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The big news this week is Apple's release of System 7.5.3, with better performance, the final version of Open Transport 1.1, and a host of new features. Also this week, Apple announces the end of eWorld, Adobe withdraws PageMill 1.0.1, and Macromedia finalizes Shockwave for Director. Finally, Adam follows up on his article on personal Web publishing, and we finally release the details on TidBITS translations - now five languages and counting!
This issue of TidBITS sponsored in part by:
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Thanks to a number of enthusiastic volunteers, TidBITS is now available in French, Spanish, Chinese (Big-5) along with Japanese (Kanji) and German. We hope to add Dutch, Italian, and Portuguese as well. You can read translated issues of TidBITS on our Web site - just select the appropriate link from the top of the home page. [ACE]
PageMistake -- In TidBITS-317 I reported Adobe had released an updater that upgrades PageMill from 1.0 to 1.0.1. I also reported some users of the update were experiencing color shifts in graphics edited through PageMill. Adobe has decided the color shift problem is severe enough to warrant a recall and has withdrawn the update. Adobe hopes to release a corrected version 1.0.2 in a few weeks. Although the problem appears to happen only on 68K Macs (and usually only if you have more than 256 colors showing onscreen), Adobe's engineers are not convinced it couldn't happen on a Power Mac. Remember, if you use 1.0.1 and experience a color shift in an open image, do not save your file, or the shift will be saved in the image. [TJE]
Shockwave Released -- Macromedia has released final versions of Shockwave for Director 4.0 Plug-Ins, and says it's hard at work on Shockwave for Director 5.0. Macromedia has also released a beta Shockwave plug-in for FreeHand, which allows viewing and manipulation of scalable vector graphics. As with previous releases, Shockwave plug-ins want plenty of memory, and reports on stability remain mixed. [GD]
<http://www.macromedia.com/Tools/Shockwave/>
<http://www.macromedia.com/Tools/FHShockwave/>
Fetch 3.0.1 -- Jim Matthews has released version 3.0.1 of Fetch, a popular FTP client, including expanded preferences and Internet Config support, improved AppleScript capabilities, and a number of fixes and feature enhancements. Fetch is free for educational and non-profit users, others may license Fetch online for $25. If you licensed Fetch 2.1, you can upgrade for free; the download is about 1 MB. Fetch 3.0.1 is native on both 68K and Power Macs, and is Open Transport-savvy. [GD]
<ftp://mirror.aol.com/pub/info-mac/comm/tcp/fetch-301.hqx>
<http://www.dartmouth.edu/pages/softdev/fetch.license.form.html>
by Adam C. Engst <ace@tidbits.com>
Gil Amelio wasted no time focusing Apple's attention on projects at the core of the company's business. As of 31-Mar-96, Apple will discontinue its online service eWorld and turn to America Online for help. AOL will now be the preferred online service on Performas sold in North America (as well as on the appropriate Educator Advantage machines, Power Mac Small Business Solutions, consumer PowerBooks, and at least some Macs in Europe), and Apple will move its online programming efforts to AOL. It's still unknown if Apple's official technical support will move to AOL - the press release notes only that Apple "intends to expand its corporate and technical support services on the service [AOL] as well as launching new interactive programming on AOL as well as the Internet."
After the 31-Mar-96 closure of eWorld, Apple and AOL will work together to move eWorld customers to AOL by offering special transition forums, email forwarding, and 15 free hours on AOL. Finally, AOL has "renewed its commitment for development and innovation to the Macintosh platform with new refined client software and complete World Wide Web integration." We'll see - frustration accessing the Internet through AOL's client software and Web browser is one of the main reasons I hear from people switching from AOL to a true Internet dialup account. In related news, both AOL and CompuServe have signed deals with Netscape to use Netscape Navigator as their Web browser.
I'm not surprised Apple finally decided to pull the plug on eWorld. The service reportedly garnered only about 150,000 subscribers, which is a drop in the bucket compared to AOL's five million (CompuServe currently boasts about four million). For the most part, the heyday of the online service is over, and only the strongest will survive and adapt to the continuing growth of the Internet. AOL seems quite healthy, but GEnie and Delphi have more or less faded from view, Prodigy (with its 1.5 million users) is reportedly up for sale, and H&R Block is turning CompuServe into a publicly traded company. More telling perhaps is that Microsoft has canned Microsoft Network as an online service and is instead moving MSN's content to the Web.
eWorld suffered in a number of ways right from the start. For a long time Apple didn't offer official technical support on eWorld, something that if done correctly at eWorld's launch might have made a difference. Due in part to its reliance on the AOL software and Apple's modifications, it took eWorld longer than AOL to embrace the Internet, all while the Internet rapidly became the reason many people took the online leap. Finally, for various reasons, Apple never pushed eWorld as hard as AOL pushed their service, which resulted in Mac users choosing AOL over eWorld much of the time. Had eWorld picked up a million users in its lifetime, it might have stood a better chance.
