Santa Clara, Calif. - Claris Corp. is readying a server-only version of FileMaker Pro that will offer improved multi-user performance. Sources said the company is also preparing a runtime version of FileMaker for Mac and Windows developers.
According to sources, the FileMaker Pro server will ship early this summer. It will run on either 680x0- or PowerPC-based Macs and will be accessible from both Mac and Microsoft Windows clients. The server will operate only as a host to FileMaker guests and will provide no interface for creation and modification of databases. It will offer improved performance over the existing FileMaker multi-user architecture by running more database functions on the server.
The server will reportedly raise the number of simultaneously connected users from 25 to somewhere between 80 and 100.
Sources said a key feature of the FileMaker Pro server is that it will work seamlessly with current FileMaker databases and will not require an update to the FileMaker Pro application.
Pricing for the server has not been determined.
In the same time frame but unrelated to the server plans, Claris will reportedly ship the FileMaker Pro Software Development Kit (SDK). The SDK will be available to members of the Claris Solutions Alliance and will consist of a cross-platform, runtime version of FileMaker Pro. The one-time license will be priced at about $500 and will allow developers to create applications based upon the FileMaker engine without requiring each user to purchase a copy of the full FileMaker program. Users of the runtime version will be able to modify data but not scripts or layouts.
With these two products, FileMaker Pro will still not have any true relational capabilities, but sources said that Claris is currently working on a full relational version of the product and hopes to ship it in 1995.
Claris declined to comment.
Robert Hess contributed to this story.
MacWEEK 01.24.94
News Page 1
(c) Copyright 1994 Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
News: Hardware, software will boost AWS line
By Stephen Howard
San Francisco - It will be six months to a year before managers begin to reap the benefits of Apple's PowerPC-based servers, but by early 1995, the company's servers will be faster, more scalable and able to run industry-standard server software.
Apple will ship PowerPC versions of its Apple Workgroup Servers 60, 80 and 95 this spring. However, because AppleShare and important pieces of the Mac operating system will run in 680x0 emulation, these servers will be slower than the 68040-based AWS 95, according to Apple.
A native version of AppleShare should ship this fall, but the major server speed improvements will come when Apple introduces its multi-CPU PowerPC servers in early 1995.
Apple has decided to split the AWS line into two branches: a low-cost, easy-to-use group of servers based on System 7 and AppleShare; and a much faster, more-expensive series capable of running Novell NetWare and Apple's PowerOpen Unix, based on IBM Corp.'s AIX 4.1. Microsoft Corp.'s Windows NT Advanced Server is being ported to the PowerPC Reference Platform, not Apple's proprietary hardware.
Officials at Novell Inc. of Provo, Utah, confirmed this month the company is porting NetWare to Apple's PowerPC servers. This support is a significant part of Apple's plans.
The two parts of Apple's server future are:
> System 7 servers. The AWS 60 and 80, which are based on unmodified desktop Macs, will be reborn in RISC form sometime after Apple ships their 60- and 80-MHz PowerPC desktop siblings. Sources said Apple is also building an AWS 95 model that puts an 80-MHz PowerPC 601 motherboard in a Quadra 950 case. However, this new AWS 95 will not run Unix, sources said. Apple Business Systems Division said it will sell logic-board upgrades for current server owners.
Initially running AppleShare in emulation, these servers will not benefit from the increased processing power of the 601 CPU. As a result, the new PowerPC servers will be slower than the current AWS 95, which uses Unix and a special processor direct slot card to boost throughput. Other native-mode, server-based applications would benefit from the PowerPC CPU, however.
Apple is working on a native-mode AppleShare, but bottlenecks in the operating system will hamstring the server software. Before the file server can take advantage of RISC speeds, the AppleTalk protocol stack will need to be rewritten in native PowerPC code; this work should be completed by September. In addition, the Mac file system needs to be redone, a project sources said is well under way.
Before going native, AppleShare and AppleSearch, Apple's full-text retrieval system, will receive minor updates because both programs check explicitly for the presence of an '040 processor. Thus, current versions will not run on a PowerPC system, even in emulation, because the 680x0 emulator in the Mac ROMs tells programs it is a 68020.
> Unix, NetWare. For years, Apple has promised customers that it would develop and maintain a Unix server line. The sole current example, the AWS 95, is based on A/UX, which is not being ported to the PowerPC. According to sources, the AWS 95's RISC follow-ons will be released in January 1995, initially running a PowerOpen Unix but capable of hosting NetWare.
Though still in development, the 1995 servers are expected to come in high-and low-end versions, both far more expandable than current AWS models. Both versions will share characteristics with Apple's future high-performance desktop Macs (see MacWEEK, Jan. 17, Page 1). They will sport six or eight Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) slots; direct memory access SCSI buses; ports for FireWire, Apple's high-speed alternative to SCSI; and processors mounted on cards for easy upgrading.
The servers will ship with a single 80-MHz 601 CPU but will be able to be upgraded to multiple 601 or 604 processors, as well as to 100- and 120-MHz chips. Sources said the first 1995 servers will be able to hold four CPUs, and later ones will hold eight. Each CPU will be augmented with a 256-Kbyte to 1-Mbyte Level 2 cache.
The multiprocessing boxes will be Apple's first servers that are not retrofitted personal computers. They will come in cube-shaped cases large enough to accommodate 19-inch-wide internal components. Apple is said to be working on fast RAID (redundant array of inexpensive disks) storage subsystems that will support the higher levels of RAID data protection. Sources said the company is also evangelizing third parties to make high-performance LAN cards, including ones for 100-Mbps Ethernet and Asynchronous Transfer Mode, available for bundling with the servers.
Sources said Apple plans these servers to be world-class performers and truly multiplatform - unlike the AWS line, whose only claim to cross-platform fame was Apple's AppleTalk driver for IBM PCs and compatibles, which never shipped.
Apple would not comment on the specifics of its server plans.
MacWEEK 01.24.94
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News: Apple's sales up, profits down in Q1
By Jon Swartz
Cupertino, Calif. - Apple had good news and bad news for its shareholders last week.
Fueled by record Mac unit shipments, first-quarter sales jumped 24 percent and Apple gained market share, the company said. But plummeting margins continued to bite Apple, and profits fell 75 percent.
Sales for the quarter ended Dec. 31 were $2.47 billion, compared with $2 billion in the same quarter a year ago. Quarterly Mac unit shipments increased 40 percent, passing the 1 million mark for the first time.
However, profits dropped to $40 million, from $161.3 million in the same quarter last year, as Apple slugged it out with makers of lower-cost personal computers for market share. Indeed, Apple's share of the U.S. personal computer market was up slightly, to 13.9 percent, in 1993, according to International Data Corp. of Framingham, Mass. (see MacWEEK, Jan. 17, Page 30).
Apple's revenue exceeded analysts' projections for the quarter. Most had predicted sales of $2.3 billion to $2.4 billion.
"The sales were quite impressive, but margins remain rather thin," said John Girton, vice president of research at Van Kasper & Co. in San Francisco.
