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- TidBITS#162/08-Feb-93
- =====================
-
- We have the last of the news from Macworld Expo this week, with
- information on PageMaker 5.0. We also have an article about new
- products for Wallpaper from Thought I Could, useful System 7.1
- enabler information, upgrade information for Canadians who want
- System 7.1, news of new low-end LaserWriters, yet another ATM
- hack, and finally, a long-awaited table of benchmarks from BYTE
- Labs and Tom Thompson.
-
- Copyright 1990-1993 Adam & Tonya Engst. Non-profit, non-commercial
- publications may reprint articles if full credit is given. Other
- publications please contact us. We do not guarantee the accuracy
- of articles. Caveat lector. Publication, product, and company
- names may be registered trademarks of their companies. Disk
- subscriptions and back issues are available - email for details.
-
- For information send email to info@tidbits.com or ace@tidbits.com
- CIS: 72511,306 -- AppleLink: ace@tidbits.com@internet#
- AOL: Adam Engst -- Delphi: Adam_Engst -- BIX: TidBITS
- TidBITS -- 9301 Avondale Rd. NE Q1096 -- Redmond, WA 98052 USA
- -----------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Topics:
- MailBITS/08-Feb-93
- New Enablers
- Connectix Does It Again
- Canadian System 7.1 Upgrade
- ATM Hack, Part 2
- New LaserWriters
- Benchmarks, Finally
- PageMaker 5.0
- New Wallpaper
- Reviews/08-Feb-93
-
- [Archived as /info-mac/digest/tb/tidbits-162.etx; 29K]
-
-
- MailBITS/08-Feb-93
- ------------------
- A friend writes, "As of 10-Feb-93, Apple will remove the Mac IIci
- line from all price lists. The IIci is still considered to be a
- mainstream business solution although Apple will no longer be able
- to support the growing demands that have accumulated over the past
- few weeks."
-
-
- Correction/LC III
- Oops, we said last week that the LC III could take a single NuBus
- card. Wrong - we mixed that information up with the Centris 610,
- which can take a single NuBus card as long as it's short enough.
- The LC III is limited to an LC-style PDS slot.
-
-
- Disclaimer
- As some of you may have noticed, I now write the Beating the
- System column for MacUser. I don't know what to disclaim, but
- since I'm identified as the editor of TidBITS at the end of those
- columns, it seems only right to mention it here. Writing for
- MacUser is different in that I have an approximately four month
- deadline for MacUser and a one hour deadline for TidBITS. That
- said, check it out and see what you think of my writing when I
- have a word limit and a professional editor.
-
-
- StyleWriter II driver
- Dieder Bylsma wrote to tell us that he tried the head cleaning
- option from the StyleWriter II driver on his StyleWriter I, and
- although the printer itself seems OK, the process ruined the ink
- cartridge. This is probably why Apple isn't making the new
- StyleWriter II driver readily available and doesn't recommend that
- you use it with the StyleWriter I.
-
- Information from:
- Dieder A. Bylsma -- bylsma@unixg.ubc.ca
-
-
- New Enablers
- ------------
- Apple has released new versions of the System 7.1 Enablers for the
- IIvx and the PowerBook 160 and 180. They're available on
- AppleLink, so your dealer should be able to snag them for you. You
- can also call Apple directly, or possibly get them from your user
- group. The bug fixes seem to be primarily in the area of high
- speed communications and support for the Apple Express Modem.
-
- Here is a current list of the various Enablers, and please, read
- the next article for important enabling information.
-
- Macintosh System Enabler Used Current Version
- ----------------------------------------------------------
- IIvx System Enabler 001 1.0.1
- PowerBook Duo 210 System Enabler 201 1.0
- PowerBook Duo 230 System Enabler 201 1.0
- PowerBook 160 System Enabler 111 1.0.1
- PowerBook 180 System Enabler 111 1.0.1
-
- Finally, rumors say that Apple will soon release a Tune-Up-like
- extension to fix problems with System 7.1, and also sometime soon,
- a 32-bit System Enabler that will clean up those dirty ROMs under
- System 7.1 for those of us (Mac II, IIcx, IIx, and SE/30) who
- depend on MODE32 under System 7.
