Cupertino, Calif. - Doing mail merges on the Macintosh will soon be as simple as clicking an icon.
The Mac version of Q&A, Symantec Corp.'s flat-file database with an integrated word processor, is expected to debut this spring, after more than three years of development. Q&A 4.0, the latest incar-nation of the 6-year-old program,is one of the top-selling DOS databases.
One of the key features of the Mac version is interoperability with Q&A for DOS. Networked users on both platforms will be able to access and modify Q&A databases simultaneously, according to sources. Although graphics and fonts that can't be displayed in DOS can't be part of a shared database, users will be able to create sophisticated layouts in Q&A Mac and then execute mail merges with data from a DOS Q&A database. Q&A Write documents cannot be shared.
Other key features include:
>Intelligent Assistant.
Carried over from the DOS version, Intelligent Assistant is a feature that will let Q&A Mac users launch complex operations with plain-English instructions; users need only enter a line such as "produce a report showing First Name and Last Name from the records where Last Review is less than 7-01-91" to get a list of all employees who haven't had a salary review in the previous six months.
>Flat file.
Q&A Mac's database component is expected to be functionally similar to Claris Corp.'s FileMaker Pro. It will handle a variety of field types, including date, money, picture, text and paragraph. It will be able to include color graphics, sources said, and can be formatted with a wide variety of fonts.
Database layouts also can include pop-up menus, check boxes and radio buttons. Q&A Mac reportedly will come with a fairly sophisticated programming language, which can be used to look up data in other Q&A databases or even FileMaker databases.
Q&A Mac also supports a variety of customizable reports. There are two basic types: Quick Reports, where data is organized in columns that can be rearranged by clicking and dragging, and Free Form Reports, which let users create non-standard formats, such as invoices or payroll forms.
Another key Q&A feature is Specs, or frequently used sequences users can save and even add to a pull-down menu.
Where Q&A database departs from FileMaker is its interface, sources said. It has five database views, including two separate views for designing and customizing a database. Much of the interface makes concessions to compatibility with the DOS version; there are even "execute" buttons on some tool palettes.
>Q&A Write.
The program's word processor, which sources described as functionally similar to T/Maker Co.'s WriteNow, includes a spelling checker, thesaurus, footnoting, multiple columns, and, like the database side of the product, extensive import and export capabilities via Claris' XTND file-translation software. Q&A is expected to ship with a wide variety of translation filters, including a filter for translating Lotus 1-2-3 files.
The primary purpose of Q&A's word processor, sources said, is to give users the ability to do mail merges without having to leave their database application.
Although pricing hasn't been set, sources said Q&A Mac should retail for about the same as the DOS version, which is priced at $399.
(MacWEEK News, January 6, 1991, page 1) (c) Copyright 1992 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
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Microsoft ships final draft of Word 5.0
By Jon Swartz
Redmond, Wash. - The word among users is that Word 5.0 was worth the wait.
The first major upgrade in almost three years to the $495 program that dominates the Mac word process-ing market began reaching users last week.
Beta testers lauded the new version's Find File tool, which lets users search for files by a variety of criteria, including text within them; its integrated grammar checker; an icon ribbon, similar to the one in Excel 3.0, which provides quick access to more formatting options; the Print Merge Helper, which provides step-by-step prompts to help set up mail merges; and drag-and-drop text, a feature that lets users move text within a document with just the mouse.
The new version makes Word the first major Mac word processor to implement System 7's publish and subscribe features. It also supports TrueType and balloon help.
"It has a ways to go, but, overall, it's a lot more refined," said Joe Nagy, chief of the facilities engineering group at the United States Mint in Denver. "I especially like (the ability) to add shading and borders to sections of text."
"It's a major step up," said Scott Cory, a computer specialist at the Peace Corps in Washington, D.C. "The document-find facility alone makes it much easier to search for file names and text. We don't need On Location or GOfer to chase down information."
Bob Greenblatt, president of B & L Associates Inc., an Excel developer based in Lambertville, N.J., called 5.0 the "best Word version yet. The spelling and grammar additions are first-rate."
Other users, such as Steve Bevan, a systems support analyst at ASK Computer Systems Inc. of Mountain View, Calif., praised the program's new open architecture. Users will be able to add new features by dropping in modules offered by Microsoft Corp. and third parties, or remove some features shipped with the product to make it run on low-memory Macintoshes.
Plug-ins that add QuickTime support and WordBASIC, an integrated programming language, were originally expected this quarter, but Microsoft last week said the two modules would ship "within six months." Pricing and other details have not yet been determined.
Word 5.0 requires a minimum of 1 Mbyte of RAM, but 2 Mbytes are recommended in general and are required for running the grammar checker; under System 7, 4 Mbytes are required to use the grammar checker.
Although the upgrade is free to customers who bought Word 4.0 after Nov. 1, 1991, others will have to pay $129 to move to the new version - a figure that could put it out of reach of some users. "We're under severe budget constraints," said the Peace Corps' Cory, who oversees 600 Macs. "Unless we work out a corporate discount, our hands are tied."
"The improvements are mind-blowing," said Michael Yeager, co-founder of A. Michael's Piano Inc. of Waterford, Conn., the largest piano retail outlet in the United States. "It's the trend of companies ripping off users with expensive upgrades that disturbs me."
Microsoft has scuttled a planned "competitive upgrade" offer, which would have let users of MacWrite, WordPerfect, Nisus and WriteNow switch to Word 5.0 for $129. One company representative said the switch came in response to complaints from Word users; another said Microsoft simply decided that the offer was unnecessary in light of repeated delays Claris Corp.'s release of MacWrite Pro.
For Mac Quadra owners who choose not to upgrade, a version of Word 4.0 that works with the 68040 caches enabled is now scheduled for release as a free upgrade late this month.
Microsoft Corp. is at 1 Microsoft Way, Redmond, Wash. 98052. Phone (206) 882-8080 or (800) 426-9400; fax (206) 936-7329.
(MacWEEK News, January 6, 1991, page 1) (c) Copyright 1992 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
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Aldus launches upgrade blitz
By Carolyn Said
San Francisco - By hook or by crook, Aldus Corp. hopes to persuade Mac users to look its way at Macworld Expo here next week.
