This article originally appeared in TidBITS on 1994-07-25 at 12:00 p.m.
The permanent URL for this article is: http://db.tidbits.com/article/1909
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Lack of PowerPC-native Utilities

by Joe Clark

Joe Clark <joeclark@scilink.org> and <joec@hookup.net> writes:

I wonder if one overlooked reason for not buying a Power Mac is the relative scarcity of life-improving utilities. Adobe only recently announced a native ATM for Power Macs, and it won't ship for a few weeks, if then. Also, Adobe apparently has no plans to port Type Reunion to the Power Macs; as the owner of several hundred (licensed) fonts, I need it. Directory Assistance II from Norton Utilities and other useful utilities fall into the same category of desperately needing a port.

Authors of shareware utilities (like Speedometer) are laboring to bring them up to spec, and that's commendable. I worry about industry juggernauts like Adobe and Symantec. Sure, I can run big-name programs on a Power Mac, but as the saying goes, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. For the next several months, it looks like utilities will be that link.