San Francisco - When the Newton MessagePad makes its debut at Symphony Hall in Boston next Monday, a chorus of third-party developers will be on hand to sing the praises of their Newton applications.
Although Apple apparently will not sell MessagePads on the Macworld Expo show floor, expo goers may be able to purchase the devices from Computer Town Corp. The Salem, N.H.-based reseller reportedly will have 1,000 Newtons for sale at its booth.
Users will not, however, be able to purchase third-party Newton applications initially; most are slated for shipment later this year.
Companies expected to showcase Newton applications include:
> Great Plains Software of Fargo, N.D. Great Plains reportedly plans a Newton application called Personal Time & Billing. Aimed at professionals who need to charge clients for their hours, such as lawyers and accountants, the application will be integrated with MessagePad's built-in calendar and names application, so users have to enter data only once, sources said. It will let users instantly analyze their time and billing data. Future links to the Great Plains Dynamics accounting applications will allow data to be integrated into companywide accounting systems.
Sources said Great Plains is also working on Financial Analyst, an application to help users manage their money. It will feature forms for users to enter data and perform calculations for mortgages, stocks and bonds, amortizations, and lease-vs.-buying decisions.
Pricing, ship date and distribution reportedly have not been set.
> State of the Art Inc. of Irvine, Calif. The company plans a business-expense tracking program, code-named Polaris, to be integrated with the MessagePad's built-in calendar. Built-in "intelligence" based on Internal Revenue Service guidelines will warn travelers about expenses that aren't deductible.
The program will link with State of the Art's accounting systems for Mac and Windows, as well as with Claris FileMaker Pro, Microsoft Excel and Shana Corp.'s InFormed. It will ship this year; pricing has not been set.
> Saltire Software Inc. of Beaverton, Ore. Developer of a Windows-based, high-end mechanical engineering program, Saltire will demonstrate DrawPad for Newton, a paint and draw application for business graphics.
DrawPad users can write in numerical values to generate pie or bar charts, which they can then embellish with various annotation features, such as lines, shading and text.
The application lets users zoom in or out to any level of detail; drawings remain active at all levels. The powerful zoom function essentially gives users "an infinite piece of paper" to work on, Saltire President Glenn Smith said.
DrawPad lets users group, drag, scale and stretch items. It features automatic numeric analysis of sketches, such as calculating the area and perimeter of a rectangle once the user specifies the sides' lengths.
Apple will publish DrawPad, which is expected to ship in the fourth quarter for about $100.
> Dubl-Click Software Inc. of Woodland Hills, Calif. GoFigure, a collection of more than a dozen calculators, will be Dubl-Click's Newton entry, sources said.
Reportedly to ship in the third quarter for about $100, GoFigure will offer general calculator features, such as math, scientific, statistics, date and time calculations; functions for specific professions, such as architecture, film editing, finance and typesetting; and "personal" calculations, such as grade-point averages, calorie intake, kitchen measures, tips and sales tax.
The program supports 100 memory registers; a scrolling "paper tape"; and 15 display modes, such as floating or fixed decimal, scientific notation, or Roman numerals.
Dubl-Click's Mac products include the Calculator Construction Set.
> CTM Development of Geneva, Switzerland. CTM will roll out VoiceAccess, a $149, Mac-based voice-mail product that comes with a free Newton application for use on the road. VoiceAccess offers personalized answering services, Caller ID support, remote retrieval of messages and remote AppleScript triggering.
Mac users running VoiceAccess will receive their voice mail in a desktop folder, or in the PowerTalk universal mailbox if their machines have AOCE (Apple Open Collaboration Environment) installed.
On the road, users can access voice mail via a touch-tone phone and can use the Newton application to set up functions such as forwarding calls. The Newton software will work with the device's built-in speaker, an external Newton modem or a compatible PCMCIA modem, CTM said. VoiceAccess is expected to ship in September.
> Pastel Development Corp. of New York. Sources said Pastel will offer ContactPad for Newton, a contact manager that links appointments, to-do lists and forms to each contact.
Pastel reportedly will offer a link between ContactPad and DayMaker, its Mac personal information manager. ContactPad is expected to ship later this year; pricing has not been set.
> Portfolio Systems Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. The company reportedly will announce Dyno Notepad, an outline application for the Newton that will also soon be available for Mac and Windows.
> Chancery Software Ltd. of Burnaby, British Columbia. Chancery plans a handheld version of CSL Profiles, its Mac program that lets teachers generate "anecdotal report cards" about students. Profiles in Hand, the companion Newton product, will let teachers use the MessagePad to fill in detailed progress reports about students "in the sand box, playground, gym and classroom," Chancery said. Teachers can then transfer the information to CSL Profiles on the Mac. Profiles in Hand is due in early 1994; pricing has not been determined.
Chancery also plans Newton programs for teachers to record grades, health reports, discipline and attendance,.
> ON Technology Inc. of Cambridge, Mass. ON reportedly plans a link between Newton MessagePad and Meeting Maker, its Mac-based groupware scheduling program.
MacWEEK 07.26.93
News Page 1
(c) Copyright 1993 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
News: New At Ease for Workgroups
By Raines Cohen
Cupertino, Calif. - Apple next month will ship two new versions of At Ease, aiming to make the easy-to-use launching utility as appealing to business as it's proven in the home and school markets.
At Ease provides an alternative desktop with enlarged icons for a set of applications and documents.
At Ease 2.0 and At Ease 2.0 for Workgroups offer beefed-up security, remote network administration and user-interface improvements.
> At Ease 2.0 will let administrators customize desktops for multiple users of the same Mac. More than half of all Macs have several users, according to Apple.
The upgrade adds password-protected user accounts with individual settings and views. For instance, an account for temporary employees might allow them to open only selected documents and applications and save files only in a particular folder. A regular employee using the same machine might be allowed to work with a broader set of applications and folders.
At Ease 2.0 can speak the names of items the user selects with Apple's new text-to-speech technology or play digitized sounds associated with the items. Administrators have the capability to configure user accounts to lock out access to the Apple menu, control panels and the Chooser, as well as to prevent users from deleting and renaming files and creating new folders.
> At Ease 2.0 for Workgroups includes all the features of the single-Mac version but adds several requested by businesses: secure passwords, password management, activity logging, remote administration and driver-level hard disk security.
Administrators can run At Ease Setup from any Mac on the network to configure or update all Macs. A set of files can be associated with a group, such as a class or department, and can be made available to all users in that group.
At Ease managers can lock the start-up volume, adding driver-level security (which cannot be circumvented by starting up from a floppy disk) to Apple hard drives and third-party disks formatted with Casa Blanca Works Inc.'s Drive7.
Users can be prevented from changing passwords or required to change passwords at their first log-on or after a certain number of days; passwords can be required to be a certain length or to be difficult to guess.
Administrators can monitor user activity, viewing a log of which applications are being used, how often and how long. Logs can document security risks, such as repeated entry of incorrect passwords or late-night log-ons.
The release of the workgroup version will bring Apple into competition with several third-party products, including MacSecure from Learning Performance Corp. of Minneapolis and Menu Master Mac from Electronic Learning Systems Inc. of Gainesville, Fla.
The $59 individual version, licensed for a single CPU, supports as many as 10 users. Upgrades are $24.95. Version 2.0 will ship with Mac Performas by fall; it will no longer be bundled with the System 7.1 Personal Upgrade Kit.
At Ease 2.0 for Workgroups costs $295 for a 10-computer pack; volume pricing will be available. It supports as many as 1,000 named users and 200 preset configurations.
MacWEEK 07.26.93
News Page 1
(c) Copyright 1993 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
News: AV Macs will be bundled with 'exampleware'
By Andrew Gore
Cupertino, Calif. - The new AV Macs Apple is expected to deliver next week will span the price spectrum from just more than $2,000 to more than $6,000, sources said. The systems will reportedly come bundled with a selection of Apple and third-party software designed to show off their new capabilities.
The Quadra 840AV, the more powerful of the two new models, will come in a Quadra 800-style case and incorporate a 40-MHz 68040 processor. Suggested retail prices will start at $4,069 for a unit including 8 Mbytes of RAM and a 230-Mbyte hard drive, sources said. The-top-of-the-line 840AV, priced at $6,249, will reportedly come with a whopping 16 Mbytes of RAM, a 1-Gbyte hard drive and an internal, dual-speed AppleCD 300i CD-ROM drive.
In between, the 840AV lineup will include an 8/230 configuration with the CD-ROM drive for $4,399, a 16/500 configuration for $5,119 and the same configuration with a CD-ROM drive for $5,449.
The more moderately priced member of the AV family, the Centris 660AV, will come in a Centris 610 case and include a 25-MHz 68040. Prices will start at $2,139 for an 8/80 configuration, sources said. Systems with 8 Mbytes of RAM and a 230-Mbyte hard drive will list for $2,489 without CD and $2,799 with the CD drive. An 8/500 configuration with CD-ROM drive will retail for $3,449; the same unit without CD-ROM will run $3,139.
