This update was developed to address specific problems and compatibility issues with Mac OS version 7.5.2, which was first released with Apple's new line of PCI Macintosh computers.
We have also worked closely with Apple Computer, Inc. to maximize the chance that it will also work with the next update to the Mac OS and the next wave of Macintosh models, though this cannot of course be guaranteed in advance.
This release of Now Utilities is to update Now Utilities version 5.0.1 only. If you have an earlier version of Now Utilities, please update to version 5.0.1 before installing this update.
How to Update to Now Utilities version 5.0.2
1. Write down your serial number. The serial number can be found by opening any of the Now Utilities control panels and clicking the About… button.
2. Restart your Macintosh while holding down the Shift key. This disables all extensions.
3. Drag all of the components from the Now Utilities 5.0.2 folder onto your System Folder icon. The files are copied into the appropriate locations automatically.
The Now Utilities 5.0.2 folder contains Now Toolbox™, Now QuickFiler™, Now Menus™, Now Startup Manager™, and Now Super Boomerang™.
4. Restart your Macintosh. You will need to re-enter your serial number.
Key Bugs and Incompatibilities Fixed by Now Utilities 5.0.2
Now Menus:
• Fixed: Folder submenus under specific conditions were showing up with the word "Empty," or showing only some of the folder's contents.
Now Super Boomerang:
• Fixed: The DirectOpen™ submenus did not appear.
Now Startup Manager:
• Fixed: The ATI video card extension that was released with the Power Macintosh 9500s was not recognized and did not load, preventing the onboard video acceleration from taking effect.
Now QuickFiler:
• Enhanced: Accommodates new third-party software. Now QuickFiler now recognizes Retrospect Backup 3.0 and Redux, so transparently compressed files remain compressed as they are backed up by these utilities. This shortens backup time and conserves backup media. NOTE: also using compression options built into the backup software itself will likely be unproductive—your data won't be harmed, but little additional savings will be experienced despite the extra processing time.
PLEASE NOTE:
These are ***ALL*** the reproducible incompatibilities our team of engineers, quality assurance specialists, and extended group of Beta testers have been able to identify with new machines using Now Utilities and Mac OS 7.5.2. We are confident that these products work together extremely well.
If you are using a PCI Mac or 5300 series PowerBook, and have been experiencing other problems with Now Utilities 5.0.1 which are not resolved by updating to version 5.0.2, your computer almost certainly has some other problem:
• a damaged or improperly installed copy of Now Utilities
• damaged Preferences files
• damaged or improperly installed System software
• a conflict with another piece of software
See the Now Utilities User Guide for further troubleshooting details, or check our online forum on America Online, or our Web page [http://www.nowsoft.com; scheduled to open in early December] or our FaxBack system [at the number listed in your Now Utilities User Guide.]
Please see the Important Customer Support Information below.
Tips for solving Compatibility Issues with third-party software
• Paperport scanner
The Paperport extension must load after the Now Menus control panel, or the Now Menus icon will be invisible. Use Now Startup Manager to control the load order by dragging one of these items up or down; see your user manual for further details.
• Global Village modems
The Global Village toolbox must load before the Now QuickFiler extension, or the Now QuickFiler menu icon will be replaced by a generic "QF" text title. Use Now Startup Manager to control the load order by dragging one of these items up or down; see the Now Utilities User Guide for further details.
• WordPerfect
WordPerfect modifies the open and save dialog boxes, so exclude Now Super Boomerang from WordPerfect. Now Menus conflicts with the Fonts menu in the WordPerfect 'Print Envelope' dialog box, so exclude Now Menus from modifying WordPerfect. See the Now Utilities User Guide for further details.
• Adobe Illustrator 5.x
Adobe Illustrator can cause Now Menus to crash on some Macintoshes. Exclude Now Menus from modifying Adobe Illustrator. See the Now Utilities User Guide for further details.
• Microsoft Word 6.0
Now Save must be configured correctly, or it can crash Microsoft Word version 6.0. In the Now Save control panel, only the "Suppress countdown display" checkbox should be selected in the middle box for Word 6.0—the other auto-save options in this box should not be selected. See the Now Utilities User Guide for further details.
• Removable Media Drives
Transparent compression must be on, or removable media may not be ejectable (you'll receive an "in use" message after dragging a removable volume to the trash). See the Now Utilities User Guide for further details.
• Hewlett-Packard ScanJet software
Beta testers advised us that some pre-release versions of the latest ScanJet software may make Now Menus menu icons disappear from the menubar, though the menus themselves continue to function. We have advised HP of this, and are working to help them solve the problem with the ScanJet software. If ScanJet users experience this problem, they should contact HP Technical Suppoort for assistance.
Now Utilities 5.0.2 comes in "fat binary" form, so it runs on the Power Macintosh and on earlier models. You can use a startup drive with Now Utilities installed to start any type of Macintosh.
Now Menus Notes
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• Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Aldus Freehand prevent Now Menus from customizing menu fonts and adding custom Hot Keys directly in menus. Now Menus doesn't conflict with these applications or others with nonstandard menu definitions—you just can't customize their menus.