The company has just shipped a deluge of Macintosh upgrades: PageMaker, FreeHand, SuperCard and Persuasion, as well as a raft of updates to Windows products (FreeHand, Persuasion, PhotoStyler and PageMaker Database Edition).
Persuasion 2.1, now enlivened with support for QuickTime movies, also adds cross-platform compatibility with presentations created in the Windows version. The Persuasion Player, distributed free with both versions, will let Macintosh and IBM PC and compatible presenters play slide shows created in either the Mac or Windows version.
Users now can cut, copy and paste individual slides or groups of slides between presentations. The new release supports publish and subscribe, core Apple events, TrueType and System 7's virtual memory.
Persuasion remains priced at $495; upgrades are $50.
Observers said Aldus' upgrade blitz showed a company scrambling to play catch-up with the competition, particularly its nemesis in the desktop publishing arena, Quark Inc. of Denver.
"Quark has stolen the heart of the professional marketplace away from Aldus," said Jonathan Seybold, publisher of the Seybold Reports in Malibu, Calif. "Now Aldus wants those guys back."
"This has been a tough year for Aldus," said Glenn Powers, vice president at the Seattle branch of Dain Bosworth, a Minneapolis-based investment firm. "In the past six months, Aldus has gone from 30 or 40 percent growth rate to a 10 percent growth rate. The new products should revive some of that growth."
Aldus said it is merely living up to its new slogan, "Aldus Delivers." "In the past 12 months, we've upgraded or extended our entire set of software," said Pam Miller, Aldus public relations program manager.
"Across the board, we're showing our commitment to graphics professionals and business communicators," Miller said.
Aldus Corp. is at 411 First Ave. S., Seattle, Wash. 98104-2871. Phone (206) 622-5500; fax (206) 343-4240.
(MacWEEK News, January 6, 1991, page 1) (c) Copyright 1992 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
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Apple to revise Modem Tool
By Margie Wylie
Cupertino, Calif. - Faced with complaints that it has left users and developers alike in the lurch with half-baked support for the Macintosh Communications Toolbox, Apple soon will ship a revised modem tool that supports high-speed modems.
The company is expected to begin distributing a beta version of an updated Apple Modem Tool to large QuickMail 2.5 installations this month, according to sources. The CE Software Inc. mail package is among the programs most affected by the old modem tool's lack of high-speed support (see MacWEEK, Dec. 17, 1991).
The Apple Modem Tool is one of several tools that provide communications capabilities in the framework of the Comm Toolbox, a system extension that was designed to free application developers from writing underlying communications code. Although the Toolbox itself has been available since 1989, tools that fulfill its promise have been slower in coming.
The yet-unnumbered update will support data compression (MNP levels 1 through 4 and V.42), error correction (MNP 5 and V.42bis) and hardware flow control in modems that include the features, sources said. It should be available for general distribution in the first quarter of this year, according to sources. Apple refused comment.
An updated Modem Tool may assuage user complaints, but developers are less sure that it signals any change in Apple's sagging Comm Toolbox efforts. The fact that the update will be beta tested informally by current Comm Toolbox users rather than going through a formal round of testing inside Apple inspires little confidence that the project is getting much support at Apple, sources said.
Developers and users complain that Apple has relied too heavily on slower, less-committed third parties to support its own system software-level approach to communications. Meanwhile, the few tools Apple has provided have been inadequate.
"Apple's file transfer doesn't provide error recovery," said Paul Derby, director of technical services for Blyth Software Inc. and one user who is treading the bleeding edge in order to get faster remote access with the Comm Toolbox and QuickMail 2.5.
Derby is using an unannounced update to the Apple Modem Tool, shipped with Mac PowerBooks in October, and a beta version of a file transfer tool from Seaquest Software Inc. of Portland, Ore., to boost remote QuickMail throughput. The Apple Modem Tool he uses supports high-speed modem features, but is designed to work exclusively with the PowerBooks' internal modem and is not recommended for other uses, according to Apple. Seaquest's file transfer tool offers error recovery and other more sophisticated file transfer capabilities, but the company is not yet selling the product.
For Derby and others like him, the official update should be welcome news. "There are literally hundreds of thousands of QuickMail users struggling with [the Comm Toolbox] right now," said Derby. "The answer is more, better tools."
(MacWEEK News, January 6, 1991, page 1) (c) Copyright 1992 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
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Coming-out party for 16-inch screens
By Neil McManus
San Francisco - When Apple introduces its Macintosh 16'' Color Display at Macworld Expo here next week, it will be joined by several companies unveiling products for what could become the new standard screen size.
"Within the next year-and-a-half, 16-inch monitors are going to replace 13-inch as the standard Macintosh display size," said Pieter Hartsook, editor of The Hartsook Letter and Market Research Report in Alameda, Calif.
"It makes sense for other companies to ride the Apple marketing wave for 16-inch displays," said Joan-Carol Brigham, an industry analyst at International Data Corp., a market research company in Framingham, Mass.
A long roster of companies reportedly will ride the 16-inch display wave with product introductions at Macworld Expo.
>Apple will unveil its $1,699 Macintosh 16" Color Display, a Trinitron monitor, sources said (see MacWEEK, Nov. 5, 1991).
>E-Machines Inc. of Beaverton, Ore., will complement its existing 16-inch display line with the ColorLink SX/T, a $1,495 NuBus card that combines accelerated 24-bit color for 16-inch monitors with a built-in Ethernet port. The company also will offer the $995 ColorLink EX/T, a version of the card for 13-inch monitors.
>Mirror Technologies Inc. of Minneapolis will show its new Mirror 16-inch Trinitron Display, now shipping for $1,299. The company is also offering eight-, 16-, and 24-bit video cards for the display for $400, $500 and $1,000, respectively. Mirror is expected to introduce another 16-inch color monitor for less than $1,000 by March.
>RasterOps Corp. of Santa Clara, Calif., will introduce its Sweet 16 System for $2,495. The system, which comes in both NuBus and Quadra versions, includes a 16-inch monitor and 24-bit-color graphics cards.
