FREE! EVERY 1999 ISSUE OF MACWORLD HERE ON 2nd CD! MACWORLD
MARCH 2000 MORE NEWS, MORE REVIEWS MAC OS X REVEALED
Macworldwww.macworld.co.uk • iBOOK TIPS • DIGITAL CAMERAS iTools reviewed Apple’s free Internet goodies •
MACWORLD EXPO REPORTS Aqua iBook expert tips The best Mac OS ever! Everything you need to know Digital cameras tested Cool new interface 11 two-megapixel beauties
• Amazing features DREAMWEAVER 3 Super-fast
iBook Win one! Apple has finally revealed
68the progressive, new-look contents user interface that’ll complement its modern new operating system, Mac OS X. Feel the future of your Macintosh right now!
March 2000
11 This month’s cover CDs 79 95 111 features
103 create PDF All in the past Archiving Macworld 1999. 85 107 create web regulars 68 Mac OS X 85 Snap decision Feel the width Seamless streaming media. We examine and assess An in-depth look at two- the features of Apple’s megapixel digital cameras. 111 create graphics much-anticipated new A new dimension operating system. 95 Dreamweaver 3 Using Photoshop in 3D work. We put the latest 117 secrets 79 iBook tips version of the Web-design Out of site... Getting the most from your powerhouse under the Managing Web-site passwords iBook when out and about. microscope. Macworld Contents continues page 5
Macworld MARCH 2000 3 read me first Simon Jary, editor-in-chief
etting to know Mac OS X – with its Aqua interface full of pulsing be the end for the Calculator, Chooser, special effects – will take some time. It’ll take a lot longer than buying, Key Caps, Note Pad, Scrapbook and Stickies? G unpacking and setting up an iMac. It’ll take longer than installing Hell, even super-searcher new boy Sherlock a G4 upgrade in your old Power Mac; or even downloading QuickTime 4.1 doesn’t know where he’ll end up in Mac OS X. from the Web. Forget hardware problems, allen keys, and anti-shock bracelets. Conspiracy theorists, please note the picture It’s not the nuts and bolts that are screwy. It’s the software, stupid. of the Reichenbach Falls next to the Trash From this summer, we’re all going to have to make friends with the dynamic icon in the OS X screen on page 70… Dock, not feel sick at Apple’s magical Genie Effect, and learn to obey the new I like the Calculator, even if it isn’t perfect: it always hides traffic-light buttons. Just as we struggled with curious round mice and USB behind as many open windows as possible, and has no clear connections, so we must get comfortable with Apple’s new software surprises. key. But surely this maths mate will make it… It’s not all “Hello” and “Nice to meet you” with Mac OS X. It’s also time to The Chooser is another matter. I’ll be glad to see the back of wave goodbye to some trusty Mac stalwarts. Apple has not only run several this pompous player. It’s already taken a knock in Mac OS 8.5, thousand lines of ancient code out of town – it has also called in several key losing its network duties to the more desirable Network Browser. features, and handed them a long-overdue Power P45.There’s been tears in Now, we’ll likely see it give way on its unintuitive part in the printing process. the Apple labs, as heartbroken control panels, extensions and utilities file out I’ll also not miss the waste-of-space Note Pad and oh-so aptly named the door.There’s no room for deadwood in the shiny world of Mac OS X – let’s Scrapbook.The Dock’ll see off the Scrap. So it’s goodbye to the Teddy Bear, see which old functional friends are going to get the chop. pastel party-hat and Apple-branded Ferrari. It’s been a long time coming, One Mac interface element that Microsoft didn’t steal is the Apple menu – fellas. Don’t keep in touch. sticking it in Windows might have been a bit obvious even for the company’s How in the name of desk clutter did the Note Pad survive the arrival new chief software architect. Sitting proud at the far-left of the Mac’s top of the equally stupid but frankly yellow Stickies? This is one of those circular menubar. the Apple Menu has seen it all. It may have started out as a rather questions that, thank God, will disappear with the coming of X. anonymous black-&-white Apple, but it’s always been a great place to store Lots of Macworld readers were down in the dumps when Apple threw frequently used apps, Control Panels, Chooser and Scrapbook. out the UK’s very own Wastebasket. It didn’t take us long to get used to But Mac OS X’s bouncing bruiser – the all-singing, all-dancing Dock – has the bottom-right icon being renamed Trash – after all, it looked more like forced the Apple Menu right off the end of the menubar.The Apple Menu a trash-can than it ever did a wastebasket. So what have Mac OS X’s icon hasn’t just been Shut Down, it’s been Put Down. In honour of its long years designers come up with, just a few months later? A Trash icon that is a of software service, the Apple Menu has a monument on OS X’s lined menubar photo of a wastebasket.What do we think of that? Rubbish. – a central, blue Apple logo that’s pixel-pretty but essentially impotent. Mac OS X’s many advances will also see off several third-party favourites At the other end of the menubar, is the much-clicked Applications menu. – most noticeably on the font side: Adobe Type Manager,Type Reunion, Guess what, the dastardly Dock has punched that innocent icon off the shelf, Suitcase, et al. Apple now has its own anti-aliasing and grouping technologies, too. Mac OS X collects all your open apps and minimized documents in the although it won’t take long for others to find new fixes for font foibles. bottom-of-the-screen-hugging Dock. It might be painful – it might be sad – but we’ll soon have to bid farewell to Apple has ditched the old Parisian servants-live-at-the-top tradition for many aspects of the Mac OS that we’ve grown accustomed to. But, remember, a Victorian servants-live-in-the-basement way of working. Some interface there was only a very brief period of mourning when Mac OS 8.5 cut up the experts are disappointed that Apple didn’t site the Dock to one side of the once-fêted Jigsaw Puzzle, which itself had done in the older sliding-block screen, maybe even both. In a world where most documents are longer than puzzle.While we’ll live with the passing of this legion of legacy interface they are wide, vertical screen space is much more valuable than horizontal. zombies, I am absolutely sure that, with Mac OS X, Apple will bring us a new You might be wondering where the residents of the now-deceased Apple dysfunctional family of silly-named tools and equally useless desktop junk. Menu will be moving to. And this is where things become less clear. Could this And I’ll be first to welcome them all aboard. MW
110 online competition 48 121 competition 4th Dimension WIN! Standard Edition 6.5 an iBook
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IntelliMouse Explorer news 23 iMacs get speed-ramp 123 Reader Offers 53 Star Wars Episode 1 Racer 24 Apple logo redesigned
125 Expert Advice/Buyers’guide reviews Metro 5.0 26-27 Jobs in media spotlight Top Mac system advice;and buying advice. 53 Action Utilities 29 Apple boost for schools 129 Star Ratings/Buyers’guide 56 Pro Tools 5.0 Macworld’s product ratings;plus a full year’s index. 30-31 A history of the digital Tektronix Phaser 850 142 Reseller Guide Part 2: The Internet Complete listings of Apple-accredited dealers for the UK. 57 Civilization: Call to Power 33 Business News 145 Macworld Shopping 58 CBFW 2 34 Mac OS X: flash or trash? Consumer advice and mail-order ads. FireWire 2 GO 37-42 Product News Corel Custom Photo 6 read me first opinions Mac zombie cull 59 Adobe Acrobat 4.05 45 first contact 60 Guitar Method 1.2 Jobs joins jet-set Sorenson Broadcaster 47 prochak A new role for Gates 63 MetaCreations Carrara 210 desktop critic 54 PREVIEW: FreeHand 9 Crash-landing for Apple?
Macworld MARCH 2000 5 Contacts
who... @ Editor-in-Chief Simon Jary [email protected] Macworld Deputy Editor David Fanning [email protected] News Editor Jonathan Evans [email protected] The ultimate reference guide and news Reporter Louise Banbury [email protected] source for the Macintosh market. Managing Editor Sean Ashcroft [email protected] Sub Editor Woody Phillips [email protected] Subscribe Editorial Co-ordinator Seth Havens [email protected] Art Director Mandie Johnson [email protected] Art Editor James Walker [email protected] Associate Designer David Grant [email protected] Managing Editor/Online Gillian Robertson [email protected] CD Editor Vic Lennard US Editor Andrew Gore Contributing editors Peter Worlock, David Pogue, Deke McClelland, Lon Poole, Michael Prochak, Ian Winter, Simon Eccles, Joseph Schorr, Franklin Tessler, Bruce Fraser, Christopher Breen, David Biedny, Matthew Bath
Group Advertising Manager Mustafa Mustafa [email protected] Senior Sales Executive Dean Payn [email protected] Display Sales Executive James Poulson [email protected] Classified Sales Executive Eamon McHugh [email protected] Production Manager Sharon Bird [email protected] Deputy Production Manager Richard Bailey [email protected] Production Assistant Sam French [email protected] Deputy Marketing Manager Jo Brown [email protected] Find out how you can get hold of Direct Marketing Executive Jim Birch [email protected] Painter Classic FREE when you Marketing Co-ordinator Kelly Crowley [email protected] subscribe to Macworld – see page 103. Publisher Guy Eaton [email protected]
? Subscribe More winners, more great prizes Hearty congratulations to our three winners of December’s Digital Origin EditDV FX competition.They are: Mr A Evans,Stroud,Gloucestershire;Mr M Brockbank,Barrow-in-Furness,Cumbria;and Mr A Wardrop,Llandeilo, Macworld (UK) is an independent journal not affiliated with Apple Computer Inc. Carmarthenshire. Apple, the Apple logo, Mac, and Macintosh are registered And well done to the winners of December’s Macworld Jackpot give-aways,who are: trademarks, of Apple Computer Inc. Norton Utilities 5.0: George Hilton,Preston,Lancashire;Daniel Cohen,London NW1;Martin Fzczerbicki,Brighton,East Sussex; All contents © IDG 2000, Chris Dart,Sutton,Surrey;and Mr CR Spencer,Stafford,Staffordshire. except articles adapted from Macworld US, or from MacWEEK © Mac Publishing LLC. The Plot to get Bill Gates and Infinite Loop:Peter Wood,Waterlooville,Hampshire; Mr M Hill,Farnham,Surrey;Richard Turner,Liverpool,Merseyside;and Geoff Taylor, Macworld is a publication of IDG Communications, 99 Gray’s Inn Road, London WC1X 8UT. Kidlington,Oxfordshire Telephone: (0171) 831 9252 Editorial fax: (0171) 405 5308 Sales fax: (0171) 405 0262 Virex 6.0 and Norton Antivirus:Brian Hogg,Westhill,Aberdeenshire;Collin Gardiner, ISSN 1356-9503 London EC2; Paul Barrett,Leeds,West Yorkshire;Antonia Reeves,Edinburgh,Midlothian.
Colour Origination: Lumis Colour Congratulations also to Mr J P Snee from London,who is the winner of an iMac,courtesy Printed by St Ives (Plymouth). Covers printed by Hubbards (Sheffield). of the Borders in-store promotion,in association with Macworld and Camelot. Macworld is printed on paper produced in sustainable forests.
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8 Macworld MARCH 2000 Join in the debate,and get your queries answered at the Macworld Forum (www.macworld.co.uk/forum). Macworld Free – full CorelDRAW 8 LE package! Plus playable demos of Star Wars Episode 1 Racer and Quake III Arena, and all the latest demos, shareware and updaters. In the guise of Anakin Skywalker,Vic Lennard leads the way…
Install Me Before you start working your way through the software on our CD, go to the System Utilities folder and make sure you install the following: QuickTime 3.0.2 Acrobat Reader+Search 4 Also included Many of the demos need this installed. It Install this version to be able to read many of the on-screen manuals. A number of useful utilities such as Apple Game Sprockets 1.1.4, gives you QuickTime 3.0.2 plus the MPEG,VR, StuffIt Expander and DropStuff OpenGL 1.1.2, InternetConfig 2.0 and Apple Appearance plus essential Musical Instruments and PowerPlug add-ons. Versions 5.5, 5.1.2 and 4.5 are included. items such as Apple Disk Copy and Drive Setup.
Some of the programs on this month’s CD need QuickTime 4… … so we’ve included QuickTime 4.02.To install the latest system extensions, control panel and utilities, drag the folder from Apple Standards inside System Utilities on our CD to your machine.Then drag-&-drop the QuickTime Install Cache file on to the QuickTime Installer and follow the on-screen prompts.The installer is a complete stand-alone package and does not need an Internet connection. CorelDRAW 8 LE: Full working version!
Preview the award-winning power of CorelDRAW 8 without being limited by a time-sensitive trial. Discover an incredible collection of tools for illustration, page layout, photo editing and painting with CorelDRAW 8 Limited Edition for Mac.This exciting version is a comprehensive solution for Mac users who want immediate functionality and don’t require all the features of the full CorelDRAW package for professionals.With Live Effects, professional colour management features and outstanding compatibility, CorelDRAW 8 Limited Edition for Mac delivers exceptional creative freedom. Designed specifically for the Mac OS, CorelDRAW 8 Limited Edition provides professional graphic designers, illustrators and desktop publishers, as well as graphics enthusiasts, with a comprehensive collection of tools for vector illustration, page layout, graphic design, image editing and raster/bitmap creation. The ease-of-use factor is high: Live Effects allows you to change effects applied to objects without starting from scratch.The inter- active tools can be used for numerous effects like drop shadows, blends, extrusions, fills, transparencies and more.The program is also highly compatible with other graphics programs and formats, including Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, QuickTime, PDF,EPS,TIFF,GIF,JPEG, PICT, PCD and many more. Additionally, maintain layers when opening and editing Corel PHOTO-PAINT 8 or Photoshop image files within CorelDRAW 8 and use most of your existing Photoshop plug-ins. CorelDRAW 8 Limited Edition uses the industry-standard Kodak Digital Science Color Management System and standard ICC colour profiles to ensure colour accuracy during scanning, on-screen and when printing. Also included is Corel PHOTO-PAINT 8, an excellent, fully-featured image creation and retouching program. The package requires a Power Mac, Mac OS 8.1 or higher and 32MB RAM with virtual memory enabled. And it’s yours to use – for keeps!