Both models will come with two Apple programs that take advantage of the AV Macs' AT&T Co. 32-bit digital signal processor. ApplePhone, a basic telephony package, will put a virtual speakerphone and answering machine on the Mac desktop. Apple PlainTalk combines text-to-speech capabilities with Casper, the company's speaker-independent voice-recognition technology, which will enable users to control the machine by voice commands.
The two models will be the first mainstream Macs to come bundled with a significant selection of third-party applications.
The list, sources said, include ExperVision Inc.'s ExperFAX, a program that can translate fax to digital text; Video Fusion Ltd.'s FusionRecorder, which can capture digital video to QuickTime format and can record sound at 16-bit resolution; and The Electronic Studio's ES.F2F, an AppleTalk-based videoconferencing program.
The software bundling is for a limited time, sources said. Apple may change the mix of software later on or may discontinue it altogether.
Apple declined to comment.
MacWEEK 07.26.93
News Page 1
(c) Copyright 1993 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
News: Apple's woes send stock low
By Lisa Picarille and Jon Swartz
Cupertino, Calif. - After staggering through one of the roughest weeks in its 17-year history, Apple now faces a myriad of challenges, according to industry observers.
On Wall Street the company's shares plunged by 26 percent in the five trading days following its July 15 financial report, which detailed a third-quarter loss of $188.3 million (see MacWEEK, July 19). The stock closed last Thursday at $26.50 per share, up slightly from its $25.87 low for the week, but financial analysts said it could still go lower.
"There's a camp that says the stock will hit book value ($17.50)," said John Rossi, an analyst at Robertson Stephen & Co. of San Francisco. "But I expect it to hold in the mid-20s."
Since January Apple's total market value has plummeted from $7.5 billion to about $2.9 billion. Apple executives are reportedly worried that the company's sagging stock price could make it vulnerable to a takeover attempt.
"AT&T is a possibility; they went after NCR. The other possibility is Sony," said Rossi, who said he believes any takeover would have to be friendly. "In a takeover, Apple would be likely to get $36 to $42 per share. That translates to $4 billion to $5 billion, which is not expensive at all."
Doug Kass, a principal with the ViewPoint Group of Santa Cruz, Calif., downplayed the takeover talk. "I don't know who would want them," he said. "Why would anyone want to take over a company that has 12 percent market share?"
To get back on financial track, Apple has instituted a major restructuring aimed at reducing quarterly operating expenses from about $600 million per quarter to about $500 million, Apple Chief Financial Officer Joseph Graziano told analysts last week. For its third quarter, which ended June 25, Apple's operating expenses amounted to 31.8 percent, more than double the industry average.
Apple's inventories swelled during the quarter to $1.2 billion, up from $535.8 million, as it moved to overcome earlier shortages just as demand was leveling off. To get rid of products now accumulating in its warehouses, analysts said, the company will probably be forced to cut its prices for the fourth time in four months.
Price cuts would further erode Apple's gross margins, which dropped from 44 percent a year ago to 32.5 percent last quarter and are expected to drop to 27.5 percent during the next quarter, said John Girton, an analyst at Van Kasper & Co. of San Francisco. Apple management is reportedly willing to permit a further decline - even down to the industry average of 20 to 25 percent - to protect and extend its market share.
But Kimball Brown of InfoCorp of Santa Clara, Calif., said another round of price cuts is likely to hurt profits, and write-offs won't kick in until late 1993. He said that he expects a loss for Apple's next quarter and that the company probably won't register a profit until its December quarter.
Kass said there is little Apple can do now except raise demand for its machines and "hold on for dear life until PowerPC shows up."
Sources said Apple may be looking at licensing its propriety operating system as a way of generating higher margins.
"There has always been a significant lack of perspective at Apple about software," said Jeffrey Tarter, editor of Soft*letter of Watertown, Mass. "Software is a good-margin business, but only if it sells in large amounts."
While Apple mulls its choices, more bad news came in last week:
> A San Diego law firm filed five class-action suits in U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif., charging Apple Chairman John Sculley, CEO Michael H. Spindler and four other top executives with providing false and misleading information about the company's stock.
> Apple's QuickTime team - Peter Hoddie, Sean Callahan, Mark Kruguer and Bruce Leak - defected to Rocket Science Games Inc., a Palo Alto, Calif.-based start-up.
MacWEEK 07.26.93
News Page 1
(c) Copyright 1993 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
News: Claris adds to its graphics palette
Impact, Draw apps due on Mac, Windows
By Lisa Picarille and Kirsten L. Parkinson
Santa Clara, Calif. - Claris Corp. is readying two new programs that share a common graphics engine: a business-graphics package for the Mac and Windows and a renamed cross-platform incarnation of its venerable MacDraw application.
ClarisImpact will combine the functions of spreadsheet, charting, drawing and presentation programs. It will share 70 percent of its code with ClarisDraw, a midrange drawing package. Both will have similar interfaces, along with a set of common tools. The Mac and Windows releases of the same application will have about 80 percent common code.
> ClarisImpact is divided into three tightly integrated work areas: Drawing, Reports and Presentations. A file created in one area can be edited in the others. Each work space offers Models, icons that allow users to quickly create elements appropriate to that work space.
The Drawing component offers icons that users select to automatically generate charts, tables, outlines, calendars and timelines, as well as a number of tools for modifying these elements. Users can drag and drop graphics from predefined or custom image libraries.
A full-featured word processor lets users wrap text around graphics, create multiple columns and manipulate fonts, styles and text. Users can import files from MacWrite Pro, Microsoft Word, WordPerfect and other formats.
Users can create slide presentations with a variety of backgrounds and special effects, which can be applied globally. The program offers automatic slide builds, transition effects and support for QuickTime movies.
The Mac version of ClarisImpact is due in October, while the Windows release won't ship until spring 1994. Both will list for $399.
"Impact doesn't really add any new capabilities, but [its] functions are simple and very straightforward," said one analyst, who saw an alpha version.
Some analysts think the program will face stiff competition. "Claris thinks [Impact] is an eye opener," said Peter Rogers, an analyst at Robertson Stephens & Co., a San Francisco investment-banking company. "It better be, because the business-graphics marketplace faces an uncertain future."
Rogers said ClarisImpact will have to overcome hurdles such as the improved graphics capabilities of spreadsheets, word processors and databases, along with a trend by major vendors to include graphics packages in bundles and product suites.
> ClarisDraw is designed to shore up Claris' position in the Mac graphics arena and give it a slice of the lucrative but crowded Windows drawing market. In addition to vector drawing tools familiar to MacDraw users, ClarisDraw will provide a suite of 24-bit-color painting tools, including spray can, pencil and brush, as well as image-editing options such as distort, tint and brightness.
Improved text-handling features will let users bind text to an object and edit text without ungrouping it from connected graphic elements. The program will support linked text boxes and automatic text wrapping around objects.
A new Shapes palette will let users draw complex shapes. ClarisDraw will ship with a library of more than 3,000 images that users can drag and drop into any document.
ClarisDraw for the Mac is due in the first quarter of 1994 with the Windows product to follow by midyear. Both will list for $399.
MacDraw Pro users will be able to upgrade to either ClarisDraw or ClarisImpact for $99. MacDraw II or ClarisWorks users can purchase ClarisDraw or ClarisImpact for $149. Users of Claris Hollywood, which is no longer sold by the company, can upgrade to ClarisImpact for $99. Claris also plans a $149 sidegrade for users of competing applications.
Claris is at 5201 Patrick Henry Drive, P.O. Box 58168, Santa Clara, Calif. 95052-8168. Phone (408) 727-8227 or (800) 544-8554.
MacWEEK 07.26.93
News Page 1
(c) Copyright 1993 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
News: System updater will install a slew of fixes
By Robert Hess
Cupertino, Calif. - A new version of Apple's Macintosh Hardware System Update is expected to be released this week.
Version 2.0, containing System 7.1 patches, new extensions, and bug fixes to existing extensions and utilities, is designed to improve performance on several Mac models.
The new version includes all components of Version 1.0 (see MacWEEK, Feb. 8) and also addresses:
> Video problems. The update corrects problems experienced by Centris and Quadra owners when using the Apple Basic Color monitor and the Apple 16" Color Display. The System Enabler for PowerBooks 160, 165c and 180 has been updated to support 12-inch monitors.
> Disk problems. Disk First Aid has been upgraded to fix more disk problems. Apple's HD SC Setup is now more flexible in its capability to format 1- to 2-Gbyte hard disks. In preparation for future hardware constraints, a new extension adds support for formatting of 720-Kbyte MFM (Modified Frequency Modulation) disks.
> Performance. The update improves performance of several add-ons, including the Duo Express Modem, the Color Classic mouse, and StyleWriter I and GrayShare software. The Color Classic can now support the Apple IIe Card and software.
Sound Manager 3.0, which improves sound performance on most Macs, is installed by the update on most Macs. An extension that supports the Apple Adjustable Keyboard is installed on all Macs.
The new update reportedly offers additional improvements in memory management beyond those of Version 1.0. It also fixes problems that caused crashes when manipulating very large graphic items in high-end graphics and multimedia programs.