-
- Apple -- 800/767-2775
-
- Information from:
- Pythaeus
-
-
- Connectix Does It Again
- -----------------------
- by Mark H. Anbinder, Contributing Editor -- mha@baka.ithaca.ny.us
-
- Connectix seems to continually fix something in the Macintosh
- system software that Apple should have done right in the first
- place. Virtual was the first (see TidBITS#160 for details of the
- latest version), and Connectix has filled Apple's potholes with
- MODE32 and CPU as well. Late last month, Connectix did it again,
- releasing a patch for a bug in Apple's System Enabler files that
- come with System 7.1.
-
- According to Connectix, the System Enabler files released along
- with the new Macintosh models last October, which allow these Macs
- to work with System 7.1, contain a bug that can potentially cause
- a system error. Affected machines include the PowerBook 160 and
- 180, PowerBook Duo 210 and 230, Macintosh IIvx and IIvi, and, we
- assume, the Performa 600.
-
- Connectix says the bug has caused problems for users of AppleTalk
- version 58 and Suitcase 2.1 under System 7.1. Specifically, any
- software making a "GetIndResource" system call with an index out
- of bounds will cause two low memory globals to be set incorrectly.
- This could cause a crash at a later time.
-
- Apple engineers have verified the bug and have said that
- Connectix's patch appears to produce the desired results with no
- side effects. Apple has fixed the problem within their System
- Enablers, but corrected versions will not be available
- immediately. Most likely they will be distributed with the next
- release of the System software, so users should be able to discard
- the Connectix patch when they update to any version later than 7.1
- of the System software.
-
- Connectix suggests that all users of 7.1 whose Macs require these
- System Enablers should use the Enabler Patch. It will do nothing
- if the buggy software is not present, or if a bug fix is already
- provided via a newer System version.
-
- The patch should be available from most popular online services
- and Internet FTP archives by the time you read this, and may be
- distributed free of charge as long as the Read Me document is kept
- with the software. Publishers interested in including the patch
- with commercial products should contact Connectix first.
-
- Connectix -- 800/950-5880 -- 415/571-5100
-
- Information from:
- Connectix propaganda -- connectix.ts@applelink.apple.com
- Matthew Strange -- Matthew_Strange@baka.ithaca.ny.us
-
-
- Canadian System 7.1 Upgrade
- ---------------------------
- Macintosh users were outraged when not only did Apple charge for
- System 7.1 upgrades, but also they offered upgrades in the United
- States only. Users in other countries had to buy the System 7.1
- Personal Upgrade Kit, which retailed for $99 in the US. I've heard
- stories of inflated prices in other countries, with the kit
- costing about US$200 in France, for instance.
-
- No good news for most non-US users, but Canadian users will be
- pleased to hear that they can buy the System 7.1 Update Kit for
- $49 direct from Apple Canada. Call Apple Canada at 800/665-2775
- ext. 700 to order. Members of registered user groups in Canada can
- save an additional $10 until 26-Mar-92, but they must go through
- more ringamarole. Either procure a form from your local group, or
- request a from at this address:
-
- Patricia Johnson
- Apple Canada Inc.
- 7495 Birchmount Road,
- Markham, Ontario
- L3R 5G2
-
- Apparently this deal only apples to the English version of System
- 7.1, but a similar offer for the French version should come this
- month.
-
- Apple Canada -- 800/665-2775 ext. 700
-
- Information from:
- Robert A. Szarek -- aa443@freenet.carleton.ca
- Les Ferch -- ferch@ucs.ubc.ca
-
-
- ATM Hack, Part 2
- ----------------
- Jonathan Jacobs writes:
-
- In TidBITS#157 Jim Burmeister reposted the hack that you can
- perform on ATM 2.0.2, 2.0.3, and 2.0.4 to make it work correctly
- with System 7.1. At the end of the article he says that the hacked
- version of ATM won't work under System 7.0 anymore. I managed to
- make that hack work with 7.0. It is a simple bit of ResEdit work,
- and remember the usual Surgeon General's warnings about working
- only on a copy of the file.