>SuperMac Technology of Sunnyvale Calif., will roll out its SuperMatch 17 Multimode Color Display for $1,199 (see MacWEEK, Dec. 17).
>Seiko Instruments USA Inc. of San Jose, Calif., will unveil its CM1760LR, a 17-inch multifrequency Trinitron color monitor for $1,599.
And although Toshiba America CP Inc. of Buffalo Grove, Ill., won't be at the expo, it recently introduced its P17CU01, a 17-inch flat square color monitor for $1,700.
Heated competition in the 16-inch color monitor market is driving prices down toward the $1,000 mark, making the size more accessible to users who would otherwise buy 13-inch displays.
"Sixteen-inch monitors are in a price range that a whole lot of budgets can afford," said Bruce Burkhart, head technologist at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory in Berkeley, Calif.
Burkhart said his lab has purchased more than 50 E-Machines 16-inch displays for its scientists and office staff. He said the 70 percent additional screen real estate that 16-inch monitors have over 13-inch displays give office workers enough space to accommodate multiple word processing documents, large spreadsheets, electronic-mail windows, mainframe connection windows, floating palettes and finder icons.
E-Machines now holds more than 90 percent of the Mac 16-inch market by selling more than 2,000 16-inch monitors a month. E. Michael Loftus, E-Machines vice president of marketing, predicts that Apple's entry into the market will soon increase the 16-inch category more than fivefold.
Hartsook predicted that all new Mac models will include on-board video for 16-inch displays, following in the path of the Mac Quadras.
(MacWEEK News, January 6, 1991, page 1) (c) Copyright 1992 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
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Silver Cloud does Chooser one better
By Margie Wylie
San Francisco - The AG Group next week will announce a desk accessory designed to answer managers' and users' pleas for a more flexible, manageable Chooser.
Due in March, the $49 Silver Cloud software is a more sophisticated version of Apple's Chooser, the desk accessory through which users view and activate network services, such as printers, servers and shareable modems.
The System 6- and System 7-compatible software lets users and managers reduce or eliminate long lists of network services with hierarchical lists and aliases, or by hiding some network services altogether:
>Hierarchical zones.
Silver Cloud lets managers and users nest real zones within "quasi-zones" to create a hierarchical Chooser. For example, a network manager might group all Mac volumes available via System 7 file sharing under a quasi-zone called "personal servers." Or, to personalize a Chooser, a user could locate a server under a quasi-zone called "my server."
>Aliases.
Managers and users also can create more familiar names for devices and services by giving them an alias, such as "default printer," or "Anne's drop box."
>Hidden services.
Managers and users can hide services that are inappropriate or unneeded.
>Simultaneous display.
Silver Cloud lets users show more than one type of device at a time in the Chooser window by selecting multiple icons.
>Management.
Once set up, Silver Cloud's definitions are stored in a separate prep file, which allows managers to keep network users up to date by simply replacing their prep files.
Prep files, however, can be generated by any Silver Cloud user, not just the administrator. Therefore, the desk accessory can only guide users in what services they use; it does not secure services from access or impose a uniform Chooser interface across the network.
Silver Cloud also will be available in 50-user packs for $695, 200-user packs for $1,695 and 500-user packs for $3,495.
The AG Group is at 2540 Camino Diablo, Suite 202, Walnut Creek, Calif. 94596. Phone (510) 937-7900; fax (510) 937-2479.
(MacWEEK Gateways, January 6, 1991, page 14) (c) Copyright 1992 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
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Dayna offers two net watchers
By Mitch Ratcliffe
Salt Lake City - Dayna Communications Inc. next week will introduce two products to help administrators monitor network health.
>Network Vital Signs, which will sell for less than $500 when it ships late this quarter, is a fault-monitoring software package designed to provide device-specific information on each AppleTalk device on a network.
The first release will rely on Routing Table Maintenance Protocol (RTMP) packets to log network activity. For example, an AppleTalk Phase 2 router would return a list of currently connected devices, such as Macs, printers and other routers. The application reportedly will allow users to add Dayna modules for additional network reporting capabilities.
Network Vital Signs will allow users to script responses to network events, such as failure of a node. Scripts could include, for instance, having a Mac dial a pager to alert the network administrator when a server disappears.
>NetScope, a hardware and software bundle for monitoring traffic on multizone networks, also will ship early this year. A hardware probe collects data for each physical segment of a LocalTalk or Ethernet network and downloads that data to a NetScope application running on the administrator's Mac.
A package that includes the NetScope application and one probe will cost about $1,000; additional probes, which can feed data to the same copy of the software, will sell for less than $500, according to Dayna.
Traffic monitoring normally requires dedicating a Mac on each network segment, because these applications cannot observe traffic beyond a router. By using a hardware probe, which collects traffic data and downloads it to a centralized application, users do not have to lose a Mac to monitoring each segment.
Dayna Communications Inc. is at 50 S. Main St., Fifth Floor, Salt Lake City, Utah 84144. Phone (801) 531-0600; fax (801) 359-9135.
(MacWEEK Gateways, January 6, 1991, page 14) (c) Copyright 1992 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
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Reviews/Comparison: Talkin' about a Mac revolution
By Ric Ford
Like the original Macintosh II, the Mac PowerBooks represent a revolutionary change in Macintosh computing. The Mac II opened the door for new applications with its color and expanded performance capabilities, later extended by a large family of Macs. The PowerBooks are opening new doors as the first truly mobile Macs, and they will have far more impact than the Mac Portable.
In this review, we evaluate the PowerBook 100, Apple's slim, entry-level laptop, and the PowerBook 140, the model aimed straight at the middle of this hot market. The Mac now competes head to head with DOS and Windows laptops free of handicaps in size or price.
>Packaging and ports.
The PowerBook 140 looks just like the more expensive PowerBook 170 (see MacWEEK, Nov. 12). Attractively sculpted, it is about the size and weight of a standard ream of paper. The computer fits easily into any briefcase, but its 7 pounds are a constant reminder of its presence.
Connections for external devices include an Apple Desktop Bus port, a microphone input, monaural sound output (through a stereo plug), a special new SCSI connector, and modem and printer ports.