The functionality of two third-party patches has reportedly been rolled into the update, fixing one bug that resulted in inappropriate accessing of Enablers and another that caused excessive memory to be used by the system to maintain the contents of the Fonts folder.
Users of Connectix Corp.'s CPU, Fifth Generation Systems Inc.'s Suitcase and Adobe Type Manager 3.0 will find compatibilities with some applications improved by the update.
The update will be available free via AppleLink, CompuServe and America Online, or for a $10 charge by calling (800) 769-2775, Ext. 6717.
MacWEEK 07.26.93
News Page 3
(c) Copyright 1993 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
News: Apple ships multifunction PowerCD
By Neil McManus
Cupertino, Calif. - Apple's Personal Interactive Electronics Division last week spun out a device that plays CD-ROM, Photo CD and audio compact discs.
PowerCD, priced at $499, comes with a SCSI interface and cable to connect it to the Mac as a CD-ROM drive. It offers an average access time of 550 milliseconds and can read up to 175 Kbytes per second off the disc. It supports cross-platform ISO/High Sierra and CD Digital Audio formats.
The 3.1-pound device also connects to TV sets via an included RCA audio-video cable. PowerCD can play single- or multisession Photo CD discs on a Mac or television (see MacWEEK, April 5). It also connects to stereo systems or headphones to play music CDs.
Push-button controls on the PowerCD include Play, Stop, Pause, Next and Previous. Controls work with both Photo CD and audio discs. PowerCD also ships with a battery-powered remote that lets users control other Photo CD and audio CD functions, such as Choose Track, FPS (Favorite Picture Sequence), FTS (Favorite Track Sequence), Pan, Zoom and Rotate.
The PowerCD is available through resellers, consumer stores and the Apple Catalog.
MacWEEK 07.26.93
News Page 3
(c) Copyright 1993 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
News: Autodesk delivers AutoCAD 12 for Mac
By April Streeter
Sausalito, Calif. - Autodesk Inc. last week shipped the Mac version of AutoCAD Release 12, which boasts improved performance, a new rendering module and support for retrieval of data from SQL databases.
The new version will cost $3,750, a $250 increase over Release 11. The update is about 20 percent speedier across the board, with certain extensions, such as the AutoLISP development environment, working up to 300 percent faster, the company said.
The update lags a year behind the DOS version of Release 12; Autodesk said it waited for Apple's new Shared Library Manager and Threads routines, which allow the program to communicate more efficiently with its different extensions. On-screen redraw is faster because of a new display driver, the company said.
Release 12 features include:
> Modeling and visualization. An upgrade to the program's Advanced Modeling Extension lets users model solid 3-D objects, while the visualization extension allows 3-D shading and rendering.
> Database delivery. Release 12 can import data into AutoCAD directly from Claris Corp.'s FileMaker Pro, as well as from SQL databases such as Oracle Corp.'s Oracle7.
> Preferences. According to Autodesk, most of the program's dialog boxes have been adjusted to improve compliance with Mac interface standards. Users can select text- or icon-based menus.
Copying and pasting of graphics has been improved so that objects pasted to the Clipboard or Scrapbook do not lose any special attributes, such as color information.
Release 12 now lets a connected digitizing tablet trigger many program functions. The upgrade also lets users save drawings in PICT format, which Release 11 did not.
Upgrades from Release 11 are $500. Upgrades from Release 10, the first Mac version, are $700.
Autodesk Inc. is at 2320 Marinship Way, Sausalito, Calif. 94965. Phone (415) 332-2344; fax (415) 331-8093.
MacWEEK 07.26.93
News Page 6
(c) Copyright 1993 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
News: RapidTrak 2.0 adds CD speed-up
By Henry Norr
Mountain View, Calif. - A new version of RapidTrak, Insignia Solutions Inc.'s disk formatter and caching driver, is due next week, along with a new CD-ROM acceleration utility called RapidCD.
RapidTrak provides a control panel where users can allocate a portion of RAM as a cache to speed up retrieval of data previously read from disk. The $129 program offers a choice among several caching algorithms optimized for different types of applications, as well as write-queuing and math-acceleration options.
With Version 2.0, which will debut at Macworld Expo in Boston, users will no longer need to reformat their disks to take full advantage of the RapidTrak driver and caches.
In addition, the new release has no upper limit on the amount of memory that can be allocated for caching; RapidTrak 1.0 had a limit of 4 Mbytes per disk. With the ceiling eliminated, the write-queuing option will enable users with RAM to spare to capture video even if using a relatively slow storage device.
RapidCD will be bundled with RapidTrak 2.0 and also marketed separately at $69.95. A control panel, it makes CD-ROMs more responsive by caching data in RAM and directory information to the user's hard disk. The program offers a choice among four caching schemes: one for general use, and others tuned specifically to accelerate Finder operations, QuickTime movies and database access.
RapidCD works with all popular CD-ROM drives, including Apple's, Insignia said. It includes software for audio-CD playback.
Insignia Solutions Inc. is at 1300 Charleston Road, Mountain View, Calif. 94043. Phone (415) 694-7600; fax (415) 964-5434.
MacWEEK 07.26.93
News Page 12
(c) Copyright 1993 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
Gateways: Aladdin's SITcomm eases file activity
By Nathalie Welch
Watsonville, Calif. - Aladdin Systems Inc. next month will unveil a communications program designed to meet user demand for easier log-ons to on-line services and automated file-handling features.
SITcomm, due in the fourth quarter for $120, will automate such routine file transferring chores as logging on, expanding and compressing files, and checking for viruses. The program, which will be shown at Macworld Expo in Boston, will offer foreign-file-format translations and support for scripting.
A tool bar will give users access to the program's main features, such as Send and Receive buttons, and an Address Book. Tools accessed via the File menu include built-in viewers to let users see text and PICT files without running the applications.
To automate log-ons, an Address Book lets users create settings files for each service, which appear by name in a pull-down menu. Up to 200 setting files can be stored. Log-on dialogs are included for services such as CompuServe, GEnie, MCI Mail, Dow Jones and The Well.
SITcomm will support Apple events, enabling users to automate operations via UserLand Frontier and AppleScript. In addition to scripting tasks, users can also employ AppleScript's record feature or take advantage of Frontier MenuSharing to incorporate a menu containing prewritten scripts directly into the SITcomm menu bar.
Aladdin's StuffIt compression engine will be included. SITcomm users will be able to automatically compress files and folders before sending them, in addition to automatically expanding received files that were compressed using StuffIt; BinHex; or Compact Pro, a shareware program. SITcomm can also translate foreign file types, including IBM PC and compatible-based ZIP and ARC, in addition to Unix-based tar, compress and uucode.
The communications program can also be used in conjunction with virus checkers, such as Symantec Corp.'s Symantec AntiVirus for Macintosh, Datawatch Corp.'s Virex 4.0 or later and Rival (formerly published by Microseeds Publishing Inc.), to automatically check incoming files.
SITcomm is based on the Macintosh Communications Toolbox and supports TTY, VT52 and VT102 terminal emulations, as well as Xmodem, Ymodem, Ymodem-G, Zmodem and Kermit file transfer protocols. Users can add new Comm Toolbox tools, such as support for an ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) card, by simply placing a file in the System folder.
Aladdin Systems Inc. is at 165 Westridge Drive, Watsonville, Calif. 95076. Phone (408) 761-6200; fax (408) 761-6206.
MacWEEK 07.26.93
Gateways Page 20
(c) Copyright 1993 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
Gateways: Apple ships 2 Workgroup Servers
AppleShare 4.0 gets speed boost
By April Streeter
Cupertino, Calif. - Apple's new Business Systems Division last week rolled out its first two offerings, the Apple Workgroup Server 60 and 80.
Both new servers incorporate AppleShare 4.0, a new version of Apple's server software. The AWS 60 with AppleShare 4.0 can get twice the throughput of AppleShare 3.0.2 running on a Quadra 950, according to the company, while the AWS 80 with Version 4.0 offers three times the performance of the 3.0.2 setup.
The basic configuration of the AWS 60 will cost $2,949, while an AWS 80 will be available for $5,489, both with AppleShare 4.0 preinstalled. Version 4.0, which runs on 68040 Macs, can also be purchased separately for $1,899.
The new servers represent the midrange of Apple's now-completed server line. In May, the company shipped the first Workgroup Server, the Unix-based AWS 95, with an A/UX version of the server software called AppleShare Pro. At the low end, Apple will continue to sell AppleShare 3.0.2 for $1,199 and will support its users.
The AWS 60, based on a Cen-tris 610, will support as many as 20 active users and 150 users logged on. The AWS 80, with a Quadra 800 base, comfortably accommodates 30 simultaneous active users and the same maximum number of log-ons, Apple said. On AWS 80 models that have a digital audio tape drive, Dantz Development Corp.'s Retrospect Remote backup software is included.
"We do a super-high volume of advertising layout, and AppleShare 3.0.1 wasn't cutting the mustard," said AppleShare 4.0 beta-tester Don Allen, network administrator at Oshman's Super Sports Inc. of Houston. Allen said he had found AppleShare 3.0 was not only slow but also buggy.