-
- Open a copy of the System file, and then open the fld# resource.
- Add another entry to the end of the list of these "special"
- folders (extensions, Print Monitor Documents, Control Panels,
- etc.). Call the folder "Fonts" (or whatever you want) and give it
- the four-letter abbreviation "font" (just as you did in the ATM
- driver). Save, quit, restart with the copy and you're done. The
- System will create that special Fonts folder automatically on
- restarting. From now on you MUST put all your PostScript fonts in
- this folder. Keep in mind that you MUST use the hacked version of
- ATM for this to work, and the Fonts folder we've created will NOT
- work like System 7.1's Fonts folder.
-
- Information from:
- Jonathan Jacobs -- jxj24@po.CWRU.Edu
-
-
- New LaserWriters
- ----------------
- You've heard about the new LaserWriter Pro 610 and 630, and the
- latest news is that Apple will ship the 610 with 8 MB of RAM all
- the time, which allows the 610 to print at 600 dpi. Check this
- before you buy one, though, just in case. The 610 and 630 expand
- Apple's printer offerings on the high end; Apple's new LaserWriter
- Select 300 and the LaserWriter Select 310 fit into the low-end of
- Apple's printer offerings.
-
-
- LaserWriter Select 300
- This serially-connected 300 dpi LaserWriter replaces the
- LaserWriter LS. Unlike previous LaserWriters, it uses a Fuji Xerox
- engine that prints at five pages per minute, and it holds three
- optional paper trays for a grand total of 800 sheets. The
- LaserWriter Select 300 includes FinePrint and GrayShare and can be
- upgraded to PostScript and PhotoGrade, but its main feature is its
- dirt-cheap price - $819. This might be a good printer in a limited
- number of specific cases, but we still feel that it makes more
- sense to either buy a cheaper inkjet printer or to ante up the
- dollars for a more versatile, normally networkable, PostScript
- printer.
-
-
- LaserWriter Select 310
- The main difference between the 300 and 310 is that the 310
- includes PostScript and a parallel interface. It uses an AMD RISC
- processor and comes with 1.5 MB RAM (expandable to 5.5 MB). The
- 310 comes with the basic 13 fonts - Courier, Symbol, Times, and
- Helvetica - and it should be quite affordable at $1,079. This
- printer looks like a new funky entry, and since it will be utterly
- different in terms of driver and engine and connection, we won't
- be in the slightest bit surprised if some printing problems crop
- up early on.
-
- Information from:
- Pythaeus
-
-
- Benchmarks, Finally
- -------------------
- by Tom Thompson, BYTE Senior Tech Editor at Large
-
- [My apologies for sitting on this for so long, but I wanted to get
- these numbers out before the new machines come out. As you can
- see, creating an ASCII table of so many numbers is a major chore,
- and for that I thank Ian Feldman. As with all benchmarks, take
- these with a grain of salt because as much as low-level benchmarks
- can point out things you wouldn't otherwise notice and show how
- different systems compare, the speed that matters is the real-
- world speed that you experience running your programs under your
- precise environment. -Adam]
-
- A couple of comments before I analyze the numbers. First, these
- timings were obtained on beta systems shown to me in late July,
- and are therefore preliminary. However, by the time the iron gets
- presented to the press, the hardware is pretty stable, so the
- figures should be within the ballpark. Second, tests were run with
- the screen in the black-and-white mode (1-bit) so the results
- could be normalized to the Classic II's screen. Apple says that
- for the new systems, screen operations in color should be a tad
- faster than the same operations run in black-and-white, because
- QuickDraw has been optimized for a color screen. Fine, we'll check
- that out when we have the shipping systems. Again, we have to
- calibrate the results to a reference Mac that has a black-and-
- white screen. Finally, check out the notes at the bottom of the
- spreadsheet; they're important.
-
- As the results indicate, the Mac IIvx just barely out-guns the Mac
- IIci. Note that the Mac IIci used in these tests doesn't have a
- cache board. That's because the IIci at BYTE was purchased long
- before Apple began shipping them with 5 MB of RAM and a cache
- board as standard equipment. It's a safe bet that a IIci with a
- cache board will probably out-perform a IIvx.