A SuperDrive floppy slot is positioned under the keyboard on the right side of the PowerBook 140, and a tiny hard disk is also tucked inside the case. Apple offers a choice of either a 20- or 40-Mbyte drive manufactured by Conner Peripherals Inc.
The PowerBook 100 eliminates several features to trim weight and size. It is almost 2 pounds lighter and a little smaller in both height and depth. It lacks an internal floppy drive and a sound input and is even missing an external modem port. An internal 2,400-baud fax and data modem, standard in the PowerBook 170, is a $349 option for both the 100 and 140. (The printer port on the 100 can be used for an external modem when it is not being used for other purposes.) An optional, external floppy drive has a special plug to match the socket on the PowerBook 100.
The PowerBook 140 has a power switch that turns the computer on. The switch also turns power off, although using the Finder's Shut Down command is recommended. The 100 is turned on by pressing a key on the keyboard and is turned off with software, but it has a special Storage switch to conserve power when it is off for long periods.
Convenient reset and interrupt switches are on the side of the 100, but the 140's awkward equivalents can be operated only with the help of a paper clip.
AppleTalk Remote Access software, a HyperCard disk, System 7.0.1 and a Macintosh Basics tour disk are bundled in the packages. The PowerBook 140 also includes an external microphone.
>Processors, memory, power.
The PowerBook 100 and the 140 both operate at the same clock speed - 16 MHz - but the 140 has a 68030 processor, while the 100 is based on the older 68000. This difference makes the 140 about twice as fast as the 100 at overall processing and as much as four times faster at crunching numbers, although neither computer has a math coprocessor. (The PowerBook 170, which features a math coprocessor and a 25-MHz 68030, is significantly faster than the 140.)
The choice of a 68000 processor for the PowerBook 100 creates several other limitations in comparison with its bigger brothers. The 100 lacks support for virtual memory, 32-bit addressing and 32-bit QuickDraw. Virtual memory can be run on the PowerBook 140, but its demands on the disk make it appropriate only when the computer is running on external power.
Two Mbytes of pseudo-static RAM are soldered to the motherboards of these computers, and an extra 2 Mbytes are available preinstalled in the RAM expansion connector if you buy the PowerBook 140 4/40 model.
The PowerBook 100 is sold only in a 2/20 configuration, but Apple offers a 2-Mbyte RAM upgrade (for a total of 4 Mbytes) at $399.
The maximum amount of RAM for each of the PowerBooks is 8 Mbytes, but Apple does not currently sell any model with more than 4 Mbytes.
Power-consuming hard disk usage can be minimized with the help of two options in the Memory control panel: a RAM disk and the disk cache.
Contents of the RAM disk are retained across shutdowns on the PowerBook 100, but the 140 loses anything in the RAM disk when it is shut off.
All the PowerBooks offer a sleep mode, which saves power and rests the screen. Touching a key wakes the computer from its sleep and returns it to the state in which it was left.
>Input and output.
Compared with desktop models, notebook computers inevitably suffer from ergonomic compromises in the design of screens, keyboards and input devices. Apple, however, has done a remarkably good job of minimizing those compromises in the PowerBooks.
The 100 and 140 share backlit, supertwist LCD screen technology and a 640-by-400-pixel resolution. The 100's screen is about 7.5 inches wide, almost an inch narrower than the 140's screen. Images on the 100's screen are displayed at 85 dpi, and both fonts and graphics are noticeably smaller in size in comparison with other Mac screens.
The pixels on the 140 screen are about the same size as on Apple's 12-inch monochrome monitor.
The screens are surprisingly good in contrast and brightness. We found that the backlighting was superfluous in bright sunlight, but it is generally needed under artificial lighting. Turning it down saves power and battery life.
The active-matrix LCD screen of the high-end PowerBook 170 eliminates two problems of the screens in these models: ghosting and persistence.
Ghosting is a phenomenon where images in one part of the screen affect other parts of the screen. It can be quite noticeable in the Finder, where window lines may bleed into plain gray areas of the desktop. The ghost images can be minimized by choosing a whitish background for the desktop and by adjusting the screen controls carefully. The brightness and contrast controls of the PowerBook 100 have a convenient rotary design. The 140 uses sliders, which are harder to adjust precisely.
Persistence is another characteristic of the screen technology. Images take a moment to disappear when the screen changes, so that fast-scrolling text and animations blur. The cursor may disappear, or "submarine," as it is moved. The screen controls have no effect on this problem, but it is not severe enough to be a major handicap.
The PowerBook 100's trackball is smaller than that of the PowerBook 140 and 170. We found it a little harder to use smoothly than the bigger ones. The trackballs are effective temporary substitutes for a mouse, but they are too different to serve as true replacements.
Keyboards on the PowerBooks are virtually identical. Key spacing is standard for letter keys, but extra keys such as Enter, Option and Escape are crammed tightly into the small rectangular layout.
Key pressure and travel are comparable to desktop keyboards, but the feel is different, with a more abrupt click. The design keeps typing noise at a reduced level, but we found ourselves making more typing errors. Overall, the keyboard is a good one for its primary purpose, and the built-in wrist rest is a welcome design innovation.
>Performance.
In processing, the PowerBook 140 is in the same range as the Mac LC and the Classic II. The 100 is about half the speed of the 140 but substantially faster than a plain Classic. The 170 is 50 percent to 100 percent faster than the 140 in general and much faster at doing floating-point mathematics.
The only surprise in the performance of the PowerBooks is the poor results turned in by the 20-Mbyte Conner hard disk. It is the slowest Winchester drive we can remember testing. The 40-Mbyte drive is faster than the 20-Mbyte model but slower than most popular external hard drives.
Both the 100 and 140 are capable of handling drives with higher performance than their internal drives provide, although their SCSI throughput falls short of that achieved by high-end desktop Macs.
Another aspect of performance for notebook computers is battery life. Although it depends on many factors, we found we could work for two to three hours without recharging. An extra, $99 battery is a good investment for lengthy sessions away from power outlets.
>Compatibility and customer support.
There is one major compatibility issue with the PowerBooks - System 7. Only the PowerBook 100 can run System 6, a distinct advantage with limited disk and RAM configurations.