More CD contents on page 12 Macworld MARCH 2000 11 Also on the CD
APPLE (in the System SOUND & MUSIC Utilities folder): Nine applications including: Serious Software Final Cut Pro 1.2.1 Update Eartraining 2.6.2 iMac DVD-ROM Update 1.0 Sound Sculptor II 2.4.2 Mac M/gement Server 1.2.2 VB-1 Virtual Bass Plug-In Extensis Suitcase 8.2 Mac OS 9 Audio Update 1.1 Macintosh Manager 1.2.2 Suitcase 8 is a collection of powerful font manage- Open Transport 2.6 Update ment utilities that make working with fonts faster COMMS & INTERNET and easier than ever before. Group fonts and open 19 applications including: Anarchie 3.7 them only when you need them, and have Suitcase Shockwave open fonts automatically when an application is ViaHTTP 1.7.2 UTILITIES launched. Other tools allow you to organize your Ten categories comprising FONTS over 50 useful tools for your fonts, prevent font conflicts, view fonts in font menus FontShowcase 1.2 Mac including: in WYSIWYG format, and have missing fonts in Aladdin DropZip 5.5 QuarkXPress documents open automatically. GRAPHICS Alpha 7.2 Six items including: BeHierarchic 4.1.1 Suitcase 8.2 is Mac OS 9-compatible and includes A Smaller GIF 1.21 Check Folders 1.3 an updated version of MenuFonts.Try the complete Knot 3.8 EpsonShare 1.4 package for 30 days. RainbowPainter 1.6.0 FinderPop 1.8.4 Twilight 1.0.2 FoldersSynchronizer 1.8.1 Jeremy’s CSM Bundle 2.0.2 LCDtest 1.0.1 MacArmyKnife 1.7.1 Finale PrintMusic! 2000 PrintToPDF 1.1.1 QXP Images Catalog 2.0 PrintMusic! 2000 is the fastest way to create, play and Symbionts 2.8.4 Team Scheduler 1.3.1 print sheet music. Its new Instrument Set-up Wizard lets textSOAP 2.0.1 you select the instruments you need, then sets up your Troi-Coding-Plug-in1.5 score perfectly on any page size you specify, with staff ICON UTILITIES plus five XPress XTensions IconBuilder Pro v1.0 names, transpositions, groupings and clefs. Music is UPDATERS spaced automatically as you enter it in step- or real-time, INFO This month’s dedicated giving you the look of a finished piece of music 1984 on-line issue 20 updaters folder includes over AppleWizards Nov 99 90MB of patches to bring throughout your creative process. It also sports a new, ATPM 512/601 many popular applications more professional-looking default font, Maestro, which Extension Overload v4.7 bang up-to-date, including: more accurately reflects actual engraved music: bolder MyMac 56/57 Aurora Fuse 1.8.3 plus seven items for developers Excel 98 Y2K Update noteheads, elegant clefs and classical articulations. FaxStfPro 5.2 Demo is fully featured but save-disabled. FileMaker Pro 5.0v2 HP DesignJet 1050C/1055CM LexiVerb 2.0 Logic Platinum 4.1.2 Font Reserve 2.5 Macally USB Manager v2.2 MacLinkPlus/Mac OS 9 MasterJuggler 2.0.3 Font management with complete flexibility in organizing, MATHS & SCIENCE Norton AntiVirus 5 & 6 (01/00) maintaining and using your fonts – that’s Font Reserve. It Four utilities including: SoundJam MP 1.6 PowerCalc 5.1 Toast 4.0.1.1 takes complete control of fonts and provides an intelligent, The Atomic Mac 3.5.8 Virex (01/00) flexible and easy-to-use browser interface. Font Reserve pre-processes all the fonts in your system, extracts complete font information and organizes them in a database so you Other demos & trials include: never have to touch your physical font files again. Now includes Action WYSIWYG (30-day trial), compatibility Funnel Web Lite 3.6 with Mac OS 9 and plug-ins for Illustrator and QuarkXPress. MacWasher 1.0.2 Demo allows 100 fonts to be added to the database. Now Up-to-Date/Contact 3.8 QuicKeys 4.1 Don’t miss… Spell Catcher 8.1 Cool Extras! Mac OS X Movies VSE Be Found 1.5.1 The shape of things to come… The Apple Startup Set 4.5 Shareware Superb set of new icons Many programs on this CD are shareware, which means that Uli’s Moose 2.1 Manic talking mooooose!! if you keep them and use them for more than the allowed time (usually up to 30 days) then you must pay for them. Mac ISPs Internet access offers from Treat shareware as budget-priced commercial programs – Abel Internet, AppleOnline & FreeUK. support shareware authors so that they continue to provide plus… Many thanks to IconFactory (www.iconfactory.com) for the icons used on our CD high-quality programs for the Mac.
12 Macworld MARCH 2000 More CD contents on page 14 Star Wars Episode 1 Racer
Remember the fantastic podrace scene in Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace? Well now you get to drive a podracer around the incredible Boonta Eve Classic race at Tatooine. Choose from the six racers, studying their vehicle statistics to see which one will give you the edge, and inspect your podracer. Then it’s up to the starting line and you’re off – on a three-lap, high-speed blast around the open areas and tight, twisty bends that is Tatooine. Drag the folder to your hard disk before installation. Demo requires at least a G3/233MHz with a Rage Pro video card/Open GL 1.1.2, and 32MB RAM with virtual memory set to at least 64MB. Go through the Read Me carefully before installation.
Quake III Arena
Welcome to the next generation of multiplayer gaming. In this demo you can view Quake 3 Arena’s tremendous 3D engine, play the most violent deathmatches ever known to man, and practice offline using id software’s most advanced bots.Try out the weapons. Run around the incredible maps. Fight against the best artificial intelligence ever seen – and then join one of the many Internet-based multiplayer games.Warning: the game carries a ‘17’ age rating. This demo requires a G3, 64MB RAM minimum and a video card that supports 3dfx’s Glide or OpenGL (Rage Pro or better). Please note: ignore the Readme alias. Look inside Extras/Help to find the Read Me and manual.
Games World
Top of the list is a three-level demo of Ferazel’s Wand, Ambrosia Software’s latest winner. Card players will enjoy 500 Cards 2.0.1 and Romi 2.0 while David’s Backgammon 3.0.3, Dominoes 1.2, Reversi Unlimited and Vanessa Chess 1.5 will satisfy board gamers. Skittles 2 and Mega Minesweeper are nice plays on classic games, and the puzzlers among you should aim for AlphaNatix – Urban Legends and PerTetride v1.1. And arcaders won’t miss out: there’s Galactica – Anno Dominari and The 20th Century Aerial Joust. AlphaNatix – Urban Legends Ferazel’s Wand
Macworld CD catalogue FAULTY COVER CD-ROM? Courtesy of Mark Pirri’s superb DiskTracker program,
If your cover CD doesn’t seem to work as it should Macworld brings you a searchable catalogue of all our please check you have read all the instructions on the CDs from 1997 to 2000 – over 138,000 files! This will cover disc pages carefully first. If it still doesn’t work, then please email Woody Phillips at [email protected]. grow month by month to allow you to find any file you want, without wearing out your CD-ROM drive.The If your cover disc is broken and you want a replacement CD, please contact Kelly Crowley, on 0171 344 4375, or at [email protected]. latest version of DiskTracker (1.1.4) is also included – don’t forget to register if you find our library useful.
14 Macworld MARCH 2000 Macworld archive cover CD, page 16 Macworld Our second CD this month contains PDF files of all editorial pages from last year’s issues of Macworld – plus our Digital Publishing special report.
Free! The entire 1999 Macworld back-catalogue
Courtesy of Adobe Acrobat, you can now read on-screen, all listed. Acrobat Reader 4 – included on the CD – requires a Power 856 editorial pages from the 1999 issues of Macworld plus the Mac. Additionally, you’ll need to give around 25MB of memory to 36-page Digital Publishing special report that appeared with the Acrobat Reader 4, due to the graphic-intensive nature of the pages. October issue. Even better, the entire collection is searchable For more information, have a look at this month’s Create PDF – just type in a word or phrase and all pages containing it will be feature on page 103.
A how-to guide to the PDF archive-CD
Install Acrobat Reader+Search, which can be found in the Install Me 1st folder. Once installed, increase Acrobat’s memory allocation to 25MB. Double-click on the Issue Selector file. Click on a cover: this takes you to the Contents page for that issue. Use the floating Bookmark palette to move around the magazine. This can be toggled on/off via your F5 keyboard function key. You can also move directly to a feature by clicking on its title on the Cover or the Contents page.The cursor changes to a pointing finger. Clicking on a Web site address in News, Product News, Opinions, Once in Issue Selector,simply click on the cover that Reviews, Features, Creates, Secrets and Q&A takes you to that site via contains the content you wish to access. your browser.The cursor changes to a pointing finger with a ‘W’ on the back of the hand. Zoom in by using ⌘-
Using the search facility
Start at the Issue Selector and click on one of the covers. Double-click on an item in the list.You’ll be taken to the ⌘-shift-X gets the Index Selector. Macworld 1999 should be relevant page with the word highlighted. ⌘-] takes you to the next checked. If not, go to the 1999 folder on our CD and select it there. occurrence, ⌘-[ to the previous one. ⌘-shift-F then brings up the Search window.Type in a word or ⌘-shift-G takes you back to the Results window. phrase you would like to find and click on OK to bring up the ⌘-shift-W brings up the Word Assistant – use this if you’re Results window showing all occurrences. having problems with a particular word.
16 Macworld MARCH 2000 news X marks the spot for new-look
t a packed Macworld Expo keynote had not been given an early look at Aqua. It Next-generation speech, Apple’s co-founder Steve Jobs apparently stunned even some of Apple OS X wowed the Mac faithful with the software engineers – amazingly including Apple Mac OS X revamps first-ever public viewing of Mac OS X. product manager for Mac OS X, Ernest Prabhakar He also unveiled an all-new Apple – who had been kept in the dark on many of the user interface AWeb site and innovative Internet strategy, with the new-look elements. Aqua Apple ultimate goal of making Apple’s computers show Aqua has been a top-secret project at Apple for and re-engineers up Windows PCs rather than merely stay even. the past 18 months, with Jobs claiming that over Jobs also dropped the “interim” part of his job 2,000 people worked on the new OS. According repository at the bottom of your Mac’s screen. before, the consumer market was overall system title, becoming Apple’s permanent CEO after two to Apple, extensive testing has determined the The interface aims to be “better yet familiar”, considered the tail of the dog. Well, we’re driving and a half years as acting chief executive. viability of the lush new interface. Ken Bereskin, says Avie Tevanian, senior vice president for advanced technology back to the consumer. That’s Many analysts had expected Apple to preview director of OS technologies, says that Apple is software engineering. “Aqua pushes the envelope, how the whole PC business started.” performance. new hardware products – particularly a revamped now making only refinements to the OS, not but it doesn’t create a whole new envelope… we Regarding the fate of Mac OS X Server, version PowerBook, code-named “Pismo”. But Jobs said implementing new components: “All the big want to preserve the best elements of the Mac OS.” 1.2 should be out by the time you’re reading this. • Aqua revealed that Apple was now thinking “beyond the box”, things are well on their way to being complete”. One OS for all Apple will concentrate on a It will be the last release of Mac OS X Server as a and went on to detail a strategic Internet plan Aqua makes extensive use of colour and single-OS strategy, unlike Microsoft’s multiple separate code base from Mac OS X. According to • New Net strategy and a schedule for Apple’s next-generation transparency; for example, red, green and amber Windows operating systems. This means that former Rhapsody Report editor Raven Zachery, all operating system. buttons at the top left of each window close, the operating system must please iMac/iBook indications are that Mac OS X Server will simply • Jobs becomes maximize or minimize the window. consumers as much as Power Mac/PowerBook be a software bundle – including WebObjects; Mac OS X: so good you’ll want to lick it Apple’s plan for Mac OS X includes five major professionals. This should mean greater AppleShare IP; NetBoot; and other services – that permanent CEO ‘Lickable’ Aqua The first glimpse of what Mac goals: a single OS strategy, state-of-the-art compatibility across applications. Jobs considers can be installed on top of Mac OS X. This is a OS X will actually look like was the centrepiece of plumbing, killer graphics, design for the Internet Aqua the ideal user interface for consumers similar arrangement to AppleShare IP running on Jobs’ keynote speech. Besides touting such now- and a gentle migration path for users. All of these and power users alike, making a comparison top of Mac OS 9. familiar Mac OS X components as Darwin, Cocoa goals, Jobs said, will allow Apple to make the to Pixar’s Toy Story 2, which aimed to entertain Easy navigation Mac OS X will also feature and Quartz, Jobs unveiled Aqua, the new system’s next great personal operating system. both children and adults – on different levels. “state-of-the-art plumbing”, according to Jobs. As user interface. Jobs said that the liquid-like Aqua Principal Mac OS X features include the ‘Dock’, “Who says consumers don't want and need the part of this “plumbing”, Aqua features enhanced will make users want to “lick their screen”. Key which replaces the Applications and Apple menus best technology?" says Phil Schiller, Apple’s vice navigation features, which Jobs claimed represent developers, such as Macromedia and Microsoft, by creating an ultra-visual file and program president for worldwide marketing. “Always a better implementation of the current Mac Finder. While the current Mac OS “generates a ton of windows, and you get to be the janitor”, Jobs said, Mac OS X offers a more-convenient management teve Jobs is no longer interim chief The Gulfstream V jet (left) is the latest must- of open windows. Sexecutive officer of Apple Computer – Steve Jobs sticks with Apple have accessory for IT CEOs. Last month, Mark Killer graphics Good news for 3D after announcing at San Francisco’s Macworld Cuban, co-founder of Broadcast.com, bought professionals and consumer gamers – Expo 2000 that he is to drop the ‘interim’ and the airplane online for a cool $40 million. Mac OS X’s imaging layer will include become permanent CEO of the company. In The Gulfstream V is the latest top-of-the- built-in OpenGL, the industry’s most- recognition for his service to the company Co-founder will stay range business jet, with a range of 7,500 miles. widely supported 3D graphics during the past two and a half years, Apple’s In essence, it is a fully loaded stretch limo that technology. OpenGL operates alongside board of directors has offered Jobs a stack of for four-to-five years flies. It seats up to 13 passengers and flies at Apple’s PDF-based Quartz technology share options and his very own jet. speeds of up to 560mph. It has a 50ft cabin and QuickTime’s multimedia As part of an extraordinary compensation – gets jet, 10m shares stuffed full of leather furniture and desks. capabilities. offer following the announcement of Apple’s This would enable Steve to fly directly from Strong foundations At the core $183 million first-quarter profit, Apple’s board Apple’s Cupertino HQ to London non-stop, of Mac OS X is Darwin, Apple’s has voted to grant Jobs stock options to without having to slum it with the general advanced operating system kernel. purchase 10 million shares of Apple common From an organizational standpoint, Apple know what that next big thing might be, but I public.To say this plane is a luxury model Darwin is Linux-like, and brings an stock.The options were granted a week before seems stronger than ever before – with less have a few ideas.Whatever it is, it will be much would be a gross understatement, it is the entirely new foundation to the Mac OS, the profits announcement, when Apple’s stock than a day’s inventory weighing down the easier and better to use Apple as the closest reality to the Imperial Leather offering Macintosh users true memory protection closed at $97. At the time of writing, Apple company’s revenues. springboard than to have to start from commercial - with the bath on the plane - that for higher reliability, pre-emptive multitasking for shares were sitting pretty at $111 – a potential That’s the real reason Jobs stripped the scratch.” there has ever been. smoother operation among multiple applications, profit of $140,000,000 already for Jobs. word ‘interim’ from his title.“Apple offers me Jobs says he plans to stay with Apple at Ironically, in the Fortune interview, Jobs said and fully Internet-standard TCP/IP networking. a base that I would be foolish to walk away least four or five more years. He still wants to that the decision to go without pay has served For more on Mac OS X – which Jobs said Return of the Mac from,” Jobs told Fortune magazine journalist be known as iCEO, though – swapping the him well:“I didn’t return to Apple to make a “will bring the Mac legacy into the next century” Apple’s stock set an all-time high of $118 in Brent Schlender.“Think about it. By the end of ‘interim’ for ‘Internet’,because “it’s cool”. fortune. I’ve been very lucky in my life, and – and Aqua, see our feature from page 66. early December 1999, and has hovered around this year we’ll have maybe $5 billion in the Jobs, whose annual salary remains a token already have one.When I was 25, my net worth Developers rally round Aqua Apple $100 ever since – a staggering eight times the bank, the Macintosh will be thriving, hopefully $1, has taken no compensation since was $100 million or so. I decided then that I announced that more than 100 leading software $12 price at its low point, shortly after Jobs our Internet services will be a big hit, and our returning to the company over two years ago. wasn’t going to let it ruin my life.There’s no developers have pledged their support for OS X. regained control. engineering teams will be operating at the Since then, Apple’s market capitalization has way you could ever spend it all, and I don’t In a series of rapid-fire, personal-appearance Under co-founder Jobs, Apple has made a peak of their games. I’m always keeping my risen from less than $2 billion to over $16 view wealth as something that validates my testimonials from third-party developers, Adobe remarkable turnaround. Apple now has a eyes open for the next big opportunity, but billion.The Apple board is showing its intelligence. I just wanted to see if we could executive vice president Bruce Chizen said his strong, focused product line-up – including the way the world is now, it will take appreciation for Apple’s performance under work together to turn this thing around when company is “committed to having all our key apps the incredibly successful iMac and the US enormous resources, both in money and in Jobs’ leadership by giving him the luxury jet the company was literally on the verge of at least Carbonized by the time Mac OS X ships”. number-one portable computer, the iBook. engineering talent, to make it happen. I don’t and options, said board member Ed Woolard. bankruptcy.” MW continues page 20
18 Macworld MARCH 2000 For the information as it happens visit Macworld Online Daily News (www.macworld.co.uk),updated throughout the day For the information as it happens visit Macworld Online Daily News (www.macworld.co.uk),updated throughout the day Macworld MARCH 2000 19 news
Macromedia’s Rob Burgess said he was “speechless” following the OS X demo, calling it “beautiful”. He said that his company was able to port Flash to Mac OS X in a week and a half using just one engineer… “and he wasn’t even that good”, Burgess quipped. He promised to deliver all Macromedia’s applications to OS X. Acting general manager of Microsoft’s Mac business unit, Kevin Browne promised to release Mac OS X versions of Internet Explorer and Outlook Express at the same time OS X is released this summer. Quark’s president of desktop development, Richard Jones promised to support the Mac “for the long term”. Palm Computing’s new CEO Carl Yankowski also offered to support OS X. When can we have it? Mac OS X reaches final beta this spring. It will then be released in the summer, maybe as early as Macworld Expo, New York. Finally, all Apple machines will be preloaded with the new OS in January 2001.