"I was at my wits' end and even considering a NetWare server, but all in all that was a $30,000 commitment," he said. "With 4.0, users are satisfied with the speed increase, and instead of spending my time troubleshooting, I can research and develop strategies for our future network."
Apple is offering buyers of the AWS 60 and 80 the same toll-free 24-hour phone support it offers AWS 95 and Pro users (see MacWEEK, July 12).
Upgrades from AppleShare 2.x or 3.x are $699.
MacWEEK 07.26.93
Gateways Page 20
(c) Copyright 1993 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
GA: Illustrator 5.0 plugs into filters
By Neil McManus
Mountain View, Calif. - Adobe Systems Inc. is blurring the line between Photoshop and Illustrator by adding plug-in filters to its PostScript drawing program.
Adobe Illustrator 5.0, due to ship this week for $595, provides artists with a variety of new features, including filters, layers, custom views and the capability to edit in preview mode.
Illustrator's new plug-in filters help users create, select and manipulate objects. The Create filters automatically draw shapes such as polygons, stars, spirals and crop marks.
Pathfinder filters select overlapping areas of objects to make new shapes and effects. For example, one filter creates a new object where two objects intersect. Other Pathfinder filters include Unite, Divide, Exclude, Subtract and Crop.
Stylize filters perform effects such as distorting a path to look like it was drawn with a calligraphic pen. Color filters blend and adjust the hue and saturation of colors.
Steve Lyons, a free-lance artist in Fairfax, Calif., said he prefers Illustrator's new Pathfinder filters over the fancy effects filters. "The Pathfinders are very utilitarian, but they save you from a lot of little steps that can drive you crazy," he said. "Now you can just select two overlapping objects and choose Unite to connect them."
Illustrator 5.0 comes with a new floating palette that lets users create, name and select drawing layers. Objects can be copied and moved between layers, and selected layers can be previewed while others are left in artwork mode. The new version also lets users edit in preview mode.
To ease navigation, users can set and choose custom views of a document. Views include the zoom, level and layer settings.
Additional new features include multiple levels of undo and redo; custom page sizes of up to 110 by 110 inches; multiple color blends automatically tuned to prevent banding; a Paint Style palette that holds frequently used colors, patterns and gradients; a new floating Character palette; and support for pressure-sensitive drawing tablets.
Upgrades are available in a disk set or in a CD-ROM package. The CD-ROM kit includes Adobe Separator, Type On Call, sample clip art and QuickTime movies showing how to use Illustrator's new features.
Disk upgrades are free to users who purchased Illustrator 3.2 after March 1; these users can buy the CD-ROM upgrade for $99. Other registered users can upgrade to the disk version of Illustrator 5.0 for $149 through Oct. 31 and for $199 thereafter. The CD-ROM upgrade costs $199 through Oct. 31 and $249 thereafter.
Adobe Systems Inc. is at 1585 Charleston Road, P.O. Box 7900, Mountain View, Calif. 94039-7900. Phone (415) 961-4400 or (800) 344-3385; fax (415) 961-3769.
MacWEEK 07.26.93
GA Page 26
(c) Copyright 1993 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
GA: IntelliDraw to add templates and warping
By Kirsten L. Parkinson
San Diego - Aldus Corp.'s Consumer Division next month will unveil IntelliDraw 2.0, an upgrade that will offer built-in object templates and polymorphing features.
New features of Version 2.0, due to ship in September, include:
> Drag-and-drop templates. The upgrade will ship with built-in templates of previously used objects, such as frames, borders, tables and cartoon-speech balloons. Users will be able to create new templates and drag and drop objects from one document to another.
> Polymorphs. A Polymorph feature takes two or more shapes and creates an animated blend between them that users can play back with a slider bar. Users will be able to blend colors, shapes, sizes and positions of objects. For example, a landscape scene could include the sun rising and setting, as well as color changes in the sky to reflect the time of day. Final polymorphs can be saved as QuickTime movies.
> Warping and perspective. Users can create a perspective effect for any object to give it a 3-D look. The new Warping feature lets users bend and twist an object. For example, the Warping effect applied to a rectangular flag could make the flag look as though it were waving.
> Text improvements. IntelliDraw 2.0 lets users bind text directly to any shape. The upgrade also adds hyphenation and a spelling checker.
> Import and export enhancements. Version 2.0 supports importing and exporting of Illustrator, MacDraw II, DXF (Drawing Interchange File) and CGM (Computer Graphics Metafile) formats. Users can also export TIFF files at specified resolutions.
Other new features include user-definable pattern fills and interactive area calculation, as well as faster redraw and dragging.
IntelliDraw 2.0 will list for $199, a $100 drop from the previous version. Upgrade pricing has not been set.
Aldus Corp.'s Consumer Division is at 5120 Shoreham Place, San Diego, Calif. 92122-5926. Phone (619) 558-6000; fax (619) 558-8723.
MacWEEK 07.26.93
GA Page 26
(c) Copyright 1993 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
BusinessWatch: DRAM prices skyrocket
Global chip crisis to continue till '94
By Jon Swartz
San Francisco - Spot-market RAM prices nearly doubled this month as torrid PC sales continued to put a strain on supplies and a fire destroyed the Japanese factory that makes most of the material used to encase chips.
Mac memory modules were hardest hit; at Fry's Electronics in Sunnyvale, Calif., a 4-Mbyte module rose to $219 last week, an increase of $95.
Newer Technology President James Wiebe said the Wichita, Kan.-based memory supplier has raised its SIMM prices four times in the past 10 days. "We're talking at least a 40 percent markup on DRAM prices," he said.
Meanwhile, analysts said dynamic-RAM prices will continue to rise if memory supplies remain scarce. They predicted shortages of 1-, 4- and 8-Mbyte DRAM and SIMM modules through the end of the year.
"I don't see an end to this for at least three more months. It's the worst crisis since 1984," said Sherry Garber, vice president of product services at In-Stat Inc., a research company in Scottsdale, Ariz. "We expect a record 45 million PCs to ship this year worldwide. That creates incredible demand for memory."
Vendors and users said the worldwide spot-market memory shortage caught them unexpectedly.
Newer's Wiebe said memory prices are up "across the board," particularly those for PowerBook SIMM modules.
A user in Houston said 10-Mbyte memory modules for the PowerBook 160, which cost about $500 in early July, now fetch $700 to $800 - if dealers can find them.
A user in Finland said DRAM prices shot up 40 percent in Europe last week.
MacWEEK 07.26.93
BusinessWatch Page 32
(c) Copyright 1993 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
BusinessWatch: Kaleida butts heads with parents
By Lisa Picarille
Mountain View, Calif. - As the offspring of high-profile parents, Kaleida Labs Inc. benefits from the clout of Apple and IBM Corp., but it also suffers from high expectations.
The recent executive shakeup at Kaleida that resulted in the resignation of CEO Nat Goldhaber has prompted further speculation about the company's relationship with IBM and Apple (see MacWEEK, July 19).
Goldhaber, now Kaleida co-chairman, reportedly butted heads with Gaston Bastiaens, who heads Apple's Personal Interactive Electronics Division. Bastiaens was angered by a deal Kaleida struck with Motorola Inc. and Scientific Atlanta Inc. last month to develop hardware and software for interactive multimedia services via cable television (see MacWEEK, June 14). PIE had been pursuing a similar deal, sources said, and Bastiaens went directly to Apple CEO Michael H. Spindler to complain about Kaleida's competitive tactics, sources said.
A Kaleida spokeswoman declined to comment on the incident, saying only that "crossover" is expected between Kaleida and its parent companies.
"From what I've seen, there is significant overlap in the kinds of products Kaleida and PIE are doing," said Pieter Hartsook, editor of the Hartsook Report in Alameda, Calif. "Historically, having competing projects is not an unusual situation at Apple. Hopefully, in the reorganization the duplication of effort will be minimized."
Goldhaber said a major reason he relinquished his job as CEO was because IBM and Apple were unwilling to let him take Kaleida public. He said the issue became the primary negotiating point when his one-year contract was up for renewal this month.
However, sources said the debate over whether to take Kaleida public was merely a smoke screen that enabled Goldhaber to leave the company without being forced to resign.
Just weeks prior to Goldhaber's resignation, Lawrie Lieberman, Kaleida vice president of business development, left the company, citing a strained relationship with Goldhaber, according to sources.
Sources said another reason for Goldhaber's departure was the perceived delay in delivery of the company's flagship technology, ScriptX. The cross-platform, interactive, multimedia scripting language is due in early 1994.
But Hartsook said he doesn't think the product is late and, in fact, was "quite impressed with the extent of the demos of ScriptX at Digital World 93" last month.
MacWEEK 07.26.93
BusinessWatch Page 32
(c) Copyright 1993 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
Special Report: Multimedia makes move in business
Companies are no longer saying, "What is it?" but rather, "Let's do it."
This year just might be the one when multimedia - presentations that combine several types of media - finally makes its presence felt in corporate America, judging from the results of MacWEEK's most recent reader survey. Seventy-one percent of the sites we contacted qualified for our interviews.
MacWEEK's Multimedia QuickPoll zeroed in on that 71 percent, or 200 sites, that use Macs for some kinds of computer-generated presentations: slides, animations, videos, interactive training programs and information kiosks.