The company's first-quarter margins slid to 24 percent, compared with 40.5 percent in the same quarter last year.
"Moving forward, our challenge is to continue to grow our unit shipments and revenues while we make further progress in reducing our operating expenses," Apple CEO Michael H. Spindler said in a statement.
Spindler also noted that PowerBook unit shipments topped 200,000 for the quarter and that unit sales in the booming Japanese market increased 100 percent.
While margins continued to nag Apple, it made progress in another problem area during the quarter.
Apple's inventory, which ballooned to $1.5 billion last fall (see MacWEEK, Oct. 18, 1993, Page 1), was shaved to $1.34 billion. Six months ago the company enacted more-stringent manufacturing and marketing controls to forecast demand, said George Everhart, vice president of Apple's PC business division.
Apple announced its results after the stock market closed Thursday.
MacWEEK 01.24.94
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News: PCI advances as PPC standard
New bus may open Macs to PC cards
By Robert Hess
Cupertino, Calif. - Although the initial PowerPC-based Macs due in March will use NuBus as their expansion bus, just as Macs do now, the second generation of Macs expected to appear this winter will introduce the Peripheral Component Interconnect local bus standard to the Mac platform.
PCI, already common on Intel-standard machines, promises to improve on NuBus in key ways:
> Speed. While NuBus is theoretically capable of a maximum data transfer rate of 40 Mbytes per second - though in practice it is much slower - PCI is designed to carry data at a burst rate of up to 132 Mbytes per second. Faster data transfer should improve the performance of video and networking expansion cards. In addition, it should improve the PowerPC Mac's overall performance because PCI will serve as an internal bus linking several components, such as accelerator application-specific integrated circuits, requiring high-speed interaction.
> Cost and variety. PCI was originally designed by Intel Corp. to accelerate the display of graphics on personal computers based around its microprocessors. It has since been widely adopted by computer manufacturers such as IBM Corp., Compaq Computer Corp., Digital Equipment Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. for use as a general-purpose expansion bus.
Apple's adoption of PCI will allow the PowerPC Macs to tap into the abundant variety and low cost of peripherals developed for the PC market and other RISC machines.
Sources say Apple went through a heated internal battle, analyzing the viability of several buses, before it selected PCI as the heir to NuBus. Although alternative buses - such as PSI+, a high-speed proprietary bus developed at Apple - could provide a higher data transfer rate, Apple ultimately decided that PCI provided good enough performance and its widespread industry acceptance made it the best choice.
A card designed to the PCI specification includes a boot driver - software that instructs the computer how to use that device - much like one designed for NuBus. The boot driver should conform to one of two standards: an Intel-compatible BIOS type; or the IEEE P1275 standard, commonly known as OpenBoot, after the Sun Microsystems Inc. architecture on which it is based.
Initial adopters of the PCI standard have generally chosen to use the Intel BIOS boot scheme, primarily because they are designing cards destined to run on Intel-standard hardware. The use of OpenBoot would require computer manufacturers to add OpenBoot interpreters to their computer logic boards, an additional investment few have made.
Apple has reportedly decided OpenBoot would be more economical to adopt. In addition, sources said the company feels the tide will turn toward support of OpenBoot as peripherals makers release devices for multiple platforms.
Unfortunately, a card developed to one standard will not work on a computer designed to support the other. In fact, sources said, even different cards designed to the same standard may be incompatible as Apple modifies its implementation of PCI over time. For example, Apple is reportedly telling developers to design cards capable of running at both 5 volts and 3.3 volts because future Macs may change the signal level they use.
Apple has reportedly been evangelizing both Mac and PC peripherals manufacturers to design cards to its PCI definition.
At Comdex/Fall '93 and this month's Macworld Expo Apple reportedly showed developers a prototype Macintosh with PCI instead of NuBus, and it has shown several new technologies such as FireWire (see MacWEEK, Nov. 15, 1993 Page 6) and video subsystems for its upcoming TNT computer based around PCI, as well.
Apple declined to comment on unannounced products.
MacWEEK 01.24.94
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(c) Copyright 1994 Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
Review: GraceLAN Net Manager 3.0
By Jonathan A. Oski
Network managers girding for the onslaught of changes that will accompany the release of PowerPC Macs need to make sure their administration tools are up to snuff. GraceLAN Network Manager from Technology Works Inc. is one tool that can be valuable to those managing a dynamic AppleTalk network.
Version 3.0 offers the most sweeping changes to Network Manager to date. The $795 program includes more client-control features, as well as the capability to create different views and manage information about client Macs and IBM PCs and compatibles.
Network Manager is designed primarily to let administrators gather detailed, up-to-date information from various devices on an AppleTalk network. For example, you can use Network Manager to check the amount of RAM installed or the application memory settings for each node on your network.
The product is part of Technology Works' GraceLAN Professional Series, a collection of four network-administration tools that includes Asset Manager, Server Manager and Update Manager. The packages are separate but can be integrated, and they let you distribute network management tasks more easily among various people or departments in your organization.
Installation
Installing Network Manager is a multistep process. You install the Network Manager application and file-distribution resource on the network administrator's workstation and then install a Responder control panel - used to respond to Network Manager requests - on each Mac client on your network. This can be arduous since you must run an installer on each client. The installer also adds such items as a messaging extension and a folder for software distribution to each client.
Although you're supposed to be able to automatically update older GraceLAN Responders directly from the Network Manager application, we experienced a success rate of about only 60 percent. Also, Technology Works acknowledges that its Security Configurable Responder, a version of the Responder that lets users set the level of administrative access to their workstations, can't be updated automatically - you must manually install the update on each workstation.
Network Manager can also poll PCs registered on your AppleTalk network if a terminate and stay resident utility is loaded on client PCs after the Apple-Talk stack has been initialized.
Given the growth in cross-platform networks that use protocols other than AppleTalk, such as IPX (Internetwork Packet Exchange)/SPX (Sequenced Packet Exchange) or TCP/IP, we think Technology Works should consider broadening the number of network protocols that can be used with the GraceLAN Professional Series.
The Network Manager provides two security levels: Supervisor and Administrator. This lets a network supervisor distribute some of the workload by giving one or more individuals Administrator status for portions of the network.
Browsing
Network Manager's Browser module lets you collect real-time data about your network devices. The Browser closely resembles the sole mode of operation in previous versions of Network Manager in that it displays only "live" data. When you open the Browser, the Browser window displays no data until you specify the zones you want to scan.
You select zones from the Zones shade, a dialog-like object that is pulled down over the active window. When you select a zone, the Browser displays all of the AppleTalk devices in that zone. You can also select devices you want to view (such as Macs, printers or PCs) with the View pop-up menu. Network Manager 3.1, due this month, reportedly will include filtering capabilities that help limit the scope of some scans.
You can view information in three formats: List, Single Record and Topology. The List format gives you an overview of all of the devices in the selected zones; Single Record displays detailed information about a single node; and Topology uses icons to display the various devices on your network.
