Cupertino, Calif. - Mac buyers concerned over Apple's piecemeal introduction of new operating system extensions can relax. While the company will release several more system extensions as separate products this year, those extensions will be rolled into a major operating system release sometime next year.
According to Charles Oppenheimer, Apple director of Macintosh system software marketing, some of the extensions due in 1992 will be sold through retail channels.
Although Oppenheimer wouldn't comment on specifics, sources said upcoming extensions include an Open Collaboration Environment (OCE) application programming interface, OCE message server, new print and display architecture, Mac-PC Exchange, and AppleScript (see MacWEEK, Feb. 10).
Oppenheimer said Apple also hopes to start shipping drop-in extensions this year that update the OS for new CPUs. This means Apple will have to release at least one more system software update because System 7.0.1 does not currently support CPU update extensions.
System 7.0.1, intended as a CPU update, also included a performance boost that can benefit Macs other than the PowerBooks and Quadras (see MacWEEK, Nov. 5, 1991). Oppenheimer said Apple wants to start shipping bug fixes and system enhancements as separate extensions.
>Unified upgrades.
Extensions will be rolled into major system software releases every 12 to 18 months, Oppenheimer said. In fact, Apple plans to include most new toolboxes, CPU support updates and Tune-Ups in a major revision to System 7 next year, he added.
"We never want to get to where you have a whole laundry list of things you need to get in order to run a piece of software," Oppenheimer said.
System accessories, such as AppleTalk Remote Access, most likely will not be included in major system revisions but will be sold through resellers.
>Cafeteria OS.
The main reason it took Apple three years to ship System 7, Oppenheimer said, was that all the new system features needed to go out the door together.
"If you have a couple of hundred software developers with their arms linked all trying to march in a straight line, you're going to get nowhere fast," he said.
Shipping system upgrades as they become available means users don't have to wait for extensions such as QuickTime because OCE isn't finished, for instance.
"It only took 70 days from start to ship for us to do the System 7 Tune-Up," Oppenheimer said. Under the old method, he said, users might have had to wait much longer for that bug fix.
But getting new technology as fast as possible isn't the only reason to "break up" the OS.
Allowing users to choose what they want gives them greater control over their system size and performance.
"If we continued to roll everything into the OS including accessories, eventually, you might need 4 or 5 Mbytes of RAM to run an application," Oppenheimer said.
"There's no one customer," he added. Users who want to economize can, but users who want it all can get what they're looking for as separate extensions.
Apple also will develop more extension kits, such as the QuickTime one it plans to ship next quarter. These kits will include utilities, extensive documentation and demo programs.
>Selling System 7.
System accessories (software extensions that add utility to the OS but aren't core technologies) will probably ship as retail products. However, Apple is still undecided on what should be sold through retail channels, sources said. For instance, the OCE message server, which Apple considers an accessory, will likely be a retail product.
Sources said the debate still rages at Apple over whether to sell the OCE API, a store-and-forward transport layer that Apple considers a system toolbox. Normally, Apple would make toolboxes available free, but because the API also will act as a messaging client, it may be sold like an accessory.
Oppenheimer wouldn't comment on specific plans, but he said that whatever Apple does, it will have the goal of "reaching as many users as possible." "The majority of our software distribution today has been user groups and electronic bulletin boards," Oppenheimer said. "But that doesn't reach the majority of our user base."
System 7, Apple's first foray into retailing the OS, has been adopted by 25 percent of Mac users in less than a year, Oppenheimer said. That is the fastest penetration of the installed base by an upgrade in Apple's history.
(MacWEEK News, February 17, 1992, p. 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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IBM pledges openings to Mac
By Mitch Ratcliffe
Boston - IBM Corp. promised easier access to its servers for Macintoshes as well as IBM PCs and compatibles at last week's NetWorld 92 here.
However, on the other side of this connectivity equation, Apple did not exhibit. The company had used the previous NetWorld, held in Dallas last October, as a forum to discuss its upcoming Open Collaboration Environment (OCE) (see MacWEEK, Feb. 10).
