Just when you thought the Info Highway streets were safe for Java
again, Symantec announces the development of a native Java virus
scanner.
The Symantec AntiVirus Research Center (SARC) has developed the
first native-Java virus scanner for Java applets sent over the Internet. In addition, SARC has also designed an in-house automation technology that can be used to analyze, replicate, detect and define a large subset of the most common computer viruses.
While no current Java virus threats exist, there is a possibility that a virus could be written that attacts your machine over the Internet. In addition, due to Java’s inherent portability, a virus of this type could spread over a wide variety of platforms. At the first sign of a Java virus threat, Symantec says it will make this technology available to customers via an immediate virus definition update.
  
Netscape has a new version of the Navigator browser for the Mac.
Version 2.01 fixes some major security problems in Navigator
2.0 discovered last month (see our March MacSense story “Giant
security hole in Netscape's JavaScript”).
JavaScript (formerly LiveScript) is Netscape's proprietary scripting language built in to the version 2 Navigator browser. It is not to be confused with JAVA—the scripting language created by Sun Microsystems. (A version of Netscape that supports Sun's Java is being publicly beta-tested).
Specifically, in Navigator 2.01 JavaScript will now be correctly limited from listing the files of a directory and limited from automatically posting mail and news form elements. There is also a now a way to toggle off JavaScript altogether in the preferences settings.
Netscape has also improved the safety of URL parsing by disallowing gopher connections to non-standard ports and by searching for new line characters in gopher URL strings and stopping URLs containing such characters from being executed.
The version 2.01 Installer for the Mac is at: ftp://ftp8.netscape.com/pub/navigator/2.01/mac/2.01NetscapeInstaller.hqx. 
Additionally. you can get a 700K patch for Navigator 2.0 at: ftp://ftp8.netscape.com/pub/navigator/2.01/patch/mac/. 
  
Netscape has released a preview of the new Navigator 3 browser
called “Atlas”. The Atlas Preview Release 1 is an early beta of
the future version 3.0 of Netscape Navigator. The Atlas PR 1 is
good until July 15, 1996.
New features include better navigation in frames, various improvements to the mail/news functions, background colors in tables, an audio playback plug-in for AIFF, MIDI, WAV, and AU sounds. Live 3D and Video playback plug-ins are not supported on the Mac.
CoolTalk, a helper application that is a real-time audio and data collaboration tool specifically designed for the Internet and includes a Chat Tool and Shared Whiteboard is also not supported on the Mac.
Java support has been added to the Macintosh PowerPC platform with 68K support still in progress). Security features are not yet fully implemented and do not offer any current functionality.
The Mac does get its due with native Open Transport, and Internet Config support.
If you are interested in trying out Atlas here is the URL: ftp://ftp.netscape.com//pub/navigator/atlas/pr1/mac/. 
  
Netscape has released a beta version of Netscape Chat—an IRC
Chat program for the Mac OS. Netscape Chat is an easy-to-use
graphical interface that allows users to share locally stored
information on the World Wide Web with other Internet users,
using the Internet Chat Relay protocol.
Netscape Chat offers the following features: itprovides full integration with Navigator that allows you to turn your Netscape Navigator into a multimedia conferencing tool; allows you to share information on the Web by sending and viewing URLs; allows you to share locally stored files; supports different types of communication modes (one-to-one personal conversations along with different types of group discussions).
Netscape Chat also includes advanced customization features that allow you to customize an address book to include a list of frequently visited channels, for example. It also works with any site running Netscape Chat Server or an IRC Server and offers simple point-and-click access to the most important chat functions, so you can quickly begin to chat without having to learn cryptic IRC commands and syntax. Netscape Chat supports a rich set of IRC commands.
You can find out more about Netscape Chat in the online handbook at: http://home.netscape.com/eng/chat/2.0/handbook/. 
You can download a copy of the beta at: ftp://ftp8.netscape.com/pub/chat/NsChat2.0b5Installer.sit.hqx. 
  