-
- The Performa 600 falls in the vicinity of the 20 MHz Mac IIsi in
- performance, while the Mac IIvi hangs out with the 16 MHz Mac
- SE/30 performance-wise. As I've mentioned elsewhere, the reason
- for the IIvx/Performa 600's less-than-expected results is because
- although the CPU and FPU are clocked at 32 MHz, the bus operates
- only at 16 MHz. A glance at the 8-, 16-, and 32-bit memory moves
- of these computers compared to memory operations on the IIci
- confirm this finding.
-
- Why was the slower bus used? First, to take advantage of readily
- available 80 ns DRAM. Second, Apple squeezed three computers out
- of a single design. A prototype system I examined could be a Mac
- IIvx, Performa 600, or Mac IIvi, depending upon the CPU board that
- plugged into the main logic board. I'm speculating here, but
- probably the only way to accomplish this easily was to lock in the
- bus clock at one speed. This would simplify the overall design,
- which in turn eliminates additional parts, and in turn lowers
- costs.
-
- I had hoped the IIvx would fill the void in mid-range performance
- between the 25 MHz Mac IIci and 40 MHz IIfx. Instead, it looks
- like it's up to the PowerBook 180 and PowerBook Duo 230 to plug
- that particular hole.
-
- (The following Macintosh benchmarks table is 71 lines long and
- with little luck may therefore be printed on one sheet of paper,
- but do use a monospaced font!).
-
-
- _________________ LOW-LEVEL BENCHMARKS in seconds unless noted _____
- __________ CPU:____________ FPU: +-------------------- Sieve
- 32bit move ---------------+ | +-------------- Sort
- 16bit move ---------+ | | | +------- Math
- 8bit move ---+ | | | | | +- Sin(x)
- Matrix | | | | | | | e^x
- ========== v v v v v v v v v
- Classic II 24.2 98.7 54 41.2 36.4 45.4 189.5 97 106.1
- LC II 24 92.1 52.7 39.6 37 43.3 186.4 95.3 103.4
- IIvi 18.4 86.6 46.2 26.4 33.1 34.2 156 80.5 87.5
- SE/30 16.4 82.2 42.1 22.8 31.3 29.8 143.6 70.6 94.5
- Perf:a 600 14.1 65.5 39.3 26.2 19.6 25.1 136.6 66.5 71.7
- IIsi 13.4 64.1 33.5 18.2 25.1 24.4 37.5 12.8 12.9
- IIvx 8.3 52.5 26.3 13.1 15.9 14.5 30.1 9.4 9.7
- IIci 10.7 51.1 26.7 14.5 19.9 19.9 29.8 9.9 10.2
- PB 140 16.7 83.3 42.9 21.2 32 30.2 189.7 102.2 110.3
- PB 145 11.1 52.8 27.8 15.5 20.4 20.3 135.6 70.2 76
- PB 160 11.2 53.4 27.9 15.6 20.4 20.4 119.5 61.4 61.1
- PB 170 11.1 52.8 27.8 15.5 20.4 20.5 35.4 11.6 11.9
- PB 180 8.3 39.6 20.8 11.6 15.1 15.4 25.2 8.1 8.5
- Duo 210 10.6 51.1 26.7 14.5 19.9 19.3 105.1 54.2 59
- Duo 230 7.9 38.7 20.2 11 15.5 15 85.5 44.4 48
- ========== ----------------------------------------------------------
- _____ DISK:_______________ FILE I/O:_ VIDEO:____________
- Write -------------------+ 1 MB write +-------- TextEdit
- Read --------------+ | | | +- DrawString
- Seek --------+ | | | 1 MB | | Graphics
- LLseek/32 blocks ---+ | | | | read | | Slow QD
- LLseek/ 1 blocks | | | | | | | | | |