Mac developers at the show said attendees asked for Macintosh connectivity more than ever before and that Apple's absence hobbled the growing acceptance of Macintoshes in the corporate networking environment.
"Microsoft, IBM and Digital are all here. Apple should be, too, because [NetWorld attendees] want to take them seriously," one developer said.
Apple left it to IBM to send the strongest Macintosh message. The company touted its agreements with Apple in a section of its large booth.
"IBM is committed to supporting the Mac," a booth staffer told users while demonstrating a Mac-to-IBM example application. Using a Mac front end, the application allowed users to browse mainframe databases. "Get with your IBM folks if you want to connect your Macs," he said.
Users responded positively, welcoming anything that could help make the Mac-to-mainframe connection.
"I've been trying to piece together my Macs and an IBM-based database for a long time," said John Pennoyer, a LAN administrator at L.L. Bean Inc. of Freeport, Maine. "This really looks great," he said.
IBM said it will provide a 300-page programmer's guide free to corporate users who want to write Macintosh applications for peer-to-peer access to the company's various mainframes.
The company also said it plans to add the AppleTalk protocol stack to an upgrade to its LAN Server 2.0 software after it ships this spring.
Macintosh access to relational databases and mail-enabled applications also became easier at NetWorld. Announcements included:
>Novell Corp. of Provo, Utah, introduced NetWare SQL 3.0, which will allow Mac clients running Data Access Language (DAL) applications to send queries to SQL database servers (see MacWEEK, Feb. 10). Novell plans to ship the software next month.
>CE Software Inc. of West Des Moines, Iowa, showed its new Macintosh client for Novell's Message Handling Service (MHS) electronic-mail, which will allow Macs to live as an equal mail client on NetWare networks.
>Lotus Development Corp., headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., showed the Notes workgroup application for the PC and said it will ship a Macintosh version by year-end, allowing users to collaborate across platforms.
Oracle Corp. of Redwood Shores, Calif., gave the Mac a boost toward portable computing with its introduction of a Macintosh and PC-based link to Sharp Electronics Corp.'s Wizard palmtop computer. The company said that later this year it will ship PalmLink, an application programming interface that lets users query Oracle databases with the Macintosh and then download information to Sharp's palmtop.
(MacWEEK News, February 17, 1992, p. 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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Seybold to shed light on color
By Carolyn Said and Neil McManus
Boston - The pursuit of predictable color will set the tone at Seybold Seminars 92 here this week, but other publishing issues - such as document interchange, font manipulation and editorial management - also will take the stage.
On both the conference stage and the show floor, the exhibitor and speaker roster reflects Windows' rapid encroachment into graphics and publishing. "Windows is going to start pushing the Mac for graphic-intensive applications," said Jonathan Seybold, publisher of the Seybold Reports in Malibu, Calif.
>Color management.
Some developers and users said they feel that portable color on the Mac is in limbo, waiting for Apple's plan to provide system-level support for color management schemes. "Apple keeps saying, 'It's coming; be happy,' but so far we've seen no specs and no software," said Steve Blank, vice president of marketing at SuperMac Technology in Sunnyvale, Calif.
Meanwhile, however, several developers are forging ahead on ways to guarantee consistent color from input to display to output. Eastman Kodak Co. and Electronics for Imaging Inc. will show off competing color management systems, and line up rosters of developers supporting their schemes.
EFI and Pre-Press Technologies Inc. will show new color editing software, while CYMaK Technologies and RasterOps Corp. will show display packages for manipulating full-color images on screen in real time.
>Document interchange.
Adobe Systems Inc. will evangelize Carousel, its forthcoming technology for transferring documents across platforms and applications. Meanwhile, Interleaf Inc. reportedly will unveil another platform-independent document distribution plan, and Microsoft Corp. will announce a way to embed TrueType fonts into Windows documents to create portable files.
>Fonts.