The survey uncovered not only a wealth of current multimedia business activity, but also a strong trend toward increased development in the future. For example, the percentage of sites using Macs for interactive presentations is expected to rise from 41 percent to 63 percent within 12 months. Similar growth rates are expected for Mac-based presentations using video (27 percent now, rising to 52 percent), animations (30 percent to 52 percent) and digital sound (21 percent to 43 percent).
Slides and transparencies
While slides and transparencies have been around for quite a while and may not immediately spring to mind as "multimedia," they are, in fact, often a jumping-off place to more complex presentations. Today slide-presentation software can indeed incorporate other data types (see MacWEEK, July 12).
This survey revealed that a majority of sites create slides for business presentations. Nine of 10 sites surveyed use Macs to produce 35mm slides or overhead transparencies, but more produce transparencies (86 percent) than slides (53 percent). Among the sites creating 35mm slides, 76 percent send them to a service bureau for development, while 17 percent go to film with in-house production. A minority (7 percent) use both service bureaus and in-house equipment.
Animations
Nearly one-third of the surveyed sites (30 percent) use Macintoshes to produce computer animations, and on average they have been doing so for two years. They use a wide variety of software for production, with dedicated animation software the most common choice (66 percent). A nearly equal number (59 percent) use painting or drawing applications to create animations, and just about half (52 percent) incorporate clip art. About 44 percent take advantage of 3-D modeling software.
PICT is by far the most common graphic format, in use at 66 per-cent of the animation-using sites surveyed, followed closely by TIFF (56 percent). Forty-three percent use QuickTime with their animations, and almost half (46 percent) output their animations to video.
According to the survey, animation is expected to increase in popularity in the coming year, with 31 percent of current nonanimating sites planning to start using Macs to create animations during that time.
Video
Slightly more than one-quarter (27 percent) of the QuickPoll sites currently use Macs for video production, and they have been doing so for 20 months, on average. The majority of these sites use Macs for video capture (85 percent) or for video editing (60 percent).
Additionally, the Mac is used at sites for storyboarding (49 percent), titling (47 percent) and video machine control (42 percent).
QuickTime is popular among video makers, with 64 percent of the sites employing it to create their Mac-based videos.
Although a wide variety of video playback formats are in use, VHS is by far the most common (89 percent), followed distantly by Super VHS at 27 percent.
In another year, surveyed sites expect to significantly increase their use of video: 34 percent of those who do not now use Macs for video plan to add video capabilities within the next 12 months.
Sound
One in five (21 percent) of the sites surveyed use Macintoshes for digital sound production. These users have an average of more than two years of experience (25 months) with this audio capability.
Among the variety of formats in use at these sites, MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is most common (42 percent), followed by SoundEdit (37 percent) and AIFF (Audio Interchange File Format) at 23 percent.
The majority of sites play back their Macintosh-digitized sound with hard disk-based digital audio (63 percent). Forty-two percent use standard cassettes, while one in three (33 percent) uses digital audio tape.
As with the visual capabilities already mentioned, digital sound is poised for an increase in popularity at the sites surveyed. Among the sites that do not now use Macs for digital sound production, 27 percent plan to begin doing so within 12 months.
Interactive presentations
Interactive presentations are widely used by the QuickPoll sites, with 41 percent currently taking advantage of them. These sites report, on average, that Macs have been used for interactive presentations for nearly two years.
The large majority of sites use the Mac as a presentation platform (85 percent), while half use it as an authoring tool (50 percent). Forty-five percent of the sites use the Mac exclusively as a presentation platform.
Most sites (66 percent) apply their interactive capabilities toward testing or training programs, while 44 percent provide information kiosks.
The sites use the full range of available media in their interactive presentations. They most commonly incorporate digital sound (56 percent) and animations (55 percent), and almost as many use digital video (51 percent).
Interactive presentations definitely appear to be in next year's business plans, too: 37 percent of the surveyed sites not currently using Macs for interactive presentations plan to add them to their repertoires during the coming year.
Multimedia methodology
This QuickPoll was completed via phone calls to 200 randomly selected MacWEEK recipient business locations, excluding value-added resellers, retailers and consultants. Interviews were conducted June 1-7, 1993, at sites that create computer-generated presentations wholly or partially with Macintosh computers. Respondents were screened to ensure they were personally involved in creating these presentations at their work location. An independent research company, Parallax Marketing Research Inc. of San Francisco, was responsible for all survey details. Procedures followed established market research standards.
MacWEEK 07.26.93
Special Report Page 40
(c) Copyright 1993 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
Special Report: Multimedia in time
"Shock waves reverberated throughout the film industry and the general public when Al Jolson in 'The Jazz Singer' was seen and heard on the screen at the same time. Perhaps 'talkies' were the first example of what's now called multimedia. In its current state, multimedia has been loosely defined by Apple and the Macintosh industry as a fusion of several media to produce a singular creation that's greater than its individual parts. ... It has a cultural past, an evolving present and a visionary future."
Although MacWEEK first said this in January 1989, the same can be said of multimedia today.
Since Apple first started bandying the "m" word around in the late 1980s, multimedia has gone through a few name changes, including interactive media, integrated media and digital media. But the basic concept has stayed pretty much the same: using the Macintosh as a platform to develop and deliver applications and presentations that combine a variety of data types, including text, graphics, scanned photographs, sound, CD audio, animations and live video.
From HyperCard to QuickTime, from black and white to 24-bit color, Apple has continued to promote the concept with tools and technology.
Commercial publishers have been able to create successful proofs of concept. In the beginning, there was ABC News InterActive's The '88 Vote, an interactive HyperCard-based presentation that pulls live video off a laser disc to take you through the 1988 presidential campaigns and election. More recently, we saw 1992's From Alice to Ocean, an interactive CD-ROM using still photographs, QuickTime movies and Photo CD technology to tell the story of a woman's trek across the Australian outback.
But even more importantly, average Mac users are creating multimedia presentations for corporate, education and government settings. These may not always have the dazzle that professional multimedia producers can conjure up, but their goal is the same: to educate, inform and entertain audiences.
What follows is a brief time line: images from selected presentations that over the past several years either broke some technical ground, captured some imaginations or simply gave us a new way of looking at things. - By Connie Guglielmo and Anita Malnig
The '88 Vote kicks off interactive politics
ABC News InterActive
Making the jump from television to computer screen seem effortless, ABC News InterActive embraced the Macintosh in 1988-'89 with an interactive videodisc presentation fronted by HyperCard. The '88 Vote, which provides sound clips, video and commentary on the 1988 presidential election, was the first in a line of interactive presentations designed to educate using current events.
Media on its mind: The "m" company
MacroMind Inc.
"MacroMind had a hard time in 1987 convincing Apple that [these kinds of] interactive presentations could really be done," said Stuart Sharpe, a graphic designer who developed many VideoWorks and Director presentations (including the 1988 one shown here). Telling anyone in (and sometimes out of) earshot that multimedia was hip and happening, MacroMind (now Macromedia Inc.) founder Marc Canter pursued his vision with equal doses of determination and pizzazz.
Video fused with digital art leads Mac IIcx intro
Apple
The March 7, 1989, product introduction was the one at which Jean-Louis Gassee built a Mac IIcx on stage. And Apple opened that show with a fast-paced black-and-white video of enthused Mac users - from graphic designers to biology professors - on which was superimposed captured Mac screens of those users' work, including anatomical drawings and keyboard annotations. Apple was clearly on a mission to prove multimedia was the wave of the future.
Beethoven resounds digitally
The Voyager Company
In 1991, Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 CD Companion of the CD Companion Series from The Voyager Company introduced a compelling combination of historic music and cutting-edge technology. The grandeur of the master's work was innovatively brought to life in this CD that played the music, taught you about the music (for instance, graphically indicating a subtle key change), and let you discover on your own Beethoven's life and times. The black-and-white, HyperCard-based performance evoked spontaneous applause at trade-show demos, signaling that author Robert Winter did indeed know what multimedia could offer.
Charting Desert Storm
Warner New Media, a Time Warner Inc. company
Using the vast archive of photographs, stories, essays, maps and infographics assembled by Time magazine in its coverage of Operation Desert Storm, Time Warner created an interactive CD-ROM describing the events leading up the war in the Persian Gulf in 1991 and the effects it had on a variety of fronts. More telling, the Desert Storm CD showed how quickly news organizations could assemble digital documentaries of current events.
The Virtual Museum
Apple
By 1992, there were not only more CD-ROM packages in development, but many of them were taking creative - and technological - risks. Apple's Advanced Technology Group created The Virtual Museum to experiment with interactive QuickTime movies, develop a way to move through 3-D space and "prototype an electronic museum of the future." The project was based on the Renaissance concept of Kunsthammer, or knowledge warehouse. And all this in HyperCard!
'Just Grandma and Me' with a new twist
Broderbund Software Inc.
Keeping its focus on children and education, Broderbund Software Inc. has started turning popular children's books into interactive adventures with its series of Living Books. Introduced in early 1992, the CD-ROM version of "Just Grandma and Me" brings author Mercer Mayer's story and colorful characters to life - digital life - complete with voice-over narration, sounds, animations and a few surprises.
