San Francisco - The RISC waiting in the wings may dominate this week's Macworld Expo, with dozens of vendors showing native PowerPC versions of their applications and at least two dozen more expected to announce support for PowerPC Macs.
Expect to see jaw-dropping, eye-popping speed boosts for graphics programs such as Aldus FreeHand, Fractal Design Corp.'s Painter, Specular International Ltd.'s Infini-D, Visual Information Development Inc.'s Presenter Professional and Virtus Walkthrough. Computation-intensive CAD software will also be a big winner come the PowerPC Macs. Diehl Graphsoft Inc.'s Minicad and Ashlar Inc.'s Vellum will bear witness to that.
You can stop by the Apple booth for a complete list of all PowerPC applications on the floor. Among vendors expected to wave a special banner identifying PowerPC-native applications are Aladdin Systems Inc. (StuffIt, StuffIt Lite and SpaceSaver), Claris Corp. (ClarisWorks), Dantz Development Corp. (Retrospect and Retrospect Remote), Deneba Software (Canvas), Frame Technology Corp. (FrameMaker), Insignia Solutions Inc. (SoftWindows), Language Engineering Corp. (LogoVista E2J), Nisus Software Inc. (Nisus Writer), WordPerfect Corp. (WordPerfect) and Wolfram Research Corp. (Mathematica).
And developers who want to move to PowerPC will have plenty of resources: Apple Developer Central will be selling its Macintosh RISC Software Development Kit and a copy of other products, including Code Warrior Gold from Metrowerks Inc.
PowerPC notwithstanding, there will be many other innovations at Macworld. Hot products to check out include:
Telecom
Early adopters of Apple's System 7 Pro PowerTalk client will find the second piece of the collaboration strategy, PowerShare Collaboration Server software, available on the show floor for $999. StarNine Technologies Inc. will display its line of PowerShare gateways in the Apple booth and its Internet gateway for PowerTalk in its own booth.
Also making its debut is e.World, Apple's on-line service, which is expected to be up and running by spring. e.World uses a "place" metaphor to make navigation easier.
On the telecom software front, Software Ventures Corp. will show off its upgraded MicroPhone line, now capable of multiple host sessions and Internet connectivity.
Aladdin Systems will provide a bonus to prospective customers of SITcomm, telecom software with battery-saving features for mobile users: 15 minutes of free, long-distance connect time.
The FreeSoft Company will show off the granddaddy of telecom programs, White Knight 12.0, and its upgraded multihost bulletin board system, Second Sight 3.0. Hayes Microcomputer Products Inc. will unveil its Smartcom II for the Macintosh 4.0 upgrade, which now includes PowerTalk-mailer support.
QuickMail users itching to go wireless can take CE Software Inc. up on its one-stop-shopping bundle that includes Intel Corp.'s wireless modem, a RAM Mobile Data service agreement and QuickMail Remote with Wireless Support software.
Ex Machina Inc. will show Notify! for PowerTalk, its personal gateway that lets Mac users send wireless messages to the Newton Messaging Card. The company will also be displaying PocketCall, the first general-purpose terminal emulator for the Newton MessagePad.
Digital Communications Associates Inc. will demonstrate Crosstalk for Macintosh 2.0, a terminal emulator previously available only for Intel-based machines. It supports multiple sessions and scripting.
Connectivity
If you're looking for networking products at expo, don't just follow the booth names. There are LAN gems hidden almost everywhere.
Mac-networking unknown Tut Systems Inc. will be in Merisel Inc.'s booth demonstrating daisychainable Ethernet adapters that use normal, inexpensive "silver satin" telephone cabling. Symantec Corp. will show the treats it acquired by purchasing Trik Inc.: NetDistributor Pro 2.0 and the still unannounced Installer Pro 1.0.
Helios USA will carry on about its electronic-mail service for Newton, Helios Connect. If you're lucky, you might also get a peek at netOctopus 1.2, an update to the company's scriptable, cross-platform, PowerTalk-aware Mac network management program.
Intelligence At Large Inc. will show a new video-conferencing system that allows users to send document windows, live broadcasts and their own images to other networked users.
Graphics
There will be plenty of action on the graphics front, as vendors unveil a chorus of colorful new entries and show PowerPC versions of many products.
Apple will showcase PhotoFlash, a new application for acquiring, browsing and touching up photos and placing them into page-layout programs.
True to their 3-D origins, Specular International and Strata Inc. each will demo a trio of new products. Specular will show Collage, which lets artists quickly composite and manipulate bit-mapped images; TextureScape, which lets users create high-resolution synthetic textures; and the now-shipping LogoMotion, a low-end version of Infini-D for creating flying logos. Strata will have Strata StudioPro, a 3-D modeling, rendering, animation package; the new Strata Virtual, which lets users walk through a 3-D model; and StrataVision 3d Version 3.0, which adds a new modeling tool, enhanced texture palette and simpler interface.
HSC Software will unveil KPT New Worlds Explorer, one of Kai's Power Tools that lets users design and render natural and supernatural 3-D landscapes, while Pixar will ship Typestry 2.0, which supports perforations and editable Looks.
Aldus FreeHand users will want to check out Version 4.0 with its multipage support and drag-and-drop color. Aldus will also exhibit TrapWise, its high-end trapping application.
Fractal Design Corp. will unveil Dabbler, a 16-bit painting program that offers the natural-media features of its Painter application.
Equilibrium Technologies Inc. will introduce DeBabelizer Lite, which converts files among 55 bit-mapped graphics and animation formats. DayStar Digital Inc. will present its new PhotoMatic utility that brings AppleScript support to Adobe Photoshop.
Multimedia
Attendees interested in putting their tired but best feet forward can check out many new offerings in desktop presentations. Most have added "intelligence" in the guise of advisers, wizards or plain old help to get users up to speed.
Apple will offer one-stop shopping for video and multimedia producers with software/hardware bundles incorporating everything they need, including a Quadra.
Aldus is readying Persuasion 3.0's new interface, charts and animation abilities, while Claris Corp. hopes to woo users to ClarisImpact, its new $399 integrated business graphic program.
Cricket Presents III from Computer Associates International Inc. will hit the streets at the show. The new version has boosted audio and QuickTime capabilities.
If you've had trouble figuring out the right chart for a job, float over to the DeltaPoint booth for DeltaGraph Pro 3.0. The $195 program's Chart Advisor helps beat the statistical blues.
Motion Works USA will release its Multimedia Utilities package of tools for working with movies, graphics and audio, while Avid Technology Inc. will demonstrate its speedy new Videoshop 2.0, which packs high-end video production tools, such as audio mixing, titling and multitrack digital effects.
RasterOps Corp. will show MoviePak Presenter, a low-cost video production system for capturing and editing full-screen QuickTime movies at 30 frames per second. New Video Corp.'s EyeQ AV, the first board designed for the Digital Audio Video connector of the Quadra 660AV and 840AV, will make its debut at the show.
Adobe Premiere users who want to create Dynamic Effects should check out Gryphon Software Corp.'s package of special-effects plug-ins.
S.H. Pierce & Co. will exhibit FlipBook, which lets users create printed flip books from QuickTime, PICS or ScrapBook movies and animations, while Passport Designs Inc. will show Passport Producer Pro, its multimedia authoring program, with a new price of $995 and bundled runtime player.
Eastman Kodak Co. will demo a trio of multimedia products: its Portfolio presentation application, software for importing images into the presentation program and a disc-mastering package.
Opcode Systems Inc. will show four new sound products that take advantage of the digital signal processor chips on the AV Macs: AudioShop, Vision 2.0, the Desktop Music Production Kit and Claire. OSC will show its latest version of Deck II, which edits and plays back eight tracks of stereo sound and has SMPTE synchronization.
Tired of huddling around the PowerBook for a demo? nView Corp.'s Luminator is a $12,595 multimode data-and-video projector about the size of a LaserWriter that can handle just about every video or audio source under the sun.
Utilities
Utilities are almost everyone's favorite category of software - you can both afford and understand them - and this year's expo attendees will have plenty to keep their interest.
Management Science Associates Inc. will sell a bevy of utilities in one box. ALLright combines its COPYright Pro with an open/save dialog box extender, an extensions manager, macro utility, menu manager, print switcher, note pad and sound enhancer for $79.
Connectix Corp.'s RAMDoubler promises to turn your 8-Mbyte Mac into a 16-Mbyte wonder, reportedly by combining compression, optimization and virtual-memory techniques. Menu-guru Jorg Brown is behind this piece of magic. Connectix will use some of that magic in an upgrade to its RAM disk utility, Maxima 3.0, to double the size of those speedy virtual volumes.
Symantec Corp. will display DiskDoubler 4.0, part of the SuperDoubler package of compression utilities. The upgrade includes new compression algorithms and follows the industry trend with an archive viewing window independent from the Finder.