We used both System 6.0.5 and System 6.0.7 successfully on the 100, but we had to obtain an updated Portable control panel (Version 1.3), because the screen brightness control did not work properly without it. The PowerBook 140 and 170 work only with System 7.0.1.
SCSI disks can be connected to PowerBooks only via an extra, $49 HDI-30 SCSI cable, which Apple does not include in the package. You will probably want a $40 SCSI cable extender, too, because the HDI-30 cable is a short 18 inches. The PowerBook 100's internal disk can be connected to other CPUs via the $49 HDI-30 SCSI Disk Adapter and a normal SCSI cable at the other end.
We encountered occasional freezes and crashes with the PowerBook 140, but there were no consistent problems with the hardware or software during the testing.
The PowerBook 100 would not start up from a high-speed hard disk that worked with the PowerBook 140, a likely incompatibility between the fast disk's interleave ratio and the 100's speed limitations.
Apple provides a one-year warranty and offers a new toll-free support line. Another innovative new program allows buyers to return PowerBooks directly to Apple for repairs.
>Conclusions.
All the PowerBooks are excellent Macs for their price and size. Their compromises are small enough that they can serve as your only Mac system, and they make fine complements to existing desktop systems.
If you can afford the PowerBook 170, it is the notebook of choice. Its extra performance and high-quality screen are distinct advantages. But the 170 comes with a hard disk, RAM configuration and modem that power users may want to upgrade, and the cost of replacing these bundled items is substantial.
At the other end of the scale, the PowerBook 100 is ideal for writers on a tight budget who appreciate its compactness and do not mind its reduced screen size, its small, slow hard disk and the awkward external floppy drive.
The 100's ability to run System 6 represents a substantial cost savings, because System 6 works effectively in small memory and disk configurations.
What we would really like to see is a PowerBook with the 170's screen, the 100's screen controls and programmer's keys, and the 140's price and internals. Apple could keep the fax modem, internal hard drives and expansion RAM to maintain the appropriate manufacturing cost.
For now, the best compromise overall is the PowerBook 140 4/40. It is powerful enough to handle a vast assortment of Mac tasks, small enough to be truly mobile and affordably priced.
If you need more disk or more RAM than Apple offers, get the 2/20 configuration and use the $600 you'll save to help defray the cost of third-party upgrades.
SCORE CARD: Apple Notebooks
Categories PowerBook100 PowerBook 140
Overall value Very good Very good
Performance Good Good
Features Good Good
Installation/configuration Average Average
Compatibility Excellent Excellent
Documentation/support Very good Very good
List price $2,299* $2,899**
*PowerBook 100 2/20 (2 Mbytes RAM, 20-Mbyte hard disk); ($2,499 with external SuperDrive.
The PowerBook 100 and 140 are Apple's first truly portable, affordable Macs. They are more-affordable alternatives to the high-end PowerBook 170. Power users will prefer the faster speed and better screen of the PowerBook 170, but its higher initial cost is even less of a bargain if you choose to upgrade Apple's bundled disk, RAM or fax modem with third-party products.
>The PowerBook 100 is ideal for writers and others on a tight budget, in part because it runs System 6, which is less demanding of RAM and disk space. Disadvantages of the 100 include a reduced screen size, a slow 20-Mbyte disk and a less-capable 68000 processor.
>The PowerBook 140 offers the best compromise in price, size and performance, and it should serve many buyers well. We strongly recommend the 4-Mbyte RAM, 40-Mbyte hard disk configuration, unless you plan to upgrade the disk and RAM with third-party products.
(MacWEEK Reviews, January 6, 1991, page 37) (c) Copyright 1992 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
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Year in Review -- Looking Back
1991: Paving the way to a new era
System 7 and the introduction of the PowerBooks energized the Mac market in 1991, but the effects of many of the biggest changes, such as QuickTime and the Apple-IBM alliance, remain to be felt.
The Mac's eighth year was one of new beginnings, foundation laying and direction setting.
Over the past 12 months, the Macintosh experience has changed in some significant ways - most clearly through the release of System 7 and the emergence of the PowerBooks. These events, coupled with the success of
Apple's efforts to boost unit sales, have brought new excitement and opportunity to the Mac market, despite the continuing recession and mounting competition from Windows.
But the full impact of these developments, in the form of concrete changes in the way most users work, has yet to come. The same goes for several other key advances of 1991, including Apple's QuickTime multimedia extension, the company's new image-publishing technologies and Adobe Systems Inc.'s PostScript Level II and forthcoming Multiple Master fonts.
And the year's most dramatic news - Apple's alliance with IBM Corp. and the associated revelations about future hardware and operating systems - won't have much direct effect on users until later in the decade.
>System 7.
A year ago, in our review of 1990, we concluded that finishing its new operating system without further delay was the most critical challenge Apple carried into the new year. The company met that challenge successfully, releasing System 7.0 on its (revised) schedule, in relatively bug-free form and with a new direct phone-support program to back it up. The continuing transition to the new system has not been hassle-free. Apple's assurances that System 7 would work on 2-Mbyte Macs turned out to be something of a joke. Current versions of most major programs proved compatible, but users found themselves compelled to update dozens of older applications, utilities and even their hard disk drivers. And delays in the release of a System 7-compatible version of certain key Apple and third-party programs, including A/UX, Pathworks, MacTCP, and the AppleShare and QuickMail servers, kept some organizations from migrating promptly to the new OS.
Still, System 7 has already brought an improved interface, access to additional real and virtual memory, and built-in file-sharing and outline-font technologies to more than 1 million users.
The System 7 innovations with the greatest potential significance, however, are in the area of interapplication communications - publish and subscribe and Apple events - and here progress has been slower than expected. Thousands of programs have earned official certification as System 7-savvy, and scores have, to some extent, incorporated support for Apple events. But how many users today actually take advantage of publish and subscribe, for instance, in their daily work? More than seven months after the release of the new system, users were still awaiting a word processor capable of the quintessential application of the technology: allowing them to subscribe to a chart or data published from their spreadsheet. The new style of computing some had anticipated from System 7 - a world of custom work environments made up of small, focused applications linked via Apple events and operating under script control - may yet materialize. But it didn't happen in 1991.
>PowerBooks.
