To get the most out of The Disc, double-click the MacAddict Tour icon. This will open up the CD's interactive interface where you will be able to check out all of the programs being offered this month including program descriptions, system requirements, contact information, and instant installation access. You will also find Web link access to software vendors, authors, Apple, Mac resources, our sponsors, and more, four tracks of original music, and the famous MacAddict Staff Video.
To view all of the software contained on The Disc within the MacAddict Tour, click on 'Software Index' from the interface menu. This will bring you to a screen which has several software categories listed on the left side of the window. Click once on the triangle to the left of the category you are interested in, and a complete listing will drop down. Click on any of these titles to get its product description, the author, contact info, one-click access to its Web site, system requirements, installation access, and more. Click on any other title to change the information displayed in the window, or click on the category triangle to close that folder.
Documentation included with each program will make it clear whether it is shareware, freeware, a demo, etc. Please read all accompanying documentation prior to using any software contained on this disc. Note that not all software contained on this CD is available/installable from the MacAddict Tour. Last minute changes and additions make it impossible to have everything listed there. Look through the disc in the Finder to access programs you can't find in the MacAddict Tour.
There are four tracks of music on every disc each month. To change music tracks, click on 'Music Tracks' from the Tour's interface menu. This will bring you to a screen that displays the titles for each song track, gives you a volume slider to crank it up, and provides you with a bit of information of each music artist in the spotlight. You will not be able to access the actual audio files for any of these tracks. If you are interested in obtaining a sound file from any of the artists featured in the MacAddict Tour, please contact the artist from the information given on The Disc.
Our standard disclaimer:
We are NOT RESPONSIBLE for any problems caused by using the software on this disc. We did not create the software, we have simply made a collection that we think is useful. If you have problems with any particular piece of software, please contact the author or company directly for help. We will not provide technical support for software.
If you use our disc, you are doing so at YOUR OWN RISK (please read the legal disclaimer and agreement of usage document at the root level of the disc). We test things out as much as possible before sending it out, but we can't exhaustively test out each piece of software on every type of machine and system configuration each month. If you lose data, or your system becomes corrupted, or your computer blows up, don't say I didn't warn you.
The MacAddict CD Catalog
I have used a program called "DiskTracker," by Mark Pirri, to catalog each and every MacAddict disc back to #1. This program is located on most of the discs, in the "Utilities" folder in the "Software" folder. The catalog file itself is located at the root of the disc, and is named "MacAddict CD Catalog (1-x)." You will need to install DiskTracker on your hard drive, and then extract the catalog file (by double-clicking it) to your hard drive. Then use DiskTracker to open the catalog file.
If you continue to use the DiskTracker program, please register it. It is a great program, and the author deserves to be rewarded for his hard work.
Questions or Problems?
If you still have questions or problems with the disc after reading this file, visit our CD-ROM help pages at the URL below. You can view problems reported by others, possible workarounds or solutions, send bug reports, and request a new disc from customer service if your disc is broken or missing. You can also use the phone number below to request a new disc in the latter case.
http://www.macaddict.com/cdrom/
The direct phone number for customer service is 1-888-771-6222. Please call them to request a new disc if yours is missing or broken, or for any issues regarding your subscription.
Requirements for The MacAddict Tour
When you double-click on the "MacAddict Tour" icon, you launch our custom-designed REALbasic interface. The MacAddict Tour is both 68k and PPC compatible running Mac OS 7.6 or greater and AT LEAST 8 MB of real RAM (i.e. without RamDoubler or some other software ram, such as virtual memory). This is IN ADDITION TO the amount of RAM used by your system software. For example, if you have exactly 8 MB of real RAM installed and you are running system 7.6.x, you will not be able to reliably run the interface because your system software takes up some of that RAM. The MacAddict Tour is available in two screen resolutions. The 800x600 works best for those of you with 15" monitors and larger. Those of you who have 14" monitors and smaller, please use the 640x480 icon. You will also need QuickTime 4 or later to view the Staff Videos and hear the music tracks. We found that compressing our movies using the Sorenson codec resulted in better video quality and handling, and kept the file size down (especially with our bigger size format). This codec is supported in QuickTime 3 and later.
If you aren't sure what version of the system software you are using or how much RAM you have installed, select the "About This Macintosh..." menu item under the Apple menu in the Finder. The version of your system software and some memory details will be displayed. Without any applications running, look at the number labeled "Largest Unused Block." If it is 8,000K or greater you can run the interface.
If you don't have the required amount of RAM, launching the "MacAddict Tour" is just asking for trouble. It will probably launch, and then at some point your computer will freeze up or give you a strange error.
Pressing command + Q will quit to the finder from anywhere in the interface.
Okay, Wiseguy, I don't have enough RAM...is my Phat Disc useless?
No! You can still just use the ol' finder to look through the disc and install what you want, even if you can't run the interface. The disc software is organized by category, so you can easily find things.
I have included a software index in every software category folder that provides descriptions of each software title, as well as contact information, system requirements, version #'s, and the type of software it is (demo, shareware, freeware, etc.). Many of the installers will give you information about a program when launched, with the option to cancel before you actually install anything. Also, many of our installers do NOT put extensions, control panels, etc. into your system folder for you. They simply install a folder on your desktop with all the necessary parts with instructions on where to put them. This way, you will know exactly what went into your system folder (because you put it there personally) and you won't have to go hunting to get rid of it.
Unfortunately, some of the installers are not made by us, and we can't control their behaviour.
A Final Note About Installing Stuff From The Disc
When you use the software from our disc, PLEASE be careful! We try to test everything before we put it on the disc, but due to possible installer corruptions, bad discs, conflicts with your particular system, a less tolerant CD drive (meaning it is less forgiving of minor flaws on a cd), and a myriad of other variables beyond our control, you may still have problems with some or all of the programs on the disc.
To avoid causing yourself frustration and possibly losing important data, the first thing you should do is BACK UP IMPORTANT FILES before using anything on our disc. Then, install things ONE AT A TIME and try them out to make sure they don't cause problems on your system before installing the next one. You will save yourself a great deal of trouble.
Keep in mind that none of the software on the disc is written by us, so we can only offer limited technical support if you call or email us. You should always try to contact the author or company directly, since they are the ones that wrote it. Again, any program you use from our disc is at your own risk (please read the legal disclaimer and agreement of usage document at the root level of the disc).
And a last note, when in doubt, read the Read Me documentation provided with each software title. Often more times than not, you will find helpful and necessary information about a program, or find items you may need such as a serial number contained within the document.
