It was a hell of a year. Clones. PCI. Cyberspace. Apple was up; Apple was down; Apple was up again. Turbulence in the boardrooms. Innovation in the labs. But how will 1995 be best re- membered? As the year that . . .
* Apple regained its status as America's largest-selling
personal-computer manufacturer.
* Power Computing proved there's demand for low-cost,
high-quality Mac-compatibles.
* Microsoft's much ballyhooed Windows 95 failed to unseat
the Mac OS as the world's most user-friendly operating
system.
* The runaway success of Apple's Performa series caused an
avalanche of games, kids' software, and personal peripherals.
* A new generation of professional tools solidified the
Mac's preeminent role in publishing and multimedia
development.
* We all survived the incessant media frenzy over the
Internet! The Internet! The Internet!
BUT PERHAPS MOST IMPORTANTLY -- and quietly, away from the hype and the headlines -- thousands of products appeared, many with power and sophistication unimaginable only a few years ago. Throughout the year, we at MacUser sift through all the new products, pointing you toward the best and warning you of the worst. Then, as the year staggers to an end, we repeatedly meet to discuss, debate, harangue, cajole, and otherwise inflict our opinionated selves upon each other in preparation for the editors-only vote that results in our annual MacUser Editors' Choice Awards.
HERE ARE THE RESULTS OF THAT VOTE: the top Mac products of the year. (Also check out our Web site at http://www.zdnet.com/~macuser/eddy95/ for more information, demos, and reviews of this year's finalists, as well as exclusive audio commentaries from MacUser editors.) Although we've grouped the products by settings -- business, desktop publishing and graphics, multimedia, and personal -- we don't intend to pigeonhole products into just one type of workplace. Most successful Mac products can take on a variety of jobs. Some of us might argue that Marathon's alien slaughterfest is the ideal corporate training tool for customer-service reps.
Hardware Product of the Year
Iomega Zip Drive
When we first saw the Zip drive, we knew Iomega had a hit -- maybe even a home run. But we didn't know that it'd be a grand slam, a towering blast into the upper deck.
This simple, unassuming removable-cartridge storage system is the answer to most users' long-standing need for an inexpensive, reliable, easy-to-manage way to infinitely expand their storage capacity. For a dollar below the magic $200 barrier, and with a 100-MB-cartridge price hovering around 20 bucks, the Zip is a no-brainer buy. When Zip drives are everywhere, we'll remember 1995 as the year they were introduced.
Mac System of the Year
Apple Macintosh Performa 5215CD
As we begin our second decade of MacUser Editors' Choice Awards, we inaugurate our newest honor: the Mac System of the Year award. Why do we have this new award? With the advent of Mac OS-compatibles, it's time to recognize excellence in this critical product area. After vigorous debate, we have given the first Mac System of the Year Award to Apple's Macintosh Performa 5215CD. By returning to the Mac's original concept of an all-in-one design, this elegantly engineered Mac seamlessly harmonizes a broad array of features into the perfect truly personal multimedia computer.
Finalists
DayStar Digital Genesis MP
Power Computing Power 120
DayStar's muscular Genesis MP and Power Computing's groundbreaking Power 120 also deserve recognition. Power Computing almost single-handedly created the Mac OS-compatible market with its Power 80, 100, and 120 models, and DayStar brought it to dizzying performance levels with the Genesis MP's multiprocessor technology. These events augur well for next year's competition -- and for the future of Mac OS systems.
Breakthrough Technology of the Year
Apple Quickdraw 3D
When Apple gets it right, it gets it very, very right. QuickDraw 3D is a perfect example of what Apple does better than anyone: create plug-and-play software that enhances every user's experience.
QuickDraw 3D has four main components: a fast 24-bit interactive renderer, system-level handling of 3-D components, a new 3-D-file-format standard called 3DMF, and user-interface guidelines for developers. Simply drop a few extensions into your Power Mac's System Folder and fire up a QuickDraw 3D-savvy application, and you'll be able to fluidly manipulate fully rendered 3-D objects and drag and drop 3-D objects to and from the Scrapbook or other applications, just as you would a PICT file, text, or sound.
Finalists
Apple ColorSync 2.0
DayStar Digital's Multiprocessing API
Still, QuickDraw 3D had some stiff competition: Apple ColorSync 2.0 is the most robust color-management system available on any computer, and DayStar Digital's Multiprocessing API enables application developers to harness the power of two or more PowerPC processors, thus bringing workstation-class performance to the desktop.
Software Product of the Year
Starnine Technologies' WebSTAR 1.2.1
Having started life as a humble shareware program called MacHTTP, WebSTAR has grown to become the dominant reason for the Mac's popularity as a Web server. Apple, which manages its own Web sites with WebSTAR, has even made it the centerpiece of its Internet-server bundle. WebSTAR is simple and secure and provides Web managers with all the advantages of the Mac OS interface -- a real blessing when you consider its UNIX and Windows NT alternatives. It supports full-fledged applications as well as simple AppleScript scripts. The ability to create custom Web interfaces is now easily within the reach of nonprogrammers.
John J. Anderson Distinguished Achievement Award
Bill Duvall
Back in 1969, when Bill Duvall wrote the software that sent the first packet across the Internet, even he could not have imagined the far-ranging impact of that accomplishment. In retrospect, his importance to the Mac community began even before there was a Mac.
Later, Bill founded Consulair and created the Mac's first development environment, MacC, a 1985 MacUser Eddy Award winner. He next became Director of HyperCard development at Claris and then went on to head the software-development team at 3DO.
Today, Bill's the founder, president, and lead engineer of SurfWatch, a company whose namesake product blocks access to sexually explicit Internet sites. Both Bill and his wife, Ann, devote considerable time to testifying in Washington, D.C., using SurfWatch to demonstrate that there are alternatives to government regulation for protecting our children. From helping launch the Internet to fighting to keep it free from censorship, Bill's career has enriched -- and continues to enrich -- the life of every Mac user.
Derek Van Alstyne Rising Star Award
Jorg Brown
It's astonishing that one young engineer has had as much impact as Jorg Brown. Jorg graduated from Colorado State University at the age of 17 and then headed off to Symantec, where he created programming tools for the THINK C and THINK Pascal teams.
Jorg then joined Now Software, where he was a key contributor to Now Utilities and Now Contact. Currently, he's at Connectix, where he has been the lead engineer on RAM Doubler and Speed Doubler, extensions that give the Mac capabilities beyond those developed by Apple's gifted engineers. Not bad for a guy of 27.