The success of Apple's new notebooks is less ambiguous. If their effect in 1991 was limited, that was primarily because, at least until recent weeks, users couldn't get their hands on the machines and on the extra memory and accessories needed to make them fully functional. Still, the mobile machines generated more excitement among Mac loyalists, as well as interest among DOS users, than perhaps any new Apple product since the Mac II.
>Other innovations.
With the introduction of QuickTime, 1991 brought the world a suite of technologies that, at least in the view of some pundits and enthusiasts, will finally make multimedia a mass movement. But so far the masses have only been able to marvel at mini movies made by others.
Desktop publishing was perhaps overshadowed last year by newer and glitzier subjects, but it remained a bedrock application for the Mac, and several trends and developments over the 12 months - continuing declines in the cost of both standard and color printing, improved scanning and image-output tools, the release of PostScript Level II, and the introduction of Adobe's variable-weight Multiple Master fonts - are certain to give the market a lift in the next year.
>Distribution and support.
The year just finished saw a continuing crisis in traditional distribution channels, highlighted by a wave of mergers, the near-collapse of Businessland and the rapid advance of direct marketers and superstores. Seeing the writing on the wall, Apple turned to CompUSA and other discount retailers, while gradually - too gradually, in the view of many users and managers - implementing direct support in the form of its free customer assistance center and System 7 and PowerBook hot lines, as well as fee-based programs.
>Big Blue shocker.
The biggest news of the year was also the news with the least immediate effect on Mac users: Apple's far-reaching alliance with its former archrival for control of the desktop, IBM. The news left some Mac enthusiasts fearful that Apple had sold its soul, but others chose to hope that CEO John Sculley's rosy predictions - that the deal will bring a technological renaissance - will prove true.
At least initially, the July announcement of the alliance left some buyers puzzled about Apple's direction and confused by the proliferation of operating systems for its hardware. But with disclosure of some further details in October and the release of Apple's Blueprint for the Decade in November, the Mac community wound up the year with more information than it's ever had before about where Apple's headed.
Finally, in a fitting conclusion to a year that saw Apple lay the groundwork for further advances in the corporate market, 1991 will go down in history as the year that Lotus
1-2-3 finally made it to the Mac.
(MacWEEK, Year in Review, January 6, 1992, page 24) (c) Copyyright 1992 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
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Year in Review -- Looking Forward
1991: Paving the way to a new era
"The trouble with our times is that the future is not what it used to be." - Paul Valery
The new year will be marked by more systems with color and better performance, less-expensive software and, possibly, a whole new market for Apple.
If 1991 was the year Apple started on some bold new courses, 1992 will be the year Mac users make their first forays into those undiscovered countries.
Apple CEO John Sculley, who usually takes a conservative view of the future, said 1992 would be a banner year for Apple, including the possible shipment of its first consumer electronics products.
Users this year also can expect to see greater strides for mobile Macs, more power added to the low-cost machines, more performance on high-end systems and color printing.
We will also see a change in Macintosh programs: a greater emphasis on less-expensive software for lower-cost Macs, along with a re-evaluation of what features programs should provide as some of those capabilities start to appear in the system software.
"Apple's future definitely isn't what it used to be," said Ash Jain, vice president of client services for The Irvine Resource Group, a Macintosh research firm in Irvine, Calif. "They really got their act together in 1991 and delivered some great products. And 1992 promises even more innovative products."
>Low-cost color.
Possibly as early as this summer, Apple reportedly will start delivering more power in its mass-market Macs.
The company is expected to ship an updated LC, equipped with a 16-MHz 68030 processor. It also will ship a faster IIsi, which could be the first low-cost Macintosh with Ethernet (see MacWEEK, Oct. 22, 1991).
Also expect Apple to offer a color Classic II in time for next Christmas. At slightly less than $2,000, the new machine will feature a special chassis to hold its built-in, 9-inch color monitor.
>New notebooks.
Apple reportedly will offer by fall a new PowerBook weighing less than 4 pounds, with a 25-MHz 68030 and backlit supertwist screen displaying 16 shades of gray. This new PowerBook will have a distinctive difference: no ports or floppy.
Instead, Apple will offer two docking stations that provide what the new notebook lacks (see MacWEEK, Dec. 3, 1991).
A new high-end PowerBook also is expected that will sport a high-speed '030 and Apple's first color active-matrix screen, sources said.
>Powering up.
Apple plans to build two sequels for its successful Quadras, adding faster 68040s, built-in S-video output and a digital signal processor.
A step up for the IIci also is in the works. It should have features similar to the Quadra 700, including an '040 and built-in Ethernet.
>Printers.
Sometime this spring Apple is expected to deliver its first RISC (reduced instruction set computing)-powered LaserWriter, the NTR (see MacWEEK, Nov. 19, 1991). This should be followed later in the year with Apple's first color printer.
>Consumer electronics.
Apple wants to offer a handheld media player in time for Christmas. It also could deliver its first palmtop information device by then, although sources said the pen-based unit more likely will appear well after New Year's Day of 1993.
And look to Kaleida, one of the new Apple-IBM Corp. joint ventures, to fuel Apple's new media device. The venture is expected to deliver MediaScript, its combination QuickTime derivative and interactive scripting language, by year-end (see MacWEEK, Nov. 12, 1991).
>Extensions.
Apple's customers may face a few changes themselves, having to pay for what previously was free. Apple's current plan is to sell system upgrades such as QuickTime and Open Collaboration Environment (OCE) through retailers.
And don't expect every new Macintosh to have every new system goody. A new Classic will not include QuickTime, for instance, and HyperCard probably will be unbundled in 1992.
>Filling the gaps.
With Apple's product line a moving target, developers will have to be lighter on their feet.
As a result, you can expect to see many products this year that try to capitalize on QuickTime and OCE. QuickTime, for example, should be found in an array of products ranging from the obvious, such as MacroMind-Paracomp Inc.'s Director, to Claris Corp.'s MacDraw Pro.
And by year-end, some OCE-supporting word processors and spreadsheets should be able to send documents through a mail interface. OCE also holds great promise for groupware, allowing a number of users to work on a document simultaneously.