Network Manager's new Layout mode lets you switch between the three formats. This mode is loosely similar to layout modes in database applications such as Claris Corp.'s FileMaker Pro, except you can't embellish your layouts with lines, boxes or shading. You can control only the placement, font and style of the data elements and labels.
Creating documents
In the single biggest improvement to Network Manager 3, you can now create documents to easily store and retrieve information you collect.
You create documents by specifying the data elements you want displayed in a particular view, selecting the devices you want scanned and then retrieving the selected data from the specified devices. Whenever you open a saved document, it displays the data that was last retrieved when the document was open. You can also schedule Network Manager to automatically update the document's data on a periodic basis. As in the Browser, you can use the Layout mode to view the information in your documents in List, Single Record or Topology formats.
While the documents are a great addition to Network Manager 3, we think Technology Works could have gone further by providing sample documents illustrating how you might use this new feature.
Actions
In addition to collecting network information, Network Manager also lets you perform a limited number of actions on Mac nodes, including sending messages to clients, synchronizing clocks, and restarting or shutting down nodes. With Version 3 you can also send files (using a limited subset of Update Manager's functions) and control responder preferences and settings.
File distribution is not close to the level of functionality provided by some competing products, such as Helios USA's netOctopus, Trik Inc.'s NetDistributor or Sonic Systems Inc.'s Radar. For example, you cannot designate where files will be installed on a client Mac; they all get put into an Updates folder in the System folder on the client Mac. For full-function file distribution, you'll need to get Update Manager, which is $495 for multiple users.
Documentation and support
Technology Works has completely rewritten the Network Manager manual for Version 3. While it adequately covers the basics, it doesn't recommend strategies for effective use. This information was included in previous releases but omitted here.
We were unable to get timely answers to some of our questions from Technology Works' technical support, even after repeated attempts. These problems did not impede our ability to use the product, but we needed clarification on a few points and did not get satisfactory answers to our questions.
Conclusions
By offering a way to store and retrieve information collected from your network, Technology Works has addressed many of the criticisms of previous versions of GraceLAN Network Manager. Overall, Version 3 is a solid product and an important upgrade for all current users.
However, Network Manager has a few shortcomings that new users should consider when purchasing a network administration application. If you're managing a cross-platform network, Network Manager's AppleTalk-only capability may be a limitation. And if you need comprehensive file-distribution features, you'll need to buy Update Manager as well.
Technology Works Inc. is at 4030 Braker Lane W., Suite 350, Austin, Texas 78759-5319. Phone (512) 794-8533 or (800) 688-7466; fax (512) 794-8520.
MacWEEK 01.24.94
Reviews Page 1
(c) Copyright 1994 Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
News: Apple hones direct sales
By Kirsten L. Parkinson and Jon Swartz
Dallas - It may have lacked the drama of the 49ers-Cowboys showdown, but an Apple marketing summit here this month appears to have scored points with corporate users and dealers.
Before Steve Young and Troy Aikman were shooting it out in Texas Stadium, Apple CEO Michael H. Spindler and other executives were making their pitches to about 40 key accounts and a cross section of 45 dealers. Among the topics covered were changes to Apple's direct-sales strategy, PowerPC distribution, shoring up Apple's sometimes contentious relationship with dealers, and the naming of a new Apple USA president.
"Just the fact that Apple met with us was encouraging," said a Mac dealer. "For them to clearly map out their marketing plans was icing on the cake."
Apple announced two new direct-distribution schemes. The Business Direct program targets what Apple calls "DOS fence-sitters" - small-business users who are considering Mac purchases. These users will be able to order certain CPUs and bundles directly from Apple. The Business Direct phone number will also refer users to a dealer for purchases if they prefer, Apple said.
With the Catalog Reseller program, qualifying dealers will be able to sell Apple products via their own catalogs. To qualify, the dealers must be able to produce a four-color catalog and provide consistent support to users.
The company said it will discontinue its current Apple Catalog, which lost $13 million to $18 million in its first year of operation, according to sources.
Products bought through either direct program will cost about the same as those purchased through other methods, Apple said.
Apple also emphasized that the new programs are unlikely to make dramatic changes in its overall distribution. "The dealer channel remains our preferred distribution method," said Jack Rotolo, Apple manager of channel development and strategies.
Discussing PowerPC distribution plans for the first time publicly, Apple said the next-generation Macs will be carried like all other Macs - through up to 2,000 authorized Apple dealers nationwide. However, sources said stores that carry Performas initially will not be eligible to offer PowerPCs.
That news assuaged several dealers who thought they would be shut out of the PowerPC channel. "We just want a piece of the action, and Apple is giving us the opportunity," a West Coast dealer said.
MacWEEK 01.24.94
News Page 3
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News: Color StyleWriter to debut next week
By David Morgenstern
San Francisco - Apple next month will make its second foray into the color printer market, releasing the Color StyleWriter, a high-resolution, four-color inkjet printer expected to sell for about $770, according to sources.
The device, expected to debut at Tokyo Macworld Expo, will replace the tabloid-size Apple Color Printer, introduced last year for $2,349.
Sources said the printer is based on the Canon BJC-600 engine, providing 360-dpi CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) output to plain paper. The printer uses a special water-based ink that dries 100 times faster than conventional inks. The formulation also includes a solvent that controls ink spreading, a common problem with inkjet output.
A printer with this engine would be "such a superior product [to the Apple Color Printer] that there's almost no comparison," said Charles LeCompte, editor and publisher of The Hard Copy Observer in Newton Highlands, Mass. LeCompte said if reports on the Color StyleWriter are accurate, he expects such a printer would grab 50 percent of the Mac color inkjet market.
The Color StyleWriter's main competition should be Hewlett-Packard Co.'s DeskWriter 550C, which costs about $50 less. Observers noted that Apple's new printer would be priced low enough to fit into retail promotional bundles.
The printer uses transparent plastic ink cartridges, giving users a convenient means to judge remaining ink levels. The cartridges, which are small and narrow, are housed on a carriage and travel with the print head. The print head is easily removable, with an estimated life of 10,000 pages and a replacement cost of $100.
The device is a QuickDraw printer and attaches to the Mac through a serial interface. Sources said the thickset Color StyleWriter resembles its monochromatic cousin, with a 100-sheet paper tray in the rear and a retractable front holder.
Apple declined to comment.
MacWEEK 01.24.94
News Page 3
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News: Buckley named Apple USA president
Cupertino, Calif. - Apple last week filled its top marketing spot, just in time to prepare for its March launch of the PowerPC Macs, by naming James Buckley president of Apple USA.
Buckley, 43, is now responsible for the 3,000-person division, which provides sales, marketing, channel and customer-support services in the United States. He reports directly to Ian Diery, executive vice president and general manager of Apple's Personal Computer division.
Prior to his promotion, Buckley worked at Apple for nine years in several capacities, most recently as vice president and general manager of the Higher Education division. In that position, he was responsible for overseeing sales, marketing and customer-support operations to 3,500 U.S. colleges and universities.