In the "it's about time" category, Inline Software has created PopupFolder, a $59.95 extension that speeds up folder access by letting you launch documents or even move files via a menu instead of wading through a folder swamp.
usrEZ Software Inc. will show a networked version of its line of security products, ultraCommand.
Aladdin Systems is ready to reveal its StuffIt Installer 2.0, which looks both forward and backward in time: It's PowerPC-savvy and can install fonts and desk accessories under System 6. Rumor has it you might be surprised to see a certain company use Aladdin's installer in many cases instead of its own when PowerPC ships.
Claris will leap into the screen-saver wars with its Imaginaria, brought over to the Mac from Windows. It combines animation, sound and security in a lighthearted package.
Mac owners drowning in a sea of files can take a look at Dayna Communications Inc.'s ProFiles. It can create portable file lists, provide alternate views of a hard disk and find files faster than the Finder. Dayna will also show off Version 1.3 of its SafeDeposit backup utility, which introduces compression and background operation.
Kent*Marsh Ltd. will roll out a networkable version of its FolderBolt utility, which also incorporates encryption and deleted-file destruction.
CD-ROM
The Voyager Company will offer such diverse titles as Macbeth, The Complete Maus, Comic Book Confidential and Freak Show. The company will also release several Expanded Book titles.
Other new CD-ROM titles at the show include a new Living Book called Little Monster at School by Mercer Mayer from Broderbund Software Inc., Prehistoria from Grolier Electronic Publishing Inc., and Forever Growing Garden and Professor Gooseberry from Media Vision Technology Inc.
Productivity
The word at Macworld is that there are no major changes to Microsoft Word yet, but WordPerfect 3.0 for Macintosh is finally shipping. Claris will announce that ClarisWorks for PowerPC is, er, in the works and slated to ship on PPC Day One. Meanwhile, Claris is set to ship MacWrite Pro 1.5, an upgrade that adds a table-of-contents feature and full support for System 7 Pro.
Nisus Software's Nisus Writer 4.0, due by March features text-to-speech in five languages: English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.
There's plenty of action on the database front, as Microsoft Corp. will roll out FoxPro for Macintosh 2.5 at an aggressive introductory price of $99 until June; ACI US Inc. will show 4D First, a trim $295 version of the $895 4th Dimension; and Helix Technologies will demo Helix Express 2.0.
PIMs
Users whose New Year's resolution is to finally get organized have a slew of new and upgraded information managers to help them get started.
Now Software Inc. will show Now Contact, its contact manager that integrates with Up-to-Date via Apple events. FIT Software will unveil Full Contact, an integrated calendar and contact manager, while Common Knowledge Inc. will exhibit Arrange, its customizable PIM.
Team Building Technologies Inc. will go multi-user with the announcement of its TimeSquare scheduling software. AppleScript fans should check out Chena Software Inc.'s Fair Witness upgrade. Visionary Software will announce First Things First Proactive, a network version of its time-management program. Rae Technology Inc. will unveil a faster version of Rae Assist, its integrated PIM with built-in linking capabilities.
Mobile
Taking your office to the show? Well, mobile moguls, you're in luck: There's a lot for you at Macworld, whether you measure it in PowerBooks, accessories or applications. Neither will Newton users return to the office disappointed.
The light weight, attractive price and sharp active-matrix color of Apple's PowerBook Duo 270c will draw crowds. PowerBook users will be able to boost battery life with new offerings for both Duos and all-in-one systems from Technoggin Inc., Battery Technology Inc. and VST Power Systems Inc., plus new conditioners from Lind, Madson Line and Applied Engineering. Applied will also show off its cellular modem that links directly to Motorola cellular phones.
Leader Technologies Inc. will introduce the long-awaited update to its PowerMerge file-synchronization software that tracks moved or renamed files and allows users to compare files changed at two locations.
Newton's first San Francisco expo appearance will be marked by a revolution: shipping third-party applications for the MessagePad and Sharp Expert Pad in Apple's Newton showcase.
You'll be able to watch your sushi spending with State of the Art Inc.'s ExpensePlus (formerly ExpenseIt!) application. And you'll be able to admire HealthCare Communications Inc.'s FilePad flat-file database system, Avail's InfoNow mobile reference and other programs created by the hundreds of developers that were at the Newton conference last month. But many applications are on hold pending Apple's release of Version 1.0.5 of the Newton OS.
Scripting
Expo goers can get their first glimpse of several recent updates and innovations in scripting systems. HyperCard is now back at Apple, with a colorful interface and built-in support for AppleScript and other Open Scripting Architecture-compatible scripting systems.
Look for a flurry of third-party HyperCard add-on announcements from Heizer Software and other vendors.
UserLand Software Inc. has updated its Frontier scripting environment to integrate with AppleScript and add features.
Apple will demonstrate SDU's FrontMost interface-building tool, which it bundles with the new AppleScript 1.1.
And programmers should check out Main Event's new Scripter, an AppleScript script editor with debugging features.
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(c) Copyright 1993 Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
News: 3-D QuickDraw ready this fall
By Robert Hess
Cupertino, Calif. - Apple is reportedly developing another extension to its QuickDraw graphics engine, to make the use of 3-D objects as commonplace as that of 2-D objects. The technology is expected to be available for both Macs and Intel-based hardware.
Despite Apple's denials about the information in this story, multiple sources have confirmed to MacWEEK that the technology, code-named Escher, is likely to ship this fall. Like the upcoming QuickDraw GX extension, which will offer extensive typographical manipulation, sophisticated graphic effects and a new printing architecture, Escher will act as an optional supplement to the QuickDraw toolbox built into all Macs. Application developers will be able to call on the extension's highly optimized set of routines for the generation, manipulation, display and rendering of complex 3-D images.
Like QuickDraw GX, Escher will be able to save an image to a document format independent from the application that generated it. Anyone can then view, print and modify the image from within any application that is compliant with Escher. In theory, a user of Autodesk Inc.'s AutoCAD and a user of Diehl Graphsoft Inc.'s MiniCAD 5 could exchange images without exporting to and importing from common document formats.
Apple has reportedly developed the technology in portable code, allowing it to run on 680x0- and PowerPC-based Macintoshes, as well as Pentium-based systems. But considerable horsepower and memory will be required to use the extension.
Sources said Apple is relying on a large installed base of PowerPC Macs by the time Escher ships to improve its chances of adoption. PowerPC Macs are expected to begin shipping in the first quarter.
On the Pentium side, Escher will go head to head with Silicon Graphics Inc.'s 3-D graphics technology, OpenGL, which Microsoft Corp. has licensed. Microsoft will reportedly include support for the technology in its Win32 application programming interfaces for Cairo, the next version of Windows NT. Cairo is currently under development and is expected to make its debut in the first half of 1995.
When contacted about this story, an Apple spokeswoman said, "3-D continues to be an important direction for Apple, but we categorically deny the points in this story."
MacWEEK 01.03.94
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News: Nagel invites Microsoft aboard OpenDoc
David Nagel took over AppleSoft, the division responsible for Macintosh system software, tools and retail applications, as senior vice president and general manager less than one year ago. In his first one-on-one interview since taking that post, Nagel, who also heads Apple's Advanced Technology Group, tells MacWEEK Senior Editor Andrew Gore where things stand with Apple's most critical software developments.
MacWEEK: Having a lot of compelling software available at the PowerPC launch will determine, to a large degree, how successful PowerPC is out of the gate. How is that going?
Nagel: It's going great. There are literally hundreds of native applications in development. We will exceed our original goals for the number of native applications.
MacWEEK: How many do you think you'll have?
Nagel: I would be very surprised if we didn't have 100 native applications within 30 days of launch.
MacWEEK: What kind of applications do you think will go native first?
Nagel: Applications that do an incredible amount of arithmetic processing, photo processing and image processing. And all the publishing software will be there.
MacWEEK: How are things with PowerPC developer tools?
Nagel: The PowerPC team has really gotten a first-rate set of development tools ready, and everything I've heard from the developers says the tools are getting better and better all the time.
I think one of the biggest disconnects in our developer tools program has been the advent and growing importance of object [technology], particularly OpenDoc.
The whole business of how you create component software and how you create the set of tools that allow developers, or in some cases users, to create [component] software has necessitated major rethinking of our whole tools business.
MacWEEK: Is OpenDoc really like OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) 2.0, or is it something more?
Nagel: I think the big difference between OLE and OpenDoc is that OLE is an application software technology and [OpenDoc is] deployed directly on the OS platform.
I would hope that Microsoft would not view OpenDoc - as it apparently does - as a competitor. Our intent is to make [OpenDoc] interoperate with OLE.
Ideally, what you would like is, if an OLE part exists, to be able to use it in an OpenDoc document and vice versa. I can't for the life of me understand why Microsoft wouldn't want to support that goal.