Ironically, AOL was to be "Personal AppleLink" in its early days, but Apple backed out of the deal before starting eWorld several years later. Perhaps even more ironically, it seems as though the venerable AppleLink will outlive eWorld, its one-time successor, if not by long.
by Adam C. Engst <ace@tidbits.com>
A number of folks wrote in regard to my article about personal Web publishing in TidBITS-316, but Scott Dickson <scott@ontek.com> and John Kawakami <online@mactech.com> offered a more realistic and generally better solution to some of the problems I outlined: a Web folder synchronization utility.
Most people use Internet through a local Internet provider (or even one of the commercial services like AOL and CompuServe) have access to some space on that provider's Web server. A few people failed to see why using this Web space didn't meet the qualifications of my personal Web publishing software, but my feeling is that uploading via FTP and maintaining a set of files on what's usually a Unix machine is way too hard. I get quite a bit of mail from people who can't figure out how to upload using Anarchie 1.5, where it's merely a matter of drag & drop (Anarchie 1.6 added a Put item to bring uploading more obviously into the interface).
Imagine, then, a utility that simply synchronizes files between an FTP-accessible directory on a Web server and a specific folder on a Mac. I use the term "synchronize" because the utility should delete files on the host if they're deleted from the Web folder. Synchronization has the added advantage of making it easy for users to stay under a disk space limit enforced by the provider, since you can easily see how much space is used by a folder (or the utility could warn you if you went over a user-defined value).
Use of this Web synchronization folder shouldn't be modal; you should be able to work with the files all you like when you're offline, and only once you go online should the software kick in and perform the synchronization. In an ideal world, the utility could automatically translation of text to HTML, PICT to GIF or JPEG, or that sort of thing, but such features aren't necessary and could certainly be added later.
If you think about it a little farther, though, this Web synchronization utility could help not just individuals for whom dealing with FTP is a stretch, but anyone who maintains a Web site on a Macintosh. Our Web server at www.tidbits.com is only accessible via FTP now that the machine isn't on our network, and keeping all the files up to date with the local version we work with has become a pain, especially since Tonya, Geoff, and I can all make changes. It's not hard to remember what to upload if you change one or two files, but in a serious session of HTML authoring, you might change ten or twenty files. It would be great if you could make all those changes, connect to the Internet, and have the Web synchronization software automatically merge in your changed files, at the same time downloading all the files that others have changed.
This functionality isn't entirely a new idea - the Aretha release of Frontier included AutoWeb, a utility for creating Web sites from specially named and formatted text files. Along with AutoWeb came an Upload script that used Anarchie to upload all the files in a special Upload folder to your Web site.
<http://www.hotwired.com/staff/userland/aretha/specialfolders_234.html>
In the AppleScript world, a.h.s boy <spud@nothingness.org> has written a script called WebLoader that does much the same thing.
<http://www.nothingness.org/dt/scripting/Webloader.sit.hqx>
These scripts are half the battle. There have also been a number of file synchronization utilities for PowerBooks that could perhaps be modified to work over the Internet. We obviously have the technology available to accomplish this task. If it's only a matter of scripting in AppleScript or Frontier, someone could go the next step and make a useful and successful Web utility. I could imagine a WebSync control panel or background application that watches the designated Web folder, controls disk space warnings, and interacts with Anarchie, Fetch, or Allegiant's Marionet to synchronize files. Such a utility could serve both the personal Web publishing market and the many people out there who build and maintain Web sites using the Mac.
by Geoff Duncan <geoff@tidbits.com>
After months of rumor and speculation, Apple has finally released System 7.5.3 to the general public. System 7.5.3 is a universal system release that will run on any Mac from the Plus on up, which should be a welcome relief to anyone trying to keep up with a myriad of updates from Apple in recent months. In addition to bug fixes and added functionality, System 7.5.3 incorporates previous additions to the system software (such as the System 7.5.2 Printing Fix and the PowerBook 5300 System Update), and expands the availability of additional technologies such as Open Transport that were only available for a small range of machines.
System 7.5.3 takes two forms. The first is the classic set of system disks that can be used to install a clean, complete set of system software on any Macintosh. The second form is that of System 7.5 Update 2.0, which will upgrade any Macintosh computer running version of System 7.5, 7.5.1, or 7.5.2 to System 7.5.3, but cannot be used on its own to install a complete system. As with previous updates, Apple has made System 7.5 Update 2.0 available online, but the complete version of 7.5.3 will only be available on selected new Macs and as a separate commercial product from Apple. Also in keeping with previous releases, Apple is making each version available as both a set of floppy disk images and as an all-in-one network install.