Buckley succeeds Bob Puette, who resigned in October to pursue other interests. Diery served as Apple USA head on an interim basis.
MacWEEK 01.24.94
News Page 4
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Gateways: Cisco ships remote-access series
All protocol support now sold in packages
By April Streeter
Menlo Park, Calif. - Last week Cisco Systems Inc. shipped the Cisco 2500 line of wide-area network routers, introduced cafeteria-style options for protocol support and announced future compression and security add-ons.
> Cisco 2500. The company's new remote-access series absorbs the low-cost 2000 line, shipping since June, and adds four new models under the 2500 family name. Cisco is aiming the AppleTalk-capable 2500 line at midsize businesses trying to provide access to the corporate LAN for smaller, remote sites.
Two new Ethernet models and two new token-ring models have three serial ports each for remote access, one more than the original 2000 line (see MacWEEK, June 28, 1993, Page 38). One new Ethernet and one new token-ring model also have a port each for an ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) line, so the remote router does not need an external Basic Rate Interface box.
By midyear, software upgrades will enable two of the three serial ports on these routers to be configured for asynchronous connections, for individual user dial-in over normal telephone lines, or synchronous mode, for LAN-to-LAN remote access over leased lines. The third port is asynchronous only. The four new 2500-series models range in price from $995 to $2,195 for the basic hardware. All protocol support is offered in extra-cost bundles.
> Protocol bundles. The new remote-access routers come in three packages, each reflecting a different set of protocols. The first, a TCP/IP-oriented package for $1,500, is aimed at schools and universities. It includes WAN support for X.25, Frame Relay, Point-to-Point Protocol and outward dialing on demand.
A second bundle that adds AppleTalk, DECnet and IPX (Internetwork Packet Exchange) is $2,300. The $3,000 Enterprise bundle covers all Cisco's LAN; enables supports many wide-area connections, including Switched Multimegabit Data Services; and performs higher-level protocol translation between X.25, LAT (Local-Area Transport) and Telnet for terminal access.
> Software upgrades. Cisco said it will improve compression across its router line and plans to offer the first upgrade by midyear.
In addition, a software upgrade available later this month for Cisco routers and communications servers and an add-on to the CiscoWorks software together will provide router-based authentication via the TACACS (Terminal Access, Controller Access Control System) protocol. Cisco this month began supporting the SafeWord authentication system from Enigma Logic Inc. of Concord, Calif.
Cisco Systems Inc. is at P.O. Box 3075, 1525 O'Brien Drive, Menlo Park, Calif. 94026 Phone (415) 903-7208 or (800) 553-6387; fax (415) 903-7118.
MacWEEK 01.24.94
Gateways Page 10
(c) Copyright 1994 Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
Gateways: Vicom shuffles emulation line
By Nathalie Welch
Exton, Pa. - Vicom Technology Ltd. this month restructured its Mac terminal-emulation and front-ending packages and added new connections to midrange and mainframe IBM Corp. hosts.
Vicom now offers three products, Vicom Pro, MultiTerm and RunTime - all at Version 4.5. The latter two are product families, with four separate versions for particular categories of hosts.
These versions include TCP, for terminal access to Unix hosts; VT, for Digital hosts; and Plus, for all types. Vicom also has created new Blue versions that add 3270 and 5250 emulation to IBM hosts over Telnet and, when used with Apple's SNA*ps Gateway, over Systems Network Architecture. Blue versions also perform 5250 emulation over Andrew Corp.'s application programming interface.
The single-product Vicom Pro is less an emulator than a development environment for front ends and client-server applications, the company said. Pro includes an interface editor, scripting language, compiler and source debugger (see MacWEEK, Jan. 11, 1993, Page 30). RunTime provides its own terminal emulation and runs front ends created using Pro or Vicom MultiTerm.
"We plan to integrate data sources from a variety of proprietary mainframe systems at the desktop using one user interface," said Jay Thomas, applications development manager at U.S. West Inc. in Denver. "We can accomplish this due to the many emulations that Vicom supports in its products."
The company also promised to ship native PowerPC versions when Apple ships its first PowerPC Macintoshes. Pricing for these versions will be the same as the current products.
Vicom's U.S. distribution and support is handled by Softmart Inc. at 467 Creamery Way, Ex-ton, Pa. 19341. Phone (610) 524-7440 or (800) 842-6693; fax (610) 363-1438.
MacWEEK 01.24.94
Gateways Page 10
(c) Copyright 1994 Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
Gateways: CompuServe cuts low-end prices
By Nathalie Welch
Columbus, Ohio - Once again, CompuServe Inc. has reduced some of its hourly connect charges by up to 40 percent.
CompuServe's Standard Pricing Plan includes unlimited access to more than 50 basic services, including electronic mail but not discussion forums, for a flat fee of $8.95 per month. Effective Feb. 6, Standard Pricing Plan members accessing areas outside these basic services will pay $9.60 an hour - down from $16 - for 9,600- or 14,000-bps access. Users dialing in at 1,200 or 2,400 bps will pay $4.80 an hour for any non-Standard services, down from $8.
CompuServe also offers an Alternative Pricing Plan, in which members pay a $2.50 monthly fee and either $12.80 per hour for 1,200 or 2,400 bps, or $22.80 an hour for 9,600- or 14,400-bps access. These prices were not changed.
A CompuServe spokeswoman said the drops were a part of the company's annual re-evaluation of its pricing structures and not a reaction to Apple's new eWorld on-line service. CompuServe dropped its prices by 40 percent in March 1993.
Apple's eWorld, a new entrant into the on-line service market, is due to launch this spring. Its users will pay $8.95 a month for two hours of off-peak access. Each hour beyond the minimum will cost $7.90, or $4.95 for nonprime-time access.
CompuServe Inc. is at 5000 Arlington Centre Blvd., P.O. Box 20212, Columbus, Ohio 43220. Phone (614) 457-8600; fax (614) 529-1610.
MacWEEK 01.24.94
Gateways Page 10
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Mobile Computing: Newton turns 1.05 with update
Storage card offered to users at half price
By Andrew Gore
Cupertino, Calif. - MessagePads suffering from shortness of memory will get some relief this week when Apple releases the latest Newton system update and offers those who buy it half off the Newton 1MB Storage Card.
In addition to plugging up memory leaks, reducing fragmentation and fixing power failures, System Update 1.05 addresses a problem some users have dubbed Newton Alzheimer's - the MessagePad displays an out-of-memory message and asks the user to reset the system.
The problem occurs when system memory, where Newton processes handwriting and stores its settings, fills up with digital trash. Update 1.05 adds 32 Kbytes to system memory by reducing storage memory from 192 Kbytes to 160 Kbytes. Apple will make up for the reduced RAM by offering users its $199 1-Mbyte RAM card for $99.
> ROM versions. There are two versions of the Newton ROM: 1.0, which shipped with the original units; and 1.1, which Apple incorporated in November. The newer ROM has the memory fix and cannot be updated.