MacWEEK: Is it an implementation issue?
Nagel: We've said that we will do the work based on its published APIs (application programming interfaces) and libraries. We think it's quite possible to make OpenDoc and OLE interoperate quite nicely.
I think one of the major differences between Apple and Microsoft in system software is that [Microsoft] tends to think of nirvana as a world [where] everything runs Microsoft software.
We tend to be more realistic, obviously based on where we are in the industry, that the world is heterogeneous. It's pie in the sky to think that there will only be a single platform in the future.
MacWEEK: So if you could say something to Bill Gates right now about OLE and OpenDoc, what would you say?
Nagel: I'd say, "Give up the idea that this is competitive technology and let's sit down and figure out how we can interoperate."
MacWEEK: How important are efforts to get the Mac operating system running on PowerPC?
Nagel: It's my view that the PowerPC is one of the most important things, not just at Apple, but that's happening in the industry.
Until PowerPC came along, there was really nothing to change the domination of the PC world by Intel and even by Microsoft. And when you have complete domination of the market by one or two players, the thing that always happens is that innovation slows down and exploitation speeds up.
The CISC-RISC comparisons today - Pentium vs. PowerPC - are pretty clear. PowerPC is faster and smaller, and it's presumably cheaper to manufacture.
Intel is going to take every possible step, and it certainly has a lot of resources to do so, to mitigate whatever advantage the PowerPC has. But I think that what you'll find is, over time, the gulf between RISC and CISC is going to widen. RISC is just a more efficient technology, and it's going to gradually take over.
MacWEEK: Many analysts have observed that the Mac is outgrowing its interface. What will AppleSoft do to address this problem?
Nagel: Don Norman, Apple fellow, coined the notion that the best interface is an invisible one - the interface that allows you to do a task without a piece of software called an interface.
MacWEEK: What would you say is the first step toward the invisible interface? Do you see the Finder going away?
Nagel: There may be some changes to the way the Finder looks today. I don't want to tell you yet because I want you to be delighted when you see them. And also if I tell you, then the next thing is our friends up in Redmond (Wash.) will claim that they invented it and will have it in Chicago.
At any rate, you will begin to see some subtle changes turn up in Finder. You'll see a whole category of functions that I call active assistants - software technologies that show you how to do something as opposed to just describe it to you or give you little information bubbles.
Other ideas that you'll probably see are having workspaces that are ideally suited for different tasks. The Finder is great for representing and organizing information on something that's familiar. But that doesn't encompass everything people do with a computer.
MacWEEK: It sounds like you're describing a Finder where the distinction between application and OS blurs, as it does on the Newton.
Nagel: Yes. The Newton, in a way, points to a lot of things - because these guys designed it after the benefit of 10 years of looking at how people adapt to and are constrained by the interfaces we have today.
So it does point the way to a whole new class of interfaces.
And when you begin to think about taking that inspiration and marrying it with the power of a 200- or 400-million-instructions-per-second processor, lots of memory, big disks and a very fast network, suddenly your intuition will lead to all the same places ours has.
MacWEEK 01.03.94
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(c) Copyright 1993 Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
News: Magic Cap to be shown at Macworld
By Andrew Gore
Mountain View, Calif. - Macworld Expo attendees will finally get a detailed demo of what until now has been the purview only of informed sources: General Magic Inc.'s Magic Cap operating system.
Bill Atkinson and Andy Hertzfeld, co-founders of General Magic and key members of the original Macintosh design team, will demonstrate their "next step" in interfaces at the Jan. 6 expo keynote.
Magic Cap (Communicating Applications Platform) uses interactive images of an office, a house and Main Street to let users access personal information management tools, exchange electronic mail, and wander networks or on-line services. In addition to running on personal communicator devices from several OEMs, including Sony Corp. and Motorola Inc., Magic Cap will run on the Mac and Windows-based computers.
Atkinson and Hertzfeld are also expected to discuss Telescript, a communications language that sources said "turns the network into a platform on which applications can be developed." With Telescript, Magic Cap users can create network agents to ferret out specific data, act as a go-between for transaction-based services or ensure that E-mail gets to the person it is intended for. Telescript initially will be available only on computers running the Magic Cap environment.
The keynote speakers are also expected to demonstrate the forthcoming Sony Magic Cap communicator, which sources said bears a striking resemblance to the Newton MessagePad.
A prerelease developer version of Magic Cap has been shipping for some time. Sources said its object-based scripting language lets developers create their own "rooms," which in Magic Cap's metaphor act like applications do on the Mac.
In related news, AT&T Co. is expected to announce its PersonaLink on-line service, which will be the first to support Telescript, at the Consumer Electronics Show this week in Las Vegas.
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(c) Copyright 1993 Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
News: Peirce utilities fine-tune printing
By David Morgenstern
San Jose, Calif. - Users will have access to more advanced printing features when Peirce Software Inc. this March ships Peirce Print Tools, a set of utilities that take advantage of QuickDraw GX.
The company said the product will be released simultaneously with Apple's new QuickDraw imaging architecture, which adds new graphic, printing and typographic features to System 7.1 or greater.
Peirce Print Tools improves user control over print jobs and adds drag-and-drop desktop printer icons, the company said. The software is extendable, allowing developers to more easily support printers and beef up formatting capabilities.
The Peirce Print Tools package will give all programs specialty printing options not currently available to all applications. The package will consist of nine QuickDraw GX extensions and a utility program. Features include:
> Custom printing. Pages can be printed in reverse order, double-sided or as a folded brochure. Users can add borders or gray-shaded text "watermarks" to a printout.
> Printer management. PrintLogger captures printer usage information, including user name, document names and pages printed. A viewer application gives access to the log, allowing managers to generate reports and bill users for expensive printer supplies. Report templates in Claris Corp.'s FileMaker Pro and Microsoft Excel will be included with the utilities.
A shared printer can be set to produce a cover page for each job, helping to route documents to users on a network. Five preset cover pages are included in the package.
> Print conservation. The InkSaver extension lets users set the level of ink or toner used when printing drafts or proofing copies, while the PaperSaver module prints thumbnails of documents. The Summary panel provides a quick overview and access to all the current settings of a desktop printer.
QuickDraw GX, compressed on five floppy disks, will be included with the package with "Taking Advantage of QuickDraw GX Printing," a 26-page pamphlet of general information and tips prepared by Peirce. It will also be available free from the company when the product ships.
The prerelease price for Peirce Print Tools is $99. Users will not be billed until they receive the software, and the company will honor a 30-day money-back guarantee from the ship date. After release, the price will be $179.
Peirce Software Inc. is at 719 Hibiscus Place, Suite 301, San Jose, Calif. 95117. Phone (408) 244-6554 or (800) 828-6554; fax (408) 244-6882.
MacWEEK 01.03.94
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(c) Copyright 1993 Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
News: Internet-in-a-Box eases net access
By Nathalie Welch
Sebastopol, Calif. - To simplify gaining access to the Internet, two vendors have teamed up to create an all-in-one-package of Internet tools and services.
Internet-in-a-Box for the Macintosh is expected to ship in the second quarter of 1994 for less than $100, shortly after the Windows version is released, according to Spry Inc., an Internet developer, and O'Reilly & Associates Inc., a book publisher.
The package will include a variety of Internet tools from Spry; a subscription to O'Reilly's Global Network Navigator (GNN), a hypertext-based World Wide Web server; Mosaic, a multifunction Internet browser; service providers for one-step Internet connectivity; and customer support.
With Mosaic, users can access GNN, which offers direct links to more than 600 information resources. GNN also includes news, an on-line magazine, an interactive catalog and a global marketplace. Spry will either write its own version of Mosaic or license it from a third-party developer.
Users will gain one-step Internet connectivity by dialing a toll-free number, the companies said. An initial provider will be Seattle-based NovX Interserve, which offers TCP/IP-based Internet services via SprintLink's 1-800 data services. More service providers will be included when the package ships, O'Reilly said.
Hourly charges typically will average between $8 and $12 per hour.
Bundled Internet tools will include Telnet, Gopher, Wide Area Information Server and other applications to access Internet mail and news groups. Although users can download freeware versions of these tools, Spry said it will be the first to offer commercial support for them.
Internet-in-a-Box will be jointly marketed by O'Reilly and Spry, and will be available in bookstores and retail software outlets.
O'Reilly & Associates Inc. is at 103 Morris St., Suite A, Sebastopol, Calif. 95472. Phone (707) 829-0515 or (800) 998-9938; fax (707) 829-0104.
Spry Inc. is at 316 Occidental Ave. S., Suite 200, Seattle, Wash. 98104. Phone (206) 447-0300 or (800) 777-9638; fax (206) 447-9008.