Where To Get It -- Be warned: System 7.5 Update 2.0 is a little over 20 MB in size, with the floppy disk version requiring 14 disks. Just to give you a sense of perspective, that's about 100 minutes of download time on a 28.8 Kbps modem in the best of circumstances, probably considerably longer in real life. What's more, Apple's servers are likely to be overwhelmed for several days, so you might save yourself time and frustration by waiting a while before attempting to download this release.
A better alternative might be to order the update from Apple - or rather, Claris. Customers in the United States can order a CD-ROM or floppy-disk version of the update for $13 (plus any applicable sales tax) by calling 800/293-6617, extension 984. Claris currently says the updates will ship "as soon as they're available."
That said, System 7.5 Update 2.0 can be found at the following locations, among others:
<ftp://ftp.support.apple.com/pub/apple_sw_updates/US/mac/system_sw/System_7.5_Update_2.0/>
<ftp://ftp.info.apple.com/Apple.Support.Area/Apple.Software.Updates/US/Macintosh/System/System_7.5_Update_2.0/>
<http://www.info.apple.com/Apple.Support.Area/Apple.Software.Updates/US/Macintosh/System/System_7.5_Update_2.0/>
<http://www.support.apple.com/pub/Apple%20SW%20Updates/US/mac/system_sw/System_7.5_Update_2.0/>
Apple has also made the update available on most online services including AOL, CompuServe, and eWorld. In addition, the update should be available from MacUser and possibly other Macintosh software sites.
<ftp://ftp.zdnet.com/macuser/US_apple_sw_updates/>
New Features -- The first thing anybody wants to know about new system software is what features it offers, so here's a selected summary. System 7.5.3 installs no less than seven ReadMe files (the important ones include three for the System update and one for Open Transport) with detailed information on new items and specific fixes. These files can be found on the first disk of the system update (or in the first folder of the network installation).
Important Fixes -- System 7.5.3 includes a number of bug fixes and patches which should make some people's lives easier. In particular, Apple has gone to great lengths to reduce the frequency of the infamous Type 11 errors encountered on Power Macs, as well as to improve overall stability and performance on both Power Macs and 68K machines. Apple has also made a number of changes to improve stability with third-party software such as Retrospect, StuffIt SpaceSaver, and others.
System 7.5.3 includes PowerPC native versions of the Resource Manager and the SCSI Manager, two important low-level components of the system. System 7.5.3 also includes changes to the way applications are launched using Virtual Memory on Power Macs that originally appeared in the PowerBook 5300 System Update. Apple made these changes mainly to help Microsoft Office products launch faster, but they can help other applications and at least they're now available to a wider ranger of users. Other performance improvements include more intelligent handling of caches on 68040 and PowerPC-based Macs resulting in better Finder performance, and asynchronous file copying (which should let other applications be more responsive while files are copying). In addition, the default disk cache settings in the Memory control panel have been increased to 32K per megabyte of physical RAM; though this makes less RAM available to other applications, the performance improvements can be significant. (You can always choose a lower cache setting manually, if you need to.)
Again, the ReadMe files that ship with System 7.5.3 go into considerable detail on the fixes contained in the release, so read through them for more information.
What 7.5.3 Replaces -- System 7.5. Update 2.0 incorporates many previously released updates to the system (and components included in those updates), including:
Potential Problems -- Though we've been waiting for System 7.5.3 for some time, it will not be a bed of roses for some users.
Tucked away in the third ReadMe file for System 7.5.3 is a note that could send shivers down the spines of network administrators and MIS managers: PCI Power Macs might have a different physical Ethernet address after installing this update, since System 7.5.3 corrects a bug that causes an incorrect address to be used when TCP/IP addresses are obtained using BootP, DHCP, or RARP. Fortunately, Open Transport makes it much easier for a user to determine his or her physical Ethernet address (choose Get Info in either the AppleTalk or TCP/IP control panel); however, this won't make it any more fun for network administrators to reconfigure their networks if they relied on the physical addresses of these machines.
A more common problem users of older Macs might encounter involves older disk drivers. System 7.5.3 incorporates SCSI Manager 4.3 directly into the system. If the hard disk drivers you're currently using aren't compatible with SCSI Manager 4.3 (generally true if you haven't updated your disk drivers since about October of 1994), you might find you can't boot your Macintosh after installing this update. As always, make a complete backup of your drive and data before installing any system update. If you use a third party hard disk utility (such as Hard Disk ToolKit, APS Power Tools, Drive7, or Silverlining) and you aren't sure if it's compatible with SCSI Manager 4.3, contact your software vendor before attempting to install System 7.5.3. If you used Apple's HD SC Setup, a new version with updated drivers can be found in the Utilities folder of the first update disk.