Internet revamp iBook lovers Jobs also used his expo keynote to unveil the Announcing that Apple portable computers held an 11 per cent company’s highly anticipated Internet strategy. share in the US laptop market, Jobs listed impressive figures for Think pre-digital Packing iTools At the core of Apple’s the consumer iBook. He called the iBook a “runaway success, Jobs informed the keynote audience that Internet strategy is iTools, a new category of with 11 per cent of iBook purchasers being first-time computer Apple will continue with its ‘Think Internet services that takes advantage of Apple’s buyers and 17 per cent “Wintel switchers” . For 56 per cent of Different’ campaign, this year honouring technology on both ends of the Net – Mac OS 9 customers, the iBook was their first portable computer in the film directors to fit in with the company’s on the client side and services software (iTools) home, with 90 per cent of them on the Internet, Jobs said. digital-video focus. Alfred Hitchcock, running on Apple’s Internet servers. Charlie Chaplin (behind the camera), “iMac users can get everything else on the Frank Capra, Stanley Kubrick and Francis Web that everyone else gets, plus all these new to fake an address in order to take advantage of Ford Coppola (looking amazingly like services. They can now do things on the Net that the free services. Apple says that iTools are Apple’s co-founder, Steve Wozniak), will Wintel users can only dream of,” boasted Jobs. “optimized for users in North America”. all feature in the black-&-white brand iTools are designed to take particular In an interview with Macworld, the director of campaign in 2000. advantage of Mac OS 9, and OS X when it hits Mac OS worldwide product marketing, Peter the market. Eddie Cue, senior director of Internet Lowe said that Apple “wants to roll out the new services gushes: “We’re the first to really let the Internet services internationally”, but he couldn’t operating system play a key part in Internet give us a date when UK users would have access computing. In some cases you won’t even need to the Mac-specific services. your browser to take advantage of an iTool.” Lowe, who is in charge of the new Internet Apple announced its first four iTools at programme, told Macworld that “other English- Macworld Expo: KidSafe, “a breakthrough way” speaking countries” would get the iTools “next” to protect kids on the Internet; Mac.com, giving after quality issues had been proven in North users an exclusive email address on the Internet; America. iTools require “levels of localization and iDisk, a new way to store, transfer and share files regionalization” before any roll-out elsewhere in over the Internet; and HomePage, an easy way to the world – particularly in non-English-speaking build your own personal Web site “in less than 10 countries. iTools also require Mac OS 9. minutes” using smart Apple templates. Apple’s new-look Web site The newly Jobs called iDisk the “most profound” of all redesigned Apple.com Web site, which currently the iTools, and it is indeed key to several of the draws nearly ten million visitors per week, also others. iDisk provides every Mac OS 9 user with features iReview and iCards. iReview is a Web-site 20MB of free data-storage space on Apple’s review guide, with Web sites reviewed and rated servers. iDisk also provides a “public folder” so by Apple. iCards is Apple’s electronic greeting- that you can make stuff available for other Web- card site, offering good-looking greetings cards connected Macintosh users to see or download. that can be sent and viewed via standard email. What makes iDisk different to other Internet- Jobs said that existing offerings made him based free-storage sites is that it looks and “embarrassed to be a human”. behaves just like a disk drive inside the machine. EarthLink bounty A new multi-year deal Users drag-&-drop files onto the iDisk icon makes EarthLink the exclusive Internet Service – and the next time the Mac goes online, it Provider in Apple’s Internet Setup Software, automatically uploads the data to Apple’s servers. included with all Macs sold in the US. Apple “I actually think that our new Internet services has made no comment on similar plans in the are going to be the equal of OS X in making the UK, or anywhere outside of the US. Apple profits Macintosh stand out,” says Jobs. “They’re so hot.” from each new Mac EarthLink customer. In Read our extensive iTools review on page 48. addition, Apple has invested US$200 million However, iTools require a US or Canadian Zip in EarthLink, and receives a seat on EarthLink’s code – and so currently requires worldwide users board of directors. MW
20 Macworld MARCH 2000 For the information as it happens visit Macworld Online Daily News (www.macworld.co.uk),updated throughout the day news First-ever iMac speed upgrade QuickTime 4.1 ewer Technology, developer of the first Power Mac processor upgrades, has stolen 466MHz G3 card promises pple has posted the latest N another march against its rivals by A version of QuickTime on introducing the iMAXpowr G3 466 processor to double oldies’speeds its Web site. A free download, upgrade card – the first-ever, third-party internal QuickTime 4.1 offers seamless speed ramp for the iMac. The upgrade boasts ad integration, improved a 466MHz G3 PowerPC processor with 1MB firewall navigation, AppleScript backside cache that runs on a 155MHz cache bus. support, multiple movie The upgrade will begin shipping in the first playback support, and support quarter of this year, and is designed for the first for variable bit rate MP3 files. four versions of the iMac (revs A, B, C and D). QT 4.1 also lets content It’s compatible with Mac OS 8.1 to OS 9. producers insert advertising into QuickTime streams, Chip replacement though Apple has not said The iMAXpowr G3 466 simply replaces the stock whether ads will begin to iMac processor card. When you buy the upgrade, appear on any QuickTime you get an instructional video as well as a printed channels.The company also manual, showing you how to open the case, pull posted version 2.0 of its out the Apple stock processor and install the QuickTime streaming server, upgrade. No software or drivers are required. featuring relay support, Pre-November 1999 iMacs are notoriously enhanced login and tricky to upgrade. Today’s latest iMacs – ranging authentication support. in speed from 350MHz to 400MHz – feature Finally, Apple introduced easier internal access. Today’s 350MHz iMac costs £799, including five new QuickTime channels, According to the company, the upgrade returns VAT; 400MHz models cost from £999. bringing independent film a processor benchmark score (using MacBench The company suggests that its beta testers and music to its bandwidth. 5.0) of 1,360 against a stock 233MHz iMac that found the upgrade to be “rock solid” in pre- The new channels include scores 719. Even the 333MHz rev. D iMac (score release trials. Eric Dahlinger of Newer Technology AtomFilms, New Venue, 929) gains from the upgrade. The upgrade costs said the upgrade will initially be available in the D.FILM, V2 records and $699 (about £450), though Newer is operating a US only – but with a thriving European iMac brandnewmusic.com. MW rebate scheme in which you may claim back up to market, UK distribution (contact AM Micro, – Louise Banbury $200 if you return your iMac’s original processor. 01392 426473) is possible this spring. MW AOL/Warner/EMI to boost Web content he merger of the music units of Time- becoming the medium of choice. Record T Warner and EMI, combined with AOL’s companies have resisted the move to online takeover of Time-Warner promises a music- distribution, with recording industry trade industry powerhouse destined to change groups fighting the MP3 standard, saying the face of the Web’s entertainment content. it too easily lets users trample copyrights. Los Angeles Times’ Chuck Philips called music Despite this, Arlen says:“No one knows which “the most immediately valuable way the music business is going, but they entertainment asset on the Internet.” know they have to be online.” Major artists, Warner-EMI’s international operations will like David Bowie however, are ahead of the be based in London.The combined AWE (AOL, game, favouring the downloading of music Warner, EMI) alliance is worth more than £300 for low prices or even free. billion, and puts the prospect of convergence MP3.com is a current victim of the music companies to create a rival standard to MP3 between old and new media back on table. industry’s anti-Web prejudice.The company that blocks users from hearing the sounds The deal was driven by technology, says rejects claims by the Recording Industry unless they have paid appropriate copyright analyst Gary Arlen. For Apple the deal can only Association of America (RIAA) that its site fees.This group moves very slowly, its lack of strengthen the company’s new,‘out-of-the- infringes copyright law. Michael Robertson, enthusiasm seen as symptomatic of the music box’ Internet-based strategy, as consumers CEO of MP3.com, said:“The RIAA’s action tells business’ lack of spirit for going online. find even more reasons to go online, looking consumers they are not entitled to take their In a statement regarding the merger, EMI for enriched Web content, the inevitable music into the digital age.” said:“EMI is optimistic about the prospects for by-product of the deal. EMI and Warner Music Group though, have the music industry. However, EMI’s continued Internet users have increasingly bought, separately supported the Secure Digital Music success requires an increasing commitment to sold and traded songs online, with MP3 Initiative, which is an effort by record new media.” MW
For the information as it happens visit Macworld Online Daily News (www.macworld.co.uk),updated throughout the day Macworld MARCH 2000 23 news Brand-new Apple IN unveiled
asked by all the excitement of San Francisco’s Macworld Expo 2000 was M Apple’s quieter – but significant – corporate rebranding. The first visible sign of the brand transformation was the company’s new-look US Web site – introduced during Jobs’ keynote speech – with its host of Web-friendly features (see page 20). The site – so far updated only in the US – was our first glimpse of the redesigned logo, now embossed and available in five iMac-like fruity, translucent colours, called “gems”. The company has redesigned all of its corporate stationery, including business cards, brochures and letterheads. In a further change, Apple has altered the corporate information on its press releases, changing its identity from “Apple Computer Inc.” to just “Apple”. Apple seems to be following in the footsteps of Sony, Nike and Gap, further refining and exploring its relaxed cool style of brand iMac-ization continues advertising. Dropping the “Computer” from its name would also fit in with the company’s with 21st century image expansion “beyond the box” into Internet and other multimedia sectors. for evolving Mac maker The company is thwarted from a total switch to calling itself plain “Apple” by the continued Penneger told Macworld she hadn’t heard of Apple existence of the Beatles’ Apple Corps, which Computer’s plans. occasionally releases Anthology LPs and looks The history of the Apple logo is a rich one. after mop-top concerns. Spokesperson Kathy Originally, it was a complex ink illustration of a seated Sir Isaac Newton, resting his back against a tree while reading (left). Above his head, hanging from a branch, was a glowing Apple. Circling this quaint tableau was a windswept banner reading “Apple Computer Co”. The logo was more Haight- OUT! Ashbury hippy than cool computer chic. In 1977, this ornate corporate logo made way for what has become one of the best-known and most-recognizable logos in modern history: the rainbow-coloured Apple (see below left). Last bite for In Apple’s “Guidelines for using the Apple logo” booklet, the company states that its identity “is one of our most important assets. We invest in it world-famous every time we use it.” “The recognizability and power of the Apple identity aren’t an accident. Over the years we’ve Apple logo built our name and logo into the symbols of that simplicity and friendliness,” Apple continues. teve Jobs commissioned a young art director, Rob Janov, to design the first rainbow- As we reported in the November 1999 issue of Scoloured Apple logo. Janov drew a simple, iconic apple shape, identifying it further Macworld, a recent Sterling Group survey of brand with a leaf sprouting from the top and a deep cut cleft into the bottom.To give it scale, recognition showed Apple to be one of the seventh Janov carved a bite mark on the right side of the Apple. best-known brands globally. Realizing that bleeding the spectrum of colours would be expensive, Janov proposed Two years ago, that logo stood for a company drawing a thin white line between each colour. Jobs, who had been bugging Janov day teetering on the brink of extinction. Now, with a and night, decided that this approach lacked class – and so the classic Apple logo was new brand identity and sales at an all-time high, born. the new-look logo is seen as a sign that Apple is In his book, Infinite Loop, Michael Malone quotes Mike Scott, Apple’s first CEO saying: putting its troubled past well behind it. For others, “That damned logo was an endless headache. Non-standard colours, seven separate print it’s a natural progression, as most people call the runs and then varnish on top of everything to keep the colours from bleeding. God company just Apple anyway. MW knows how much it cost Apple over the years.” – Jonny Evans
24 Macworld MARCH 2000 For the information as it happens visit Macworld Online Daily News (www.macworld.co.uk),updated throughout the day news Fortune favours our Steve