SoftArc has advised users that the recently released FirstClass
Client 3.1 for the MacOS shipped with two known problems.
In the letter, Dallas Kachan—marketing manager for SoftArc—both
PowerPC, 68K and Fat Binary versions of the 3.1 Client have problems
under the following circumstances: logging into multiple FirstClass servers under Open Transport PPP connections if the client is quit and re-launched; or viewing or downloading files with long SitC comments.
According to Kachan, these problems were discovered after the 3.1 software masters went to production but the product was shipped anyway to avoid further delays.
A maintenance release fixing these two client issues is currently in testing. SoftArc QA reports both problems are fully fixed in the maintenance release. This release will be named 3.11, and will be issued upon the completion of testing in the next few weeks.
  
Along with its new Macromedia Director 5 (see
QuickBits), Macromedia has finalized the Shockwave
browser plug-in for Director and it is available for
both 68K and Power Macs now.
Shockwave for Director is a plug-in for World Wide
Web browsers like Netscape's Navigator and Microsoft's
Internet Explorer that can show interactive multimedia created in Director directly in the browser's window.
You can get a copy of Shockwave for Director from: http://www.macromedia.com/Tools/Shockwave/sdc/Plugin/index.html. 
Macromedia also had news on the Shockwave for FreeHand front. The beta Shockwave plug-in for FreeHand allows object-oriented FreeHand graphics to be shown in the web browser window. According to Macromedia, Shockwave for FreeHand allows you to:
  Design graphics up to 30% smaller than bitmap formats, allowing
quicker downloads.
Repurpose vector illustrations and designs from FreeHand, Adobe
Illustrator or CorelDRAW!, and integrate them into Web pages. The
illustrations do not need to be converted to static bitmaps.
Let web page visitors zoom in up to 25,600 percent on Shockwave for
FreeHand graphics, without distortion.
Display technical designs, schematics, maps and other graphics, where
it is important to show a lot of information and zoom in for details.
Incorporate interactive hot links of any shape or size into any design.
You can download Shockwave for FreeHand at: http://www.macromedia.com/Tools/FHShockwave/. 
  
Adobe has delivered the promised 1.0.2 PageMill updater,
which corrects a serious problem introduced with the 1.0.1
update released in early March.
The update also adds new features and bug fixes. Features include:
  PageMill now supports the secure 'shttp' and 'snews' protocols.
  Unshaded horizontal rules can now be created within PageMill.
  Text-only and PICT clipping files can now be created by PageMill.
Bug fixes include:
  A number of memory leaks that could cause crashing problems when working
with large files, or when working with many smaller files, have been fixed.
Incompatibilities with some non-Power Macintosh accelerator cards, and the
Macintosh SE/30, II, IIx, IIfx, and IIcx computers have beenresolved. On these
machines, the attributes inspector now works correctly.
Resource conflicts have been reduced, improving compatibility with a number
of extensions and applications.
Opening image map graphics that have default URLs assigned to them now work
correctly in all cases.
It is now possible to save JPEG graphics and image maps applied to JPEG graphics
on machines with more than 32MB of RAM.
Images on pages are checked against the file's modification date when the page is
opened and updated as needed. This allows a file to be updated “behind PageMill's
back” successfully.
PICT graphics created in Macromedia's FreeHand 5.x illustration software can now
be imported onto PageMill pages.
When there is a space immediately after a graphic, it now displays properly after
the file has been saved and reopened.
Pathnames entered via the attributes inspector can now be longer than 255
characters.
Converting long passages of styled text via the clipboard is now more reliable.
If you are importing more than a few printed pages of text into PageMill, it is
recommended that you allocate more RAM to PageMill.
Icelandic characters are now mapped correctly.
The update has also prompted a rewrite of the Guide file, which is a separate document available with the update. The are now also some technical notes available as Adobe FAXYI documents. The faxes are listed on the web at http://www.adobe.com/ Support/FaxYI.html. 
The 1.0.2 update should be available from Adobe's CompuServe and AOL forums and the Adobe BBS. The Adobe FTP site is at: ftp://ftp.adobe.com/pub/adobe/Applications/ PageMill/. 
  