Probably the most rewarding area for third parties in 1992 will be hardware add-ons. This year we can expect to see tiny, high-capacity drives for the PowerBooks; integrated media controllers that help support QuickTime; and networking cards of all sorts.
>Faster turnaround.
Time to market will become the key to third-party success. As Apple decreases its product-development cycle, developers will need to deliver new products more quickly.
This need for faster development along with the demand for more functional, leaner software could bring component programs into vogue in 1992. Such add-on programs should appeal to value-minded customers, who will appreciate the chance to buy only those features they need for their current software investment.
>Blurring the line.
As Apple strives to differentiate its offerings, word processing, database and spreadsheet capabilities likely will become part of system software. Successful third parties will either build onto these capabilities or develop content, such as media titles and source data.
When you combine a new emphasis on lower prices, both for hardware and software, with this blurring between application and system software, the biggest change for the year may come down to attitude. Perhaps the word "value" will again be part of every developer's marketing vocabulary.
(MacWEEK, Year in Review, January 6, 1992, page 24) (c) Copyyright 1992 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
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Year in Review -- Headlines that sounded good at the time
>Dance of the System 7.0 veils - Mac the Knife - Jan. 8
>Active Memory laps at U.S. shores - April 16 (French PIM comes to U.S.)
>Virtual memory: Disk in RAM's clothing - May 14
>Toward promised LAN: System 7's client-server dream - Aug. 6
>Trackballs becoming serious rodent killers - Aug. 6
>How many shuttles does it take to lift Portable? - Aug. 6 (Mac Portable accompanies crew of space shuttle Atlantis)
>Radius raises shields to ward off ELF - Aug. 6
>Mac six-pack on tap for October fest - Aug. 20
>Apple bobs in Comdex seas - Oct. 29
>Quadra compatibility a cache-22 for users - Nov. 5
>Trapdoor unhinges DSS security - Dec. 10
(MacWEEK, Year in Review, January 6, 1992, page ) (c) Copyyright 1992 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
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Year in Review -- Noteworthy quotes
Yes, they really said it!
"It's as though Apple is saying to third-party developers, 'Here, we'll take a substantial business and screw it up and give you an opportunity.' " Stewart Alsop, publisher of P.C. Letter in Redwood City, Calif., on Apple's decision not to spin off Claris Corp. - Feb. 5
"Prices shown are suggested retail. But who pays retail anymore?" Footnote in Apple ad. - March 19
"I had a client who was guilty as all get-out ... I used Negotiator Pro [and] I got my client's sentence reduced to four years from seven years." David Vandagriff, an attorney in Monett, Mo. - March 19
"Freedom of speech is not an issue, and it certainly is not an issue to a Canadian." Former GEnie General Manager Bill Louden, discussing the on-line service's lockout of members who disagreed publicly with GEnie management. - April 16
"Imagine that tomorrow Secret Service agents walked into your house with a warrant that said they thought there might be something incriminating in your home, but they didn't know what ...[And] they could take anything they thought looked interesting." Gerard Van der Leun, Electronic Frontier Foundation director of communications, on the seizure of publisher Steve Jackson's computer equipment. Jackson later sued. - May 14
"Multimedia before QuickTime was the integration of everything you've never wanted to integrate." Don Buffamanti, CEO of Infonaut Inc., a Getzville, N.Y., consulting company. - June 11 "Hey, folks, get with the program. All you System 6-using retros are but grapes in the path of the steamroller of progress." Ask David Ramsey - Aug. 13
"Many A/UX users view a possible AIX port with about the same enthusiasm they would give to being eaten alive by leeches." Richard Todd, A/UX user from Norman, Okla., reacting to initial reports about the Apple-IBM Corp. alliance. - Aug. 20
"I drooled when I saw TechStep and I'm heartbroken I can't get it ... There's enough craziness in computers that I'm not sure some of it isn't voodoo. TechStep would give me a warm fuzzy feeling that the repair actually works." Kirk Mackes, information center administrator, Connaught Laboratories Inc., Swiftwater, Pa. - Dec. 3
"Apple and Novell are like lampreys to big-fish IBM. IBM thinks we'll just be a nuisance they can shake off as soon as they don't need us anymore, but we'll suck them dry before they can get to the gate." unidentified Novell rep - Aug. 13
(MacWEEK, Year in Review, January 6, 1992, page 27) (c) Copyyright 1992 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
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Year in Review: For the not-so-savvy, Dubious Achievement awards
>Dead again
To Jasmine Technologies Inc., which for two years in a row has managed to die a protracted death that left users in a support quandary.
>Gag reflex
Jointly awarded to Prodigy and GEnie on-line services, for penalizing users for flexing their First Amendment rights.
>Bait and switch
To Prodigy, for luring users by promising a flat monthly fee, then adding a surcharge on those sending "too many" messages.
>So this is productivity
To groupware, which lets users automate group tasks more slowly than it ever took to perform the tasks by hand.
>Heart of gold
To Apple, which laid off nearly 1,500 employees because it sold too many low-cost - and low-margin - Macs.
>Savvy is as savvy does
To Claris Corp., which promised to be "first with the most for System 7," but so far hasn't managed to get savvy versions of MacWrite and other classics out the door.
>Things we didn't know we needed
To Trash Master, from The HAND-Off Corp., which provides hierarchical menus and filters for managing the Mac's Trash.
>Complicating the issue
To CE Software Inc.'s Tiles, an application that lets you launch files by clicking on icons.
(MacWEEK, Year in Review, January 6, 1992, page 28) (c) Copyyright 1992 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
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Year in Review: MacWEEK's guide to computer jargon
Announced: Refers to product still in the early stage of development.
>Beta: Refers to product still in the early stage of development.
>Distributed processing: What participants in workgroup computing are supposed to be doing.
>End-user scripting: Hopeful programmers' fantasy that, deep inside, users are just like them.
>Groupware: Clever marketing ploy in which buying just one copy of a program gets you nothing.
>Kaleida: Newly discovered twin of Pluto.
>Multimedia: The concept of jaded computer executives who wish computers were more fun.
>Object: Buzzword of the '90s. See also Groupware.
>Open: Vaguely New Age term meaning "willing to agree to anything in public."