aving recently appeared on the cover always The ‘personal of prestigious publications such as come out Time (see Macworld, December, way late. computer 1999), Steve Jobs has once again On the other achieved newsstand celebrity status, hand, OS X is industry’s chief Has the 44-year-old Apple iCEO has been chosen like a software for a cover story appearing in wannabe fat cat’s space frame aesthetic officer’ bible Fortune magazine. made out of The insightful article, by journalist Brent titanium. It is so speaks out on his Schlender, states that if Jobs’ plan for Apple strong and light works out, “Microsoft, AOL, and others will be and well designed playing catch-up with a company left for dead that it lets us new vision for two years ago.” spend all of Schlender calls Steve Jobs “the personal- our resources Apple. computer industry’s chief aesthetic officer”, as innovating, not he catches up with him selecting iReviews icons reinforcing the Card shark in the boardroom at Apple’s headquarters in foundations.” Apple’s new free iCard service is another great Jobs idea for Cupertino, California. In the interview, Jobs seducing potential Apple customers. Portable plans on hold No detail is too trivial to escape Jobs’ scrutiny poo-poos ‘post-PC’ devices: “All Internet pages are as he passes final judgment on the look-&-feel laid out to be viewed on a PC. That’s one reason acworld Expo 2000 saw the keynote speech – said the company was – what he calls the “fit and finish” – of the series WebTV has failed. Beyond that, the Web is rich pipeline”. “I still spend a lot of my time working birth of ‘X’ as a 21st century announcing:“the best SCSI solution for of ambitious Apple software products and with things like Java and QuickTime and on new computers, and it will always be a primal M commodity, but no new Apple the new PowerBook ‘Pismo’.” Internet initiatives that he announced at RealPlayer and MP3 sound files. By the time you thing for Apple. But the user experience is what hardware announcements. Despite all “This demonstration shows the best Macworld Expo in San Francisco. build a device that [can handle those things], we care about most, and we’re expanding that the hype, rumour and guesswork, Apple’s SCSI solution for new PowerBook ‘Pismo’, you’ve got something that is like a PC without the experience beyond the box by making better use next-generation PowerBook failed to which has no SCSI port, and is also fully Mac in the lead disk drives, and is only about $50 cheaper than of the Internet.” make an appearance at the San Francisco backward compatible with current The high-tech showman believes Apple has got an iMac.” show.Whether it appears at February’s existent SCSI devices,” it continued. back to the business of altering the course of the But the Apple boss does let slip about some Consumer focus Tokyo Expo is in the lap of the Jobs. PC industry. non-PC development in the company labs: “I Apple is right to be concentrating on the Code-named ‘Pismo’,the new Policy decision “I don’t want to toot our own horn too much, won’t lie, we’re working on other digital devices consumer market, according to Jobs: “A lot of PowerBook is rumoured to have an PowerBook guru Jason D. O’Grady because it sounds arrogant, but the rest of the like everybody else. But I’m not convinced that people can’t get past the fact that we’re not going industrial design similar to the current reports that the new PowerBook “wasn’t industry is trying to copy our every move again, customers won’t pay a little bit more for a device after the enterprise market. But that’s like saying, model, with the possible addition of ready for prime time”.“Apple has a policy just like in the 1980s,” says Jobs. that’s not going to be obsolete in a year and that’s ‘How can the Gap be successful not making suits?’ some coloured or translucent accent of not announcing hardware that it “Every PC manufacturer is trying to copy the going to give them the full Internet experience, Well, we don’t make wingtips here either. panels.The biggest difference, in cannot ship within 30 days, and Pismo iMac in one way or another. And you can bet not an ‘Internet Jr.’ experience.” “It’s really hard to serve multiple masters – addition to the standard bumps of clock may have slipped outside that window,” they’ll be cloning iBook next year. The same goes different sets of customers with completely speed, RAM and hard disk, will be the O’Grady suggests.“A Go2Mac.com for our software. Our QuickTime streaming video Computer revival different points of view, requirements, and ways addition of dual 400Mbps, six-pin source assured me that a heat issue that player has this sleek, brushed-metal look on the Jobs is bullish about Apple’s future: “I don’t see of approaching computing. I think Microsoft is FireWire ports – at the expense of the cropped up in some early development screen. Well, a month ago Bill Gates announced enough innovation like that in our industry. My experiencing this. SCSI port – dual stacked 12Mbps USB units was fixed by repositioning a heat that Microsoft’s next Windows multimedia player position coming back to Apple was that our “I’ve always believed that the biggest market ports (running on independent buses), shield, effectively dropping the was going to feature a brushed-metal interface, industry was in a coma. It reminded me of Detroit for PCs is consumers. The Mac was originally an AirPort slot, a low-power ATI Rage 128 temperature to normal.” and that they’re coming out with Windows Movie in the ‘70s, when American cars were boats on intended to be a consumer PC. One of the big video card and a new 100MHz UMA O’Grady also picked up a slip in Steve Maker. So now we’ve got Microsoft copying us wheels. That’s why we have a really good chance arguments I had with [former Apple CEO] John motherboard. Pismo may even feature a Jobs’ keynote speech:“If you listened again too. And I don’t mind. I don’t mind.” to be a serious player again.” Sculley was that the Mac was designed to sell for full-sized “glowing” keyboard, if some carefully, you heard Steve virtually Apple, Jobs says: “has been a bigger company, “People are always asking, ‘What will be the $1,000. reports are to be believed. confirm that Pismo will ship with an but it has never been more capable or more next Macintosh?’ My answer still is ‘I don’t know “Yes, we overshot a little and it cost too much AirPort slot under the keyboard. He let profitable than today. The best thing is that we’re and I don’t care.’ Everybody at Apple has been to make to sell for that, but even so, I thought it Biding its time the cat out of the bag when he said that done patching the place up. Now we’re marching working really hard the last two and a half years should have sold for between $1,500 and $1,799. According to sources, Apple shelved all Apple products were now shipping forward on all fronts.” to reinvent this company. We’ve made tremendous John wanted to bump it up to $2,499. His vision a San Francisco Expo Pismo launch with AirPort. Freudian slip?”. Jobs is happy that Mac OS X will leap ahead progress. My goal has been to get Apple healthy was to keep on going all the way up and have because there was still a large volume With Japan home to the world’s most of the forthcoming Windows 2000: “Think of enough so that if we do figure out the next big Macs selling for $5,000 or $10,000. After I left, of current G3 PowerBooks in sales fanatical laptop customers, Macworld Windows and our older Mac OS’s as houses built thing, we can seize the moment. that’s exactly what Apple did. channels.The new portable professional Expo Tokyo seems the most likely Pismo with two-by-fours. You can build that kind of “Another priority was to make Apple more “By some measures, it worked. Apple made a Mac is, however,“ready and waiting” for a launchpad. house only so high before it collapses from its entrepreneurial and startup-like. So we fortune, although not as much as we’re making launch at the Tokyo show (held February PC Data’s Portables Hardware own weight. So as you start to build it higher, you immediately reorganized, drastically narrowed today. What they didn’t understand was that they 17-19). Other possible release dates Tracking Service showed that Apple’s have to spend 90 per cent of your time going the product line, and changed compensation for had thrown away one of the greatest chances include Apple’s Worldwide Developers iBook had earned the number one spot back down to shore up the lower floors with more senior managers so they get a lot of stock but no they’d ever get to win market share. They went Conference (May 15-18) or the Macworld for sales among all portable computers two-by-fours before you can go on to build the cash bonuses. The upshot is that the place feels for $1 billion in extra profits over four or five Expo in New York (July 18-21). in the US market in the last quarter 1999. next floor. That leaves you with only 10 per cent more like a young company.” years when what they really should have done A now-withdrawn press release from Apple’s portable range stole 10 per cent of your engineering budget to spend on actually Despite the expo’s focus on software, Jobs says was tell everybody they would make ‘normal’ expansion-card maker Ratoc Systems of all US portable computer sales in the innovating – it’s why new versions of Windows that Apple has some “amazing hardware in the profits and go for market share.” MW dated January 5 – the day of Jobs’ period. MW
26 Macworld MARCH 2000 For the information as it happens visit Macworld Online Daily News (www.macworld.co.uk),updated throughout the day For the information as it happens visit Macworld Online Daily News (www.macworld.co.uk),updated throughout the day Macworld MARCH 2000 27 news Half-price Apple for teachers iMacs & iBooks part of £20m government education computer discount scheme
pple enjoyed great success at January’s Nick Evans, marketing manager for BETT education technology show this year. Apple’s Education division said: “It’s A First came the announcement that the great for Apple to be recognized by the company has been chosen to take part in the educational community. It supports Apple’s government’s Computers for Teachers scheme. approach of designing kit with education The £20 million initiative was officially in mind.” launched at BETT, where Becta (the British He claimed the company made a significant Educational Communications and Technology number of sales at the show, not just to pple’s iBook Agency) announced the list of companies that educationalists but to educational vendors. Awon the award had won certification. “The BETT show is the now one of the major for Best Under the scheme, the government will rebate shows in Europe. Apple’s continued presence Information teachers half the price of a computer bought from there is important for its profile in the education Communications a certified supplier. The package includes delivery marketplace.” Technology (ICT) and installation, office software, connection to More good news for Apple came from software Hardware the Internet and access to the National Grid for developers exhibiting at BETT, many offering (Secondary) at BETT Learning. The scheme aims to improve teachers’ Mac-compatible products for the first time. awards. confidence and competence in ICT. The maximum Crocodile Clips, voted most effective resource The awards, now in their rebate is £500. for science by the Fischer Family Trust, is now second year, recognize excellence Nineteen companies received accreditation, available for the Mac. In related news a Europress in ICT development and including Apple, BT, Compaq, Dell, Fujitsu, Tiny, spokesman said: “All future products are to be innovation in education across and Gateway. dual format.” 14 categories. Apple also chose BETT as the forum to Design Science announced it will launch its Last year, Apple walked away launch its new Apple Store for Education A-Level maths package MathType for the Mac with two awards for the iMac, (www.apple.com/uk/education). This was designed this Autumn. Other companies exhibiting at the again in the Secondary Hardware to seal Apple’s relationships with educational show included: Softease (with a Mac version of category, as well as in the Primary purchasers, helping them find and purchase its Textease Multimedia DTP package), Cromwell, Hardware category. products for their schools, colleges or universities. Semerc, Ransom, The Learning Company, This year, the Primary Hardware The store has a build-to-order capability. Eurotalk and Humongous. award went to NST’s DreamWriter The company also showcased its AirPort Apple’s success at BETT is sure to increase – a low-cost handheld computer, wireless technology, which gained attention as the number of educational developers moving reminiscent of Apple’s the only major wireless-networking installation into the Mac-space. MW discontinued e-Mate.The winning at the show. – Louise Banbury & Jonny Evans model is not Mac-compatible, although the company does make a more basic version that can be connected to Macs. NST used the show to carry out some market research to gauge the popularity of a planned translucent lime green DreamWriter. Software publisher Crick won the Special Educational Needs Software award with Clicker 3 – an application that uses grids for writing and multimedia. At the moment, this is PC-only software – but version 4 will be available on the Mac platform in April, according to a Crick spokesman. Other winners included Apple’s assembly time BBC Schools Online, Sherston Apple Education had a big presence at BETT 2000. Its centrally located stand (right) drew much scholarly attention. Left: Nick Evans, Software, Blackcat Software, marketing manager for Apple Education, shows Michael Wills, Learning & Technology Minister (DFEE), a wireless iBook in action. LEGO and Widgit Software. Apple impressed the crowds at this professionals-only show with its interactive demonstrations of the iBook's abilities. – Louise Banbury
.++For the information as it happens visit Macworld Online Daily News (www.macworld.co.uk),updated throughout the day Macworld MARCH 2000 29 news
