A Photoshop 3.0.5 freeze on some configurations during application launch is fixed.
  On volumes larger than 2GB, an error when launching an application is fixed.
  Global Village internal modem software on a PowerBook 500 with PowerPC
Upgrade card no longer reports the PowerBook 500 is "not a member of the
PowerBook family" when loading.
  Insignia SoftWindows 2.0 now launches when more RAM than physically installed
is allocated to the application on a PCI Power Mac running 7.5.3.
  Symantec ACT 2.5 now quits successfully on all configurations.
  Dayna Pocket SCSI/Link compatibility is implemented.
  A Retrospect 3.0 freeze when restoring locally on PCI Power Macintosh
configurations is fixed.
Additionally, Retrospect 3.0 users should use System 7.5.3 and upgrade to version 3.0A. An updater is available at http://www.dantz.com. 
— Alex Narvey
  
Claris has released a free update to FileMaker Pro 3.0 to bring
it up to the latest version 3.0v3. A whole variety of problems have
been corrected (too numerous to list here) and the following features
have been implemented:
  ClarisWorks 4.0 databases can now be imported directly into FileMaker Pro.
  A preference to hide the Windows 95 status bar has been added.
  The following new ScriptMaker steps have been added: Open Preferences- open the
Preferences dialog box Correct Word- correct a word flagged by spell-as-you-
type Spelling Options- set spelling options Select Dictionaries- change the spell
checking dictionaries Edit User Dictionary- modify the User Dictionary Delete
Portal Row- delete the current portal row instead of the current master record.
The FileMaker Pro 3.0v3 update has already been spotted at the Claris sites on AOL and CompuServe and should be on the internet by the time you read this at: ftp://ftp.claris.com/pub/USA-Macintosh/Updaters/. 
— Alex Narvey
  
Symantec must hear the pitter patter of Adobe's feet catching
up with Type Manager Deluxe 4.0, because they have released
a suite of updaters for its font management utility, Suitcase 3.0.
The updaters—one each for the 68K, PPC, and FAT binary versions
of Suitcase 3.0—include a series of bug fixes and customer-driven feature improvements.
For example, there are now Edit Menu items and corresponding key commands to cut, copy, and paste fonts and suitcases from one Suitcase Set to another. There are now also a File Menu item and a corresponding key command to add and remove items from the Startup Set.
Most importantly, Suitcase now supports the soon-to-be-released Suitcase Software Developer’s Kit (SDK), an API which allows applications and other third-party software to call Suitcase directly in order to open and close fonts quickly. One example available now is Font Fetch, a Quark XTension that works with Suitcase 3.0 to open missing fonts within QuarkXPress. The Suitcase SDK will soon be available at Symantec’s web page at www.symantec.com as well as the Symantec areas on America Online and CompuServe.
(For more on Font Fetch, please see our companion story, "Font Fetch" and "Suitcase to Quark's rescue".)
The Suitcase 3.0.1 updaters are available from Symantec's CompuServe and AOL forums and at the Symantec FTP site (requires an FTP client like Fetch or Anarchie), at: ftp://ftp.symantec.com/public/mac/suitcase/  
— Alex Narvey
  
Symantec's Suitcase 3.0.1 (see our companion story "Suitcase
gets fixes, features"), now supports the Suitcase Software
Developer's Kit, and even though this SDK hasn't been
released there is already a super Quark XTension that
takes advantage of it.
NRG Software of Milwaukee has shipped a QuarkXPress XTension called Font Fetch which, when used in conjunction with Symantec's Suitecase, helps prevent one of the most annoying and time wasting occurences for power Quark users.
QuarkXPress users will no longer have to write down cryptic names of fonts that are missing in documents and then go into Suitcase to find and open them because Font Fetch opens any missing fonts that are accessible from sets in Symantec Corp.'s new Suitcase 3.0.
Priced at $99.95 US, Font Fetch is available world-wide through XChange, Inc. Call 800-788 7557 in the US and Canada or (+1) 415 864 7592 (fax 415 864 7594) elsewhere.
A demo of Font Fetch is available at the company's web site at: http://www.nrgsoft.com/ff/Font_Fetch_Demo.sit.hqx  
NRG plans on extending Font Fetch's capabilities to other applications in the near future.
— Alex Narvey
  