To determine what version ROM a MessagePad contains, tap the Prefs icon in the Extras drawer. If the system ID at the bottom of the screen is 1.1x, then the Newton has the latest ROM.
Even though the memory fix is the main part of the system update, it has other benefits. For example, when a MessagePad equipped with Update 1.05 switches folders in the Notepad, it goes to the latest note instead of the oldest. MessagePads with the 1.1 ROMs will not have this feature.
> Getting the update. Users who want to get 1.05 should call the Newton Fulfillment Center at (800) 242-3374. Users with the Newton Connection Kit will receive a floppy disk in the mail; users without the kit will need to get the update on a loaned PCMCIA card. A credit card is required to get the update card; Apple will also include a 1-Mbyte static-RAM card for making a backup of the Newton's internal RAM.
The update is free to MessagePad owners. Owners of Sharp Electronics Corp.'s Expert Pad will need to contact Sharp for its update procedure.
Apple also plans to make Update 1.05 available through major on-line services for users not interested in the card deal.
> Installation. Because Update 1.05 changes the MessagePad's memory partition, its internal RAM must first be erased. To avoid losing difficult-to-reproduce settings, Apple recommends backing up the MessagePad with either Newton Connection or a storage card.
To help users with problems installing the update, Apple has set up a help line; the number is available from the fulfillment center.
> Future updates. "Our goal is not to continue putting out lots of system updates, but it all depends on customer feedback," said Joseph Ansanelli, Newton marketing manager.
While bug fixes and minor feature enhancements can be done with updates, Ansanelli admitted that major upgrades, such as a new version of the Newton operating system, probably won't be added via an update.
MacWEEK 01.24.94
Mobile Computing Page 16
(c) Copyright 1994 Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
Mobile Computing: PhotoLynx image-editing station
By James Staten
New York - Photojournalists out on assignment no longer need to locate a base station to edit and submit their work.
AP PhotoLynx Pro is a docking station for all-in-one PowerBooks that incorporates AP PhotoLynx S image editing and transmittal software, a Nikon Inc. CoolScan slide scanner, and universal power supply. The unit attaches to the bottom of the PowerBook, creating a 15-pound compact image-submission station.
AP PhotoLynx Pro has connections for a 12-volt DC adapter, cellular phone and SCSI, and expansion slots for future PCMCIA interfaces to electronic cameras.
AP PhotoLynx S controls the CoolScan scanner, performs simple image editing and allows users to attach International Press Telecommunications Council (IPTC) headers and caption information to images.
The program then stores the images using standard JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) compression algorithms. Using the PowerBook's internal modem, the pictures can be transmitted to either the AP Leaf Picture Desk via DIT (digital image transfer) 3.2 protocols or to other systems using the Xmodem file transfer protocol or Apple Remote Access 2.0.
AP PhotoLynx S supports any scanner that has an Adobe Photoshop plug-in and any image-editing application that supports the required Apple events and JPEG compression.
A custom padded carrying case is included.
AP PhotoLynx Pro is available now for $6,750; the AP PhotoLynx S software, which works on any Macintosh with 8 Mbytes of RAM, is priced at $1,495.
The Associated Press is at 50 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, N.Y. 10020. Phone (212) 621-1502 or (800) 457-8883; fax (212) 621-1513.
MacWEEK 01.24.94
Mobile Computing Page 16
(c) Copyright 1994 Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
GA: Font vendors slash typeface prices
Cuts may boost sales, help reduce piracy
By Kirsten L. Parkinson
San Francisco - Three leading Mac type vendors this month unveiled significant price reductions on their product lines, a move that industry observers said will fuel sales and reduce piracy.
Adobe Systems Inc. dropped the prices on its library by 25 percent. For example, the company's Lithos font now lists for $145, down from $185. The price cut does not include multiple-font packages, such as the Wild Type set and the Font Folio CD-ROM.
In response, Monotype Typography Inc. slashed prices on its Type 1 floppy disk typeface packages 20 percent to 25 percent and fonts on its CD-ROM by up to 40 percent. A six-font floppy-based set fell to $190 from $240, while a single typeface from the CD is now $22.50.
Finally, Bitstream Inc. this month will ship TypeShop, an unlocked disc that offers the Bitstream library of 1,089 fonts for $1,085. The library is available at an introductory price of $695 through April. Bitstream also plans to release a TrueType version of the disc.
Industry observers said that the lower prices should boost sales among current customers and draw a whole new set of users by prompting them to purchase fonts instead of copying them from co-workers and friends.
"The street prices for packages will now be at more attractive prices for customers so that price won't be an issue," said Bill Davis, Monotype's director of marketing. "The people who might have borrowed fonts will hopefully buy them now instead of pirating."
Stefan Wennik, Bitstream marketing manager, agreed. "It costs a lot to create typefaces, but we have to face the reality and set prices based on what the market is willing to pay," he said.
Observers said the drop in prices is also a necessary response to the rock-bottom prices offered by copycat font vendors.
"Pirates have lowered the prices to a dollar a font or lower," said Chuck Bigelow, president of Bigelow & Holmes, a type design company in Menlo Park, Calif. "The foundries who are the originators of the fonts are forced to cut prices to compete with the lower prices from pirates."
However, as vendors continue to cut prices, the erosion of profits will cut into foundries' resources for creating new typefaces, Bigelow warned.
"As profits approach zero, the incentive to produce these typefaces approaches zero, too," Bigelow said. "It's kind of like the rain forest. When you cut it down, there are excellent short-term benefits, but after it's all gone and you've plundered the resources, you've lost the diversity and richness."
Adobe Systems Inc. is at 1585 Charleston Road, P.O. Box 7900, Mountain View, Calif. 94039-7900. Phone (415) 961-4400 or (800) 833-6687; fax (415) 961-3769.
Monotype Typography Inc. is at 150 S. Wacker Drive, Suite 2630, Chicago, Ill. 60606. Phone (312) 855-1440 or (800) 666-6897; fax (312) 855-9475.
Bitstream Inc. is at Athenaeum House, 215 First St., Cambridge, Mass. 02142. Phone (617) 497-6222 or (800) 522-3668; fax (617) 868-4732.
MacWEEK 01.24.94
GA Page 22
(c) Copyright 1994 Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
GA: LogoMotion 3-D logo app soars to market
By Carolyn Said
Amherst, Mass. - Zooming into a new market niche, Specular International Ltd. this month shipped LogoMotion, software for creating 3-D flying logos.
Priced at $149, LogoMotion uses an animation interface similar to that in Infini-D, Specular's high-end 3-D program. To create logos, users select props, cameras, lights and other animated components and arrange them in a virtual 3-D movie set, Specular said. The program comes with dozens of cameras, lights, props, backdrops and environments.
"LogoMotion has been a godsend for doing the ordinary, 'Well, do you want it to fly through the air like this?' quick layouts," said beta user Joanne Fellows, vice president of graphics and animation at Compact Designs Inc., in Gaithersburg, Md.