doubled every six to eight months for the last two years. Will the Web backbone snap under all that The next Internet weight? “I don’t foresee any impending blackout,” says Rick Miller, Internet backbone analyst for the research firm Cahners In-Stat. Miller says that enough bandwidth is available today to hat does half a decade amount Despite the current wave of interest in accommodate growth. But some industry In the second part to on the Net? A lot. Just five broadband connections (through DSL, cable, observers warn that the Net could get bogged of their ‘History of years ago, David Filo and Jerry or satellite modems), Jupiter analyst Zia Daniell down as video, audio, and other rich media Yang began the Yahoo list, Wigder says less than 25 per cent of future become more popular. To keep up, we may the digital future’, Microsoft registered the domain Internet users will connect to the Net that way, need “a 100 to 1,000-fold improvement in the Wname MSN.com, and Netscape released Navigator and widespread broadband use will take longer backbone, and each server may need to be 100 Glenn McDonald 1.0. Today there are more dot coms than one- than most people expect. Analogue dial-up to 1,000 times faster”, says Abdelsalam Heddaya, armed bandits in Vegas, and 150 million to 200 connections will be free for the asking, Wigder vice president of research and architecture at and Cameron million people are online. What a difference the says, and broadband companies will have Boston-based Infolibria. Alternatively, Infolibria Web makes. to sell consumers on paying for a superfast sells streaming-media software that bypasses Crotty look ahead So how will the Internet look in five more Internet connection. the Net backbone altogether by duplicating to a bigger, faster, years? For starters, the Web will be bigger, But while companies duke it out for wired Web video and audio files on ISP servers. DAVID ANGEL flashier, and noisier. Net consumers, both camps risk being kayoed more graphic-intensive Web sites loaded with universal Net. by technologies that let users connect with no The Internet, Part Two streaming video and audio clips. Net shopping Everybody in the pool filaments attached. A recent report sponsored Of course, there’s a big difference between having for everything from clothes to cars will begin to As sure as bugs in a Windows program, more by Nortel and published by the Yankee Group enough bandwidth available for the entire resemble the real-world activity, since buyers will users will be on the Internet five years from now. predicts that the number of wireless Internet Internet and having it available to you when you be able to look at products in detail – probably According to research firm Jupiter users – connecting mainly through wireless need it. As the Internet has become increasingly in 3D. Communications, only 37 per cent of US telephone networks – will grow from 3 million commercial and crowded, its original users – Shopping won’t be the only area of change. households were connected to the Net in 1998; today to 50 million by 2004. academics and researchers – have had a harder In the future, you may get most of your by 2003 this figure will have risen to 63 per cent The proliferation of users will also increase time accessing the communication lines. To entertainment – movies, music, videos – and news – and that’s a conservative estimate. data flow. Peak volumes of data traffic have mitigate this problem, developers of a new project on the Internet. Who knows? By the time George called Internet2 have set aside miles of fibre-optic Lucas finishes the next installment of his Star cable to devote to researchers’ use and to serve Wars prequel, you may be able to watch the as a test bed for future Internet applications and fall of Anakin Skywalker entirely from the Net. technologies. The project’s participants – which But the greatest gains offered by broadband include Nortel, Qwest, and Cisco – expect connections may be around-the-clock access to Next Amazon: hangin’ at the digital mall technologies developed and refined there to data, resulting in an Internet that is always on facilitate searches on the Internet, improve the in your house. For instance, instead of having to hat business doesn’t want to be the based provider of high-speed DSL services, reliability of streaming data (video, audio, and instruct Quicken to surf your bank’s Web site and next Amazon.com? Lots of sees a day when companies will buy the like), and generally create a more stable Net. download your transactions, future versions of W companies are vying for the spot, bandwidth in bulk, and trade it to consumers Until now, the biggest obstacle to delivering the program may retrieve the data as the bank’s though consumer retail space online has got a in exchange for their loyalty.“The company high-quality multimedia over the Internet has computer processes it. Combine this with the lot more crowded since Jeff Bezos turned his could communicate over a live video feed to a been the straw-sized connections that funnel trend toward home networking, and your future shoestring operation into “the world’s biggest customer’s house,” says Abhi Engle, Covad’s data through the Net. But even the narrowest abode is likely to contain lots of application- bookstore.”Without a doubt, every new start- broadband product manager. Estate agents, consumer broadband connections will be roughly specific devices – all wired to the Net. The very up and garage geek on the planet is hoping for instance, could offer clients streaming ten times faster than the average 56Kbps concept of “going online” may give way to an to rake in millions through e-commerce. Not video “walk-throughs” of new houses, a service analogue modem. Fatter connections mean wilder, era of instant, universal communication. MW everyone will strike it rich, but one thing is impossible without broadband. And because certain:The electronic marketplace is on the DSL is an “always-on” technology, consumers verge of a tremendous growth spurt. won’t have to dial up to shop. Forrester Research predicts that online Must-Buy TV Interactive TV, already in the be more visually exciting and interactive. retail sales will explode to $184 billion per test stage, is another growing e-commerce Forget about bland, 2D Web displays of Next Yahoo:Wild, wild Web year by 2004, up from $20 billion in 1999. avenue. Mark Schmidt, director of marketing widgets and bolts. Instead, look to companies “[The market is] going to be big,” says Lisa for IBM’s Home Networking unit, pictures like the Sharper Image (www.sharperimage.com) n 1997, Alan Ramadan introduced a new dollars. Its list of partners includes Allen, an analyst at Forrester. She pauses for remote-control consoles with built-in flat whose site (above) features a 3D image of a way to watch sports, one made possible TCI/Liberty, Hearst, British Telecom, and effect.“It’s going to be really big.” screens that will allow you to watch your CD player, which you can grab with your I by the World Wide Web.Throughout the [email protected] site offers a clear glimpse VR Shopping Not only will the variety and favourite shows and order products featured mouse, flip around to view from all sides, and seven-month Whitbread Around the World of the future Web. Click on a link for the 2000 volume of products you can buy over the Net in them. Imagine watching The X-Files and even open to take a peek under the lid. sailing race, Ramadan’s newly formed Olympics, and you’ll see pages filled with a continue to expand, but your entire being able to buy the shirt off Mulder’s back. It won’t be long before the Gap or Miss Quokka Sports (www.quokka.com) broadcast melange of pictures, charts, bits of text, and experience of online shopping will evolve as “We’re very close to having a touch-screen Selfridge lets you upload a scanned photo of the images and expert commentary that at least one video or audio clip. Quokka also well.Think virtual reality is only for games? In monitor that you could carry around the yourself to its site, then produces a scaled 3D usually accompany sports coverage, but with created the RaceViewer, a Shockwave the future, you may stroll the aisles for a lug house with you,” says Mark Dwight, a product image of you from that photo.You could then a twist. Quokka added technical data (some application for motor sports that mixes wrench at B&Q or finger the threads at M&S, line manager at Cisco Systems. He envisions a “dress” your model in various outfits to assess of it in real time) such as navigational notes, graphs of the racers’ position with textual all without leaving the comfort of your home. “flat, smooth tablet” networked to other the style, size, or colour before you buy. boat speed, radio conversations, and email commentary and a live video window. the future. More sites will routinely feature Indeed, services such as these are already appliances in the home and jacked into the After that, it’s only a short step before you diaries written by the sailing crews.The Multimedia-rich Web sites like Quokka’s streaming media and 3D modeling.The being tested by some stores. Web.“It takes [shopping by catalogue in bed] find yourself virtually strolling the aisles of company mixed it all up and put it on and RealNetworks’Take5 (www.real.com), software – including Apple’s own QuickTime As bandwidth into the home increases, e- to the next level,” he says. an online car dealership and kicking the a Web site that drew 1.8 million visitors. which gathers an array of audiovisual technologies – to deliver such content commerce could develop into far more than a As for the look of future online stores, tyres of that Saab you’ve been eyeing. See the screenshot, right. programming from the Web for users to already exists. Site designers just need to point-&-click experience. Covad, a California- tomorrow’s shopping experience is likely to – Michael Grebb MW Today, Quokka Sports is no longer an edgy access in one central place, could be the refine it, and consumers need faster Net start-up with a fistful of venture-capital hottest draws for broadband consumers in connections to view it. MW
30 Macworld MARCH 2000 For the information as it happens visit Macworld Online Daily News (www.macworld.co.uk),updated throughout the day For the information as it happens visit Macworld Online Daily News (www.macworld.co.uk),updated throughout the day Macworld MARCH 2000 31 business news Apple profits soar Red-hot company shifts 1,377,000 Macs in past quarter
pple’s first-quarter profits held Wall all cylinders. We sold more Macs than have been Street’s winter chill at bay, keeping sold in any quarter in Apple’s history.” A investor confidence on a near all-time Fred Anderson, Apple’s chief financial officer high. Reaction to the company’s announced net said: “Apple finished the quarter with over $3.6 profit of $183 million was explosive, with Apple’s billion in cash and short-term investments, and stock becoming such a hot commodity that over $5 billion, if the company’s investments in Nasdaq had to temporarily halt its trading. ARM and Akamai are included.” Apple’s share value stood at $112 per share The results did not surprize Tim Bajarin, an Business briefs following the after-hours trades. analyst with Creative Strategies: “Sales of iMac Company revenues have been high, and The UK Department of Trade and rose by 37 per cent, unit typically, between 35 Industry is making radio spectrum licences sales by 46 per cent and and 40 per cent of all available for the new broadband fixed- profits climbed 45 per Apple computers are wireless Internet services.28GHz licences cent. The gross results always sold during the become available this summer,with 40GHz included various one-off holidays”. licences in the autumn. elements, including a Michael Kwatinetz, special executive bonus a research analyst at Scansoft is to merge with Caere,best of $90 million for CEO Credit Suisse First known for its OmniPage optical character- Steve Jobs (see page Boston in New York, recognition software in a $140 million deal 18). Another one-off said: “Apple had very that should be sealed by April.The new expense was a net good revenue growth company will retain the Scansoft name. charge of $6 million for with iMacs. We believe restructuring the that iMacs were up Yahoo is being sued for $4 billion by company in the period. 35 to 38 per cent Universal Image,which claims that Yahoo This could include year over year. Gross did not reveal user details of Universal’s redundancy payments to margins were lower video and audio resources – sourced laid-off members of than expected. This through Yahoo’s Broadcast.com offshoot. Apple’s UK marketing team – see February’s was due to mailing costs for hardware shipped Macworld Business News. during Q4, and because Mac OS 9 sales were Apple’s streaming-media partner A total of 1,377,000 Macs were sold in the lower than expected.” Akamai is buying Californian-based quarter, including over 700,000 iMacs and Anderson said Apple intends to “continue to Network24 Communications in a $200 235,000 iBooks. The revenue growth is two-and- bring out products on schedule, and bring new million deal.N 24 produce Qcast,a Web a-half times the PC industry average, according to people into the company”. solution for on-demand Internet an IDC report. Of the quarter’s revenue, 51 per Coyly, he revealed that Apple had a “pipeline broadcasts. cent came from international sales. During his of new products” ready to roll, but refused to give keynote speech at Macworld Expo San Francisco, further details. MW ViewSonic has taken over Nokia’s Steve Jobs said: “For the first time we’re firing on – Jonny Evans and Wendy Mattson display products business.Nokia branded displays are manufactured in Pecs, Hungary.This consolidates ViewSonic as a Buy-outs widen Media 100’s Net major display manufacturer. iREZ has acquired Nogatech USB edia 100 continues to consolidate its position The Digital Origins merger gives Media 100 products,including the USB-TV,USB Micro M as a world leader in Internet-based digital excellent access to the camcorder kings – Canon, Cam and USB Live! iREZ will integrate video solutions. Following the recent purchase of JVC and Panasonic. USBVision NT 1004 chipset into its video- Terran Interactive, Media 100 has also bought Wired Mark Housley, chairman and CEO of Digital Origin imaging line. and Digital Origin. said:“Our goal is to make everyone with a personal The expansion is driven by Media 100’s vision of computer a potential Internet video broadcaster.” Xerox is to pursue its suit against offering a suite of solutions to “make every computer More signs of the strengthening grip of Media 3Com.Its lawsuit alleges that the a potential TV station”. 100’s hold on the expanding digital-video industry handwriting-recognition software used in John Molinari, CEO of Media 100 says:“We see comes with news concerning the company’s new 3Com’s Palm devices belongs to Xerox. the trend to Internet video and DVD distribution iFinish streaming media production system. accelerating, and see the combined company This has been chosen by DVD authoring leader, Gordon Bell,senior sales manager at positioned to take advantage of this growth.” Daiken US Comtec Laboratories, as tool-of-choice Formac Electronics has resigned because of Media 100 now occupies a unique position in for audio and video content creation and DVD “unjust business practices at the company”, this market. Its products support all major video- authoring. reports allege. encoding and streaming architectures, including Apple’s decision to forfeit a place at Seybold, Apple’s QuickTime.The Wired purchase also offers Boston is also a clear signal that it’s devoting much Motorola reported fourth-quarter Media 100 customers a full range of MPEG attention to exploring markets beyond its traditional earnings of $514 million or 82 cents per streaming-media production tools, including desktop-publishing community. MW share on $8.5 billion sales.Revenue was up FireWired DV (see Product News, page 37). – Jonny Evans two per cent from a year ago.