Astrobyte has announced BeyondPress 2.0, a major upgrade to
its HTML conversion XTension for QuarkXPress. Version 2.0 adds
support for the latest HTML features, plus advanced image controls
and automated conversion using Apple Events scripts.
According to Astrobyte, the Enhanced Conversion Process of BeyondPress 2.0 adds a host of enhancements to the capabilities of the original. Users can now add background colors and tiles, colored links and styled text. The new XTension also handles client-side and server-side image maps and conversion of tabular data into HTML tables.
Image conversion has undergone a complete overhaul in version 2.0. Users can now crop and scale their images in the Image Settings dialog box, specify image attributes—such as border width and alternative text—and choose a custom color palette for the converted image.
The XTension is also going to be extensible itself. BeyondPress 2.0 provides an API that other XTension developers can use to generate their own HTML, or to add features to BeyondPress. Astrobyte is licensing the BeyondPress Developer Kit (BDK) freely to qualified XTension developers, for in-house and commercial development.
BeyondPress 2.0 is available direct from Astrobyte and from distributors in North America, Europe, Australia and South Africa. Single-user copies cost $595 worldwide. Site licenses are also available.
Registered users can upgrade from version 1.0 for $59 US through May 31, 1996. Registered users who purchased BeyondPress 1.0 after February 1, 1996, will receive a free upgrade to version 2.0. For more information, send email to Info@astrobyte.com, or visit the web site at http://www.astrobyte.com. 
 
Applets offering real-time, person-to-person file transfer and collaboration over the Internet for Macintosh users are available.
Farallon Computing Inc. said the final Macintosh version of Look@Me will be available April 30. The beta version was to be released March 14. No dates have yet been set for the availability of FlashNote.
Similar to the “observe” function in Timbuktu Pro, Look@Me allows one Internet user to view the screen of another, but only with permission. Only the person whose screen is being viewed will have mouse control. Timbuktu Pro allows two-way control.
FlashNote, like the “send” function in Timbuktu Pro, enables Internet users to send files and short messages to each other without going through email servers and email gateways.
NetManage will distribute the Look@Me applet bundled in NetManage's Chameleon product family. NetManage will provide the Look@Me applet to its installed base of 4.5 million Chameleon users in an upcoming release of Chameleon, and will make it available for free download from the NetManage web site at http://www.netmanage.com. 
Farallon is working with developers to seamlessly integrate Look@Me and FlashNote as plug-ins to Internet applications such as Netscape Navigator 2.0 and the NetManage WebSurfer web browsers.
Internet users can download the free standalone applets and plug-ins from Farallon at: http://www.farallon.com. 
  
Maxum Development—makers of the essential Web server CGIs
NetCloak and NetForms—is now shipping its graphics accelerator
for the World Wide Web. RushHour 1.0 is a special web server
that serves up images (not HTML). It can reside on the same Mac
as a WebSTAR server or for peak efficiency should be on its own Mac.
According to Maxum, the idea is simple: a Web site probably spends most of its time serving graphics. On any given Web page, the HTML file probably accounts for 1 “hit” and 1 to 5K of data. The graphics on that page, by comparison, may result in several “hits” and can easily add tens or even hundreds of kilobytes served. Maxum developed RushHour specifically to serve
graphics as efficiently as possible
Here's how RushHour speeds up graphics service:
  High-Performance Cache
At start-up time, the entire directory tree is read into RAM for
serving. RushHour never needs to access the disk to serve a file!
Open Transport Native
RushHour runs on MacTCP, but is also written to be Open Transport
native. By including OT native operation, RushHour maximizes the
performance of Apple's latest networking technology.
No Unnecessary Logging
RushHour does support a logging feature, but by default, no logging is
performed. In most cases, knowing that the page was accessed is sufficient,
and there is no need to log image accesses.
Eliminating Redundant Security
Every time your Web server receives a request from a browser, the URL
requested is checked to see if it should be password protected. Again,
for images, this is completely unnecessary. The page may need to be
protected, but the images themselves can skip this check.
A demo version of RushHour is available for download at Maxum's web page at: http://www.maxum.com. 
  