An armchair adventurer's guide to the outback
Against All Odds Productions
Combining Eastman Kodak Co.'s Photo CD and Apple's QuickTime technology, 1992's From Alice to Ocean uses color photographs, maps, animations and sound to describe the story of young woman's trek across the Australian outback accompanied only by her dog, several camels and persistent photojournalist Rick Smolan. From Alice to Ocean may start a new trend of repackaging information: It already exists as a book, QuickTime-based CD-ROM and a Photo CD slide show with voice-over.
MacWEEK 07.26.93
Special Report Page 40
(c) Copyright 1993 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
Review: Canto's Cumulus image database shines
Can access files from within XPress, Photoshop, PageMaker
By Philip Bishop
There are about a dozen programs available to catalog and locate image files. One of the latest to join this field is Cumulus, a multi-user media database from Canto Software Inc., a subsidiary of Canto Software GmbH of Berlin. Cumulus is particularly noteworthy because it can be used directly from within QuarkXPress, Adobe Photoshop and Aldus PageMaker.
Another media cataloger, Aldus Corp.'s Fetch, appeared at the beginning of the year (see MacWEEK, Jan. 25). Although it doesn't offer access from within graphic arts programs, Fetch has impressive search capabilities and supports a broad range of file formats, including sound files. Unlike Fetch, which is limited to a single open file, Cumulus allows multiple open catalogs. Canto claims that splitting a catalog into several smaller files results in significant performance gains when working with very large collections of images.
Cumulus claims a big advantage in network performance, and in fact, we did find it to be very fast over a network.
A single-user version of Cumulus is $295; multi-user packs are available.
Single serving
Work in Cumulus begins in the main catalog window. Here you can view cataloged images either in a scrolling text field or as a scrolling window of thumbnails. Either view also gives you information such as the image's name, resolution, color mode, modification date and file type. Cumulus supports a variety of image formats, including PICT, PICT2, TIFF, QuickTime, Photo CD, PICS, Photoshop, Storm JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group), FreeHand and Encapsulated PostScript. Cumulus does not support any sound file formats.
In Cumulus, images can be cataloged individually, by the folder or even as a complete volume. The only requirement for any of these options is that the original image must be present on the desktop on a mountable volume (such as a hard disk, CD-ROM, removable cartridge or other media).
Canto said cataloged images average 5 Kbytes per thumbnail, although some can be as large as 30 Kbytes. Thus, a database of 5,000 cataloged images could require more than 25 Mbytes of hard disk space. However, a catalog we built of about 3,800 images was only 5.7 Mbytes, or 1.5 Kbytes per image. This database, in which most of the images were relatively small line-art files, took about four hours to build.
Cumulus requires System 7, which may be a problem for many sites. It uses QuickTime to compress thumbnail images. The program also requires a Mac with at least a 68020 processor.
Image info
By double-clicking on either a thumbnail or a text entry of a cataloged image, you call up the Information dialog box. This displays data about where the original is located, its height and width, and when it was cataloged. You can also see which program created the file, although files created in Fractal Design Corp.'s Painter 2.0 and saved in TIFF format were identified only with the program's Creator initials (FSPS) rather than the program's name.
In the Information dialog box you can also check boxes to prevent a record from being deleted or edited; identify who cataloged the item; and add notes, such as caption information, in a scrolling text field. This dialog box also lets you add keywords, which help when searching for a particular type of image. In fact, if you feel so inclined, you can add as many as 16,383 keywords per image. You can set Cumulus to add keywords to each record as it is imported, for example, if you want the volume name to be a keyword. In general, however, we found the interface for adding keywords to be cumbersome.
Image search
Searching for images in Cumulus is easy and very fast. The Find dialog contains pop-up menus from which you choose items that determine the nature of your search. One menu lists a range of classifications, such as keyword, file type, image resolution and even words you have placed in the Notes field; a second menu lists information on each classification. For instance, when you select File Type from the first menu, the second menu lists the file types supported. You can select the type you want from this list.
Search results appear in the catalog window. You can manipulate the found items as you would any other cataloged image. Selecting the Find All command restores the full database to view.
Once you've found a range of records, Cumulus supports conventions such as copy and paste and discontiguous selection of items.
Improving your image
If an image isn't quite the way you want it, selecting Edit Image File from the Record menu launches the creator application (if it's on a mounted volume) and opens a copy of the image. Because the original remains untouched, you'll need to catalog the image when you're finished editing it. With QuickTime movies, Cumulus launches Movie Player, which is supplied with the program.
You can copy image files to any folder of your choice, but users of QuarkXPress, Photoshop and PageMaker have the convenience of accessing Cumulus catalogs from within their image-acquisition menus. An add-on file is provided for each; for example, the Photoshop add-on is an Acquire plug-in. When you select the Cumulus command, Cumulus is launched and brought to the foreground. The database then responds normally. When you select an image, it's immediately placed in your document. We found that this feature adds greatly to the usefulness of Cumulus.
Foggy issues
While Cumulus is fairly easy to use, you wouldn't know it from reading the two manuals that come with the program. They suffer from poor English and, in places, poor organization. Canto said it is working on a new manual.
Although Canto's parent company is based in Berlin, the subsidiary is located in San Francisco. We found technical support easy to contact and helpful. We had occasion to call them, too, because we experienced a number of problems with Cumulus. For example, while running Cumulus from within QuarkXPress, we tried to replace an image in an XPress document by using the Selection tool instead of the Hand tool; this crashed the system. Cumulus also crashed while repairing a damaged database, and it crashed repeatedly when trying to catalog a corrupted file.
Canto pointed to forces outside Cumulus as the culprit in all of these cases. We believe, however, that Cumulus should be better at avoiding these crashes.
Conclusions
In many respects, we prefer Fetch to Cumulus for its single-user features, particularly for smaller databases. Fetch allows a full-size image preview; it can handle significantly more file formats, including sounds; it has more-flexible configuration settings for creating and compressing thumbnails, and it has better custom printing features.
On the other hand, Cumulus works in the background; has a faster, more powerful search engine; and can be used directly from within certain programs. Furthermore, its network performance is impressive. For users looking for a high-speed, multi-user alternative to Fetch, Cumulus is a good value.
Canto Software Inc. is at 800 Duboce Ave., San Francisco, Calif. 94117. Phone (415) 431-6871 or (800) 332-2686; fax (415) 861-6827.
MacWEEK 07.26.93
Reviews Page 49
(c) Copyright 1993 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
Review: TokaMac 68040 card boosts Mac IIfx
Brings performance up to Quadra level
By Bruce Fraser
Third-party 68040-based accelerators are widely available for just about every Macintosh around. The one notable exception has been the Mac IIfx. Fusion Data Systems Inc. has filled that void, however, with the TokaMac IIfx 33 accelerator.
You may question the wisdom of upgrading a IIfx: It's an orphan machine; the SCSI is much slower than the Quadra; and newer, faster Macintoshes are readily available. Since IIfx RAM is basically useless in any other machine, the main reason to upgrade rather than replace is to protect your investment in RAM. The $2,595 TokaMac IIfx 33 does just that - and for those who have taken their IIfx up to 64 Mbytes or beyond, that's a big deal.
The TokaMac is a NuBus board based on a 33-MHz Motorola 68040 chip (a 40-MHz version is in development). It plugs into both the NuBus and processor direct slots. This speeds up all CPU functions without interference from the NuBus bottleneck and also accelerates the NuBus, which makes a dramatic difference in the frame rates attainable with Quick-Time movies.
Your motherboard
But this feature also entails a change that may scare people off: Fusion has to modify your motherboard. Specifically, because of a design bug in the IIfx, the company replaces the PAL chip at location UK7 on the motherboard.
This is how it works: Fusion ships an upgraded motherboard with the TokaMac IIfx 33, for which it charges a deposit. Once you've installed the upgrade, you send your old motherboard back for a refund. Fusion also includes the old PAL chip, in case your motherboard has to be returned to its original condition. This is an unlikely eventuality, however, because the upgraded motherboard works normally, even without the accelerator board installed.
The documentation states that the board swap should be done by a qualified service provider, but if you've installed RAM, hard drives or NuBus cards in a IIfx, you should be able to do it yourself, as long as you follow the instructions and ground yourself frequently by touching the power supply to dissipate any static. Once you've swapped boards, you also have to swap your NuBus cards, internal hard disk, floppy drive and all your RAM. If this sounds too daunting, you can send your IIfx to Fusion and let it do the dirty work.
Once all the hardware is in place, you must install the software before the TokaMac will kick in. The software consists of three control panels - Fusion Access, TokaMac NuBus Manager and TokaMac IIfx - and MultiPatch, a patcher application that takes care of most common causes of software incompatibility. Once you restart, you're running on the 68040.
The TokaMac IIfx control panel lets you turn the TokaMac board on and off without restarting so that in cases of dire incompatibility, you can switch back to the native IIfx processor on the fly. It also lets you turn off the '040 cache without restarting, for applications that are sensitive only to the cache but run on the '040.
