Within the past 30 days, Apple Computer, Inc. 
has announced four official licensees of the Mac 
OS, three of whom will manufacture and market 
the first true Mac clones. 

Power Computing Corp., Radius Inc., and Cutting 
Edge are the first to take the plunge into an un-
charted market. Power Computing will reportedly 
offer both high-end PowerPC-based models similar to the Power Macintosh 7100/80 and 8100/100 (to debut in March), and low-end 68040-based clones. Radius demoed a prototype Mac clone dubbed the “Video Vision Workstation’ at January’s Macworld San Francisco, and it is expected the company will produce high-end video and desktop publishing systems. Cutting Edge will initially focus on 68040-based clones (the first of which has been dubbed the ‘Quatro 850’, to debut in February). 

The very first licensee, Bandai Co. Ltd. of Japan, will offer a home entertainment CD-ROM player based on the MacOS (see AppleBits, this issue).

Though all four new licensees can proudly wear the new MacOS logo, they are reportedly prohibited from calling their new systems “Macintosh”. Mac clones from both Power Computing and Cutting Edge are likely to be first sold via mail-order channels.

 

Apple introduced three new Power Macintosh compu- ters at January’s Macworld San Francisco, offering 
up to 40% greater performance than the original 
Power Macintosh systems.  

The Power Macintosh 6100/66, 7100/80 and 
8100/100 computers join the recently intro-
duced Power Mac 8100/110 with increased clock 
speed and larger hard drives. Additionally, the 
256k Level 2 cache (previously an option for 
the 6100 and 7100 models) has now been added 
as standard equiment on all Power Macintoshes. 
On average, Apple expects the new Macs to offer 
overall performance increases of  30% for the 
Power Mac 6100/66, 40% for the 7100/80 and 
20% for the 8100/100 over their predecessors, 
the 6100/60, 7100/66 and 8100/80 . The 6100/66 now has a minimum 350 MB hard drive and the 8100/100’s minimum is now 700 MB. In virtually every case the new machines are pegged at the same price or lower than their predecessors. The Power Macintosh 6100/66 starts at $1,819 ($2,699 Cdn.), for an 8MB RAM/350 MB hard drive configuration; the 7100/80 begins at $2,899 ($4,099 Cdn.) for an 8MB RAM/500MB hard drive configuration; and the 8100/ 100 is $3,699 ($6,599 Cdn.) for an 8MB RAM/700MB hard drive configuration. 

 

Although it won't be the world's fastest—a distinction  held by the Power Macintosh 8100/110—the world's 
ultimate desktop system may just be Apple’s MS-DOS 
and Windows compatible Power Macintosh 6100/66. 
The computer (and a companion card for all 6100 series 
Power Macintoshes), is powered by a 66MHz PowerPC 
601 microprocessor and a 486 DX2/66 microprocessor. 
Working independently, the dual processors allow users 
to run Macintosh and DOS or Windows applications in 
tandem, and even copy and paste information between the 
two environments. 

The hybrid machine offers enhanced multimedia capabilities, such as built-in support of Creative Labs' Sound Blaster chip set for 16-bit audio playback, as well as improved networking compatibility with support for NetWare IPX and TCP/IP network protocols. Dual monitor support allows users to add a second display and view the Macintosh and DOS environments simultaneously, without purchasing an additional video card.  Most VGA, SVGA and multisynch monitors (as well as all current Apple displays) are supported. The same shared drive runs Macintosh, MS-DOS or Windows applications. A double speed internal CD-ROM drive is optional. DOS and Windows applications can print to any Apple or Macintosh  compatible printer through the built-in serial or ethernet ports. 

Equipped with with 16MB of RAM and a 500MB hard disk, the Power Mac 6100 DOS Compatible has an Apple price of $2,759 ($3,999 Cdn.).  The DOS Compatibility Card, with an Apple price of  $739 ($989 Cdn.), may be installed in existing Power Macintosh 6100 or Performa 6100 models.

  

In an effort to remain competitive in an ever-changing market, 
eWorld, America Online and CompuServe have all announced 
restructured pricing for their services.

Apple’s eWorld announced it is cutting the hourly cost of the 
service by 40% and doubling the number of hours included in 
the monthly fee, in the United States and Canada.  Additionally, 
Apple has outlined the capabilities for the next version of the 
eWorld software (1.1), which is expected to be available this spring.  The new release will reportedly include Internet/TCP connection support, 14.4-Kbp dial-in capabilty at no additional cost, and an electronic mail agent that allows users to auto- matically filter and better manage incoming mail. Text-to-speech and multimedia capabilities will also be added. Apple has reduced the hourly charge in the US and Canada to $2.95 (US.), down from $4.95. Additionally, subscribers will now receive double the free online hours (four) for the monthly fee of $8.95. International pricing is $9.95 a month and includes one hour of free access.  For additional hours, beyond the first hour, the international rate is $9.95.

Effective January 1, America Online cut its hourly rate from $3.50 to $2.95 and has dropped all communications surcharges from Hawaii and Alaska. At the same time AOL announced the availability of 14.4-Kbps access in 200 cities and said trials of 28.8- Kbps and ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) connections will begin in the next three months. High-speed access for users without local 14.4-Kbps connections will arrive this spring via a toll-free number.

CompuServe prices will go down February 5. Hourly charges will be $4.80 regard- less of access speed—half the price of current fees for 14.4-Kbps access. Standard monthly membership charge will increase from $8.95 to $9.95 and will include access to 100 basic services (up from 80). Surcharges for WATS connections in the United States will be cut by 30 percent to $6 per hour, and the $7.70 surcharge for access from Europe will be eliminated.

                                                                               News items compiled and written by