Quarterdeck has announced their intentions for future
versions of WebSTAR, the leading Mac Web server product.
Webmasters can expect at least three new versions over the
next six months.
 
Version 1.2.5 (which will also ship with Apple's new Internet
Server Solutions—see the MacSense March story “New Internet Servers from Apple”), will work natively with OpenTransport and, as a result, offer significant performance increases over previous versions as well as support for more simultaneous connections.
Running under Open Transport, WebSTAR 1.2.5 will offer:
  Up to a 40% performance improvement, even without making any other
changes to server configuration.
  Up to 450 simultaneous connections (when running under MacTCP, WebSTAR
is limited to 50 connections, due to MacTCP's maximum of 64
connections.)
 
Expected “soon” after the 1.2.5 update, WebSTAR 1.3 will support the WebSTAR Server API (WSAPI). In other words: Plug-ins! Quarterdeck claims WebSTAR plug-ins are a significant advance over the traditional CGI interface. WebSTAR developers such as Apple, Maxum, and Everyware are already writing plug-ins for WebSTAR and many of the new features in future versions of the server are expected to be implemented as plug-ins.
The current CGI interface is somewhat slow and limits the size of data exchanged to about 60K. WebSTAR 1.3 plug-ins written in C run as part of WebSTAR, as subroutines built into the server. They share memory with WebSTAR and have access to WebSTAR internal data structures. This makes plug-ins both faster and more powerful than CGI's. Plug-ins can establish their own TCP/IP connections with other clients and servers. Plug-ins can also get idle events, so they can perform actions (such as checking for and downloading an up-to-date price or membership list somewhere else on the Net) at periodic intervals.
Like WebSTAR 1.2.5, version 1.3 will also be free of charge to current WebSTAR owners.
 
WebSTAR version 2.0 will be a major upgrade and the first paid upgrade in the product's history. It will offer:
  Better performance.
New features via plug-ins.
Much improved, easier-to-us administration tools.
More flexible security.
WebSTAR is at URL: http://www.starnine.com. 
  
Virtus Corp. has announced the release of Virtus 3D Website
Builder, a $99 cross-platform product for creating drag-and-
drop 3D VRML (virtual reality modelling language) worlds on
the Internet.
At a street price that should appeal to both novice and professional alike, 3D Website Builder helps create 3D environments for the Web that can be navigated in real time,
Virtus 3D Website Builder features:
  Intuitive drag-and-drop graphical user interface—makes creating and
editing 3D Web sites, fast, easy and fun;
Support for VRML standard—including shading, in-line objects, textures,
levels of detail and WWW anchor;
Multi-platform CD—a single CD contains separate optimized versions for Windows
95, Windows 3.1, Macintosh, and Power Macintosh. The program file formats are
also compatible across Mac and PC platforms;
Free Virtus Voyager, VRML browser—the worlds first cross-platform VRML
browser;
Free Virtus Galleries—includes six professional 3D clipart galleries (a $240
value) with over 500 pre-built objects. Also includes 3D Web templates with
HTML links, images and more;
The Oracle PowerBrowser—one of the worlds most powerful HTML browsers;
Graphic converter—graphics program to convert BMP and PICT to GIF and JPEG.
You can get more information about 3D Website Builder and a copy of the Virtus web browser from the company's web site at: http://www.virtus.com. 