The battle of Type 1 and TrueType font formats is still in swing. Adobe will ship MM Myriad, its first Multiple Master font). Adobe has been touting this technology as an advance that sets Type 1 apart from TrueType, but Type Solutions Inc. reportedly will unveil an application that gives users Multiple Master-like control over TrueType fonts.
>Publication management.
Quark Inc. and P*Ink America will team up to show their SQL-based schemes for handling work flow of QuarkXPress documents. Ideas to Print will show a new publication management system based on ACIUS Inc.'s 4th Dimension relational database.
>Hardware.
A trio of heavyweights will weigh in with new PostScript-compatible RIPs (raster image processors). Harlequin Inc. will demonstrate what it said is the first high-resolution Level 2-compatible RIP. Linotype-Hell Co. will offer lower-cost RIPs for its Linotronic 260 and 170 imagesetters, and Hyphen Inc. will demonstrate a Mac RIP that runs page composition and RIP functions independently. In addition, Pipeline Associates Inc. will unveil PowerPage/2, its new PostScript Level 2-compatible interpreter.
On the imagesetter front, Screen USA will demonstrate five new PostScript-compatible imagesetters, as well as the DTS-1015, a 2,500-dpi color drum scanner. Ultre Inc.'s 72E and 94E Ultresetters will feature speeds twice as fast as the company's current E line of imagesetters.
>Graphics.
Alias Research Inc. will demonstrate its new version of Sketch, minus its hardware key and half the old price, and Ray Dream Inc. will show Version 2.0 of Designer. Quantel Inc. will demonstrate its Desktop Paintbox, a hardware-software system that lets Mac users manipulate huge TIFF files in real time.
Matthew Rothenberg and April Streeter contributed to this report.
(MacWEEK News, February 17, 1992, p. 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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Adobe forges flexible new fonts
By Bruce Fraser
Adobe Systems Inc.'s Multiple Master font technology is arguably one of the most radical developments ever to hit digital type. Instead of the single typeface contained in previous PostScript outline fonts, a Multiple Master font consists of a set of related typefaces arranged in a matrix; different instances of the font are created by interpolating between the extremes of the matrix. Multiple Master is an extension to the PostScript Type 1 font format, so any software or hardware that supports Type 1 fonts also should support Multiple Masters.
The new format allows type designers to build into the font a maximum of four axes along which the fonts may be interpolated, but the first two offerings, Adobe's MM Myriad and MM Minion, contain two and three axes, respectively, in both the roman and italic faces. Myriad's two axes are weight, running from light to black, and width, going from ultracondensed to ultraexpanded. Both axes have several hundred intermediate steps so Myriad can be used to generate literally thousands of different typefaces.
Minion adds a third axis for optical scaling, a typographic subtlety that has largely been lost in the move to digital typography. In the days of metal type, a 9-point face wasn't exactly the same as an 18-point face scaled by 50 percent. Typically, in the smaller sizes the stems were thickened slightly, the x-height was increased, and the serifs were exaggerated to make small type more readable. In conventional PostScript fonts, a single outline is scaled to the desired size, so a 9-point font is exactly the same as 50-percent-scaled 18-point one. The optical scaling axis in Adobe's MM Minion restores the lost subtlety of metal type.
MM Myriad ships for $295 this week, and MM Minion will be released for $495 late next month.
>Multiple instances.
Each instance of a Multiple Master face is a FOND resource, rather than a new PostScript outline. Adobe will include with each Multiple Master font a suitcase file containing preset instances and an application called Font Creator that lets you create and preview new instances. When you create a new instance, Font Creator automatically adds the corresponding FOND resource to the font's suitcase. Each instance adds 15 to 20 Kbytes to the size of the suitcase file, so Font Creator also lets you remove instances to free up space. A new version of Adobe Type Reunion, included with each Multiple Master font, helps keep font-menu clutter under control.
Font Creator is a transitional solution: Adobe is encouraging developers to include controls for creating instances from directly within applications. So far, only QuarkXPress 3.1 boasts this capability, but other applications will undoubtedly follow. Adobe Illustrator 3.2 doesn't let you create instances directly, but if you open a document containing instances that aren't in the current suitcase, it will automatically generate the missing instances.