For the information as it happens visit Macworld Online Daily News (www.macworld.co.uk),updated throughout the day Macworld MARCH 2000 33 Mac OS X: flash or trash? news Style over substance
s this what we’ve waited more than a decade drag-&-drop – if you can have only one window I for? After years of listening to empty promises open? The ability to open multiple windows was from Apple CEO after Apple iCEO, I’m distinctly one of the key breakthroughs in OS design in the underwhelmed at what Steve Jobs is now original Mac Finder, yet now Apple says single promising. For a start, if I’d wanted to run Unix as windows make life easier. Apple is wrong. my choice of OS I could have done so at any time As for the visual aspects of the OS, grandiosely in the last 30 years. As for the other key features, termed ‘Aqua’ by Apple’s marketeers, it’s Peter Worlock I’m even less impressed. yet another triumph of style over substance. So 128-pixel icons are another great Apple So much research and development has gone think’s it’s a big innovation, are they? Well, no. The Amiga into Aqua that one enthusiast with a shareware operating system – which, incidentally, was utility knocked up a copy for Windows in hours. delivering multitasking and memory-protection at It’s difficult to remember now just how disappointment the same time – offered such large, multicoloured stunning the Mac OS was in 1984. Not just icons more than ten years ago. different, but brilliantly different – easier to use, after 10 years more flexible, more elegant. Apple has had 15 Clutter stutter years to work on its successor and, tragically, has of development, The proposed Finder in a window is nothing more failed to offer anything approaching that genius. than Windows Explorer, and that’s been one of There’s never been a greater need for Apple’s Windows’ worst features for the best part of a old-style creativity. With multi-gigabyte hard decade. The Dock is disturbingly reminiscent of disks, fast Internet connections and the daily Windows’ taskbar – but, whereas the taskbar is bombardment of information, today’s computers designed to minimise clutter, the OS X Dock are more complex, more confusing and more consumes as much screen space as possible. difficult to manage than ever before. We Single window mode? Does anyone remember desperately need genuine innovation in interface MS-DOS, where you could have only one design, we desperately need a smarter OS. document open at a time? In what way is a But what Apple proposes to deliver falls return to those days an improvement? How do woefully short of the requirements. OS X is a you compare two documents – cut-&-paste, or bitter disappointment. Substance comes later
o good, you’ll want to lick it. This was Steve commands into one of those tele-headsets all S Jobs’ faintly sexual description of the Mac’s day? Personally, I work best in silence. Other new interface ranks alongside his other super- enjoy hardcore gabba blaring away while they silicon soundbites. It’s right up there with his bend béziers. Either way, it’s “shush” to calls gushing over the original Mac as “insanely great”. for a voice-activated user interface. Is Aqua worthy of such hype? Or is it hubris, covering Apple’s failure to truly innovate again? Changing looms Apple’s new Aqua interface is no quantum leap. So, the old mouse, cursor, icon, trash look likely Simon Jary says But it hops over Windows on looks (all-important to be hanging around for some time. And Aqua’s for many first timers), skips some silly interface spin is at least a nice change of desktop scenery – there’s a lot conventions (for example, dialogue boxes that rather like moving to a spiffier office, with a highjacked your system until you clicked ‘OK’), bunch of new furniture and stationery. and jumps ahead in terms of raw Unix power. Sure, most of the new features are already more to come. Mac OS X will attract more first-timers to the found in Windows 98. But Apple’s interpretation Mac. The pixel-perfect icons, dancing Dock, is leagues ahead in terms of appeal for consumers translucent windows and fast-access buttons and creative professional alike. In offices with all add up to a welcome gloss. But isn’t Aqua’s mixed iMacs and Power Macs, there’s just one Mac makeover just button dressed up as glam? system to cope with. That means less training Read more Jary on Aqua in his Apple’s been promising us a “thoroughly costs and less expenditure on tech support. ‘Read Me First’ opinion column on modern” operating system for a decade – so The real strengths of Mac OS X are yet to be page 5, and the feature starting where’s the revolutionary changes? Some might made public. Aside from protected memory and on page 68. even argue that ten years on, all that Apple’s pre-emptive multitasking, OS X is almost certain Also: www.macworld.co.uk/opinion given us is an excuse to buy a better, third-party to usher multiprocessing back to the Mac. This mouse. Why are we still using a mouse at all? new operating system might seem mere bells And let us know what you think Voice recognition may be just a whisper away, and whistles right now, but watch out for mighty of Mac OS X and Aqua.Write to but are we ready for it? Certainly, our offices four-processor Mac workstations. My guess [email protected], or join in aren’t geared up for voice-activated computers. is that Aqua is just a ripple on the surface the debate at the Macworld Can you imagine droning Save, Cut or Paste of a much more powerful OS. MW Forum at www.macworld.co.uk/forum.
For the information as it happens visit Macworld Online Daily News (www.macworld.co.uk),updated five times a week Macworld MARCH 2000 35 product news SANcube squares Music title strikes chord Music tuition CD Guitar Method has been upgraded to Version 1.2. circle on storage The upgrade offers dynamic, user- responsive features designed to icroNet Technology accelerate the learning process. (www.micronet.com) is squaring up to Its has 25 new lessons, full-motion M the opposition with the SANcube, video clips of the interactive tutor the industry’s first FireWire SAN (storage and built-in accessories, including an area network) storage solution – and automatic guitar tuner and recorder. certainly the best-looking disk drive since For a full review, see page 60. Philippe Starck worked with LaCie. The www.emedia.org SANcube serverless storage network delivers fast connectivity – up to 220GB Free email-client offer online – with prices starting at £1,500. Qualcomm is offering its email client, SANcube is engineered for Mac-based Eudora email, for free. On loading the digital content creators who work with and software users can choose between transfer large mission-critical graphics files three operating modes: Sponsored, on Power Mac G3/G4 and iMac DV systems Paid or Light. Sponsored gives free with built-in FireWire. Providing faster- access but with advertising; Light than-typical network performance, SANcube gives access to a limited number of delivers 30Mbps. data throughput – a features, but with no advertising; and transfer rate “up to ten times faster” than Paid is advertising-free but costs £30. typical Macintosh-based 100BaseT Eudora, www.eudora.com networks, according to MicroNet. UK debut for super-cam FireWire friendly storage requirements increase. Users can Canon has announced its three- SANcube consists of a compact, centralized “data configure SANcube as a single volume by striping megapixel digital still-camera, the cube” incorporating up to six high performance the data (RAID 0) across the drives for enhanced £575 PowerShot S20.The camera IBM hard drives yielding a capacity up to 220GB performance and capacity, or duplicate or mirror has a top of online storage. the data (RAID 1) at high speeds. resolution of 3.3 The stylish SANcube measures just 10 inches SANcube ships in March, with prices expected million pixels. It is “cubed”, and visually complements Apple’s to start at £1,499 for the 70GB single-user expected to be newest systems. Users simply plug SANcube into system, £2,149 for the 100GB two-user, £2,699 available in the UK their Mac systems with built-in FireWire. Since for the 150GB two-user, and £3,899 for the in March.The SANcube is stackable and hot-pluggable, the 220GB four-user version. camera features a system expands and reconfigures as workgroup United Digital, 01926 810 000 32-64mm 2x optical zoom lens and built-in buffer memory and uses a CompactFlash card. Web-creators warm to FireWire AV/DV solution Canon, 01737 220 000 ired has announced FireWired AV and FireWired AV is an external converter device W FireWired DV, solutions for Web- that permits the conversion of analogue video VST sounds right notes content creators. FireWired DV takes to uncompressed video and audio or VST has released new virtual analogue video sources – such as older uncompressed video and audio to analogue instrument plug-ins for VST 2.0 – the video cameras, VHS or Hi8 tapes – and outputs. Mac-music creation software. LM4 converts the signals to DV for FireWired AV can also use the video ModelE is an analogue synth that archiving or editing. mirroring capacity of Macs to display offers a 16-note polyphonic synth for Video fed into the device is computer data on an analogue TV monitor. Cubase users. Using the Pro-5 through converted into digital in real time. The product will ship in April. UK pricing Cubase gives its full range of facilities. The product works with both NTSC was unavailable at press time. In the US, Both plug-ins are £127 and require and PAL analogue formats. Its DV FireWired AV costs $299 (£180), and FireWired at least a 604e processor and 64MB hardware codec brings DV power DV costs $499 (£300). RAM. to any analogue video product. Computers Unlimited, 0208 358 5857 Arbiter, 0181 970 1909
All prices ex.VAT Visit Macworld Online Daily News (www.macworld.co.uk),updated Macworld MARCH 2000 37 product product news news
Nice form Auto.des.sys has released version 3.5, its form.Z modelling software. New Rivals in Canon jets into features include direct access to the Web, right-to-left text – such as Arabic and Hebrew – and transformations about object monitor software market centroids.The United colours of Wacom Status Objects anon announced two new BubbleJet Wacom has announced that its palette has been printers at Macworld Expo, where the Graphire USB-input system, priced re-introduced, and C company also announced plans to produce at £72.33, is now available in the five three items have been added to the double Mac software. iMac colours.The new Graphires also Help menu.The update is free for On the software side, Canon Photo Gold and feature a colour-coordinated scrolling subscribers to the company’s annual amsung and Iiyama have each rolled Canon Photo are applications for manipulating wheel on the cordless mouse, and service plan. out new monitors. Iiyama’s new 17-inch digital images. The software features a one- matching tones on the pen’s buttons Gomark, 0171 730 7930 S (pictured) S700JT1 monitor has a 0.28mm button QuickFix that automatically adjusts the and eraser.The Graphire mouse has a dot-pitch, a horizontal scan-rate of 27-70KHz, highlight and shadow ratio, manual tools – such 1,015 lines-per-inch resolution. Damage control and a maximum flicker-free resolution of 1,024- as cropping, colour fills, cloning and dust Computers Unlimited, Alsoft has updated DiskWarrior x-768 pixels removal – and options for sharing and printing 0181 358 5858 to version 2.0.The disk-repair utility Samsung is photos. Photo Gold includes Spin Panorama for now prevents disk damage with a shipping a range creating panoramic QuickTime movies, and Spin ColourPress shipping DiskShield feature, which checks the of SyncMaster PhotoObjects for creating 3D views of objects. and 2ppm in colour. It weighs 3.1 pounds. UK developer TypeMaker has launched validity of data being written to screens for The company’s hardware announcements The second bubble jet printer is the £119 ColourPress, for colouring and the directory. It also alerts users of graphics users. included the BJC-85 Color Bubble Jet – a BJC-3000. This USB printer delivers colour outputting high-resolution bitmap existing damage and prevents it from Spearheading the portable printer for iBooks and PowerBook G3s. prints at 4ppm, monochrome at 9ppm, and scanned artwork. Using standard escalating.The Directory Optimization launch is the 21- It sports a blue lid and boasts a 720-x-360dpi has a resolution of 1,440-x-720 dpi. It supports Adobe Photoshop tools, colours from Grapher, incorporated into DiskWarrior, inch SM1100pplus. resolution. The £219 printer has USB and Fast Canon’s Drop Modulation Technology. a customized library of CMYK colours determines the state of fragmentation The £635 monitor has IrDA interfaces, prints at 5ppm in monochrome Canon, 0121 680 8062 can be applied to selected black or of the directory. A free copy of a maximum resolution of white areas of a scan. ColourPress files PlusOptimizer disk-optimizing 1,800-x-1,440 at 76Hz. are up to 99 per cent smaller than the software ships with every In the 19-inch range the SM900SL (£381) original CMYK EPS format. Costing Diskwarrior CD. It costs £55. and the SM900SLplus (£400) have a 240MHz Comstock is shipping Business Impacts, a royalty-free images Umax fires-up scanner £2,250, ColourPress files can be placed Softline, 0181 401 1234 bandwidth and a horizontal frequency of 110Hz. CD. Priced at £199, the disc contains 104 business-related into QuarkXPress, or other page For the 17-inch range, there is the new £250 photographs. Other discs in the range include Fotofonts, Urban max has announced PowerLook 1100, detect frame holder for automatic scanning of lay-out applications. QPS speeds on SM750p, and the £316 SM700IFT. Geometrics and Studio Archeology. U a Macintosh scanner that supports up to a dozen 35mm slides, and batch-scanning TypeMaker, 0121 604 1234 QPS has introduced a SCSI version Iiyama, 01438 314 417 Comstock,0171 351 4448 FireWire/IEEE-1394 standards.This, capabilities. It delivers hot-pluggable connectivity of its Que! Drive.The Que! SCSI drive Samsung, 0800 521 652 according to Umax, is the first without the need for a host card, and can be Sanyo projector features a 12x CD-R “FireWire-dedicated” scanner. connected to multiple Macs.The Sanyo has launched a new XGA recording The PowerLook 1100 scanner is designed for use on projector, the PLCXP07. Featuring speed, 4x CD- eliminates some of the systems with a FireWire port, 1,300 ANSI lumens, it offers XGA RW recording That SCSI feeling difficulties with SCSI-based including the Apple Power Mac G4 resolution with automatic intelligent speed, and, 1x to scanners – such as, the need for and G3 and the iMac DV. No UK SXGA digital compression. 32x rotational-read speeds. It can daptec has announced a new CardBus SCSI termination devices or pre- price was available at press time, The projector has a 16x read/write data and record music on Aadaptor, bringing SCSI connectivity to assigned addresses. but the product will be available digital zoom, remote- CD-R and CD-RW media. It has a 4MB PowerBook users. The PowerLook 1100 features 1,200-x- by February. It costs $999 in the US. powered zoom, built- RAM buffer and an average access The PowerDomain SlimSCSI 1480, launched at 2,400dpi resolution, a transparency adaptor, auto- Umax UK, 01344 872 800 in amplifier and time of 160ms.The drive, priced at Macworld Expo,uses the PowerBook’s PCMCIA slot speakers, freeze £359, comes with Toast and Direct CD to deliver speeds of up to 20MBps – a four-fold function and screen software, PCI 32-bit SCSI-II controller, speed hike on the PowerBook’s current built-in blank function. CD-R and CD-RW media.The company SCSI. It works with SCSI Manager and SCSI Coda catering for music rookies Sanyo, 01923 477 220 also has a 8x20 CD-R drive for £275. Manager 4.3, so both new and legacy SCSI devices Mirror image Channel Dynamics, 0870 607 0540 can be used. At the show, Adaptec also showed its oda Technology has released a Mac version of its Pack your suitcase latest Ultra 160 SCSI card – the PowerDomain verMedia Microsystems is shipping iMaxEdit CPrintMusic software, for creating and printing Extensis has unveiled Suitcase 8.2, Causing a commotion 29610N. This single-channel card replaces the A and USBPresenter. USBPresenter mirrors sheet music. PrintMusic 2000 is aimed at first-time an update of its font-management Puffin Designs’ Commotion has been company’s earlier products – the 2940 U2W and computer screen images to TVs, or other video- music notation buyers, and is compatible with the software.Version 8.2 includes Suitcase updated for the G4.Version 2.2 has the 294O UW. UK prices are unavailable. display and recording devices. It’s designed for latest version of its parent software, Finale 2000. Server and three free connections, so support for the Velocity Engine, Ingram Micro, 01908 260 422 corporate training and presentations and offers A set-up Wizard lets users select instruments, that fonts can be synchronized for a resulting in an improved Motion video display at 30fps. then sets up the score on any page-size specified. workgroup of three designers.The Tracker and Color Balance filters.The Adaptec's domain ImaxEdit is a USB device for video editing Staff names, transpositions (including chord software has also been upgraded update can also retouch mattes with The PowerDomain and transferring video images between any USB symbols), groupings and clefs are all automatic. The for compatibility with Mac OS 9, and the FX brush and control b-spline SlimSCSI 1480 can equipped Power Mac and TV or videos. It comes software can also fit lyrics under the correct notes, includes a new version of MenuFonts. tightness. Commotion costs £1,695. transfer data at up with editing software for enhancing video clips. and enter guitar fingerboards. Suitcase 8.2 costs £80, with free The update is free to registered users to 20Mbps. UK pricing was not available at the time of going An Expanded Playback option scrolls along the First time updates available to users of version 8. of version 2.1. to press. music as it plays. PrintMusic 2000 automates groupings, clefs, transpositions Computers Unlimited, BIT, 01420 83811 Ingram Micro, 01908 260 422 Et Cetera Distribution, 01706 228 039 and staff names. 0181 358 5858