"LogoMotion gives a lot of flexibility for the first-time user in making a 3-D animation," she added. "You can use the presettings of all the different lighting and cameras they give you or objects like comets, streamers, bouncing balls. You can learn from them and then adapt them."
Fellows said she often uses LogoMotion to rough out animation concepts for clients. She then exports animations to Infini-D for more complex surfaces or lighting. However, she said, "You can do an enormous amount of work and get a finished animation with LogoMotion."
Other features include fast 3-D rendering, 3-D morphing, beveled text with both Type 1 and TrueType fonts, and editable generic primitives. The program ships with plastic and metal surfaces.
Users can anti-alias animations and save them as PICT, PICS or QuickTime movie files. Users can import Encapsulated PostScript and DXF (Drawing Interchange File) format images.
In other news, Specular reduced Infini-D's price from $995 to $695.
Specular International Ltd. is at 479 West St., Amherst, Mass. 01002. Phone (413) 253-3100; fax (413) 253-0540.
MacWEEK 01.24.94
GA Page 22
(c) Copyright 1994 Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
BusinessWatch: RasterOps making comeback bid
Executive changes, cost cutting imposed
By Eric Lach
Santa Clara, Calif. - Although some analysts appear ready to write off RasterOps Corp., the company's new leader insists it's about to make a comeback.
"We are here to stay," RasterOps CEO Paul Smith said. "We plan to grow the company."
Since Smith took over RasterOps in August, he has replaced most of the top management, reduced the company's break-even point by $40 million, instituted strict financial and management controls, and finally brought to market - after more than a year of delays - the first of several products based on the company's new Mercury graphics-acceleration technology.
"Using the basic technology in our Horizon 24 product, we expect to introduce four, maybe five, more products in the next six months," Smith said.
Despite the moves, most observers remain wary of the company's long-term prospects. "I'm not convinced they're out of the woods yet," said Gary Schultz, principal of Multimedia Research Group in Sunnyvale, Calif.
But the company's critics and boosters both agree the coming six months will be crucial. They said either the new products will find a strong customer following or the 6-year-old company - which has lost money the past five quarters - has little hope of regaining its former position as a market and technology leader.
Horizon 24, which began shipping this month, is a graphics subsystem that lets users display and manipulate images as large as 256 Mbytes in near-real time. The system costs from $4,999 to $12,499.
"Except for $100,000 workstations, this capability won't be available on the desktop from anyone but us for quite a while," Smith said.
However, many analysts are underwhelmed by Horizon. Charles Finnie, general partner at Volpe, Welty & Co. in San Francisco, said few Mac users are clamoring to buy a peripheral that costs nearly $13,000, and most workstation users will find the product underpowered compared with what they have been using.
Another analyst questioned the idea of offloading graphics from the main CPU. "None of the other [graphics] companies are going that way, as far as I can see," said Joan Carol Brigham, senior staff consultant at International Data Corp. of Framingham, Mass. "The engineering may be really awesome, but with regards to finding a market, I'm skeptical."
Meanwhile, Smith is unusually candid about the company's past problems. "We have been disorderly," Smith said. "The [old] management team, I believe, didn't make a very graceful transition from an entrepreneurial company to a more organized, professional and disciplined structure."
According to Smith, one major mistake was the decision, made 18 months ago by then-CEO Kieth Sorenson, to dump manufacturers' representatives and go to a direct sales force.
Smith also vehemently denied persistent rumors that the company is on the trading block.
Scitex Corp. Ltd., which owns 13 percent of RasterOps, is widely seen as a possible buyer, but industry sources contend that the Israel-based pre-press giant would probably not use its large supply of cash to purchase the company because Scitex would have to take RasterOps' losses on its own balance sheet.
MacWEEK 01.24.94
BusinessWatch Page 28
(c) Copyright 1994 Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
BusinessWatch: Intel, Motorola year-end results
By Jon Swartz
San Francisco - Intel Corp. and Motorola Inc. continued on a financial roll last week, posting steep increases in fourth-quarter sales and profits.
> Intel, boosted by booming demand for its Intel 486 DX2 and Pentium chips, announced big jumps in sales and profits.
The Santa Clara, Calif., company said sales for the quarter ended Dec. 25 increased 29 percent, to $2.39 billion from $1.86 billion in the same quarter a year ago. Meanwhile, profits improved 38 percent, to $594 million from $429 million in the same quarter last year.
For its fiscal 1993 year, Intel's sales were $8.78 billion, up 50 percent from $5.84 billion during the previous year. Profits were $2.3 billion, a 115 percent jump from $1.07 billion in the prior year.
> Motorola, fueled by wireless communications and semiconductor product sales, reported improved results.
The Schaumburg, Ill.-based chip maker said sales for the quarter ended Dec. 31 were $4.99 billion, up 35 percent from $3.71 billion in the same quarter a year ago. Profits skyrocketed 88 percent, to $340 million from $181 million in the year-ago quarter.
For its fiscal 1993 year, Motorola announced that sales improved 28 percent, to $17 billion, compared with $13.3 billion in the same quarter a year ago. Meanwhile, profits were $1.02 billion, a 77 percent increase from $576 million a year earlier.
MacWEEK 01.24.94
BusinessWatch Page 28
(c) Copyright 1994 Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
Review: Specular Collage 1.0
Object-oriented approach makes compositing faster, easier
By Ben Long
Compositing images has always been one of the most powerful features of high-end image editing programs such as Adobe Photoshop and Fractal Design Corp.'s Color Studio. It's also one of the more difficult tasks to accomplish, involving such complexities as alpha channels, masks and transfer modes.
Specular International Ltd. has turned this task into a very good product: Collage. The $249 program contains no tools for creating images; rather, it offers powerful tools and commands for compositing, superimposing and creating, appropriately enough, collages of images.
Drag and crop
Collage provides a customized set of tools and commands that makes it easy to composite existing PICT, TIFF or Photoshop files with such effects as transparency, alpha channel masks, drop shadows and Photoshop-compatible filters.
Mimicking popular page-layout programs in design, Collage gives you a page and large pasteboard area. From here, it's a simple matter of importing your graphics and positioning them on the page to suit your fancy. Imported graphics are listed in the Element palette. Dragging a graphic from the palette to the page or pasteboard area places the image on the screen.
Collage's editing is completely object-oriented. While you cannot edit the actual bit maps, Collage remembers each bit map as a discrete object. This makes it simple to move or re-layer your elements at any time. Collage provides tools for moving, rotating, skewing and cropping each element. In addition, you can easily adjust the front-to-back layering of your elements through menu commands or by reordering the list of elements in the Element palette.
Because the program thinks of your graphics as objects, any transformation or editing can also be removed, replaced or redone. If you apply a Photoshop filter to an element, for example, you can remove the filter or change its parameters at any time simply by selecting the element and reapplying (or removing) the filter. The same holds true for rotating, cropping, scaling or any other function.