>Pencentric: The results of letting programmers write what they want instead of what will sell.
>Personal Information Manager: Code words for chaos.
>QuickTime: Two-step dance popularized by Bill "Bojangles" Robinson.
>Shipped: Refers to product still in the early stage of development.
>System 7: Secret plot to make your Macs run slower and your applications obsolete.
>System 7-savvy: People in on the joke.
>Taligent: That funny emblem Federation officers wear on Star Trek.
(MacWEEK, Year in Review, January 6, 1992, page 28) (c) Copyyright 1992 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
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Hayes flexes modem muscle
By Mitch Ratcliffe and Margie Wylie
San Francisco - Hayes Microcomputer Products Inc. is pressing Apple to modify the modem built into the PowerBook 170.
The Norcross, Ga.-based modem maker claims the PowerBook modem causes accidental disconnections and botched file transfers because Apple, in an effort to avoid paying royalties to Hayes, used a modem chip set that doesn't fully implement industry standards.
Hayes said modems must conform to the escape sequence defined by the Heathrington 302 patent, which the company owns, to maintain reliable communications.
In press interviews in recent weeks, the company's president, Dennis Hayes, has charged that the modem may violate the patent, even though it doesn't fully implement the escape sequence.
Last year Hayes won multimillion-dollar settlements from several modem makers who used a chip set that Hayes said is the same as the one in the PowerBook modem.
The chip set, made by San Jose, Calif.-based Sierra Semiconductor Corp., uses the same +++ sequence as Hayes, but without the surrounding "guard times" spelled out in the Heathrington patent.
The modem is standard in the PowerBook 170 and an option for the 100 and 140.
To bolster its defenses against the threat of a lawsuit, Apple is modifying the Macintosh Communications Toolbox, sources said. Instead of the escape sequence, the new version of the Toolbox reportedly will use an alternative approach called out-of-band modem control, which establishes a second connection to the modem to switch from data to command mode. But that solution is reportedly months from shipping.
Telecommunications developers said the PowerBook 170 modem has caused intermittent file transfer failures, even when using the PowerBook Modem Tool that is bundled with its system software.
"I told Apple [the escape sequence] is obviously a fix thought up by a lawyer - not an engineer," said one telecommunications developer. "[The PowerBook 170 modem] is not going to work reliably."
"I don't think this is a big deal," countered Apple spokesman John Cook. "I understand Hayes' decision to protect its standard. We're not infringing their patent. We are compatible."
Hayes said Apple has not discussed licensing its technology for the PowerBook 170. He said his company would seek royalties of about $1 per PowerBook.
(MacWEEK Business Watch, January 6, 1991, page 95) (c) Copyright 1992 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
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Mac the Knife: Behind closed expo doors
There's really no point in beating around the bush: In this crowd, those many fall and winter events we categorize as religious and secular holidays are merely dress rehearsals nowadays for Macworld Expo. Aside from the lingering rumor about the odd event at last week's company party, the January show of shows in San Francisco is just about all the Mac crowd really cares about, and, judging from some of the things that are expected to show and be shown, that's a good thing.
As any blow-dried television commentator will gladly tell you, a good thing is good news, a commodity that has been in short supply lately. If innovation will lead us out of the economic doldrums, then perhaps the best hope for recovery in a long time will be in evidence at the show, where there will be no shortage of new things to look at.
Few of the new products demonstrate the raw creativity of, say, a software giant such as Microsoft finally recognizing reality and beginning to offer site licenses to at least one or two of its largest sites. On the other hand, many will be more creative than Claris Corp.'s decision to change the license for its products from a per- station to a per-user basis. This last change is perhaps an indication that denial only works for so long.
Meet George Jetson.
If it's true that many of us are merely milling around in a vain attempt to fashion a reality out of childhood fantasies, then next week's show will be the place to sample that reality. While a few may question the bottom-line usefulness of some of the new products, no one is likely to question their flash. Compression Labs Inc. and PictureTel Corp. are expected to be giving good demonstrations of live video teleconferencing goodies. While actual shipment of Compression Labs' product isn't expected to begin until early spring, being able to talk face to window with all your field sales reps on the Mac screen is an exciting prospect. It's a lot like that futuristic telephone company television ad, only without the big screen.
Notify!, the Ex Machina pager server first demonstrated by John Sculley and Roger Heinen at at the last expo, also will be in evidence. This is the Apple events-driven product that can call your pocket pager. The Knife reports that the difference this go around will be the announcement of some major endorsements, including Motorola's. If Notify! catches on it will mean that pocket pagers will instantly be transformed from the premier status symbol of the successful young urban illicit drug dealer to the preferred status symbol of the well-connected Mac manager. Of course, an endorsement coming from an extremely large and powerful software firm won't hurt, either.
Down wit' OCE.
In a move that is sure to give groupware a kick-start, Apple's Open Collaboration Environment (OCE) will be on hand, and the privileged will get private demonstrations of applications utilizing the OCE Toolbox. Although this is another instance where shipping products are many months out (six to 10 according to most sources), it will at least demonstrate the potential of collaborative computing to the all-important corporate manager.
Man with software akimbo.
While neither the name Philippe Kahn nor Borland, his bad-boy software company, are exactly synonymous with Mac software, it is generally understood that Borland is in custody (even if only temporary) of Full Impact and FullWrite Professional. What is less well-known is that the company is developing a new Mac database product. Of course, this fact will probably be much better known after the round of off-site demonstrations the company is expected to give at a secret hotel suite during the show. This, too, is a product that is many months from becoming reality, but in the meantime we can all use whatever psychic means we have at our disposal to dissuade the use of the name Reflex II in favor of something more corporate - Paradox Mac, for example.
Who needs a private hotel suite when Mac the Knife is as close as your local Bell operating system telephone node? And besides, when was the last time you got a decent mug for visiting an overpriced hotel suite? For your very own MacWEEK mug you'll have to do business with the Knife at (415) 243-3500, fax (415) 243-3650, MCI (MactheKnife), AppleLink (MacWEEK) and CompuServe/Zmac.
(MacWEEK, Mac the Knife, January 6, 1991, page 102) (c) Copyright 1992 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