If you use a PCI Power Mac on a Novell NetWare network, you should know System 7.5.3 incorporates version 1.0.3 of the Ethernet Compatibility extension. The good news is this fixes a problem with the system shutdown code; the bad news is that there's now a two-minute delay shutting down the computer.
Finally, a drawback of System 7.5.3 is that it comes with neither a bootable Network Installer disk, nor a bootable Disk Tools disk. Although existing Macs can be booted with these disks from earlier versions of the system software, it's one more pesky detail to keep in mind, and future Mac models will probably have to have their own set of boot disks, complicating matters once again.
Open Transport 1.1 -- One of the most anticipated components of System 7.5.3 is version 1.1 of Open Transport, Apple's reworking of the Mac's core networking software. As bundled with System 7.5.3, Open Transport replaces both AppleTalk and MacTCP on most Macs. Open Transport provides easier configuration, more flexibility, and better performance for most network tasks, even over dialup connections.
The good news is that Open Transport 1.1 provides easier configuration, more flexibility, and better performance for most network tasks, even over dial-up connections, and is a significant improvement over the initial 1.0.x releases that initially shipped with the PCI Power Macs. (Reports from Apple's recent public beta of Open Transport 1.1b16 were quite positive; see TidBITS-316.) The bad news is that using Open Transport can still be rather complicated, and may not be the best choice for all people.
First, contrary to expectations, Open Transport 1.1 is installed by default on all machines with a 68030 or greater processor; however, it seems to be active only if Open Transport was active before installing the system update. Installing Open Transport with 7.5.3 does not delete MacTCP or "classic" AppleTalk capabilities, it merely stashes them safely out of sight. Apple thoughtfully includes an application called Network Software Selector to switch between Open Transport and classic networking services, so at the very least installing Open Transport shouldn't be fatal for anyone currently using MacTCP. However, Network Software Selector doesn't work on PCI-based Macs since those machines technically require Open Transport. Also, please note Open Transport is not available on desktop 5200, 5300, 6200, or 6300-series Macintoshes; if you use one of these machines, you'll apparently have to stay with classic AppleTalk and MacTCP for the time being.
The potential downside to Open Transport is the amount of memory it requires, which can be anywhere from 400K to 1.5 MB of RAM on Power Macs. You can reduce this footprint by turning off services you don't use (so if you never use AppleTalk or TCP/IP services, making them inactive in their control panels will save memory.) Another way to reduce Open Transport's RAM impact on Power Macs is to use Virtual Memory (or RAM Doubler), which allows the system to unload portions of Open Transport that aren't in use.
However, if you use MacPPP or FreePPP to access the Internet, using virtual memory isn't necessarily a good option, since neither PPP implementation is fully compatible with virtual memory. (Some users report no problems; others have easily reproducible crashes.) Version 2.5 of FreePPP - due to be released shortly - should be fully compatible with virtual memory. If you experience problems using PPP with Open Transport, turn off virtual memory, revert to MacTCP, or consider using a different (commercial) PPP implementation. For more information, I recommend Mark Sproul's collection of Web pages on Open Transport.
<http://msproul.rutgers.edu/macintosh/OpenTpt.html>
If you use FreePPP, Open Transport will default to using BootP for determining your IP address. For many users, this will not be the correct setting, and you should instead choose Using PPP Server from the pop-up menu in the TCP/IP control panel. Fortunately, Open Transport allows you to do this without restarting, or (in many cases) without even re-dialing.
Additional Information -- Apple has released a technical note in Acrobat format covering the changes in System 7.5.3. Although much of this material is available in 7.5.3's ReadMe files, the note contains some technical information useful to developers and technical support people.
In Conclusion -- Is installing System 7.5.3 a good idea? The general answer is yes, particularly for Power Macintosh users, although there is something here for everyone. Due to the size of the update, it's probably worth waiting a few days for the load on Apple's servers to decrease, or ordering a CD-ROM or floppy-disk version of the update if you aren't in any particular hurry. Although my (admittedly limited) testing of the final release of System 7.5.3 has been generally positive, I cannot report it's more stable than System 7.5.1 on any of my machines (all 68K-based), and I am seeing occasional new problems (although I haven't yet determined whether they're caused by the system software, or a particular application or system extension). As always, back up your data before installing a new version of your system software, and make sure you have a bootable floppy disk or CD-ROM handy in case something unexpected occurs.
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