Editing by proxy
Collage's object-oriented nature enabled Specular to equip the program with a feature that greatly increases performance. Rather than perform its edits and manipulations on large, full-resolution images, Collage creates screen-resolution (72 dpi) proxies of all imported images. With such low resolution, these images can be quickly manipulated on screen. When finished, Collage will return to your initial files to render a final picture at the image's original resolution.
Because it's operating on such low-resolution images, Collage's performance is very speedy. Photoshop filters, rotation, scaling and other processor-intensive tasks will seem substantially faster if you're used to editing 30- or 40-Mbyte files in Photoshop. Specular has not done anything fancy with its routines; the speed increase is simply the result of performing calculations on 72-dpi files rather than 300- or 400-dpi files.
Instant masks
Many programs, including Photoshop, Specular's Infini-D or Pixar's Typestry, let you create alpha channels within your images. These can be used by applications to create masks and calculate an image's transparency. In Photoshop, using the alpha channel information for masking or transparency is a complex operation involving multiple channels and much copying and pasting.
Collage provides instant masking through a Mask button on the program's tool bar. By activating an individual element's mask, the program will immediately begin using the element's alpha channel information to perform seamless compositing. Unfortunately, Collage has no way of creating an alpha channel - you'll have to do that in a separate application.
Collage's tool bar also provides a pop-up menu for selecting the transfer mode that the program should use when layering your images. Similar to Photoshop's channel calculations, Collage's transfer modes let you perform logical compositing functions such as add, subtract, multiply, difference, lighter, darker and screen.
And, as with Collage's other functions, you can change any element's masking or transfer mode at any time.
But wait, there's more
Also on the tool bar is a Transparency option, which lets you make an element as translucent or opaque as you want by selecting it and typing in a new value. To provide smoother compositing, Collage provides a Feather command that blurs the edges of an element, making it simple to hide the boundaries between overlapping elements. You can apply the Drop Shadow command to any element to give it an instant drop shadow. Controls are provided for the shadow's color and transparency, as well as the shadow's distance from its element and the fuzziness of its edges.
All of Collage's filters and functions can be applied to an entire image or any channel - red, green, blue or alpha - of the image.
Finally, the program offers a Text tool for applying type to an image. Like all Collage elements, text elements are treated as objects. Although they appear on screen as anti-aliased, bit-mapped text, they can be edited and changed at any time, as in a draw program. They can also be filtered, moved, feathered or shadowed.
Some nitpicks
Collage suffers from one drawback that makes it a less-than-perfect compositing tool. The program's functions - whether you're applying filters or changing an object's transparency - must be applied uniformly to an element. For example, there is no way to create a graduated transparency from solid to opaque, to feather only one side of an element, or to apply a graduated blur or Photoshop filter. The only way to get these effects is to build your masks in a program such as Photoshop.
Although Collage was designed to coexist with image editors, we wish it had a few more features to keep the time-consuming application-switching to a minimum. For instance, we wish we could create alpha channels within Collage.
Conclusions
With reasonably clear documentation and an excellent interface, Collage is an effective solution for users with simple compositing needs. Even seasoned Photoshop users will find themselves turning to Collage for compositing jobs that don't require graduated blends simply for the program's speed and ease of use. In addition, the capability to move any bit-mapped element around at any time makes Collage ideal for interface designers and interactive multimedia application developers who are constantly refining an interface.
Even with our minor complaints, we think Specular has created a valuable tool that should be on the shelf of anyone who manipulates images on the Macintosh.
Specular International Ltd. is at 479 West St., Amherst, Mass. 01002. Phone (413) 253-3100; fax (413) 253-0540.
MacWEEK 01.24.94
Reviews Page 37
(c) Copyright 1994 Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
ProductWatch: More low-cost inkjet plotters
Advances in plotter technologies have spurred lower prices and spawned more competition.
By Cliff Lehman
Competition generated by the increasing availability of inkjet plotters, both color and monochrome, has helped push plotter prices lower and improve plotter technologies.
The most common type of plotter is still the pen plotter. However, the recent emergence of inkjet plotters has expanded the market, led by Hewlett-Packard Co.'s DesignJet series and Encad Inc.'s Novajet II series.
The inherent qualities of other types of plotters, along with improvements in technologies, assure these devices firm places in the plotting world. And prices are dropping in all categories.
Most plotters produce C-, D- or E-size output. The most advanced plotters, inkjet and electrostatic, can produce full-color renderings.
Oce-Bruning and Japan Digital Laboratory Co. Ltd. are among the few plotter vendors that provide Mac-compatible Chooser-level drivers with their plotters. However, third-party vendors, such as Palomar Software Inc. and Microspot USA Inc., offer drivers that let users print from nearly any Mac application to most plotters.
Low end
Prices for monochrome inkjet plotters are hitting new lows, led by vendors such as Pacific Data Products Inc. with its $1,599, 360-dpi C-size ProTracer II, which is based on Canon bubblejet technology. Other vendors offering low-cost plotters include CalComp Inc., Summagraphics Corp. and Hewlett-Packard.
Thomas Frye, manager of Natoma Tool Corp., a tool shop in Norton, Kan., bought a $1,995 Summagraphics HI JetPro V50 as an inexpensive way to produce quick C-size plots.
"Once a drawing is sent to the plotter, you can make as many copies as you want," Frye said. "It takes about two minutes to do a C-size drawing. It's a great machine for someone who wants monochrome and has a low budget."
Pen plotter technology is old, but sure and accurate. Flatbed versions of these devices allow printing on the widest variety of media. Pen plotters, in part because of limits on how quickly ink can flow through a pen tip, are the slowest plotting technology. Pens come in a variety of styles, line sizes and colors.
Prices for pen devices are going down as vendors face a market that, according to Bill Flynn, analyst for color hard copy at BIS Strategic Decisions of Norwell, Mass., has felt the effects of the recent recession and a shrinking industrial base, as well as competition from other technologies.
Better output
Michel Mein, owner of MM Studio, an architecture and urban design shop in New York, uses a Roland Digital Corp. DPX 3500 (now the 3700) flatbed pen plotter because he said it allows him to use high-quality paper. He also can add his own color fills and illustrations to a pen drawing to give it a hand-drawn quality.
"I bought it because one of the problems with a lot of CAD output is it looks like it was computer-generated," Mien said. "Some of my clients like to have promotional material that is more accessible or looks like it's done by hand."
To achieve a "personal look, I plot on watercolor paper. Then I color it by hand with watercolors," Mein said "I did 20 drawings for Disney World and they never knew [the job] was done by computer."
Mein, who also has an electrostatic plotter for quick output, said the pen plotter has a large memory so it can plot in the background while he quickly replots, experimenting with different markers, pens and pencils.
Some CAD operators opt for pencil plotters, a variation on the pen plotting theme. Ken Selesky, president and chief engineer at Kemmtek, a machine design firm in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., opted for Mutoh America Inc.'s XP 501 (now the 511) D-size pencil plotter.