MacWEEK 01.03.94
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(c) Copyright 1993 Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
Gateways: Microsoft plans NT E-mail server
Core code clients talk to PowerShare
By Nathalie Welch
Redmond, Wash. - Microsoft Corp. is making moves to unite its many electronic-mail products under the banner of a Windows NT server.
The forthcoming X.400-based mail engine, currently called Enterprise Messaging Server (EMS), will ship near the end of the year, along with new Mac and 16- and 32-bit Windows clients, Microsoft said. Based on the company's MAPI (Messaging Application Programming Interface), the clients will be developed using the same "core code" to offer a consistent feature set across platforms. Pricing has not been set.
Microsoft and Apple are working to ensure that System 7 Pro PowerTalk clients will interoperate with Microsoft's server and that EMS clients can access Apple's PowerShare Collaboration Servers. The companies are also working to ensure that PowerShare and EMS can exchange messages and directories. Microsoft said it hopes to have the necessary gateways and protocols ready when EMS ships.
Microsoft declined to comment on other features of the new clients and would not detail the fate of its current mail products for Macs and IBM PCs and compatibles. The company said it will ship tools to help AppleTalk administrators migrate to the Windows NT server.
"We will keep supporting AppleTalk Mail for a period of years into the future," said Alison Klein, product manager for workgroup applications. "It takes our larger accounts a long time to migrate, and we want them to have the time to do that."
Microsoft currently offers Microsoft Mail for PC Networks and Microsoft Mail for AppleTalk. Both mail packages include different client software for Macs and PCs. The Mac package has not gotten a major upgrade since August 1992.
"We are really committed to the Mac desktop," Klein said. "We hope our future cross-platform strategy reflects that."
Microsoft this month will release a set of new tools for Version 3.1 AppleTalk servers. The tools will aid in moving accounts and related information among servers and let managers set up a server to automatically reply or forward mail sent to absent users.
Administrators will also be able to import lists of local and gateway users from text files, predict server memory requirements more accurately, view queued messages by date or size, return queued messages to their senders, and reset the local password.
Microsoft Corp. is at 1 Microsoft Way, Redmond, Wash. 98052-6399. Phone (206) 882-8080 or (800) 227-4679; fax (206) 936-7329.
Microsoft's '94 Mail Strategy
Late January
> New Microsoft Mail for AppleTalk admin tools
Late 1994
> Windows NT-based Enterprise Messaging Server
> Core-code Mac and 16- and 32-bit Windows E-mail clients
> Tools to move from AppleTalk server to EMS
> Update to Schedule+ group calendar
> Core-code Mac and 16- and 32-bit Windows Schedule+ clients
> Gateways and directory synchronization protocol to share mail
and catalog information between EMS and PowerShare Collaboration
Servers
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(c) Copyright 1993 Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
Gateways: MCI Mail to show new face to Mac users
By Nathalie Welch
Rye Brook, N.Y. - MCI International Inc. this month will begin beta testing its new Macintosh interface to MCI Mail.
Replacing the long-abandoned Desktop Express, the $35 MCI Mail Express for Macintosh will ship during the first quarter of 1994, MCI said. The software lets users send and receive text messages automatically when they log on, enclose files, and schedule connect times and delivery options. MCI said the program will use either the Zmodem or Kermit file transfer protocol when it ships.
"We found that people actually use the service more if they can access it via a graphical user interface," said Steve Berhannan, MCI alliance marketing manager.
To aid in message management, the program offers In Box, Out Box and Draft folders, and users can create their own folders for filing. A terminal-emulation window is included for navigating through MCI Mail using keyboard commands.
Desktop Express, an earlier graphical client to MCI Mail, was created by Solutions Inc. in 1985. Dow Jones Inc. supported the package until 1990. The new package, based on a communications driver that MCI purchased from Solutions in 1992, was developed by Cupertino, Calif.-based Portfolio Systems Inc.
MCI charges U.S. users for each message sent rather than for connect time. There is also a $35 registration fee.
Eric Arnum, editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Electronic Mail & Micro Systems newsletter, projected that at the end of 1993, MCI had 125,000 mailboxes, a 2.1 percent share of the public E-mail market.
MCI International Inc. is at 2 International Drive, Rye Brook, N.Y. 10573. Phone (914) 934-6480; fax (914) 934-6863.
MacWEEK 01.03.94
Gateways Page 26
(c) Copyright 1993 Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
Mobile Computing: Asante hub handles ARA, NetWare
NetConnect-RAS supports 8 or 16 users
By April Streeter
San Jose, Calif. - Asante Technologies Inc., long the leading player in Mac Ethernet connectivity, is making the leap into dial-in remote access.
At this week's Macworld Expo in San Francisco, Asante is expected to announce the NetConnect-RAS server, which lets mobile users dial into AppleTalk or Novell NetWare networks. The server will ship next month in eight- and 16-port configurations for $3,899 and $5,875, respectively.
Asante hopes to edge into the remote-access market by offering both NetWare and AppleTalk support on a single device. By comparison, Shiva Corp. of Burlington, Mass., a Mac remote-access market leader, supports AppleTalk and NetWare in separate eight-port models of the $3,499 LanRover/E.
"NetConnect addresses issues of security and management that remote users need to have solved," said Brad Baldwin, remote-access analyst and principal at Baldwin Network Research in Fremont, Calif. "Asante also has a solid reputation in Mac connectivity, which even in an explosive market like [remote dial-in] doesn't hurt."
Baldwin predicts that market revenue for dial-in servers will climb from 1993's $160 million to $390 million by the end of 1994. NetConnect-RAS features include:
> Client support. The server supports Apple Remote Access (ARA) 2.0. An unlimited license for NetWare dial-in clients ships with the server; Point-to-Point Protocol is also supported.
> Security. NetConnect-RAS supports ARA's password and callback functions and adds optional password protection and callback for non-ARA clients.
> On-site upgrades. A $2,175 slide-in card to upgrade an eight-port NetConnect-RAS to 16 ports will be available when the server ships.
> Management. In March, Asante will upgrade its $1,200 AsanteView to Version 2.3, which will include SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) support for NetConnect-RAS. AsanteView can manage all of Asante's hubs.
A scaled-down version of the software, called AsanteView Lite, which works only with Asante's 1012 hub and 1012 Bridge hub, will be available in April for $399.
Asante Technologies Inc. is at 821 Fox Lane, San Jose, Calif. 95131. Phone (408) 435-8388 or (800) 662-9686; fax (408) 432-7511.
MacWEEK 01.03.94
Mobile Computing Page 38
(c) Copyright 1993 Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
GA: Persuasion 3 gets objects moving
New version will offer hyperlinks
By David Morgenstern
Seattle - Aldus Persuasion presentations will get animated with an upgrade that adds new charting, animation and hyperlink capabilities to the program.
Aldus Corp. reportedly will announce Persuasion 3.0 this week and ship it for $495 in the first quarter.
The new version features a redesigned interface with customizable floating tool palettes. Autojump buttons will let presentations branch to other topics, presentations or programs. Text and graphics can be animated, and users will be able to control object speeds and transition timing.
The charting module offers additional chart types, including 3-D styles. Charts can be rotated and skewed, and the perspective can be altered. Individual chart elements can also be animated and highlighted.
"The most useful function is the color templates," said beta-user Jerry Roberts, a computer graphics specialist at the University of Utah's School of Medicine in Salt Lake City. Persuasion 3.0 permits multiple color models in a single document, alleviating the need to create separate versions of a presentation for display, slides and printouts. "I can go back and forth with a single click, then come out with a flawless film every time."
Much of the new version is built on a new cross-platform object-oriented code base, supporting the linking features of OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) and publish and subscribe. Persuasion's charting functions will be available to programs that support OLE, such as Microsoft Excel and Word.
Presentations created in the new version can be played by all previous versions, although animations and charts will be automatically converted to PICTs. Masters and templates can be transferred between Mac and Windows versions. Aldus said runtime presentations can be run on either platform using Persuasion Player, which is included with the program. The Windows version of Persuasion 3.0 will be released later this year, the company said.
Users of all previous versions can upgrade for $150.
Aldus Corp. is at 411 First Ave. S., Seattle, Wash. 98104-2871. Phone (206) 622-5500; fax (206) 343-4240.
MacWEEK 01.03.94
GA Page 44
(c) Copyright 1993 Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
GA: Fractal dabbles in 16-bit color
By Kirsten L. Parkinson
Aptos, Calif. - Users will be able to try their hands at natural media with a 16-bit-color painting program from Fractal Design Corp.
Fractal's Dabbler, due to ship for $99 later this quarter, incorporates many of the basic tools of the company's $399 Painter application, including pencils, chalk and crayons, in a streamlined interface.
Users are presented with four drawers that can be opened to access various features. The Tools drawer offers mark-making, editing and special effects. The most recently selected options appear at the front of the drawer.