The Fusion Access control panel lets you set up lists of applications that either can't run on the '040 at all or can run only with the cache turned off. If you have an application open that's incompatible, the '040 will stay turned off until you quit that application, even if it isn't the foreground application.
The third control panel, TokaMac NuBus Manager, lets you turn NuBus acceleration on and off for each NuBus card. We found that this was important because some already-accelerated NuBus cards (the SuperMac Thunder/24, for instance) go crazy when the TokaMac tries to accelerate them further. Until we used the control panel to set the Thunder card to standard NuBus speed, we experienced all manner of seemingly random crashes. Once we changed the setting, they disappeared.
The remainder of our initial compatibility problems were extension-related; running MultiPatch on these took care of almost all of them. The exceptions were some older desk accessories and third-party Photoshop plug-ins. The initial shakedown period took a couple of days - no worse, in our experience, than upgrading to a new CPU.
Performance
Since installation, the TokaMac has provided three months of relatively trouble-free operation, despite our running a system loaded with unstable betas and two rows of extensions on a 19-inch monitor. Subjectively, it feels at least as stable as the unmodified IIfx ever did, and we haven't found any reproducible incompatibilities that MultiPatch couldn't zap.
It's also noticeably faster, both subjectively and objectively. One of the first things we had to do was slow down our mouse tracking because the little rodent skittered off across the screen at the slightest touch. When we ran our benchmark comparisons, the results were somewhat surprising at first glance: The objective speed gains seemed somewhat less than we'd expected.
But on closer examination, it seems that SCSI speed and screen redraw become more obvious bottlenecks with the faster processor. On the CPU-intensive tests - recalculating the Microsoft Excel 4.0 spreadsheet, applying the Kai's Power Tools Sharpen Intensity filter in Adobe Photoshop 2.5 and auto-flowing an 88-page document in Aldus PageMaker 4.2 - the speed gains were large and immediately evident.
Benchmarks tell only part of the story, however. One becomes accustomed to certain tasks taking a long time - particularly those that draw heavily on the CPU. With the TokaMac, such tasks are completed much more quickly, sometimes almost twice as fast. As a result, we found the rhythm of our work changing.
The TokaMac won't turn your IIfx into a Quadra (unless you add an accelerated SCSI card, in which case you will get Quadra performance for all intents and purposes), but it will give you a very noticeable speed increase across the board. The benchmarks may show only 10 percent here and 15 percent there, but the cumulative effect where it counts - at the human-machine interface - is greater than that.
Documentation and support
Documentation for the TokaMac IIfx 33 includes good installation instructions and is fine, overall. We found Fusion's technical support to be excellent. The phone was always answered by a human being, and in 99 percent of cases, the person who answered the phone had a solution to the problem. When technical-support people didn't immediately have an answer, they called back within 48 hours, sometimes even purchasing relatively obscure software packages as part of their research.
Conclusions
With its hefty price tag, the question is whether the TokaMac IIfx 33 will pay for itself over the time you hold on to your IIfx. If you spend a lot of time waiting for your machine to complete CPU-intensive tasks, the answer is almost certainly yes.
Likewise, if you plan to retire the IIfx to serve as a dedicated CPSI (Configurable PostScript Software Interpreter) platform, or if you want to use it as a networked rendering engine, the TokaMac may be a good investment. On the other hand, if you need more RAM and faster mass storage, you're probably better off upgrading to a faster Mac.
But for owners of maxed-out IIfx machines who want to wait for next year's PowerPC before buying a new Mac, the TokaMac IIfx 33 is well worth a look. If the 40-MHz version arrives reasonably soon, it would be even more worthy of attention.
Fusion Data Systems Inc. is at 8920 Business Park Drive, Suite 350, Austin, Texas 78759. Phone (512) 338-5326 or (800) 285-8313; fax (512) 338-1276.
MacWEEK 07.26.93
Reviews Page 49
(c) Copyright 1993 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
ProductWatch: Batten down the Mac: Security's key
Securing your Mac and its data is vital, but how much security do you need?
By Bob Weibel
Many companies that once relied on mainframes and minicomputers for the majority of their computing work now use desktop computers, which do not afford the same level of security. Minis and mainframes are often locked away in guarded rooms, accessible only through remote, password-controlled terminals. Desktop users, however, have the entire computer - CPU, hard drives and communications ports - at their disposal.
"Neither the Macintosh nor its operating system was designed with security in mind," said Terry Kunysz, vice president of sales and marketing for Casady & Greene Inc., vendor of A.M.E. (Access Managed Environment) security software. Kunysz said that although Casady & Greene and other vendors suggested that Apple put software hooks in System 7 that would make it possible to tightly secure a Mac, Apple could not comply. All this comes at a time when the Mac is expanding into corporate markets with Data Access Language and Data Access Manager, giving the Macintosh access to more information than ever before.
Apple has lessened some of the Mac's built-in security risks, however. According to Steven Erde, director of the office of academic computing at Cornell University Medical School New York, Apple plugged a major security risk in AppleShare by letting system administrators disallow automatic log-ons in Version 3.0. "That's important, because with automatic log-on it's too easy for people to walk into your office at night, turn on your Mac and have access to very sensitive material on the server," Erde said.
There are several powerful Mac security products, but none can provide C2-level security dictated by the U.S. Department of Defense's Mitre Orange Book, which is required by many branches of the U.S. government to secure classified information. The Orange Book specifications are in the process of being replaced, however, by the Federal Criteria For Information Technology Security specification, which will better address desktop computers. Until this time, many companies must rely on old-fashioned techniques to secure vital information.
"Things that have national-security implications are kept in vaults," said Dan Clark, director of computer support for the spacecraft engineering department of the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. "Only nonclassified material is kept on the Macs," he said.
Every level of security you add to your computer operation takes its toll on the convenience the Mac was initially designed to provide. Entering sets of passwords to access your hard drive or open particular files or folders makes it hard to navigate your Mac - like living in a house with locks on every door and cabinet.
But many users can get by with less than top-level security. Several Mac products provide varying degrees of data security. Choosing among them depends on the nature of the data you need to secure, weighed against the inconvenience of overly stringent security measures.
Security as a feature
Most hard drive formatting utilities include security features that can put a lock on the front door of your Mac by preventing anyone from accessing its hard drives without entering a valid password. Hard Disk ToolKit 1.10 from FWB Inc. of San Francisco and Silverlining 5.5 from La Cie Ltd. of Beaverton, Ore., come free with those vendors' hard drives and are also available separately for $199.95 and $149, respectively.
Norton Utilities for Macintosh ($149) from Symantec Corp. of Cupertino, Calif.; Drive7 ($79.95) from Casa Blanca Works Inc. of Greenbrae, Calif.; Power Utilities ($129) from ALSoft Inc. of Spring, Texas; and DiskMaker ($89) from Golden Triangle Computers Inc. of San Diego also provide similar security features in addition to their other bundled utilities.
Along with disk access control, Norton Utilities, Power Utilities and Hard Disk ToolKit provide file encryption, which scrambles and password protects the data on your disk.
QuickLock from Kent*Marsh Ltd. provides simple screen locking. Kent*Marsh's NightWatch II provides screen locking, as well as disk locking for drive partitions, with multiple- and master-password control.
Finder overlays
Some extensions replace the Finder at start-up with an alternate interface. In addition to simplifying the Mac interface, these products provide low-level security by allowing administrators to customize which files are displayed.
Apple's At Ease System 7 extension, which ships with Macintosh Performas and is available separately for $59, restricts access to the Mac and adds simplified menus and buttons customizable for the home, education or business environments (see MacWEEK, Feb. 5). At Ease can write-protect the Mac's hard drive, forcing users to save files to floppies or servers.
Al Morasch, director of instructional technology and media at the Shoreline School District in Seattle, prefers MacSecure (formerly EasyShare) from Learning Performance Corp., a more elaborate Finder overlay aimed primarily at the education market. He installed it at 15 elementary and secondary schools.
With the philosophy that higher technology should be part of daily life for all teachers and students, the district leaves Mac management in teachers' hands instead of hiring dedicated microcomputer specialists. "We've sought out every way to make things as easy as possible, including MacSecure," he said.
According to Morasch, problems don't usually stem from tampering but mainly from students who inadvertently trash files or hide folders. "MacSecure has saved us hours of grief in classrooms and labs by keeping kids off the desktop," he said.
Kouros Esfahany, system administrator and senior programmer at Columbia Medical Center in New York, said: "We have a lot of medical students with very little knowledge of computers and of computing in general. They come to use our medical databases, and we don't want them to get lost."
Esfahany installed Menu Master Mac from Electronic Learning Systems Inc. on the center's 300-Mac network to provide a uniform "front end" across the entire system. Its hierarchical menus make accessing software easy for students.
Although Esfahany had originally installed stiffer disk- and file-locking software, such as FileGuard from ASD Software Inc. and FolderBolt from Kent*Marsh, he gradually generated more-sophisticated menus in Menu Master Mac, which serve the same purpose by selectively blocking user access to the hard disk.