One obvious use for Multiple Master fonts is copyfitting. Current page-layout applications let you track type - systematically removing space between characters - or use horizontal scaling to compress or extend the letterforms. But neither of these techniques is ideal for copyfitting. Tracking changes the "color" of the type, and readability often suffers as a result, while horizontal scaling distorts the shapes of the letterforms themselves, in particular the balance of horizontal and vertical strokes. With Multiple Master fonts, you can control the width of the type without distorting the letterforms or changing the overall color of the page. You also can use Multiple Master fonts to duplicate the line breaks and overall appearance of a missing font.
Adobe executives hope mainstream applications, such as spreadsheets and word processors, support Multiple Masters. A spreadsheet, for example, could offer a Shrink to Fit menu command that slightly squeezes type to fit text into a narrow column. Most developers, however, will wait to see how well the new fonts sell before they change their programs. Multiple Masters also will play a major role in Carousel, Adobe's upcoming document interchange technology. In Carousel, Multiple Masters will mimic other fonts so users can exchange documents without having the same fonts installed.
>Type goulash.
Designing Multiple Master fonts is much more difficult than designing conventional faces, from both a technical and an aesthetic point of view, so the market won't be flooded with Multiple Master faces in the near future. One constraint is that all the faces at the corners of the matrix must have the same number and type of anchor and direction points. But Altsys Corp.'s forthcoming Fontographer 3.5, in addition to putting the tools to create Multiple Master fonts in the hands of end users, will let you force two quite dissimilar fonts, such as Times and Helvetica, into the same matrix. This clearly isn't quite what Adobe had in mind, but inventors are often surprised by the uses to which their inventions are ultimately put. Multiple Masters won't make working with type any simpler, rather it will extend the range of typographic possibilities. The end result is likely to be much better and, at least temporarily, much worse typography than has hitherto been possible.
Adobe Systems Inc. is at 1585 Charleston Road, P.O. Box 7900, Mountain View, Calif. 94039. Phone (415) 961-4400 or (800) 344-3385; fax (415) 961-3769.
(MacWEEK News, February 17, 1992, p. 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 expert sets $4 billion claim
By Jon Swartz
San Francisco - Here's the $4.37 billion question: Can Apple collect an unprecedented damages claim from Microsoft Corp. for copyright infringement?
Apple last week produced an expert witness who put the first price tag on the computer industry's most closely watched suit.
The claim, which is based on the expert testimony of Robert Hall, a finance professor at Stanford University in Stanford, Calif., estimates Apple lost more than $3 billion in sales because of competition from Windows 3.0. The study says Apple lost an additional $1.3 billion through Windows applications sales.
However, Apple spokesman Christopher Escher said the sum is "not a formal damages claim" on Apple's part.
In fact, he said Apple's final claim "could be higher" as the suit nears a summer trial date.
"It's insupportable and speculative," said William Neukom, Microsoft vice president of law and corporate affairs. "We didn't copy Apple's software. We spent years of hard work developing Windows."
Neukom said the $4.37 billion figure appeared to be inflated by the inclusion of CPU-related sales for Windows and "unrealistic sales and profits loss" projections by Apple.
Hall, who works at Stanford's Hoover In-stitution, has been instructed by Apple not to comment on the suit, according to his secretary.
Legal experts doubt whether Apple could collect such a huge damage.
Copyright attorney G. Gervaise Davis III, a partner in the law firm of Davis & Schroeder in Monterey, Calif., contends it is "very unlikely" Apple would collect more than $1 billion if it wins the suit.
"The amount ($4.37 billion) is so astronomical that it could destroy any company - even Microsoft," Davis said. "I don't think any judge would do that."
The largest intellectual-property judgment came last year, Davis said, when Polaroid Corp. was awarded $873 million - half of the amount it sought - in its 14-year dispute with Eastman Kodak Co. over patent rights to instant photography.