• Control Strip/Desktop Strip users: Following numerous reports from customers, we investigated conflicts between Now Utilities and Apple's Control Strip software. To our current knowledge, Now Utilities 5.0.2 works fine with the standard Apple Control Strip modules. These modules contain code that's called periodically as you use your Macintosh; bugs in any module may cause problems. It's evident that many third-party and shareware components have not been tested across the full range of available Macintosh configurations. If you're having problems, you'll need to isolate individual modules by dragging them out of the Control Strip Modules folder in your System Folder.
• PowerTalk users: You can't drag items from PowerTalk catalogs or mail enclosures directly into Custom Menus. Move them to the desktop before dragging them into Custom Menus.
• If Now Super Boomerang isn't running, the pop-up menus in the Now Menus control panel don't list recent folders, documents or applications—Now Menus relies on Now Super Boomerang for these lists. Use the "Other…" command instead to add the desired item.
Now QuickFiler Notes
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If transparent compression is turned on and you've selected the "Change icons of compressed files" checkbox in the Compress Options pane of the control panel, you may notice a small delay when opening windows for folders containing several items. If this delay is unacceptable, turn off this purely cosmetic feature.
Now Save Notes
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In general you can add the "Now Save…" command to any application's File menu, but applications with non-standard menu definitions can cause problems. Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel are two such applications. Instead, use the "Configuration dialog Hot Key" (set in the Preferences pane of the Now Save control panel) to accomplish the same thing.
Now Startup Manager Notes
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The first time you restart after installing Now Utilities, your Macintosh automatically restarts once more by itself. Don't worry—it's perfectly normal. This is how Now Startup Manager controls items that load before Now Toolbox. If, during the startup process, you change the status of an item that appears above the upper dotted line in the Now Startup Manager control panel, you'll notice the same behavior. It also occurs during automatic Conflict Isolation.
Now WYSIWYG Menus Notes
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• Adobe Illustrator users: Because of Adobe Illustrator's non-standard menu definitions, Now WYSIWYG Menus can't display enhanced font menus in Illustrator; the application is excluded from Now WYSIWYG Menus functions by default to avoid any conflicts.
• Adobe Type Reunion and Now WYSIWYG Menus are incompatible. Both products perform similar functions, but Now WYSIWYG Menus does offer more features and benefits. You will need to disable Type Reunion and only use Now WYSIWYG Menus, or vice versa (to disable a control panel, remove it from the Control Panels folder and restart, or use an extension manager to "turn it off").
Now Super Boomerang Notes
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When you open a directory dialog box (by choosing "Open…" or "Save As…") to a folder that contains one hundred or more files, the folder contents may take a little while to appear at first. This is because Now Super Boomerang determines the last file you opened and makes sure that this file is selected when the dialog box opens. To avoid this delay, deselect the "Rebound to last file" checkbox in the Preferences pane of the Now Super Boomerang control panel. (You could also reorganize those huge folders and arrange your files in more manageable chunks—you'll notice improved Finder performance, too!)
Now Software Gets Up-to-Date With New Support Products, Web Site
New service and corporate support options offer customers better availability, quicker access
Portland, Ore., November 6, 1995 - Now Software, Inc., the leading provider of personal and workgroup time management products, today announced new customer support options for its Windows®, Macintosh® and Newton™ offerings. Telephone access has been upgraded with 800 number access for customers, and wait times have been reduced. Three new pay-for-support options have been added, providing customers the opportunity to pick the level of service that best fits their needs. Now Software also announced the addition of a World Wide Web site to provide more timely service, support and product information to its growing customer base.
“These new support offerings will allow us to greatly improve the level of service for all users. Our previous ‘one size fits all’ approach forced everyone through a single queue, without regard to size of site or level of need. This new model will let the customers choose which level of service best fits their requirements,” said Duane Schulz, CEO of Now Software. “And, with the addition of our Web site, customers will be able to get service and information at their convenience, 24 hours a day.”
Expanded, Convenient Service Options Available from December 4
Toll-free telephone support is available to all users for 90 days, beginning with their first support call. Telephone support hours have also been extended, from the previous 8AM - 4PM, to 6AM - 5PM Pacific Standard Time. Following the initial 90 days, three new fee-based support plans are offered. For customers with occasional needs, an 800- or 900-number service is available for a $2.00/minute charge with a maximum per-incident charge of $25.00. Additionally, for a flat fee of $99.00, customers can purchase a personal support plan that allows unlimited toll-free access, and is renewable annually.
Volume purchasers now have the option of adding an annual support contract for their users. This contract also guarantees toll-free access for all users and rapid problem escalation and response. Contract terms are based on the size of the installed base. Volume and site license customers should call Now Software for pricing.
Now Software continues to offer free electronic support without restriction via America Online, the Internet and the Microsoft Network. Now Software also provides a free FaxBack service, offering automated fax-based answers to commonly asked questions.
Portland, Oregon-based Now Software is the leading supplier of personal and workgroup time management software products for Windows and the Macintosh computer worldwide. For more information, contact Now Software at 921 SW Washington Street, Suite 500, Portland, OR 97205-2823; phone 1-800-237-2078; fax 503-274-0670; or via the Internet at info@nowsoft.com.
Now Utilities, Now FolderMenus, Now Menus, Now Profile, Now QuickFiler, Now Scrapbook, Now Startup Manager, Now Toolbox, and Now WYSIWYG Menus are trademarks of Now Software, Inc. Mac OS and Newton are trademarks, and Macintosh is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corp. All other trademarks are used for identification purposes only, and are acknowledged as the property of their respective owners.