- ========== v v v v v v v v v v v
- Classic II 1103 2165 0.2 18.2 9.8 4.1 4.8 5 2 47.8 0.4
- LC II 974 2008 0.2 13.2 8.7 3.6 4.8 4.9 1.9 44.9 0.4
- IIvi 735 1559 0.2 9.4 6.2 3.1 1.6 4.3 1.5 38.8 0.3
- SE/30 921 874 0.1 22.4 9 4.6 5 4.6 2.3 26.6 0.3
- Perf:a 600 720 1296 0.1 10.6 6.1 3 1.4 3.5 1.3 32.3 0.2
- IIsi 883 1799 0.1 14.7 8.3 3.4 2.4 3.2 1.1 27.9 0.2
- IIvx 720 1257 0.1 10.7 6.2 3 1.4 2.4 0.8 19.7 0.2
- IIci 847 1551 0.1 16.5 8.9 4 3.1 3 1.3 19.6 0.2
- PB 140 1086 2384 0.2 15.9 8.8 3.8 2.7 5.5 2.6 37.5 0.3
- PB 145 754 1475 0.2 12.7 7.9 3.8 2.1 4.3 2.2 16.1 0.2
- PB 160 1029 2157 0 19.2 6.1 3.3 2.6 3.7 1.4 24.7 0.2
- PB 170 1219 2116 0.1 16.8 9.4 4 2.4 4.4 2.2 26.2 0.2
- PB 180 771 1458 0.1 10.5 3.3 2.8 1.9 2.6 1.2 17.9 0.2
- Duo 210 798 1591 0.1 12.6 7.5 3.5 4.4 3.2 1.3 22.8 0.2
- Duo 230 676 1206 0 12.5 7.5 3.1 2.2 2.6 1.2 17.9 0.2
- ========== ----------------------------------------------------------
- ____ _________ INDEXES: +----------------------- CPU index
- 68020 Dhrystone --------------+ | +----------------- FPU index
- 68000 Dhrystone --------+ | | | +---------- Disk index
- 68020 Linpack --+ | | | | | +--- Video index
- 68000 Linpack | | | | | | | Dhrystone
- ========== v v v v v v v v v
- Classic II 933 n/a 2000 2238 1 1 1 1 2000
- LC II 883 n/a 2000 2309 1.03 1.02 1.12 1.07 2000
- IIvi 678 n/a 2631 n/a 1.14 1.21 1.57 1.25 2631
- SE/30 581 233 3125 3699 1.39 1.27 1.24 1.23 3125
- Perf:a 600 568 n/a 3125 n/a 1.54 1.44 1.74 1.55 3125
- IIsi 508 936 3571 2309 1.74 6.79 1.45 1.7 3571
- IIvx 319 n/a 5000 n/a 2.26 8.91 1.81 2.31 5000
- IIci 399 154 4545 5802 2.17 8.66 1.29 1.94 4545
- PB 140 592 n/a 2941 3605 1.39 0.97 1.15 1.02 2941
- PB 145 417 n/a 4166 5253 2.09 1.39 1.44 1.52 (missing)
- PB 160 414 n/a 4545 n/a 2.08 1.63 1.56 1.67 4545
- PB 170 415 155 4166 5244 2.09 7.37 1.27 1.37 4166
- PB 180 309 n/a 7142 n/a 2.79 10.41 1.93 2.18 7142
- Duo 210 399 n/a 5000 n/a 2.18 1.8 1.41 1.78 5000
- Duo 230 304 n/a 6250 n/a 2.56 2.2 1.94 2.21 6250
- ========== ----------------------------------------------------------
- Measurements by Tom Thompson, BYTE; ASCII table design by Ian Feldman
- =====================================================================
-
- Note 1: IIci had no cache board
- Note 2: IIsi equipped with FPU
- Note 3: PowerBook Duo 210 & 230 docked; had access to FPU
-
-
- PageMaker 5.0
- -------------
- Perhaps the most impressive upgrade I saw at Macworld was Aldus
- PageMaker 5.0. On the whole, PageMaker's enhancements fall in the
- category of "It's about time," but it's not worth complaining now
- that they're here. I'm sure some people will write to tell me that
- Quark XPress has had such-and-such feature for nigh on 39 years
- and why is it a big deal that PageMaker has finally caught up. The
- simple answer is that as far as I know, PageMaker is still the
- most popular desktop publishing program around.