Apple, Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard Co. were expected to file more than a dozen pre-trial motions last Friday afternoon in the 4-year-old lawsuit's latest skirmish. The motions involve expert testimony scheduled to conclude Feb. 28.
Each company has until March 6 to respond to motions, followed by a March 20 deadline to reply to responses.
A Microsoft spokeswoman said the Redmond, Wash., company is asking U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker to issue summary judgments that would result in a decision without a trial.
However, Jack Brown, the attorney who is leading Apple's case, said Walker has told the computer maker "we're going to have a trial in June or July. I think the judge means business. We're finally going to get this thing going."
Jack Russo, a partner in the law firm of Russo & Hale in Palo Alto, Calif., said he expects Apple and Microsoft to supply Walker with "lots of video and written material [in their motions] to educate him on the Macintosh user interface and Windows."
"[Walker's] a hands-on type of guy," Russo said. "He's treating this as a precedent-setting case - all the way to the Supreme Court."
Apple sued Microsoft and HP in 1988, alleging they illegally copied critical portions of the Mac interface. The case was broadened last summer to include Windows 3.0 (see MacWEEK, June 25, 1991).
Although several prominent analysts have predicted an Apple lawsuit victory could block the sale of Windows 3.0, copyright lawyers said damage to Microsoft would be limited by a 1985 agreement in which Microsoft licensed some of the Macintosh's interface elements from Apple (see MacWEEK, Jan. 27).
"I think Apple will eventually force Microsoft into a costly settlement," Russo said. "[Apple] has been, and will continue to be, very aggressive."
Shawn Tomlinson contributed to this report.
(MacWEEK News, February 17, 1992, p. 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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Pacer server lets Macs query Suns
By Mitch Ratcliffe
La Jolla, Calif. - Users will be able to get a handle on Unix SQL databases with a DAL server from Pacer Software Inc.
Available now for Sun Microsystems Inc. SPARC-based workstations, Pacer's DAL Server for Unix will let any application that is compatible with Apple's Data Access Language (DAL) make queries to relational databases running on a Sun server. Pacer said it will ship a DAL Server for Hewlett-Packard Co.'s 9000/800 systems in March.
DAL applications that can access Unix databases through Pacer's server include ACIUS Inc.'s $500 4D DAL, which can be used to build a front end to SQL databases, and Fairfield Software Inc.'s ClearAccess 1.3, a "data dipper" application.
Pacer said its server delivers access to 85 percent of SQL databases used in the Unix world, including those from ASK Computer Systems Inc., Informix Software Inc., Sybase Corp. and Oracle Corp. The Pacer software runs on the Unix server, to which Macs are connected via TCP/IP. Such a connection can be made through Apple's MacTCP extension or a TCP/IP router.
"Pacer's DAL Server, as opposed to previous DAL implementations, opens the door to the most price-competitive boxes in the industry," said Brian Walsh, manager of system architecture and technology group at Garden City, N.Y.-based Avis Rent A Car System Inc. Walsh said a Sun workstation gives him more processor and storage capacity at a lower price than mainframes.
But he said DAL has inherent limitations that users should recognize. "There are SQL Level 2 features I want to get my hands on that aren't available through DAL," Walsh said.
Pacer's DAL server for Unix is priced from $4,000 for 16 users to $12,000 for unlimited use.
Pacer Software Inc. is at 1900 W. Park Drive, Suite 280, Westborough, Mass. 01581. Phone (508) 898-3300; fax (508) 388-1356.
(MacWEEK Gateways, February 17, 1992, p. 18) (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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Client-only QuickMail due in '92 for Novell
By Nathalie Welch
West Des Moines, Iowa - Users with Macs attached to networks based on Novell Inc.'s NetWare will soon be able to access Novell's Message Handling Service engine via the familiar interface of CE Software Inc.'s QuickMail.
This month CE announced that it expects to ship a client-only QuickMail for MHS before the end of 1992. Pricing for the program, which will be available for IBM PCs and compatibles running DOS and Windows as well as for Macs, is not decided but will be comparable to current QuickMail prices, the company said. QuickMail currently costs $599 for a server and 10-user package.