In the face of relentless competition, Alsoft is advertising an
update to its font management utility MasterJuggler.
MasterJuggler Pro 2.0 promises speed and convenience with
a new drag and drop interface. It also benefits in reputation for
having worked solidly with Apple's PCI Macs from their inception—a feat which competitor Symantec's Suitcase could not match.
MasterJuggler Pro 2.0 will also checks fonts for corruption, checks for missing printer fonts, and performs automatic font renumbering when necessary to avoid conflicts. Another new feature, "Font Gathering" will collect all screen and printer fonts necessary for sending a job to a service bureau.
Alsoft's phone number is (800) 257-6381 or (713) 353-4090.
— Alex Narvey
  
Fonts Manager 3.1 is a very nifty font management tool from
shareware author Ed Hopkins. Functionally similar to the
System 7.5.x Extensions Manager, it is NOT a control panel.
It acts more like a Desk Accessory allowing the enabling and
disabling of font suitcases and printer fonts in 'Sets'.
Fonts Manager 3.1 supports Balloon help and a Topical Help system. According to the author, unlike its commercial competition (Suitcase and Master Juggler) "it works on ALL Macs with System 7.1 or later, including 7.5.3, without modifying the NORMAL startup and operation of your computer".
Version 3.1 allows only 10 Sets per copy (much faster). BOTH suitcases and printer fonts are managed, and the folder layout inside System Folder is improved.
Fonts Manager 3.1 is available online at: ftp://sumex-aim.stanford.edu/infomac/font/util/,  ftp://mirror.apple.com/mirrors/info-mac/font/util/  
and also on AOL (Computing/Software Libraries/Desktop Publishing).
— Alex Narvey
  
Look out this fall for Adobe to really assert itself in the world
of font management.
Fresh from the acquisition of Ares software Adobe has plans to
move into the font management sphere with a new version of
its Type Manager extension.
According to MacWEEK, ATM Deluxe 4.0 (and a new Adobe Type Reunion Deluxe 2.0) will debut this fall and allow users to manage not only PostScript but also TrueType fonts in sets and suitcases similar to existing font management software.
ATM will find itself competing with Symantec's Suitcase 3.0 , Alsoft's MasterJuggler Pro 2.0, and the new shareware font management utility, Fonts Manager 3.0—see our companion stories: "MasterJuggler Pro 2.0 faces competition", and "Fonts Manager 3.0 a solid alternative".
— Alex Narvey
  
An old favorite in the DTP-oriented shareware pile has
returned to the fray invigorated. SmartKeys 3.0 will
help keep you typographically correct with the best of 'em.
SmartKeys 3.0 is a shareware control panel designed to help
you type. It does this in four ways. First, SmartKeys automatically corrects typing that violates conventional typesetting rules, such as typing more than one consecutive space. Second, SmartKeys automatically corrects fast typing errors, words that are often misspelled, such as “teh” for "the" and "THe" for "The". Third, in the event of a system crash, SmartKeys can keep a log of what was typed. Fourth, it also applies curly quotes and typesetting ligatures intelligently as you type.
You can try out SmartKeys for thirty days for free. (The control panel is not crippled in any way but after the thirty day free trial period, SmartKeys will begin posting registration reminders). If you like it, the shareware fee is $15 US.
SmartKeys was written by Maurice Volaski of Flux Software. The Flux Software web site is at: http://www.fluxsoft.com/  
— Alex Narvey
 
Monday, June 24, 1996. Motorola's LIBMOTO is a highly optimized memory, string and math library for the Power Macintosh. LIBMOTO replaces several commonly used functions provided by the standard C library. The company claims that many customers see tremendous performance gains for some operations when using this library. (It does not replace the Apple library but rather works in tandem with it).
And it’s free!
The developer version of LIBMOTO (called LibMoto) is a static library and it is fastest. The end user version (called LibMotoSh) is a shared library and does not support all the functions of LIBMOTO.
You can pick up a copy of LIBMOTO from Motorola's web site at: http://www.mot.com/SPS/PowerPC/library/fact_sheet/libmoto.html