The Extras drawer indicates additional tool options. When users select the pencil tool, for example, the Extras drawer shows that there are various pencil choices such as colored pencils.
The Color drawer stores multiple palettes and will ship with several predefined selections, such as a color picker, pastel palette and a HSV (hue, saturation, value) triangle. Users can also create custom palettes.
The fourth drawer stores paper textures. Fractal said the program will probably come with about 20 built-in textures.
Dabbler provides recording and playback sessions and lets users play back a session with different media, a feature not available in Painter. For example, users can play back a painting session and substitute chalk for pencils. Fractal will ship a set of prerecorded sessions of drawing lessons with the application.
The program supports pressure-sensitive tablets and can save images in TIFF, PICT, Fractal's proprietary RIFF and various Windows formats. A Windows version of the product will be released simultaneously.
Fractal Design Corp. is at 355 Spreckels Drive, Aptos, Calif. 95003. Phone (408) 688-5300; fax (408) 688-8836.
MacWEEK 01.03.94
GA Page 44
(c) Copyright 1993 Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
BusinessWatch: Intel takes on PowerPC
By Mark Hall
Santa Clara, Calif. - Intel Corp., which led the world in semiconductor sales last year, intends to aggressively protect its core CPU business from the PowerPC by dropping its chip prices and challenging Apple head-on with an advertising blitz.
The chip maker, based here, said it will slice prices on its Pentium and 486 chips by 14 percent to 18 percent early this year. Analysts said the cuts will let users buy Pentium-based machines for about $2,000 by the end of the year. Those same machines currently sell for more than $5,000.
Paul S. Otellini, senior vice president and general manager for the company's Microprocessor Products Group, said Intel's advertising campaign that calls on Mac managers and users to consider Intel-based computers "was just a wake-up call" for Apple, "and it won't be the last."
The strategy, he said, is to force Apple to focus on keeping its own users instead of branching out into Intel's customer base.
Over the years, Intel has faced stiff competition from companies that make x86 clone chips, such as Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Cyrix Corp., and has avoided major conflicts with RISC vendors, Otellini said.
"But the PowerPC is different because it has three very large, very respectable companies behind it," he said.
"The natural client base for the PowerPC will be IBM's RS/6000 workstation users and Apple Macintosh users," Otellini said.
Beyond that, he said, it will be especially difficult for Apple to penetrate Intel's market share with PowerPC sales because of the momentum behind Microsoft Windows.
Otellini admitted that IBM PCs and compatibles are still more cumbersome than Macs. "In ways, [they are] becoming more Apple-like but not yet." He said Intel is working hard to close that technology gap through initiatives such as Plug and Play.
Intel's positioning against Apple may simply delay an erosion of its market dominance, according to industry analysts, as the other major PowerPC vendor, IBM Corp., shifts from Intel processors.
Clare F. Garry, senior analyst for New Science Associates Inc. in San Mateo, Calif., said, "Unless something dramatic happens, IBM will move full bore into RISC, dropping Intel in the process."
MacWEEK 01.03.94
BusinessWatch Page 54
(c) Copyright 1993 Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
Special Report: State of Mac Management
Managers face constant product evaluations, more maintenance and the promise of PowerPC
Judging from the results of the 1994 State of Mac Management survey, the more things change, the more they remain the same. Last year the survey found Macintosh managers facing growing demands for maintenance and user support and an increasingly complex multiplatform work environment. Ditto in '94.
The 1994 report explores fundamentals similar to last year's, as well as other issues, including Mac (and PowerPC) purchasing, networking, software standards and in-house application development.
Mac managers typically work in multiplatform computing environments that include a broad range of Macintoshes at the work site. While Mac IIs are most common (89 percent), eight in 10 (78 percent) report high-end Quadra or Centris models installed and a similar proportion (79 percent) have PowerBooks. In addition to Macs, almost all the sites (95 percent) have other types of computers, most often IBM PCs or compatibles (91 percent).
Managers in the survey are highly involved in all aspects of purchasing. Virtually all (99 percent) determine the need for new Macs, assess the installed base for upgrading or make purchases directly.
Given the complexity of Apple's price and product lineup, it is not surprising that the majority (59 percent) of managers' organizations perform purchase evaluations whenever Macs are to be acquired. Another 24 percent use the review process whenever Apple rolls out new models. About one in five Mac managers reports that Macs are reviewed on a regularly scheduled basis, typically once or twice a year.
At a majority of sites (65 percent), Macintosh budgets are flexible. In the largest proportion of instances (49 percent), a pool of money is set aside for purchasing Mac hardware and software, with the exact items determined at the time of purchase. In other instances, Mac products are specified in the budget (16 percent), but substitutions are allowed.
When asked to describe a typical Mac purchase in the past three months, most managers (53 percent) reported that 8 Mbytes of RAM were installed. Nearly half reported 14-inch displays. The typical hard disk drive purchased varied considerably; in fact, the top category of 230 Mbytes was cited by only one in four Mac managers. Two-thirds reported a site requirement that recently purchased Macs have Ethernet connections.
Looking ahead, three-fourths (74 percent) of Mac managers are familiar with Apple's plans for a PowerPC-based Macintosh, scheduled for a first-quarter release. Of these, half (50 percent) planned at the time of the survey to purchase PowerPC Macs.
Networking Macs
Virtually all Mac managers (96 percent) work in sites where Macs are networked. At these sites, three in five (61 percent) managers surveyed directly manage networks with Macs.
Three-fourths of these Mac managers run networks with LocalTalk cabling. Almost the same percentage (69 percent) manage networks with Ethernet. Judging from the protocols used, Mac connectivity is both complex and multiplatform: While the vast majority (87 percent) are running AppleTalk, almost half (41 percent) manage networks where TCP/IP is used. A minority (14 percent) use DECnet, while one in 10 runs Novell's NetWare IPX (Internetwork Packet Exchange).
Mac network managers report heavy network traffic (75 percent) or transmission of large documents, such as graphics files (75 percent), as their most common network-management problems. Nearly as many (68 percent) cite difficulties in providing support to network users.
Software policies
This year, more sites require that software applications share data formats and functionality across platforms. Two-thirds (67 percent) of Mac managers at multiplatform sites report that some software applications must be compatible across computer platforms. Three-fourths (76 percent) of these managers are at work locations that also require that certain applications be interoperable across platforms. Compared with previous years, requirements for compatible and interoperable applications have increased significantly.
Most work locations have a wide range of Mac software installed, but sitewide standardization on specific packages and versions is limited, except for word processing and spreadsheet applications.
So although 94 percent of Mac managers reported some standardization of one or more applications, at a majority of these sites (59 percent) some employees continue to use nonstandard packages. They must fend for themselves as only about one-third of their sites (38 percent) support nonstandard applications.
Three-fourths of Mac manager sites develop Mac applications for use in-house. Of that group, 80 percent customize or enhance off-the-shelf programs while 61 percent write or modify program source code. The most common Mac program being customized is Excel, followed closely by HyperCard and FileMaker Pro. C or C++ are the programming languages of choice, followed distantly by Pascal.
Maintenance and support
Four in five (81 percent) Mac manager sites have a full-time staff that maintains and supports microcomputers and end users. One-third of sites contracts with outside vendors for these services.
Sites with a full-time support staff have 14 professionals on average, four of them devoted to supporting Macs, six devoted to other computers and four splitting their time equally between Macs and non-Mac computers.
Mac managers at these sites are much more likely to report that the number of end users has increased since last year (68 percent) than report an increase in the number of support personnel (37 percent). Not surprisingly, the largest proportion of these managers considers keeping up with demands for maintenance and support a problem (70 percent).
One-third of managers report that, compared to last year, they spend more time supporting end users and equipment while only 14 percent say they spend less time.
Other widely perceived support problems include receiving unsatisfactory technical support from manufacturers (66 percent) and delays in receiving equipment (65 percent).
Methodology
The MacWEEK 1994 State of Mac Management survey was conducted by telephone among 600 MacWEEK subscribers selected on an nth-name basis from the MacWEEK file of subscribers in the 48 contiguous states. Value-added resellers, value-added dealers, computer-related retailers and distributors were excluded. A total of 262 interviews were completed, achieving a response rate of 54 percent (after excluding all who could not be reached by phone). Fieldwork was conducted between Oct. 19 and Nov. 8, 1993. New York-based AHF Marketing Research Inc., an independent market research company, was responsible for all survey details.
MacWEEK 01.03.94
Special Report Page 62
(c) Copyright 1993 Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
Special Report: Decade in Review: Look back
By Rick LePage
The Macintosh has been Apple's constant ever since Steve Jobs flipped the switch on the first Mac 10 years ago, and it is surprising to see how little the box has changed since then. The processor has gotten faster and more powerful; color has grown from none to true; expansion has become de rigueur; and the price has reached parity with the Intel Corp. camp. But the metaphor of the desktop remains the essence of the Mac - just as it was in 1984.