-
- I'm not going to go through these new features in any order, and
- similarly, I'm not going to talk about the standard things that
- haven't changed. PageMaker has too many features to do that, and
- some would say that PageMaker has too many features period.
-
- The main new features I noticed in PageMaker 5.0 are its
- capabilities in moving objects between documents and rotating and
- skewing text and graphics. PageMaker 5.0 can finally open multiple
- documents at the same time (welcome to the 1980s, Aldus!), but not
- content to catch up to programs from the last decade, Aldus added
- a feature I've only seen in a few other programs, the capability
- to drag an object from one document to another without copying and
- pasting. The copy-paste metaphor works best in the UniFinder
- metaphor of the Mac Plus era; in today's world of multiple
- megabyte machines, large and multiple screens, and constant
- MultiFinder, there's no reason why we shouldn't be able to drag
- data between documents, if not applications. I'd like to see this
- in more applications.
-
- PageMaker 4.2 added the ability to rotate text in 90 degree
- increments, but this feature was generally greeted with derision -
- 90 degree rotation is unimpressive. PageMaker 5.0 should silence
- those criticisms with its free rotation of text and graphics in
- .01 degree increments. You can skew text and graphics with similar
- precision. Oh, and by the way, you can edit text or graphics after
- transforming it, something that wasn't easy even with 4.2's
- limited rotation. This news will be welcome to anyone who does
- single-page layout of posters and the like.
-
- I appreciate PageMaker's new capability of printing non-contiguous
- pages. If you wish to print pages 1, 5, 8, and 23 of a
- publication, you just type the page numbers into the page range
- box, separated by commas. Any application that prints should have
- that feature. Aldus finally implemented grouping, an extremely
- common command in graphics programs, though only as an Addition.
- Those were by far the most impressive features I noted, but Aldus
- has a list of more - I'll reproduce some of it here.
-
- * Horizontal and vertical reflection of objects
- * Enhanced Control palette
- * Numerically exact positioning and rotation of any object, from
- its center or any handle
- * Specific "nudge" amounts for exact positioning
- * Incrementally rotated inline graphics
- * Cropping of rotated graphics
- * Text mode of the palette visible in layout or story editor views
- * Numeric kerning
- * Baseline shift
- * Process-color separations of PageMaker text and graphics, as
- well as imported CMYK TIFF, DCS, and EPS images - all without
- leaving PageMaker.
- * Printing scalable up to 1600%
- * Automatic centering of the page on whatever paper you use
- * Overprinting for any spot or process color or tint
- * Spot-to-process conversion at printing
- * Choice of printing individual inks of process-color separations
- * Automatic scaling of the page to the paper size
- * Separate line and fill attributes
- * Choice of transparent or opaque dash lines
- * Support for up to 18 language dictionaries, plus any number of
- installable hyphenation dictionaries
- * New search-and-replace capabilities for a character's position
- and case
- * Sophisticated kerning and track editing
-
- I don't wish to imply that Aldus fixed everything that might be
- construed as a problem in PageMaker. For instance, although Aldus
- completely redesigned the awkward modal print dialogs for the
- better, I found PageMaker still extremely modal, especially in
- defining a text rule in a paragraph style. This process can
- require a ludicrous traverse of as many as four modal dialog
- boxes. We have the screen space these days - there's no reason
- these dialogs must be modal except for design laziness.
-
- My other problem with PageMaker is that even after high-end word
- processors like Nisus, low-end word processors like WriteNow, and
- integrated programs like WordPerfect Works (the ex-BeagleWorks)
- have implemented character styles, PageMaker lags behind. I'm sure
- it's partly related to PageMaker's close relationship with
- Microsoft Word, another notable laggard, but surely the
- functionality of character styles is clear - whenever you want to
- assign a specific style to one or more words, but not an entire
- paragraph, you can do so on a consistent simple level. Consider
- the words you might want to do this with, program names, book
- titles, commands in a manual, and the list goes on. I'll hop off
- my interface horse now, but we should praise and condemn Aldus on
- interface. Overall, I think the praise wins out; PageMaker 5.0
- seems like a solid upgrade to a popular program
-
- Aldus -- 206/628-2320
-
- Information from:
- Aldus propaganda
-
-
- New Wallpaper
- -------------
- Like the little train that chugs along as their motto, Thought I
- Could doesn't give up. To judge from president Linda Kaplan's
- postings on CompuServe, a small company like Thought I Could faces
- innumerable obstacles in creating a successful mass market
- utility. But Linda and company have held on to release the first
- follow-up products for Wallpaper: More Wallpaper, Wallpaper/Zebra
- edition, and Wallpaper Wraptures Two.
