which give the user step- by-step directions for many presentation scenarios), AutoLayout Gallery (for quick creation of common layouts) and a clip art gallery of 1,100 images, PowerPoint 4.0 requires a minimum of 6 megabytes of RAM (8 is recommended). Pricing is expected to be $437 Cdn. ($339 US.), with upgrades having a net cost of $135 Cdn. ($99 US.) after redeeming a coupon included with the package. 

Office 4.2 – Combining Word 6.0, Excel 5.0, PowerPoint 4.0 and Microsoft Mail 3.2, Microsoft’s latest office solution package utilizes a new ‘OfficeLinks’ features for inter- application data sharing. Based upon Microsoft’s OLE (object linking and embedding) technology, OfficeLinks allows data to be dragged from one Office application to another and allows that data to be edited within that application. For example, a chart made in Excel 5.0 which has been placed in Word 6.0 may be edited within that Word 6.0 document. Office 4.2 requires a minimum of 8 megabytes of RAM and will ship with Connectix’s RAM Doubler memory management utility for a limited time. Pricing is expected to be $670 Cdn. ($500 US.). Current users of Office, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Microsoft Works can upgrade to Office 4.2 for a net cost of  $349 Cdn. ($259 US.) after redeeming a coupon included with the package. A CD-ROM version is expected to be available in October.

Macintosh and Power Macintosh versions of Word 6.0, Excel 5.0, PowerPoint 4.0 and Office 4.2 will initially ship in seperate packages. Microsoft estimates that by October both types of soft- ware will ship together in one package, and a smart installer will determine the appropriate code to install. Until that time, a coupon will be included with the Macintosh software for a free upgrade to the native Power Macintosh version.

  
On July 22, Apple announced third quarter net profits of $138 
million ($1.16 per share), a striking difference from its $188 
million net loss a short year ago. Apple cited demand for its 500-
series PowerBooks, shipment of over 200,000 Power Macintoshes 
and Power Macintosh Upgrades worldwide, internal restructuring 
and lowered inventories as explanations for the rebound in profits. 

While Power Macintosh sales had leveled off late in the third quarter due to a lack of native-mode software, analysts expect sales to pick up again this fall with the introduction of Power Macin- tosh accelerated applications such as Microsoft Office. Many analysts also agree that the intro- duction of the PowerBook 150, Macintosh 630 series and System 7.5 place Apple in a very profitable position for the fourth quarter. 

Apple’s momentum may slow with the January introduction of Microsoft’s often delayed Windows 4.0 operating system, which is purported to be the most Mac-like Windows ever. Apple evan- gelists have pointed out, however, that Windows 4.0 is a “point-oh” release, has yet to be proven in the market place. 

                                                                                                 News items compiled and written by