"I chose [the XP 501] for its affordability and because pencils plot faster than pens," Selesky said. He also liked its auto-change feature, which automatically exchanges and refills pencil leads without stopping the plot, thus avoiding the "stoppage and skipping of ink-in-pen plotters."
Selesky said that using pencils also allows him to erase and correct small mistakes by hand.
Monochrome speed demons
The fastest monochrome plotters are based on thermal or direct-image technology, which requires no ink or toner, just special paper that creates a very sharp line when exposed to heated plotting heads. Thermal plotters can print in no more than two colors.
Arthur Jackson Jr., CAD manager at Atari Games Corp. in Milpitas, Calif., last fall purchased an Oce 9055 thermal printer, which can produce two E-size plots per minute.
"We got the thermal plotter because of its price, because it required no chemicals, and it's quiet, efficient and small," Jackson said. "The maintenance on [the company's] old electrostatic plotter was going to cost $6,000 this year. So I traded it in on a new plotter for only $13,000."
Electrophotographic, or laser, plotters began appearing in CAD settings not long after laser printers made their debut in desktop publishing. Even at letter and legal sizes, engineers and architects found them useful for quick check plots. Now, with larger sizes and higher resolutions, laser and LED plotters are winning even more users.
These plotters use LED arrays or lasers to charge an imaging drum with the image, which then picks up dry toner and transfers it to the page. They come in 300-dpi and 400-dpi resolutions and are generally fast but expensive.
Oce-Bruning, the engineering products arm of Oce USA Inc., offers an intriguing electrophotographic lineup aimed at production environments. Its Oce 9575 Digital Copier/Plotter is a combination plotter-copier that lets users print two 400-dpi E-size pages per minute from the desktop or copy any size plot directly with the machine.
Electrostatic plotters use electric charges to attract toner from a liquid base and print an image. They are difficult to service and maintain, and the toner used in electrostatic devices can be difficult to dispose of since the federal government has declared it a hazardous material.
Color
Although pen plotters were the first color output devices, electrostatic and inkjet plotters are surpassing them with the capability to render full-color fills and shading.
The choice between the technologies depends on your application. For those who want full-color, large-format output but have small budgets, inkjet plotters are the logical entrance point. These machines are much slower than electrostatic plotters, but the inks are nontoxic.
"Before [Hewlett-Packard's] DesignJet [650C] came out, we would have had to spend 10 times the price to get the quality of plots we need from an electrostatic plotter," said John Malecki, vice president of software engineering at VLFI Libraries Inc., an integrated circuit design shop in Santa Clara, Calif. "We need to overlay multiple layers or colors and to be able to discern the overlays. The DesignJet lays down color so well it makes smaller shade differences visible."
Malecki said he was also attracted to inkjet for other reasons.
"We are a small company, and an electrostatic plotter is a large, stinky machine that needs a lot of maintenance," Malecki said. "The inkjet is very easy; it fits in well with our office environment."
Others are sold on electrostatic plotters.
"The inkjet plotters don't produce colors as bright as electrostatic," said Ken Gebert, a programmer analyst for the Sacramento (Calif.) Area Council of Governments. Gebert recently bought a ColorStation 436, an E-size electrostatic plotter from Raster Graphics Inc. He uses it to produce maps for transportation, development and environmental purposes.
"It takes a lot of ink to do fills, which takes a while to dry in inkjet," Gebert said. "When the plot comes out of an electrostatic, it's dry; you can't smudge it. Also, electrostatic output can get wet without smudging, unlike inkjet."
With users making these kinds of comparisons and buying decisions, and with the number of vendors and technologies competing for market share, one can predict that plotters will continue to improve as prices drop. Inkjet technology, especially, seems to hold great promise both as a plotting technology and as a driving force behind lowering prices.
MacWEEK 01.24.94
ProductWatch Page 43
(c) Copyright 1994 Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
Mac the Knife: Without details we are nothing
Thus far January has graced us with more news than we need. Consider the sordid Tonya Harding affair. It almost ensures that we won't have to wait for the inevitable William Safire column in The New York Times exploring the sundry subtleties of the phrase "white trash" to grasp its true meaning. Thus news serves its educational purpose. For entertainment, we turn to Washington, which most recently featured the curiously indecipherable Bobby Ray Inman spectacle.
In the much more predictable (and respectable) world of Mac computing, the name of the game is still PowerPC. With the arrival of the first-generation PowerMacs merely weeks away, more and more details are being revealed.
Although Apple is still trying to shake out the bugs in its system-software marketing plans, it has decided that PowerTalk will be a standard feature on all PowerMacs. And this is as it should be, as PowerTalk is an important component of the Mac advantage.
Memory matters
The Knife also reports that for reasons much too geeky to detail here, Apple has determined that there's no real benefit to be had from using RAM chips faster than 80 nanoseconds in the first PowerMacs. This can safely be considered good news in today's volatile RAM chip market. Faster chips could conceivably have a big impact on a PowerMac's street price.
Apple has made another engineering decision that may make the final prices of the first three PowerMac models a bit steeper than they first appear. Although all three will be equipped with a video RAM slot, the Knife's sources say it will be empty. Instead, they will use dynamic RAM for video, in the same manner as the old Mac IIsi. While this scheme may allow Apple to shave the price of the first PowerMacs a bit, users demanding maximum video performance will certainly opt to install dedicated VRAM. There will be room for up to 4 Mbytes.
Sources also say that the floppy drive in the PowerMacs will have its own DMA chip. So, after 10 years of waiting, you'll at last be able to format a floppy disk in the background.
Mixing it up
No matter how cheap or how fast the PowerMacs are on their arrival, it's still a mixed-platform world. For the most part, that means Windows. As slick as Insignia's SoftWindows solution is, a surprisingly large portion of Apple's large customers think that a Houdini-type 486 board for PowerMacs would be a better solution than even the most elegantly implemented software-emulation scheme. And because Apple is in a mode of listening to its customers, there's at least an even chance that a PowerMac 486 board will some day be produced.
Now, as to whether or not Apple itself will manufacture this board, the Knife isn't making odds. With Apple and IBM so intimately involved in licensing and manufacturing agreements, anything is possible. Last week, for example, the rumor mill was rife with speculation that IBM might get into the business of both manufacturing and marketing PowerPC boards for 680x0 Macs. The market for such boards will indeed be huge, and the Knife has heard sources claim that IBM is already manufacturing accelerators for one of the Mac market's best-known players.
Modem of the gods
If you've been waiting patiently for Global Village to deliver the Duo version of its PowerPort/Mercury modem, you've got a little while longer to wait. Reports from the field indicate the discovery of a hardware bug that could delay initial shipments until the end of February. Use the time to contemplate the weirdness of Global's advertising campaign.
With Mother Nature on a tear, do you really want to wait any longer to trade with the Knife? He's at (415) 243-3544, fax (415) 243-3650, Internet (mac_the_knife@macweek.ziff.com), AppleLink (MacWEEK) or CompuServe/ZiffNet/Mac.
MacWEEK 01.24.94
Mac the Knife Page 82
(c) Copyright 1994 Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