-
- Wallpaper, Thought I Could's flagship product, offers hundreds of
- desktop patterns, which can be configured in various ways to dress
- up your screen. You can also make your own patterns. To judge from
- some of Thought I Could's promotional material, Steve Wozniak is
- perhaps Wallpaper's most ardent fan, and says he finds it
- indispensable to his enjoyment of his Mac. Hard to beat Steve for
- a celebrity endorsement. Now only if he read TidBITS too. :-)
-
- More Wallpaper, shipping now for $39.99, consists of over 590
- patterns from the Subscription One and Bonus disks previously
- available to existing Wallpaper owners. In other words, if you
- subscribed to the pattern disk service Thought I Could offers,
- don't bother buying More Wallpaper unless you feel like donating
- money to Thought I Could. Having seen most of those patterns at
- one time or another, I must say that if you're a pattern freak,
- you won't be able to live without More Wallpaper. I keep Wallpaper
- in Randomize mode, and even after months of use I see new
- patterns. I appreciate the way Wallpaper keeps my Mac fresh and
- occasionally surprising.
-
- Wallpaper/Zebra Edition should ship in March, and it should be
- welcome when it appears. As you might expect, it contains only
- black-and-white patterns for people using monochrome monitors on
- color-capable Macs. Wallpaper/Zebra Edition includes the Wallpaper
- Control Panel and will retail for $59.99. If you own Wallpaper,
- you can buy the new black-and-white patterns for $15.
-
- Wallpaper Wraptures Two contains Wallpaper versions of the
- patterns contained on the Wraptures Two CD-ROM disk. These
- patterns are originally high-resolution photographic scanned
- images intended for desktop publishing backgrounds and they are
- impressive. Wallpaper Wraptures Two concentrates on natural
- patterns like stone, wood, granite, marble, paper, brick, crystal,
- glass, ice, and food. Food? As Linda said when I asked, "uh...
- chocolate icing and jelly beans." I could deal with food on my
- screen. Wallpaper Wraptures Two sells for $19.95 and is currently
- shipping, although you must order it direct from Thought I Could
- at this time.
-
- My only complaint with Wallpaper is that Thought I Could doesn't
- provide a way to easily manage the thousands of patterns that you
- can easily accumulate. Thought I Could makes available online a
- HyperCard stack called Wallpaper Cataloger that catalogs patterns,
- but it can't move files in and out of folders or delete them. With
- over 1,100 patterns in a single folder for randomizing, the Finder
- slows to a crawl and may not display all the files. I'd like to
- see a program that catalogued all patterns in a folder, displayed
- each one in a relatively large window along with the name, and
- then let me move or delete that pattern. That would simplify
- managing patterns and add value to the otherwise excellent
- randomizing feature. Thought I Could plans to create such a
- program for the next release, and I'm eagerly awaiting it.
-
- Now if only I could run Wallpaper on these boring white walls in
- our apartment!
-
- Thought I Could -- 212/673-9724
-
- Information from:
- Thought I Could propaganda
- Linda Kaplan, Thought I Could -- 75056.1733@compuserve.com
-
-
- Reviews/08-Feb-93
- -----------------
-
- * MacWEEK -- 01-Feb-93, Vol. 7, #5
- form*Z 2.1.2 -- pg. 43
- SuperATM 1.0 -- pg. 43
- OrgChart Express 1.01-- pg. 45
- Audioshop 1.03 -- pg. 48
- SoundEdit Pro 1.0 -- pg. 48
-
-
- ..
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