QuickMail for MHS will give Mac users access to the more than 120 applications built on Novell's mail engine, according to CE. It also will allow easy interchange of messages between QuickMail clients and users of Da Vinci Systems Corp.'s popular PC-based Da Vinci eMail.
"Our current strategy is to keep QuickMail as both a self-sufficient, all-in-one-box E-mail solution and as a client, with the same look and feel, that can ride on open standards such as MHS," said Richard Skeie, CE president and CEO.
CE's MHS client will require a server running NetWare v2.2 or v3.11, NetWare for Macintosh, and NetWare MHS 1.5. A dedicated PC running MHS' Connectivity Manager also is required if multiple MHS servers are present on the network or if users want to install a gateway from AppleTalk-based QuickMail to QuickMail for MHS.
StarNine Technologies Inc. of Berkeley, Calif., currently sells Mail*Link MHS for QuickMail, a gateway between CE's AppleTalk-based QuickMail and MHS systems. A future version of the gateway may support exchange of graphical electronic-mail forms between QuickMail's AppleTalk and MHS clients, CE said.
Apple's anticipated October release of the Open Collaboration Environment (OCE) will change CE's development strategy, Skeie said. OCE will add messaging and directory services to the Mac operating system and a Finder-based interface for network communications.
"We will happily give up the support of operating system-level transport to an OS company [such as Apple]," Skeie said.
"The open E-mail standards that I believe will start emerging from operating system companies will give momentum to the next generation of E-mail," Skeie said. "We will then write mail clients much more powerful than before because of the capabilities incorporated in the OS."
In other news, CE announced plans to send a free QuickMail upgrade to all registered users by the end of the month. Version 2.5.1 should rectify problems some users experienced with remote dial-in and server-to-server connections via the Macintosh Communications Toolbox, the company said.
CE Software Inc. is at 1801 Industrial Circle, P.O. Box 65580, West Des Moines, Iowa 50265. Phone (515) 224-1995; fax (515) 224-1953.
(MacWEEK Gateways, February 17, 1992, p. 18) (c) Copyright 1992 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
Baltimore - Chesapeake Systems Inc. has shed some light on networking for industrial or heavily wired environments in which electromagnetic signals can interfere with Ethernet transmissions.
Available now, the $495 GeoLink transceiver allows users to connect fiber-optic cabling, rather than copper, to an Ethernet card. It can connect to any AUI (attachment unit interface) port on an Ethernet card, hub or router to provide 10-Mbps network communications over fiber-optic cable. GeoLink is transparent to Ethernet protocols, so it requires no special drivers in addition to those provided with a card.
Chesapeake said the GeoLink is especially appropriate for modifying backbone connections between hubs or routers since fiber allows longer cable runs and is immune to electromagnetic interference. Signals are less likely to be degraded in areas near electrical and phone equipment.
The company also said the transceiver can allow fiber connections to individual Macintoshes when used with Ethernet cards such as Austin, Texas-based TechWorks Inc.'s $429 Multimedia Ethernet Card.
The company also sells prepared fiber-optic cabling for $4 per foot, plus $100 for cable preparation, which includes polishing and mounting in ST-type connectors.
Chesapeake Systems Inc. is at 905 Huntsman Road, Baltimore, Md. 21204. Phone (410) 583-7717; fax (410) 583-1787.
(MacWEEK Gateways, February 17, 1992, p. 18) (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 -- Classic Performer: Speed at low price
By Dale Coleman
In these modern times marked by System 7 and power-intensive applications, the entire topic of 68000-based Macs is passe to some. On the other hand, the original Classic was an enormous sales success and is still available despite the recent arrival of the 68030-based Classic II, which we judge to be a significantly better dollar value than the Classic (see MacWEEK, Jan. 13).
Low performance has always been an open invitation to third-party accelerators, and the Classic is no exception. One of the new entries in this rush to get things done is the Classic Performer, a 16-MHz 68000 accelerator from Harris Laboratories Inc.