Even Apple hasn't changed very much. New businesses, such as Newton, AppleSoft and CD titles, have emerged, but Apple has survived by remaining true to its core business: selling boxes differentiated by software.
Like other hardware giants IBM Corp. and Compaq Computer Corp., Apple has been both the star of the industry and the next lummox on the way out, as often the latter as the former.
After the initial flush, 1984 and early 1985 were as bleak a time for Apple as IBM, Wang Laboratories Inc. and Digital Equipment Corp. faced in later years.
Apple had little market share, few major applications and a misguided marketing strategy led by the vague "Power to be your best" campaign.
It's ironic that what let Apple escape its doldrums was not a more powerful Mac, but a printer, a language vendor and an upstart third party with nowhere to go but up. Apple's LaserWriter, Adobe Systems Inc.'s PostScript page description language and Aldus Corp.'s PageMaker combined with Apple's masterstroke of building networking into every Mac, demonstrated the first calculable reason for owning and using a Mac. The fact that Microsoft Corp. used the platform to ship the premiere version of Excel didn't hurt, either.
Apple turned the desktop publishing phenomenon into gold but never seemed to feel (until recently) that it was a market with any real monetary meat. The company also had the fear of being typecast, feeling that its primary raison d'être was to compete with the big boys in the general business market.
Overtaking the Intel standard was Apple's windmill in the late 1980s, and the Macintosh did fairly well despite Apple's own halfhearted attempts at capturing the desktops of business users. Unfortunately, Apple's reputation among many IBM PC and compatible users was as a shrill outsider.
For all Apple's posturing over the years as the industry's leading innovator, the glory years of the Mac were not the late 1980s, but 1991 and 1992, after the shipment of System 7, the first PowerBooks and 68040-based Macs. These events turned Apple from a promising Triple A player into a major-league star. They also allowed Apple to look at other, non-Mac-oriented endeavors such as the Newton MessagePad.
It is possible to say that Apple has diversified too much in the past year, that it has lost focus from the essential truth that has allowed the company to flourish. We would answer that the realignment of the executive staff and the positive rumblings of PowerPC Macs mean that Apple understands it has to make the transition to a new architecture its main priority in 1994. There are still plenty of things the company has to do before it can move the Mac hardware and software to a secondary role within the company.
MacWEEK 01.03.94
Special Report Page 78
(c) Copyright 1993 Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
Special Report: Decade in Review: Look forward
By Andrew Gore
In a decade of change there have been two immovable objects: the elegant simplicity of the Macintosh and the loyalty of its users. What the Mac becomes in the next 10 years must be anchored to these truths - or there won't be a Mac in 2004.
Apple will start licensing the Mac OS this year. The Mac's interface, technology and new CPU - the PowerPC - could make it a strong competitor for Windows.
But, according to Apple CEO Michael H. Spindler, it's too risky to license the OS - licensees might sell their Macs against Apple's. Instead, the strategy is for licensees to sell into markets where Apple is poorly represented.
While this may produce some revenue and profit, Mac OS licensing limited to specific markets is unlikely to produce a large boon.
The OS isn't the only thing Apple has to sell. There's also the company's technical know-how and brand-name recognition.
Apple is already selling its core technologies to other platforms. It can also license its most powerful asset - its name -to licensees.
The deal with IBM Corp. was a test of this concept. And the first product to emerge from that test, PowerPC, shows that it can succeed. Expect to see more of the same.
The idea behind Newton was to create an operating system for consumer devices Apple could license. Newton certainly has a shot at becoming a standard for personal digital assistants. And, if Kaleida Labs Inc. can ever get moving, Apple could be part of the interactive media and television game as well.
However, while becoming the Microsoft of information electronics would boost Apple's margins, licensing won't generate the bulk of the $8 billion in sales the Mac made last year. So, don't expect to see Newton displace the Mac any time soon. This is one of Apple's most promising new businesses. No box need move for Apple to make money from Apple Online Services, CD-ROM catalogs and titles publishing.
The biggest problem with services is that there are many companies out there already in those businesses. For Apple to succeed, the company will have to find a partner and maybe even spin off those groups.
For the Mac to survive another decade, the interface must evolve.
The Finder is straining at the seams. There are too many icons and too many overlapping applications. It is too difficult to access the power of QuickTime, PlainTalk, PowerTalk, AppleScript and the other technologies that fill the Mac until it is ready to burst.
We predict that the Mac of 2004 will bear little resemblance to today's machine. It will have voice, pen, 3-D imaging and intelligent agents that come wrapped in an interface capable of reorganizing itself, shifting views and even shifting idioms to the task at hand.
The hardware will likely be just as exotic: high-definition flat screens, high-bandwidth wireless networks, mainframes on wafers and miniaturization will mean that, by 2004, the Mac will finally fit the task instead of the technology.
MacWEEK 01.03.94
Special Report Page 78
(c) Copyright 1993 Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
Review: Now Contact boasts speed, data exchange
New contact manager teams with popular calendaring app
By Ross Scott Rubin
Now Up-to-Date users seeking a companion program to manage their contacts can end their quest. Now Software Inc.'s recently released Now Contact provides admirable layout flexibility, speed and accessibility. It shines brightest, however, when paired with Now's calendar product. Version 2.1 of Now Up-to-Date is required for data exchange.
Like its competitors, the $99 Now Contact includes two primary windows that show contacts in list and detail views. The program breaks its detail window layout into "frames" of related information, such as work address, home address, main phone numbers and custom fields. Frames are generally four lines long. Now Contact's layout definition dialog box lets you collapse certain frames into multiple pages, indicated by a small, dogeared icon in the lower right portion of the frame. Clicking the icon cycles through different frames of information.
One of the frames contains Now Contact's multifaceted Notes/Log area. Four buttons let you quickly call up information associated with a contact, including time-stamped notes, linked appointments, multiple files and user-definable keywords. If you double-click a file name, Now Contact launches the file, even if you have moved it from its original location.
Hidden information
Surprisingly, Now Contact provides no visual clues to show you've entered information in the appointments, files or keywords fields, which makes it easy to gloss over important contact information while you're browsing.
Now Contact lets you set up custom tab orders, and it can automatically capitalize names and states. It can also automatically insert parentheses and dashes into phone numbers. All data-entry assistance features are turned off by default, however, and manually activating them is tedious. Further, the options are not as extensive as those in Aldus Corp. Consumer Division's Touchbase Pro, which can create a pop-up menu of preset entries for just about any field or finish typing a preset choice that you've started to enter.
Now Contact offers a rich variety of ways to organize contacts. In addition to grouping contacts into categories and categories into sets, you can select a keyword from a floating palette. You can also assign keywords and categories in Now Contact's interactive list view, which lets you edit any listed field without having to show its detail view.
Now Contact boasts exceptional field flexibility. The labels of its eight custom fields can vary with each category, and it is one of the few major contact managers that can accommodate two addresses per contact. Clicking a person's name or company makes it the primary entry for that contact. A phone number can also be designated as the preferred means of contacting someone.
Menu at work
Taking a cue from the Reminder control panel in Up-to-Date, Now Contact comes with QuickContact, a handy control panel that places a telephone icon in the menu bar. QuickContact lets you search for contacts with a keystroke and can maintain a menu of more than 100 names and an associated default phone number for each one. Unlike Reminder, though, QuickContact provides no way of creating new contacts from its System menu without activating or launching Now Contact.
Now Contact's integration with Now Up-to-Date challenges Touchbase Pro, which shares data and many interface conventions with its time-tracking companion, Datebook Pro. Compared with the Aldus duo, Now's offerings lack the common interface amenities of its competitors - for instance, the Now products don't have detachable button bars, and some dialogs and other interface elements could look more similar.
But the Now duo achieves tighter integration: You can find or create new contacts within Up-to-Date or create calendar events from Now Contact with either program open. Unfortunately, you cannot automatically generate a reminder when you create a calendar item in Now Contact.
The program has some other rough edges common to a first release. While Now Contact lets you specify prefixes and suffixes for dialing, you cannot specify a default area code. If you're dialing within your area code, you must manually delete the code. Now Software said this will be fixed in a maintenance release. Now Contact also lacks on-screen buttons for dialing numbers. You must use the Dial menu command (or keyboard equivalent) and then select a number from a dialog box.
Further, while integration between Up-to-Date and Now Contact may be smooth, the road was a bit rocky at times. Now Contact repeatedly froze and bombed when we linked it to a calendar file that had not been updated to the required 2.1 format. Granted, the file should not work, but we think a warning along the lines of "This file has not been updated yet" would suffice. Further, after upgrading both Up-to-Date and its calendar file, the latter did not open when we launched it from the Finder. Reinstalling Now Up-to-Date from the master disk solved this problem.