38 Macworld MARCH 2000 Visit Macworld Online Daily News (www.macworld.co.uk),updated throughout the day All prices ex.VAT All prices ex.VAT Visit Macworld Online Daily News (www.macworld.co.uk),updated throughout the day Macworld MARCH 2000 39 product news CDs and books Stops pulled out iMac book first in range IDG Books has introduced a new series called Cliffsnotes, a range of titles costing £6.99. The first Mac-related on AppleWorks 6 title is Using Your First iMac.This “instant knowledge mong Steve Jobs’ keynote announcements guidebook”provides at Macworld Expo was AppleWorks 6, time-saving A with the new version boasting 100 new information on how features and a revamped interface. to get familiar with AppleWorks is a set of applications within a the iMac and the single program. It has powerful word processing, Apple operating system, presented in drawing, painting, spreadsheet and database a simple, user-friendly manner. capabilities. Transworld Publishers, Version 6 also has a Presentation environment, 0181 579 2652 which uses AppleWorks’ QuickTime-enhanced multimedia capability to, for example, import Morse the merrier iMovies into presentations. Eurotalk, the makers of language- AppleWorks 6 comes with 128 templates for Movie maker learning CDs, has produced its first slides, which can also be created from scratch. QuickTime movies can now be imported into AppleWorks 6. interactive DVD, called Advanced The software aids the importing into English.The DVD is based on presentations of tables, charts, clip-art, context-sensitive and customizable. There are Carlton’s movie Sins of the Fathers, spreadsheets and digital photography,. now 150 buttons, many of which can be used starring John Interface improvements include a new to launch macros, documents, Web sites or Thaw as, Starting Points window, giving easy access to applications. inspector documents and Web content, while AppleWorks Integration with the Internet is a key feature Morse. Priced Assistants helps create a new project. of AppleWorks 6. Free access to an online library at £34.99, the Also, if an AppleWorks document is posted on of 25,000 vector clip-art images is included, and DVD includes a Web site, it can be made available to others on can be accessed without the user having to full versions the network via the Starting Points window. launch a browser or decompress files. of the film – The button bar has been updated, and is now Apple 0800 783 4846 in which students can take a star role – as well as games, activities and exercises aimed at developing language skills and vocabulary. Epson scan-do EuroTalk, 0171 371 7711 pson has unveiled the £639 Expression 1600 Be a Photoshop whizz E flatbed scanner. There is also a professional Wizzthru has released a one-day self- model, costing £839.The scanner has USB and SCSI instruction training course called The interfaces as standard, with an optional IEEE 1394 Essential Features of Adobe (FireWire) interface for Mac G3s and G4s. Photoshop 5 for Macintosh. Aimed One of the Expression 1600’s key features is at artists and designers new to Micro Step drive, enabling it to scan by “half- Photoshop 5.0 or 5.5, the instruction stepping” in the vertical direction – doubling course is provided on four audio CDs, resolution to 3,200dpi. as well as a CD containing the Other features include a dual-focus system Interactive Guide and on-line that provides pinpoint focusing for reflective and documentation. It is available for the transparent media by changing the focal distance introductory price of £95 until March to 2.5mm above the glass scan-bed .This 31, after which it will be £125. eliminates the problem of “Newton rings”. Newton Park, 0131 343 2254 It also boasts Dynamic Range Control for transparencies and simultaneous RGB scanning. Trainspotting for tots The Expression Pro comes with a transparency Sherston’s latest release, Number unit as standard. Bundled Train, is an interactive CD based on software includes Adobe the Numeracy Strategy for Reception Photoshop LE and and Year One. Number Train is fully Corbis has added 12 £190 royalty-free Photo CD titles to its Xerox Textbridge narrated with clear interfaces. It costs Master Collection series,each offering 1,200 new images. Classic. £42.95 for a single user. Among the titles is Young and Hip. Epson Sherston Software, 01666 843 200 Corbis,0171 278 1387 0800 220 546
40 Macworld MARCH 2000 Visit Macworld Online Daily News (www.macworld.co.uk),updated throughout the day. All prices ex.VAT product news
Good news from Aladdin Aladdin is shipping Intellinews 2.0, a $20 tool for delivering news, weather, sports and stock data to the desktop via the Internet. Headlines are gathered from leading Internet news sources in various categories, and delivered to the Intellinews toolbar interface outside the Web browser. With the News Headlines feature, the headlines are updated once every 15 seconds. Aladdin Systems, www.aladdinsys.com
PressReady printers fillip Features Adobe has expanded its support of IE 5 has improved features, like Internet Scrapbook (left), and new ones, like Collapsed toolbar (right), that saves on screen space. USB-compatible printers through the PressReady Internet Update Program. Now, Adobe PressReady supports the Epson Stylus Color 900 – Return to render Epson’s fastest ink-jet printer (left) – and icrosoft unveiled its new Mac browser, The new Internet Scrapbook is a feature to the Stylus Photo Internet Explorer 5, at Macworld Expo. appear in the Mac version first – this is found on 1200, both of M The software has a new rendering the Explorer Bar and captures complete Web which offer SCSI engine, new functionality and a re-designed pages, images, e-commerce receipts or links, and and USB interface. The company also expressed its stores them for future reference. connectivity.The intention to release Mac OS X-native versions of Microsoft imitates the Mac’s “style and printer drivers are Internet Explorer, Outlook Express, and Microsoft elegance” with the new browser interface, which ready for download for registered Office in the future. reflects the design of the iMac and iBook. The PressReady users from Adobe’s Web The new rendering engine supports essential interface is customizable, and the colour can be site, www.adobe.com. Internet standards and displays accurately changed to match the user’s Mac. The Media rendered Web pages. It also displays text more Toolbar is integrated into the browser interface, Starry Night for starters clearly by automatically adjusting the resolution and can be used to listen to Internet music, or to Sienna has followed the release of its to 96dpi, instead of the Mac-standard 72dpi. tune in to streaming audio and video broadcasts. astronomy software Starry Night Pro Another new feature is the Auction Manager, Internet Explorer 5 will be available for free with a beginner-friendly version, Starry which helps track and complete multiple Internet download in March. Night Backyard.With this £42.50 star- auctions simultaneously. Microsoft 0870 60 10 100 gazing program, users can learn how to identify stars, planets and constellations, watch phases of the moon, trace the orbits of planets and Video buffs get tooled-up comets, and print detailed star charts. There are links to www.LiveSky.com,and skape Labs introduced four new USB The third product, MyVideo, offers video- each screen view can be exported in E video devices into the UK market at capture and output. Users can digitize standard formats. Macworld Expo. MyTV is a £149 TV standard analogue video, edit and Guildsoft, 01752 895 100 Tuner and video-capture device for record back out on standard video iMacs or G3s. Users can watch devices, or play back to TVs or Projector’s high-end aim TV in a scalable window while video monitors. Liesegang has released a new running applications, or watch in MyView is a £119 video mirroring projector, the dv225. Priced at £3,118, full-screen TV mode. device for displaying the Macintosh the projector has 800 ANSI lumens Next in the product range is the desktop on standard TV, PAL monitor or image brightness, and an 800-x-600 £119 MyCapture II. This uses Motion JPEG video projector. It mirrors an active 640-x- pixel (SVGA) resolution. It also (MJPEG) hardware compression to capture full 480 desktop and routes it out over USB, without features intelligent frame-rate video over USB, and is bundled with the need for a video monitor connector. resizing of other Strata Video Shop digital video-editing software. AM Micro, 01392 426 473 resolutions.Weighing 4.45kg, the dv225 offers automatic LaCie looks to hit Mac punters in the pocket synchronization, electronic magnification, LCD aCie launched PocketDrive at the Expo in San Francisco. product lines. They can also accommodate a bootable operating with micro lens for best possible light L Available in 6, 12 and 18GB capacities in the UK, these hot- system. The FireWire controller is a 4000bps interface, and runs at output and infrared remote control pluggable pocket-sized drives combine impressive storage capacity more than 11MBps – fast enough for video capture. PocketDrives with a laser pointer. with both USB and FireWire support. cost between £299 and £599. Liesegang UK 01924 423 3331 The PocketDrive is compatible with all of Apple’s current LaCie,0171 872 8000
42 Macworld MARCH 2000 Visit Macworld Online Daily News (www.macworld.co.uk),updated throughout the day. All prices ex.VAT first contact
David Fanning Apple is wooing new users at the expense of servicing Mac old-timers – and it’s no bad thing. Flog some, jet some
ow that Apple is fully recovered from the small sector of the Mac market that they don’t make a dreadful state it was in during the mid-Nineties, difference. Both my mother and mother-in-law bought is the company now getting too big for its iMacs last year. They both use email and browse the Web, boots? Apple is enjoying a boom-time, with only but I bet neither of them ever look at Mac Web sites. good things predicted by analysts – good news The reason, is they aren’t computer people, so why Nfor those of us who remember the gloomy days when the should they care whether some Mac configurations changed Mac maker appeared to be on the brink of destruction. last year, or if Apple pulls out of the UK Expo? If you own a However, this success comes at a price: Apple drifting Sony TV you don’t care if Sony’s CEO gets a new jet for away from its home-brewed computer roots and becoming Christmas, or if Sony changes the design of the remote a big corporate bully. control of new models. Steve Jobs, founder and notable hippy entrepreneur, Steve Jobs understands this, which is why you’re more was famous for his cruel treatment of IBM “suits”. Although likely to see an Apple ad on TV or in a Sunday paper than not quite yet a “suit” himself, his corporate credentials are in the computer press. Apple has ample evidence of just becoming more pronounced. Even at the height of his how much inept management and shoddy service thick- earlier successes, it was difficult imagining Steve in the skinned enthusiasts will put up with. It has washed its possession of a $40,000,000 Gulfstream V executive jet. hands of us and is content to grow its market share, rather He was more likely to be seen scruffy and barefoot than pay attention to its loyal following. screaming blue murder in the R&D department. Although Apple’s consumer drive is undoubtedly The New Steve has no such hang-ups about conspicuous frustrating for many old Mac hands, the benefit is that wealth, and is expecting delivery of his jet any day now – Apple is making inroads into mainstream computing. This courtesy of an admiring Apple board (see page 18). Perhaps has a positive knock-on effect for the old hands too, because he will paint it like his old VW Camper Van. Apple is consistently coming up with new and increasingly Another measure of Jobs’ success is Apple soaring stock fabulous computers and software – not because a few price. He has 10,000,000 share options available to him at enthusiasts demand it, but because the general public is a price of $97 – meaning that, for every dollar Apple’s share lapping it up in their millions. price rises over $97, Jobs earns $10,000,000. At press time, Having a bigger market share is good for all of us. the share value was $120, but some analysts think this If loyal fans are being passed over for the prodigal sons of could go as high as $145. If it does, Jobs would be looking the computing world, so be it. At least we are guaranteed a at half a billion dollars. I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t place in the market. even bother to pick up his $1 official pay cheque. The more non-enthusiasts that buy Apple, the more In mind of the confusion and changes to the G4 line applications we are likely to see on the shelf. The more R&D before Christmas, I was expecting the company to at least budget there exisits, the more cool stuff we get to enjoy. So, show a smaller profit for that quarter. Instead, Apple posted if you have a Mac and claim to be a Mac enthusiast – but its highest year-on-year growth for a decade. It seems you can’t remember when you last bought a new Model – invincible right now. perhaps it’s time that you considered joining the So maybe it is understandable that Jobs’ thoughts are not newcomers. with us “little people”. – But the truth is, Apple’s change in After all, you can hardly complain about a company if attitude stretches back longer far longer than this you aren’t a customer – and a five-year old Mac just doesn’t Some say the company has become so successful at count these days. It’s not just Mac newcomers that have attracting new users that old, faithful Mac people are being helped Apple over the past two years, it’s people buying – at best – taken for granted and – at worst – treated with replacement Macs too. utter contempt. So what happened to all the disgruntled So don’t ask what Apple can do for you, ask what you can long-time Mac owners? Perhaps they now represent such a do for Apple – and don’t begrudge Steve his new plane. MW
Read more Macworld opinions online (www.macworld.co.uk),and join in the debate. Macworld MARCH 2000 45 Michael Prochak Gates may be Microsoft’s new software chief – but he won’t write a line of code. New Bill of writers?