Although MacSecure also allows users to remotely update menus on networked Macs, Esfahany said Menu Master Mac performs automatic updates more reliably because it maintains a single, centrally located menu file; you don't have to restart each Mac to see an updated menu. For further control, MacSecure also lets you limit how long a Mac can be used in one day and how often a user can print to a networked printer.
File locking
If several people use the same machine and you have sensitive information stored there, locking individual folders and files can sometimes provide enough security. Folder Locker from Software Brewing Co. lets you password protect folders, into which anyone can place files but from which only authorized people can delete or copy files.
Kathy Montana, computer facility supervisor for Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Mass., uses Folder Locker in the college's 116-Mac computer lab. "In the main lab we're mainly concerned with System folder tampering," Montana said. "For our needs, FolderLocker works."
In a smaller lab at Boston College, Montana prefers FolderBolt, which allows her to completely lock a folder, designate a group of folders, lock the System 7 Trash and lock out name changes to Chooser devices. FolderBolt also maintains a log of who has accessed folders. "We don't have to worry about anything in that lab," Montana said.
Aside from tampering, Montana is concerned with files accumulating on the smaller lab's Macs. "All the folders are write-protected, so leftover files end up on the desktop, where we can easily delete them."
Montana said FolderBolt requires more-careful setup. "If you want to add software to the hard drive, you have to update FolderBolt with information about new applications and folders, so in that way it's not very convenient," she said.
Government-level security
Hughes Aircraft Co. of Fullerton, Calif., chose Casady & Greene's A.M.E. for a Defense Department project because it said A.M.E. had the strongest features, said Project Manager Ki Schofield, including Data Encryption Standard (DES) file encryption; secure file deletion; plus file, folder and disk access control. "We felt that although A.M.E. wasn't the friendliest program in the world, we had to sacrifice user friendliness for the extra security features it provided," Schofield said. He said Casady & Greene was very open to suggestions for adding more security features to A.M.E., and it incorporated many of them into Version 2.1, such as compatibility with both System 7 and dynamic password cards.
Kim Rhoten, Hughes Aircraft contractor security design officer, said A.M.E. 2.1's system for registering software makes it virtually impossible to run anything but computer code that they had approved to run on Macs protected by A.M.E., including debuggers and viruses. That, plus the file-access and encryption features helped them meet the Defense Department mandate for computer-access control. A.M.E. can also lock out specified control panels, printer and serial ports, and the programmer's switch. For additional access control, A.M.E. also works with SafeWord Multisync Card dynamic-password cards from Inigma Logic Inc.
Chuck Hornish, owner of Korrelations, a computer consulting company in Fountain Valley, Calif., installed usrEZ Software Inc.'s ultraSecure at a California State correctional facility. It includes disk-, folder- and file-locking capabilities and can also encrypt folders and files. Like A.M.E., it blocks unauthorized users from renaming files and folders. "ultraSecure protects the facility's Macs without restricting their operation," Hornish said.
He said the facility's staff tended to play around with the Macs, creating a support nightmare of trashed System folders and hidden Finder and control panel files. "Now we've got everybody restricted to a couple of folders where they can only get to aliases, rather than the actual application files," Hornish said. "The applications are protected, so users can't damage them."
Diane Furiga, graphic arts technology analyst for American Greeting Corp. of Cleveland, is installing ultraSecure on many of the company's high-powered Macs to prevent industrial espionage. Furiga is impressed that, in addition to blocking access to floppy and hard drives, ultraSecure can prevent users from accessing additional hard drives linked to the SCSI chain.
Mark Biallas, manager of computer security for McDonald's Corp. of Oak Brook, Ill., was alerted to the need for a Macintosh security package after the staff complained of rearranged desktops and other signs of tampering. "We needed folder locking, as well as ID and password access for multiple users on each Mac," he said. "Empower II from Magna seemed to fit the bill, and we've gotten excellent support from them," Biallas said.
Since employees are spread throughout several wings and floors, security maintenance would be tough without Magna's Empower Remote, which lets a system administrator remotely alter user names and security settings for networked Macs secured via Empower I or Empower II.
Empower I provides only drive-access control, not file and folder locking or file encryption like Empower II does. Empower II also works with dynamic-password cards from Inigma Logic.
Sandy Thom, senior manager of systems security at Northern Telecom in Mississauga, Ontario, prefers Empower I for most of the company's Macs because the machines have only one user.
Clarence Craven, network support specialist at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center at Pennsylvania State College of Medicine in Hershey, searched for a way to secure the Mac IIsi provided in the residents' lounge. "We wanted something that would control access but not make it too much of a hassle for the medical residents to use," Craven said.
Craven chose FileGuard, which provides disk, screen, file and folder locking, although it lacks DES file encryption. He also uses ASD's optional MacAccess security card reader, which reads credit cards and other security ID cards. Cards designed with the college logo and coded serial numbers cost about $2 each to produce, and Craven now assigns residents a card during their residencies. "They just slide the card through the MacAccess reader to gain access to the Mac," Craven said.
The cards automatically enter the resident's password into FileGuard, which grants them access based on what the system administrator has assigned. Craven also uses FileGuard's logging feature to see who has been using the Mac and for how long.
Kent*Marsh's CryptoMactic provides individual file and folder encryption using five levels of security algorithms: its proprietary QuickCrypt and LightningCrypt and standard DES, Double DES and DES CBC (cipher block chaining). It also includes EasyTrash and Incinerate, two file-deletion utilities.
DiskLock 2.12 from Fifth Generation Systems Inc. provides disk, file, folder and screen locking, plus file encryption and an activity log. DiskLock PB for PowerBooks automatically locks the hard disk at shutdown, restart or sleep mode, and it sounds an alarm during illegal access attempts.
MacWEEK 07.26.93
ProductWatch Page 63
(c) Copyright 1993 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
Mac the Knife: All the ROM that's fit to burn
In bleak news for the working class, the Knife has learned that the Midwest flood has cut off toy maker Hasbro's flour connection, virtually shutting down the Play-Doh plant in Rhode Island and putting 80 souls out of work. Sources say that the street price of Play-Doh has already started to rise in reaction to the news, although analysts insist that most distributors have long-term contracts that ensure an adequate supply at a fair price through the end-of-year selling season.
Fortunately, the rising costs of Play-Doh will have only minimal effect on availability of Apple's new Newton MessagePads at next week's Macworld Expo in Boston. This is indeed fortunate, as demand is building and Apple can use all the good news it can get.
It was only last week that Apple announced that the golden master of the Newton ROMs had been sent on its way to Sharp Electronics. And how golden is golden? Well, the Knife hears that some last-minute patches to the code are being loaded in memory at the factory. So if your MessagePad's main batteries and the built-in backup battery run dry, you'll have to take your MessagePad back to the dealer to get the patches reinstalled.
Full capacity
Out here in California we think a lot about Sacramento, where we have state government equal in quality to that of Texas (except that our governor isn't quite as attractive). Sacramento is also the location of Apple's newest on-shore manufacturing facility. We haven't always thought of Sacramento as the capital of high-tech multimedia, but since Apple has chosen to manufacture Cyclones there, the two may soon become synonymous. Here's hoping all the wrinkles that plagued initial production have been ironed out.
But enough good news for Apple. Here's some good news for anyone who will be buying and using Macs in the future. Apple's public admission that future Macs would not include auto-eject floppy drives created quite a stir in some quarters. Now, for reasons best known to Apple, the plans have apparently been reversed; for the forseeable future, all new Macs, except for a possible low-ball Performa model or two, will include auto-eject floppy drives.
Not all developments on the floppy format are as heartening. If you've been waiting on Apple to adopt the 2.8-Mbyte format to accommodate those QuickTime movies and RISC-inflated applications, you're out of luck.
Mine's faster than yours
In the exciting arena of fast 24-bit graphics acceleration, it's been SuperMac and Radius. Both companies may soon have to factor in RasterOps, which is putting the finishing touches on a new accelerator technology. It's based on a new ASIC that speeds more than 80 QuickDraw calls and uses a new off-screen memory scheme, similar to Apple's GWorld system, that lets software bypass the NuBus bottleneck. Sources expect the new technology to debut on a 24-bit card in a few weeks.
Don't tailgate, do tell
Apple parking lots are more manageable these days, but new signs warn employees of the dangers of "tailgating," the practice of letting familiar faces piggyback on your electronic door key. In happier times that was OK, but with so many newly minted former employees, it's now classified as breaking the law.
The doors will be thrown open next Wednesday evening from 6 until 9 at the Club Cafe for another Digital Queer fund-raising bash at the expo. The stand-up comedy will be punctuated by a well-known speaker, rumored to be either Troy Osborne of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (all Mac, all the time) or loyal Democrat and friend of progressive causes everywhere, Sam Nunn.
Nothing illegal about a MacWEEK mug, but some consider earning one breaking the law. Get the Knife's decision at (415) 243-3544, fax (415) 243-3650, CompuServe/ZiffNet/Mac, Internet (mac_the_knife@macweek.ziff.com) or AppleLink (MacWEEK).
MacWEEK 07.26.93
Mac the Knife Page 118
(c) Copyright 1993 Coastal Associates, L.P. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