Replacing the Classic's 8-MHz processor with the same processor running at a faster clock speed (and thus offering about twice the throughput of the original) might seem like a half measure, especially considering the availability of fast 68030 accelerators (including Apple's own Classic II upgrade). But the low price of the Classic Performer - $199.95, $259.95 with the optional 68881 math coprocessor - earns it consideration.
>Installation.
Installing the Classic Performer is surprisingly simple, especially considering that Apple made almost no provision for internal expansion of the Classic: It lacks an expansion slot and has an anemic power supply. Fortunately, however, the Classic Performer does not require the use of an additional power supply.
The accelerator snaps onto the Classic logic board. A 68-pin socket slips over the original 68000, and a 20-pin adapter plugs into the logic board's floppy drive cable connector. Although these two points alone seem to be sufficient to adequately anchor the accelerator board, the package also includes a strip of double-sided tape that adheres the board to the top of the Classic's ROM chip. In the course of the review, we installed and removed the Classic Performer board several times with no ill effect.
The Classic Performer is a well-designed board. The additional height does not keep the Classic logic board from sliding back into place. The replacement for the logic board's 20-pin floppy drive connector cable does lack guides, however, and is an invitation to improper installation and possible drive damage (as is documented), but competent installers shouldn't be put off. Installation takes less than 10 minutes.
Accelerator control is via a simple control panel that allows you to bypass the accelerator, although you must restart for changes to take effect. A special sound driver that is provided to ensure sounds are produced undistorted can be turned off in the same way. The help screen provided with the control panel is interesting but not very useful.
The supplied floppy disk contains several files that are not mentioned in the documentation. Since the mystery disk files are performance-measurements applications of one form or another, this is more offensive to our sensibilities than a serious productivity drawback.
>Performance.
The sole purpose of third-party accelerators is to increase the performance of an existing CPU. To this end, the Classic Performer is true to its name. By both explicit and intuitive measurements, operations run almost twice as fast. We were able to operate all the applications that we normally run on the Classic, including several word processors, spreadsheets and database programs. The documentation states that the accelerator is incompatible with Sitka Corp.'s TOPS but promises an eventual upgrade to the software.
>Conclusions.
The Classic Performer includes a lifetime warranty, and although it is easy to set up, installation must be performed by an authorized Apple technician if you want to preserve Apple's warranty. The manual is slim but clearly outlines the installation procedure and is illustrated with clearly reproduced photographs of the critical steps. Support is free with a toll call.
We operate Macs in a world in which the fastest IIfx is none too fast for some applications. But for many lightweight applications, the Classic is almost adequate. The performance increase afforded by this accelerator makes it quite adequate indeed for many of these applications. If your budget is extremely tight and you're responsible for a small installation that includes a few Classics, this upgrade might make sense. Otherwise, we recommend giving serious consideration to Apple's Classic II logic board upgrade, which costs $699 and offers significant benefits, including support for more than 4 Mbytes of RAM, 32-bit addressing and virtual memory.
Individuals who regularly work with more-robust Macs during the day and are easily frustrated with the performance of the Classic at home (especially after upgrading to System 7) may find the Classic Performer an acceptable compromise between performance and expenditure. The quality of the documentation and system software is not up to the high standards found in earlier accelerator products from larger companies such as Radius Inc., but then again the Classic Performer costs a fraction as much.
SCORE CARD
Overall value Good
Performance Good
Features Good
Installation/configuration Very good
Compatibility Very good
Documentation/support Average
List price $199.95*
*68881 coprocesor, $60
ON BALANCE
The Classic Performer is an inexpensive, easy-to-install and highly compatible 16-MHz 68000 CPU accelerator for the Classic. It improves performance over the standard Classic by between 75 percent and 95 percent. While boosting speed, this accelerator will not give the Classic 68030 features such as 32-bit addressing and virtual memory that will be increasingly important with the release of new software. Compatibility is excellent, except for the current version's incompatibility with Sitka Corp.'s TOPS.