Performance
It is ironic that a program that focuses on interapplication communications includes its own word processor, but Now Contact provides one that is serviceable, template-based and can include variable-width lines and graphics. Although the templates must be edited in a dialog box, the box can be moved and resized.
In critical tasks, Now Contact blew through our test database of the 440-member U.S. House of Representatives. On a Macintosh IIci, it imported the file in less than five seconds and sorted the entire list according to different criteria in about one second. Now Contact also found a group of representatives from a specific state in about two seconds. However, Now Software said that finding slows down dramatically if the notes field is included in the search.
Documentation and support
Now Contact ships with thorough and friendly getting-started and reference guides, as well as a quick-reference card. Balloon help is available only in the menus, although it would be helpful in the dense template editor.
Now provides technical support by fax, by toll call and through America Online and CompuServe. While you must leave a message on voice mail to reach technical support, Now representatives returned our call the next morning after we called late the previous day.
Conclusions
Now has carefully studied its predecessors in the field of contact management and has created a thoughtful, full-featured and fast entry. Categories and sets effectively manage groups of contacts. QuickContact's capability to search for contacts with a keystroke at any time is very handy.
If you're already using Now Up-to-Date, Now Contact offers a compelling choice for contact management. Data exchange between the two programs is convenient and transparent. On its own, Now Contact challenges more-mature programs such as Touchbase Pro, but it needs to gain ground in data-entry assistance, networkability and data reconciliation.
Now Software Inc. is at 921 S.W. Washington St., Suite 500, Portland, Ore. 97205. Phone (503) 274-2810; fax (503) 274-0670.
MacWEEK 01.03.94
Reviews Page 91
(c) Copyright 1993 Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
Review: Revamped Streamline smooths conversion
Auto-tracing utility can now edit output
By Ben Long
Adobe Systems Inc.'s Streamline 3.0 is a major upgrade to its PostScript auto-tracing utility. Like its predecessors, the program "streamlines" the creation of illustrations by auto-tracing bit-mapped images and turning them into editable PostScript files.
Version 3 improves this function and adds a host of new features, including the capability to auto-trace color images. By posterizing a color original down to anywhere between two and 256 colors, or 16 grays, Streamline can now create color PostScript images.
Change of face
The $199 Streamline 3 finally provides enough tools and features to function as a complete stand-alone application; it no longer requires other applications for pre- and post-conversion touch-ups. Auto-tracing a document in Streamline is very simple: You either open an existing bit-mapped image or scan a picture, adjust the auto-trace settings, and then tell Streamline to start.
Streamline can open existing documents saved in TIFF, TIFF compressed, PICT, MacPaint or Adobe Photoshop 2.0 and 2.5 formats. In addition, you can scan images directly into Streamline through Photoshop-compatible Acquire plug-ins. (In previous versions, you had to scan images into a separate image-processing program and then import them into Streamline.)
After you open your original in Streamline, you can use the program's new image-editing tools, modeled on Photoshop's, for simple retouches. You can perform color correction by adjusting an image's brightness, gamma and contrast levels through the Levels dialog box. You can make adjustments to the entire image or just a selection.
Streamline now includes marquee, lasso and magic wand tools to let you accurately select particular areas of a document. For Photoshop users, these tools provide an excellent way of creating masks. By selecting part of an image and letting Streamline trace it, you can quickly create an outline that can be opened in Photoshop and used as a mask.
Getting converted
Conversion settings are controlled in the Conversion Setup dialog box. Adobe includes several predefined settings files, including settings for photos, line art and forms, which keep things simple for inexperienced Streamline users: Just open a document, pick the settings file appropriate for your medium and then choose Convert to start auto-tracing. You can also create and save your own custom settings if you're aiming for a particular effect or you need to tweak your conversion to compensate for a bad scan or other problem.
Streamline uses three tracing methods: Outline, which traces a path around every shape in your original; Centerline, which traces a path down the middle of a line and assigns it a stroke; and Line Recognition, which only converts lines that are within 5 percent of vertical or horizontal. For most pictures, Outline will be all you'll need, but blueprints or technical drawings will fare better with either Centerline or Line Recognition.
You use the Color/Grayscale Setup dialog box to change the settings, such as the posterization level, for color images. You can also use the Import Styles command to read custom colors from an existing Adobe Illustrator file.
Tracing speed varies depending on whether your original is color or line art and how many colors you're posterizing to. Although a large color picture can take several minutes to trace, it's so fun to watch that the time seems to pass quickly.
With most line art, you're likely to be stunned by the final results. Line art, ink drawings and black-and-white illustrations all convert nearly flawlessly, giving you an infinitely scalable, resolution-independent PostScript image.
Images with a lot of color detail, such as photos, will end up very stylized as a result of posterization; images with simple color schemes will do better. In most cases, expect to do some experimentation to get the desired results. You might be pleasantly surprised, however, with some of the coloring effects Streamline produces, even if they weren't what you originally had in mind. Unfortunately, the program does not let you preview setting changes, so you may have to do a lot of retracing to find the result you're looking for.
Drawing conclusions
When Streamline finishes tracing, it opens the resulting PostScript image and lets you edit the document with the program's drawing tools, most of which function like their counterparts in Illustrator 5.0. With a well-stocked toolbox (including a pen tool, an anchor-point deleter, a magnifying glass and an eyedropper), menu commands for smoothing paths and an Illustrator-derived paint palette, many users will find they can now do their post-conversion editing from within Streamline itself.
However, editing a streamlined picture can be somewhat difficult because the program might trace things in an odd way. For example, rather than creating a lot of individual white shapes with black outlines in a document, Streamline might create a series of white patches over a black background. But in most cases, small edits are simple and effective.
Although the program has no printing capabilities, Streamline's powerful post-conversion editing tools let you create finished artwork ready for placement in your page-layout program without the need for a separate drawing program. For output, the program supports several Illustrator formats, as well as Aldus FreeHand, PICT and DXF (Drawing Interchange File). In addition, you can copy traced pictures to the Mac Clipboard and paste them directly into Illustrator, Adobe Dimensions or Photoshop (where they will be immediately rasterized at the current resolution).
The Copy Special command lets you copy Streamline tracings into Photoshop 2.5, where they will arrive as pen-tool paths, providing a speedy way of generating complex paths.
Documentation and support
With a simple interface, most users won't need to turn to the comprehensive manual, although a quick read can reduce the amount of time you'll spend experimenting. Technical support from Adobe is easily accessible and helpful.
Conclusions
Streamline has always done a very good job of taking existing line art or drawings and turning them into PostScript artwork. But previous versions seemed like "half" applications, requiring other applications for both ends of the conversion process. Version 3 corrects this problem with its inclusion of pre- and post-processing tools. We hope Adobe will continue to strengthen these tools in future versions. (For instance, Illustrator filters and PathFinder support would be nice.)
However, in general, for simplifying the PostScript image-creation process, it's hard to imagine a simpler solution.
Adobe Systems Inc. is at 1585 Charleston Road, P.O. Box 7900, Mountain View, Calif. 94039-7900. Phone (415) 961-4400; fax (415) 961-3769.
MacWEEK 01.03.94
Reviews Page 91
(c) Copyright 1993 Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
ProductWatch: Ergonomics boosts bottom line
Companies should prepare to adapt work areas to meet new guidelines.
By Charles Rubin
Computer-related injuries used to be an individual problem treated much like the flu or the common cold. But as repetitive strain injuries spread through offices, workstation ergonomics is becoming a corporate productivity issue.
Facing lost workdays, rising insurance premiums and low worker morale, companies are now developing comprehensive ergonomics programs. For companies that don't yet feel compelled to attack RSIs, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will offer some official encouragement in late 1994, when it is expected to institute a workstation-ergonomics standard.
Fortunately, computer-related RSI problems are fairly well-defined, and the marketplace abounds with products for every ergonomics ailment. Adjustable chairs, keyboard platforms, monitor stands, wrist rests, foot rests, copy stands, anti-glare screens and even radiation shields can transform a torturous workstation into a comfort zone, but an effective RSI reduction program also requires changes in work habits.
CTS is king
Workstation-related injuries include mental stress, eyestrain, headaches and musculoskeletal injuries, but, as a group, hand and wrist problems have always been the main complaint. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) draws the media spotlight among hand and forearm injuries, but many workers also report tendinitis, pain or numbness unrelated to CTS.
At DuPont Inc.'s main office in Wilmington, Del., ergonomics consultant Robert Ibbetson said that of 535 office-related injuries among the company's 130,000 workers in the past two years, 81 percent were related to CTS or other problems with the hands or arms.
While eyestrain and headaches appear less common, Ibbetson said, it may be because they are not reported. "A lot of our workers say they have eyestrain from working with a computer, but, for the most part, they don't go to medical and ask for treatment."
