LOS ANGELES, CA – July 6, 1992 – Mercury Systems today announced MacIntercomm, a full-featured multitasking telecommunications program that lets Macintosh computer users transfer files completely in the background even during the most intensive tasks. The product will ship in August, 1992.
MacIntercomm combines ease of use with power and flexibility never before thought possible on the Macintosh. Its most exciting feature: true multitasking. File transfers will no longer fail simply because the user is involved in a complex task in the foreground application. MacIntercomm has the power to intelligently distribute processing power between applications. This insures that it always gets just enough time to keep file transfers running at their fastest possible speed yet enables it to remain virtually invisible to other programs. The result: no noticeable slowdown by either program.
Existing programs in the communications market claim to run in the background, but if the foreground application is processor-intensive (such as a spreadsheet, compression program, database, or even a game), the file transfer will grind to a halt and usually fail. Not so with MacIntercomm.
In addition, Mercury Systems says that in tests of high-speed connections, their protocols offer faster file transfer speeds over a comparable connection than other programs.
The scripting language in MacIntercomm is fully compiled like a real programming language, and has numerous features that make it easy to automate the most complex tasks. The scripting language is powerful enough to write a complete communications interface such as a bulletin board that includes electronic mail and file transfers. A built-in script editor handles debugging, and many example scripts are included.
An “Auto Dial” window keeps track of all the systems the user calls. The user can specify which systems to dial, and MacIntercomm will automatically redial each system in order until a connection is made. It will remember this list between restarts, so that the user can be sure to call important systems. A “Smart Dial” feature adjusts phone numbers automatically based upon area code, an indispensable feature for Macintosh PowerBook users. The combination of the Auto Dial and Smart Dial features results in one of the most advanced dialing systems ever.
MacIntercomm supports a wide range of popular terminal emulations including VT-52, VT-102, VT-220, PC-ANSI, and TTY; moreover, it is one of the only programs to support full 16-color emulation. A complete suite of file transfer protocols includes Xmodem, Ymodem, Ymodem-g, Zmodem with on-the-fly compression, and an advanced version of Kermit with extended packets up to 9K. It also supports a full set of macros for each service, and a scrollback buffer that can extend up to 20 MB by the user’s specification using disk space instead of memory.
MacIntercomm runs on any Macintosh computer with at least 1 MB of RAM. System 6.0.4 or higher. System 7.0-savvy. For modem communications, a modem with cable is required. Supports any modem and all Macintosh Communications Toolbox connections. Suggested retail price is $199.
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MacIntercomm is a trademark of Mercury Systems, Inc.