Harris Laboratories Inc. is at 7379 C Washington Ave. S., Edina, Minn. 55439. Phone (612) 941-2948; fax (612) 941-3515.
(MacWEEK Reviews, February 17, 1992, p. 53) (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: Microsoft Works counterpunch
There's a lot to be said for attending the Winter Olympics in Albertville. For one thing, it's particularly nice this time of year in the French Alps. And for another, when it comes to raw excitement, you just can't beat a good luge.
But there's also a lot to be said for keeping an eye on the home front, which is exactly what the Knife did this time around. After all, excitement is where you find it, and in this case it was found in discovering some details on the third incarnation of what Microsoft considers the third best selling application for the Mac, Microsoft Works.
Sources who are familiar with the project, which is currently in the beta-test stage, tell the Knife that Microsoft plans to debut Works 3.0 sometime this spring. Based on these reports, the first thing users will notice is that the floating tool palettes are as easy on the eyes as the Word and Excel tool bars are ugly to behold.
This may or may not be a case of "last out best dressed," but the Knife is told the feature set is mostly what you would expect from a product that for the first time is facing a variety of credible competitors. One surprising element is the omission of publish and subscribe or any reference to Microsoft's own OLE technology in the beta.
>Escape!
If you've got an office full of the AppleCD SC Plus drives and you've been wondering if you should replace them with the new less-expensive model that Apple will soon introduce, don't be too anxious. The Knife has learned that, at least as far as Apple is concerned, the new drive is identical to the older unit it replaces both in performance and functionality. The only difference is the new model's lower price tag, and presumably, lower production costs for Apple.
The Knife also reports that the Apple Standard ADB keyboard is poised to follow the current CD SC Plus into the no-longer-available category. As soon as existing supplies are exhausted, Apple will replace it with the smaller, and again, presumably cheaper for Apple to manufacture, Apple Keyboard II, which first appeared on the Classic and LC. Keyboard connoisseurs will remember that among its many remarkable features, the Apple Keyboard II is the one with the Escape key inexplicably placed just to the right of the abbreviated space bar.
>LC II again.
The imminent announcement of the 68030-based Mac LC II has led to a fair amount of confusion, particularly among some members of the education community, where the LC is popular. The facts, according to the Knife, are as follows. First, Apple's Ethernet LC card is incompatible with the LC II, but a ROM upgrade is in the works that will solve the problem.
Then there's the matter of the IIe card. It will need a software upgrade to ensure compatibility with the LC II, and that upgrade is also in the tubes. Since the IIe card is, as they say, System 7-hostile, Apple is considering shipping one of the LC II configurations with System 6.0.8, which would make it the only new Mac to ship with System 6 since the advent of System 7.
>Confession.
It's often said that confession is good for the soul. While such spiritual matters are beyond the scope of the Knife's contract, he is betting that Apple will be better off with a public confession that the current standard memory configurations of the LaserWriter IIf and IIg are a bit inadequate. According to sources, Apple will shortly drop these minimalist memory configurations and double the memory configurations.
>Beverly Hills 90210.
Down in La La land, original home of the power lunch, representing artists and their works is big business indeed, and Creative Artists Agency in Beverly Hills is one of the biggest of the big. It's so big, that the comings and goings of VIPs rarely raise an eyebrow, unless, that is, the VIPs happen to be John Sculley or Bill Gates, both of whom were spotted on the grounds on separate visits last week. CAA is known to have only about 150 Macs, so this is either an example of acute micro-marketing or, more likely, something a lot more interesting.
It ain't no Olympic medal, but a MacWEEK mug is recognized the world over as the sign of a well-passed tip. Donations are being accepted now at (415) 243-3500, fax (415) 243-3650, MCI (MactheKnife), AppleLink (MacWEEK) and CompuServe/ZiffNet/Zmac.
(MacWEEK, Mac the Knife, February 17, 1992, p. 114) (c) Copyright 1992 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