According to Steve Terry, safety engineer at The Sacramento (Calif.) Bee, wrist and arm problems related to keyboard placement were the main complaint among the newspaper's 700 computer workers. "Neck problems were second," Terry said, "because people couldn't adjust the monitor."
Workstation solutions
Because no two workers are alike, the main goal is to build more adjustability, support and comfort into the workstation by placing the employee in a neutral, stressless posture when working. The best course is to start with the key components: an adjustable chair and a keyboard and monitor at the correct heights. After these modifications, workers can fine-tune their comfort with wrist rests, anti-glare screens, foot rests and copy holders.
There are so many ergonomic products on the market that it can be difficult to know where to start or how to decide which products are best. At The Sacramento Bee, product choices were made through field trials. "We took four to six months trying things out," Terry said. After narrowing down his list of potential vendors, Terry brought several products into the office, let employees try them out and then asked them which products they liked best.
The Bee now offers employees a choice of chairs from several vendors. Most of the existing computer tables are retrofitted with articulating monitor arms and keyboard platforms from MicroComputer Accessories Inc., which also provides the Bee with wrist rests and foot rests. The Bee buys its anti-glare screens from ACCO USA Inc.
Despite the array of available products, some problems remain tough to solve. "We've thrown away a lot of articulating keyboard trays because you can't get a mouse on them," DuPont's Ibbetson said. Reaching too far from keyboard to mouse can cause forearm, wrist, and shoulder problems. Articulating keyboard platforms from ErgoSource Inc. are wide enough to accommodate a mouse, and MicroComputer Accessories sells a separate articulating platform for the mouse that mounts next to its keyboard platform.
Attitude adjustment
Ergonomic products can remove design-related causes of RSIs, but effective corporate programs also include employee training and a commitment by management to monitor ergonomic issues. "The best workstation equipment in the world isn't going to get rid of cumulative trauma disorders," said Tom Hilgen, ergonomics consultant at Argonaut Insurance Co., a worker's compensation specialist in Menlo Park, Calif. "You have to have a management commitment that goes beyond financial outlays."
DuPont's ergonomics program in the Wilmington area includes safety training for 7,000 computer users. The program shows workers how to use checklists to analyze their workstations and how to make the necessary adjustments. "We've also tried to talk to people about the inherent risks in keying for long periods of time without interruption or hitting keys harder than necessary," Ibbetson said.
The Sacramento Bee retrained all of its computer users about potential RSI problems, correct postures and how to use add-on products to increase comfort.
The prevention payoff
In some cases, starting an ergonomics program causes a surge in injury reports as employee awareness rises, but then injury reports decline as the program is implemented. In the first month or two of the program, according to Terry, "Incidents of injury went way up because people didn't know what they were feeling before."
Since The Sacramento Bee began its program in early 1991, injury reports are down about 60 percent. "We probably spent $700,000 to $800,000 on the program," Terry said. "But when one serious injury can cost $25,000 to $30,000, it's worth it, not only from a cost standpoint but also for employee morale."
DuPont's injury reports also show significant declines in RSI cases. In 1992, there were 116 office-related RSI reports worldwide. "That was our worst year," says Ibbetson. "We started going up in 1991 when the ergonomics training program went into effect, and we hit our peak in 1992. [Since November] 1993, we've had 50 RSI cases in the office."
Although RSI problems at DuPont haven't stopped completely, a better-informed employee work force is reporting them sooner, when they are less serious. There were 14 lost-workday illnesses because of CTS during 1991 in the Wilmington area, Ibbetson said. That number has dropped to just one CTS-related case in 1993.
MacWEEK 01.03.94
ProductWatch Page 101
(c) Copyright 1993 Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
News: Top Microsoft CDs crossing over to Mac
By Kirsten L. Parkinson
Redmond, Wash. - Microsoft Corp. this week will bring three of its popular CD-ROM titles across platforms when it announces Macintosh versions of Encarta, Bookshelf and Cinemania at Macworld Expo in San Francisco.
> Microsoft Encarta Multimedia Encyclopedia 1994 Edition, due in March for $139, will incorporate the full text of Funk & Wagnall's encyclopedia for a total of 25,000 articles.
The disc offers 100 animations and video clips, eight hours of audio selections, and 60 spoken languages. The 1994 Edition will include new articles on U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Phoenix Suns' basketball star Charles Barkley and changes in Eastern Europe.
> Microsoft Bookshelf '94 puts seven reference books, including The American Heritage Dictionary, The World Almanac, Bartlett's Familiar Quotations and Roget's II Electronic Thesaurus, on a single CD-ROM.
The disc will also provide 40 audio clips, 50 animations and 65,000 spoken word pronunciations. A Toolbox lets users quickly access frequently used features. Bookshelf will ship in April; pricing has not been determined.
> Microsoft Cinemania '94 Interactive Movie Guide combines more than 23,000 movie reviews from books by film critics Roger Ebert, Leonard Maltin and Pauline Kael; 20 full-motion video clips; 250 audio clips; 2,700 biographies; and 900 still images. Microsoft plans to release the disc in April at a list price of $79.95.
Each disc requires a color Macintosh running System 7, 4 Mbytes of RAM (8 Mbytes are recommended) and 3 Mbytes of hard disk space.
Microsoft Corp. is at 1 Microsoft Way, Redmond, Wash. 98052-6399. Phone (206) 882-8080 or (800) 426-9400; fax (206) 936-7329.
MacWEEK 01.03.94
News Page 170
(c) Copyright 1993 Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
Mac the Knife: Apple cooks up trio of servers
If hot new stuff is your thing, then you've already figured out why you and several thousand of your volume-buyer buddies are in San Francisco this week. Nothing can chase away a case of the winter blues quite as well as a giant convention center spun to the hubs with both people and new product.
The January Macworld Expo is a special treat for professionals such as the Knife. Since he's a local resident, this is one of the few times of the year when he can both legitimately enjoy the comfort and convenience of an overpriced luxury hotel suite and still be able to run home to walk the dog. All this, and the tab is picked up by a most generous employer.
It could hardly get better than this, unless you're perhaps weary of waiting for Apple to goose the performance of its server products. If that describes you, then the many miles of legwork the Knife hoofed in the course of discovering what the server future will bring will have been worth it. Apple has some new product announcements planned that hold the potential to get even the most skeptical Mac manager a bit over-amped.
The first new server, to be called the AWS 95+, is scheduled for introduction next month. In addition to costing less than the server it supersedes, the AWS 95+ is rumored to give you outside access to the internal SCSI DMA bus.
The next new server on the Knife's list is scheduled for introduction this fall. Code-named Brigadoon, the first version will be powered by an 80-MHz 601 PowerPC chip. To ensure that this product has a long life (measured in quarters rather than months, perhaps), the Brigadoon processor will reside on a small daughterboard. When faster PowerPC chips are available in quantity, you can upgrade by replacing the entire daughterboard with one containing a 604. The Knife's sources say that it will include six PCI slots and a full implementation of NetWare and that the smallest hard drive offered will be a hefty 1 Gbyte. Operating system options are planned to be PowerOpen and AIX.
If you still need more power and flexibility, you can wait until the fall of 1995, when Apple plans to introduce yet another new server. This one is targeted for database transactions among other processor-intensive tasks. According to sources, it will be an SMP device with multiple CPU slots.
This server's most notable feature will be the fact that it supports Asynchronous Transfer Mode. Without delving into the details of the wonder of ATM, the Knife's sources merely point out that ATM should allow data transfers over the network to be at least 20 times as speedy as Ethernet, without Ethernet's cumbersome 2-kilometer limit. It means that shortly we'll all be glad that we bit the bullet and installed modern Level 5 cabling in the first place.
More compact Macs
But don't think that just because the Knife wants to go on and on about new servers that he doesn't also have a big bag of less ambitious new CPU products. On Feb. 2 Apple is planning to announce two new Macs for the education market. The LC 550 will be similar to the popular LC 520, but will be powered by a 33-MHz 68030. Standard configurations should be 5/120 and 5/160. The new LC 575 will be driven by a 25-MHz 68LC040. Both models will include a built-in CD-ROM drive and the integrated 14-inch color monitor.
Compile where you like
The Knife was pretty amped himself when he learned that Microsoft has a new C++ for Windows NT that will generate Mac output. This dual-purpose wonder sounds like just what the cross-platform developer asked for.
For something different still, check out Four Players Productions in the adult meeting room. But if you only want a MacWEEK mug, the Knife barters at (415) 243-3544, fax (415) 243-36500, Internet (mac_the_knife@macweek.ziff.com), AppleLink (MacWEEK) or CompuServe/ZiffNet/Mac
MacWEEK 01.03.94
Mac the Knife Page 172
(c) Copyright 1993 Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
