Welcome to the Disc. For the ultimate visual and aural experience, double-click the MacAddict Tour icon for your system to launch the MacAddict Tour, our multimedia interactive interface that allows you to navigate through this month's Disc contents. You'll get all of the software titles, descriptions, system requirements, contact info, and easy install links, plus one-click access to the staff video, our special sponsors, and some cool tunes. Of course, if you're feeling sort of crabby, feel a migraine coming on, or prefer as little stimuli as possible, then feel free to dive into the Disc contents sans the MacAddict Tour—you'll find everything packed away neatly in appropriately named folders, though you'll have to enjoy your Disc in silence (the tunes come with the Tour only kids).
Okay, first the MacAddict Tour requirements*:
Power Mac running Mac OS 8.5-9.x or
G3 or faster Mac running OS X 10.1 or later
800 x 600 monitor resolution
QuickTime 6 or later (to view the staff video)
*Minimum system requirements for individual software titles contained on the Disc will vary—please consult either the software descriptions in the MacAddict Tour interface or the Index text file within every Software category folder to view software specifics.
MacAddict Tour Newbie?
To get the most out of the Disc, double-click the appropriate MacAddict Tour icon for your system—though it isn't required to access the software contained on the CD (software can be installed directly from the Software folder), the MacAddict Tour will provide you with access to the disc's entire software contents from a single interface, plus give you a full multimedia experience. The MacAddict Tour is an interactive interface where you can check out all of the software titles featured this month, plus get program descriptions, system requirements, contact information, and one-click installation. You'll also find direct-access Web links to our sponsors and software authors, a jukebox containing four tracks of original music, and our MacAddict Staff Video.
To view all of the software contained on The Disc within the MacAddict Tour, click the Software button in 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 disclosure triangle to the left of the category you are interested in, and a complete software listing will drop down. Click on any of these titles to get the product description, system requirements, company contact info, one-click Web site access, and one-click installation. Documentation included with each program will make it clear whether it's shareware, freeware, a demo, a trial, or something else. Please read all accompanying documentation prior to using any software contained on the Disc.
We include four tracks of music on every disc each month. To change songs, click any of the four radial buttons in The Music jukebox (bottom left). If you'd like to view information about a particular artist featured in the Tour, click the Music button in the Tour's interface. This brings you to a screen that displays the artist's name, photo, song title, bio, and contact info for each song track. Use the volume slider to crank up tunes at will. You won't 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.
At times, we also include bonus material that's tied to a particular article in our magazine, such as our How To section tutorial files. Find these items in the Files from the Print Side folder.
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 Disclaimer document for the agreement of usage at the root level of the Disc). We test things out as much as possible before sending the Disc master out, but we can't exhaustively test out every piece of software on every type of machine and system configuration each month. If you lose data or your system gets corrupt or your computer blows up, don't say we didn't warn you.
A Note about Demos, Trials, Shareware, and Freeware
There's been some confusion about the terms "demo" and "trial" versus "shareware" recently. We state in the MacAddict Tour and in the various Index text files within each software category folder whether a software title is a demo, a trial, shareware, freeware, or some other oddball twist of these terms; read each software's Read Me file or installer notes to get the specifics.
For clarification purposes, we generally stick with the term that the software manufacturer specifies. A demo is a commercially released software title that has limitations—whether it's save-disabled or lacks some key features. A trial is generally a commercial title that has a time constraint—whether it be 30 days, 15 launches, or the software stops working on a certain date—again, read the program's Read Me file or installer notes for software specifics. Sometimes commercial companies get cutesy with their demo/trial lingo (like "tryout" or "test drive"); we usually stick with what they give us, knowing that you smart folks will figure it out.
Shareware is generally any software title that costs money, but is not distributed through the usual commercial or retail channels. Sometimes shareware developers choose to use the honor system (the old traditional way), giving you full use of their product while asking you to pay up if you like the app or continue to use it beyond a given time frame. Other times (and the more recently popular method), shareware developers offer a trial or demo version of their software, allowing you to test drive their product before you decide whether or not it works for you. Please read each title's included literature so you know what to expect. More importantly, just because a title is labeled "shareware," please don't expect the developer to just give away their entire app to you for free (as many have done in the past)—they've poured their blood, sweat, and tears into their products to make your Mac lives a little easier or a little more amusing. If you like an app and continue to use it, please support the developer's efforts (as well as the Mac community) and buy it. ’Nuff said.
Freeware is exactly that—software that costs you nothing to use.
The MacAddict CD Catalog
Need to find a particular software title but can't remember which MacAddict disc it was on? Check out the MacAddict CD Catalog file (inside the MacAddict CD Catalog (1-xx) folder), which lists every bit of data that's been included on every MacAddict CD from issue #1 to the current disc in your drive. You'll need Portents DiskTracker to view this file—you'll find the software in the Utilities folder on most discs. If you continue to use DiskTracker, please be sure to pay the shareware fee—it's truly a great program, and the author deserves to be rewarded for his hard work.
Questions or Problems?
If you have any questions or problems with the Disc, please visit our Web site at:
http://www.macaddict.com/magazine/disc
or call customer service at 1-888-771-6222
You can view problems reported by others (if any), or request a new disc from customer service if your disc is broken, faulty, or missing. Please do not call our editorial offices with questions and/or problems regarding the Disc or your subscription.
A final note about installing stuff from the Disc...
We attempt to test all software before our disc master ships to production, but please be advised that you may experience a problem due to a faulty disc corruption, software conflicts with your system, a less tolerant CD drive (meaning your drive may be less forgiving of minor flaws on a CD), and a myriad of other variables beyond our control. If the actual CD or the MacAddict Tour appear to be acting up, you may have one of our rare "bad discs." Please call customer service or visit our Web site (www.macaddict.com) and click on the Customer Service link to get a free replacement CD. If software appears to be acting up, the problem is most likely rooted in a system conflict or the software itself—contact the software author for any problems with a particular software title.
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 customer service. Always try to contact the author or company directly, since they are the ones who wrote it. Again, any program you use from our CDs is done so 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'll find helpful and necessary information about a program, or find items you may need, such as a serial number contained within the document, to unlock the app.