s someone who could never quite decide what the limelight will give him the opportunity to drive they wanted to be when they grew up, I have Microsoft forward in a new direction with increased agility. managed to indulge a number of my interests A more balanced view might suggest that he’s simply had over the years and even, on occasion, turn enough of the pressure and attention that being king of one them into paid work. However, as someone of the world’s most powerful companies brings; that his incapableA of following a trail, I still tend to proceed by new role allows him to dodge the incoming flak from the impulse and can’t really follow a single idea for long. But Department of Justice, while quietly slipping into the evil even with all the apparent variety of working as a writer, shadows of geekdom where he can continue to pull the consultant, media producer, musician and all-around fool, strings. what keeps the deception going is the fact that most people So, just what will Bill be doing in his new guise as chief still mistake strokes of luck for skill, and mistakes for software architect (CSA)? Although there’ll be much strategy. marketing spin to the contrary, I’d bet real money he won’t Cocteau once said that to be gifted is to be lost, unless write a line of code. His formula for success has always one sees clearly in time to level the slopes instead of sliding been more akin to ram-raiding, or the smash-&-grab school down them all. He also claimed to know to what extent he of acquisition. Among the areas pundits suggest Microsoft could go too far, and suggested that how to conquer a gift will concentrate on are user interfaces, natural-language should be the main study of anybody who recognizes one processing, programming paradigms, schema and file in himself. systems – which, disturbingly, could overlap much of what On the surface, one might be tempted to say that Bill Apple has always been particularly good at. Gates has finally discovered that being a legend doesn’t Microsoft also is apparently doing work on even more necessarily keep fools at a distance. Personally, I would futuristic interfaces, including 3D interactive user- still argue that there’s a difference between being gifted workspaces. The company’s even been dabbling for quite and simply being successful or famous. However, while some time with “virtual worlds” inspired by the MUDS uncle Bill has apparently decided it’s time to level the game concept, and “telepresence”, a next-generation slopes, I’m still not convinced that he’s grasped the moral collaboration scheme. Interestingly, Gates hasn’t made concept of going too far. any claims about looking to invent the next great operating The news that he’s decided to step down as CEO of system – since he obviously thinks he’s already done that. Microsoft (see News) has been met with predictably mixed Also, somewhat surprisingly, he hasn’t claimed making reactions. For some of his rivals and critics, this will be a better Internet bandwidth as a personal priority. time for small and relatively feeble celebrations. But despite OK, sometimes we all need a change. But who actually the short-term cheery bravado, the giant has not been makes that change determines the extent and the impact toppled from the beanstalk and the more pensive and of it upon the rest of us. Steve Jobs can drop the word reflective among us will be wondering just what uncle “interim” from his title, and everyone in Mac-land is happy. Bill has up his sleeve. Bill Gates can become a CSA and a lot of people lacking Throughout his career, Gates has been credited with the that sheep-like instinct become nervous. ability to maintain a perspective on the IT industry, even I could decide to ditch computers, and write novels and though, for the most part, that perspective always retained poetry and no-one would really notice. But then again, his own personal and manipulative Borg-like touch. But I’m too old to grow-up. In our mad digital dash for cash – while uncle Bill enjoys a new-found liberation – basking where the secret of success is getting away with it – there’ll in the lame title of chief software architect – we should always be the tendency to confuse the moralist with the maintain a healthy curiosity and scepticism as to the real moralizer. And, as Jean Genet once said: “To watch our intentions and ramifications of this apparent mid-life career heroes live and to pity them is not enough. We must take shift. Microserfs like to believe that stepping slightly out of their sins upon ourselves and suffer the consequences.” MW
Read more Macworld opinions online (www.macworld.co.uk),and join in the debate. Macworld MARCH 2000 47 MACWORLD RATING /9.0-10.0 = EXCELLENT /7.0-8.9 = VERY GOOD /5.0-6.9 = GOOD
/3.0-4.9 = AVERAGE /0-2.9 = POOR
MACWORLD POLICY At Macworld, we don’t think our readers should have to worry about whether ratings are based on a real product or a prototype. Therefore, we simply don’t rate products unless they are real, shipping versions – the products we rate and review are the same products you end up buying. All prices exclude VAT, unless stated. reviews MACWORLD JACKPOT The Macworld Jackpot gives you the opportunity to win some of the products we review. Simply dial the number indicated on participating reviews. Calls cost 60 pence per minute.Winners are selected by computer the day after the closing date.
Apple’s free Web-tool box adding particular sites to KidSafe, but this Most ISPs have an amount of free Web abundance of identical-looking sites out From desktop to iCard in minutes must be done one site at a time. space included – not that many people use there. Apple could run an ongoing KidSafe is certainly safe, but it may be it. This requires special software and competition for iTools users to design a Web more trouble than it’s worth for anything knowledge. iDisk is simple, convenient and template for the HomePage site. This would beyond homework projects. beats the pants off most other free Web- supply a constant stream of original pages, One way that Apple could rapidly space titles. without costing Apple a penny. increase the number of registered KidSafe sites would be for it to get its iReview staff Web-editing made easy Macworld’s buying advice to register sites as they are reviewed. The perfect addition to iDisk is iTools’ It’s hard to criticize a product that costs iTools Currently, even the top sites that are HomePage. This is a simple Web-based tool nothing. Even if you don’t use all its Publisher: Apple reviewed are not in the KidSafe register. for building a personalized home page. features, some are bound to come in handy. www.apple.com A fully animated, Java-stuffed Flash If all you want is to stake a claim for Pros: Costs nothing; handy online storage; easy-to- iDisk makes the difference extravaganza is beyond it, but for saying your own name, it’s worth getting a use Web space; can personalize iCards. The one iTools feature that makes it who you are and for displaying family mac.com address. Also, if you’ve a Cons: Not aimed at users outside North America; worthwhile is iDisk, which gives 20MB snapshots for far-flung relatives, it’s ideal. particularly complicated email address – KidSafe is too safe. of storage that can be used for any files No knowledge of Web design is required. as with Compuserve’s numerical addresses – Price: Free. – including your very own Web site. Once The first step is to copy selected pictures there are advantages to having a mac.com Star Rating: /8.3 signed up to iTools, iDisk can be mounted or movies to iDisk, so when visiting the address. If you use email from work, and on the desktop. From this point, it can be HomePage there’s material to work with. like to change jobs from time to time, then here are now almost as many used as a network volume for back-up, Next, decide what kind of Web page you iTools is also useful. products with an “i” prefix as there shared files, movies or Web galleries. want. The choice is between Photo Album, Although tiresome, KidSafe does have its T are bugs in Windows. The latest Sending personalized iCards is easy. The best thing about iDisk is that it iMovie Theatre, Invites, Announcements, place. Older children will become frustrated addition, iTools, is a suite of Web-based 1 Mount your iDisk on your desktop, and 3 Choose an image from your own gallery of allows one to shuttle files between home Baby and Resumé. Once the category is by its limitations – and not because they software tools for Mac OS 9. Most free copy some .jpg or .gif images to your images and fill in the details. and work. I can copy a file to my iDisk from selected, HomePage will search iDisk for want to access filth and violence. things are worth only what you pay for picture folder. 4 Send your iCard to family, friends and work, and then download it when home. suitable files and offer to display them – HomePage is a great feature that offers them – nothing. iTools, though, is not only 2 Go to the iCard page and select the option anybody else who might want to look at There’s a also a publicly shared file that leaving you to pen titles and captions. a way to get a Web site up within minutes. free, but also useful. to personalize a card. pictures of your cat. others can access. This makes sharing The page can then be previewed, and It’s best suited to pages designed for use by anything – from digital pictures to work publishing is achieved with the click of a friends and family, rather than the general Basic email projects – easy. Remember, though, other button. Your Web site address will be public or your company’s clients. The first of the four iTools is email, from It’s nothing short of idiotic that this is KidSafe stops this. It’s easy to install users also need to have Mac OS 9 and something like www.homepage.mac.com/ However, I know my Stateside mother- mac.com. There’s nothing clever about this available only in North America. The reason and use, and practically impossible to iTools to take advantage of this. yourname/gallery.html. Other pages are simple in-law will enjoy being able to see pictures – it’s just an email account. As soon as is that, in North America, data is a valuable circumvent. Still, don’t imagine that Junior Initially, your iDisk is split into folders forms that are filled out and published in of her far-flung family more often. So, if iTools was announced, there was a gold- commodity: good profiles of Apple won’t be able to have a good for documents, pictures, movies, public and the same way. Although templates are you thought you could get away without rush for the good names – started by Steve customers represent millions in potential guess at your password – and watch out sites. You don’t have to stick to this, but it flexible, Apple should consider adding to buying Mac OS 9, think again. Jobs, who can be found at [email protected]. e-dollars. Although Apple claims iTools will for hidden microphones when using your will help you publish information easily. the options. If it doesn’t there’ll be an David Fanning UK users may have been disappointed “go global”, by the time the rest of us get Mac OS 9 voice password. when trying to get an iTools account. A Zip it, we’ll already be using it – via a dodgy There are also other ways of accessing code (US postcode) is required in order to ZIP code. porn, bomb-making tips and other Internet register – no use on this side of the Pond. The actual account is slightly different nasties – so I’ve heard. Applications such Web-publishing made easy This isn’t the warmest welcome to iTools, from other Web-based email systems, as various FTP clients, email, Hotline, and but there is a work-around: just add any because it isn’t Web-based: it’s a normal Carracho all have the potential to breach valid code – such as 90210 (Beverly Hills, POP/IMAP server – the same kind of mail KidSafe. You can bet that kids will trade First choose the kind of page you want to make – options include your favourite relative. And finally, hit the button to publish your site, CA), or, my favourite, 95014 (Infinite Loop, most ISPs use. This means an email such information like Top Trumps cards. your resume, a photo album or an iMovie.Once you have a template it’s live before you know it – if only publishing Macworld Online was Cupertino CA – home of Apple). application and ISP account is needed to It’s impossible to police completely the it’s as simple as filling in the gaps – whether it’s text or pictures of that easy. receive mail. There is, though, an automatic enquiring mind of child. set-up for Outlook Express 5 (OE 5): simply Setting up KidSafe is easy, but using it click on the Set-up OE 5 button, and it does is less rewarding. It works by nominating the rest – both impressive and convenient. KidSafe sites that can be viewed, rather If you already have an email account, you than choosing ones that can’t. This limits can either forward the mac.com mail to it, the number of sites available. Granted, or, even easier, check both accounts from there are 55,000 of them, but this is a tiny Outlook Express. fraction of the one billion pages out there. It’ll be frustrating, even for a child, to KidSafe on sentry duty be excluded from sites that are patently Parents the world over are concerned about safe, yet do not get the Apple seal of their children having unsupervised Internet approval – especially so with Apple’s US- Innocence kept access. Even parents savvy enough to put centric history. For example Macworld’s own With KidSafe and Mac OS 9’s Multiple Users, you can Net-nanny software in place may not be a site, www.macworld.co.uk, is not on the list of be sure your children won’t see offensive porn sites. match for most 12-year-old hackers. approved sites – although there’s a way of
48 Macworld MARCH 2000 Search Macworld’s Reviews database online (www.macworld.co.uk),updated throughout the month Search Macworld’s Reviews database online (www.macworld.co.uk),updated throughout the month Macworld MARCH 2000 49 reviews
Versatile Web cam will make good use of QuickPICT, which snaps still images, saving them to the Clipboard, or to disk. QuickMovie captures QuickTime movies at frame sizes of up to 640-x-480 pixels and frame rates of up to 30fps – expect rates closer to 15fps on most Macs. A time-lapse feature can snap an image at intervals you specify. The camera works very well, although QuickCam Pro focusing is difficult, particularly at 640-x- Manufacturer: Logitech (0181 308 6582) 480 pixels, where there’s a noticeable delay www.logitech.com between image updates. As for the image Distributor: Micro Anvika (0171 636 2547) quality – let’s just say it’s great for the price. Pros: Simple installation; versatile; inexpensive. We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend a Cons: Average image quality; focusing can be QuickCam Pro image for an auction site, cumbersome. or a family or school project. For more Price: £99.95 (including VAT) demanding applications – well, we would Star Rating: /6.9 hesitate. The QuickCam Pro also works with Image-ine that irst things first: Logitech’s QuickCam The USB QuickCam is more versatile than digital other QuickTime-compatible software, Pro won’t send any digital cameras cameras and camcorders. such as Rearden Technology’s SiteCam F or camcorders to the breadline. The latest version of the camera, that first The QuickCam Pro shares its ancestors’ Macworld’s Buying Advice sprouted under the Connectix family tree, unique shape: it looks like a cue ball with If you already have a video camera, can’t touch the image quality and sharpness a lens. But, while its predecessors sat a USB-based capture device – such as of a digital-still camera or a camcorder. But awkwardly in a chintzy plastic stand, the XLR8’s InterView – may be a better bet. the USB-only QuickCam Pro is more QuickCam Pro includes a slick base that can And, if all you need are still images for versatile than either device. It’s ideal for sit atop your monitor or, via a spring-loaded a Web site, you might consider a low-end snapping still images of your soon-to-be- mechanism, clamp onto a desk or shelf. digital camera. But, if you want one auctioned Beanie Baby collection, for video- You can also pop the ball out of its base inexpensive device that lets you grab conferencing in conjunction with a product and mount it on a tripod. The camera everything from decent-quality snapshots such as iXL’s iVisit, for making QuickTime accepts snap-on lenses; Logitech sells a lens and Web-cam images, to time-lapse movies movies, or even for creating a Web cam. kit that includes wide-angle and telephoto – and that works on either the Mac OS And the price is hard to beat: £99.95, adaptors. or Windows – you can’t go wrong with including VAT and software for both As for software, the camera includes the QuickCam Pro. Mac OS and Windows. two simple programs. Cyberauctioneers Jim Heid
Wireless mouse USB-enabled Macs, solves this problem – panel lets you change cursor sensitivity by eliminating dirt-trapping components and customize operation of the buttons entirely. The IntelliMouse worked as and wheel. Oddly, the mouse doesn’t advertised on just about everything I put include the software; you have to download under it – from my laminated desktop, it from Microsoft’s Web site, or request a CD to plain paper, to the top of my head. The from the company’s Product Support group. optical sensor won’t function on glass or You can program buttons and button any highly reflective surface, however. combinations to perform one of 15 Instead of the balls and rollers found different functions, including clicking, IntelliMouse Explorer in conventional mice, the IntelliMouse dragging, and typing simple keyboard Manufacturer: Microsoft ( 0345 002 000) uses a novel system that tracks movement shortcuts. The control panel also lets you www.microsoft.com optically. While this technology isn’t new, adjust the wheel’s scrolling speed from a Pros: Doesn’t require cleaning; works on almost previous optical mice required a special single line to a full page at a time. If you any surface; multiple programmable buttons. mouse pad. As you move the IntelliMouse, like, you can even specify unique button Cons: Relatively expensive. an image sensor on its underside scans and wheel settings for different Price: £49.99 (including VAT) for minute variations in the work surface, applications. Star Rating: /8.2 which the sensor’s red light illuminates. A digital-signal processor in the mouse Macworld’s Buying Advice nless you work in a NASA clean translates your movements into cursor At £49.95, the IntelliMouse is by no means room, your mouse will eventually motion on screen. Microsoft claims that the cheapest USB mouse on the market. U fall prey to mouse crud – a build-up optical tracking – in addition to avoiding But if you hate cleaning your mouse – of lint and other dirt in your mouse’s the perils of dirt build-up on your roller and you want a device that looks like moving parts that makes the cursor – results in smoother cursor response. it belongs on the Starship Enterprise – skip and jump on screen. the IntelliMouse is an excellent choice. Although periodic Future style Franklin Tessler maintenance helps, The IntelliMouse sports a futuristic some mice never seem silver case designed to fit average-to-large- to return to perfect size palms. There are two main buttons in working condition, flanked by a rubberized scroll wheel in the W even after a centre. Two auxiliary buttons on the left an IntelliMouse with thorough cleaning. side are meant for thumb operation, Macworld Jackpot. Ring Microsoft’s although the larger one is a bit awkward 0900 1010 260 before IntelliMouse Explorer, to reach. The scroll wheel doubles as a March 31. Calls cost 60 finally available for fifth button. Microsoft’s IntelliPoint control pence per minute.
50 Macworld MARCH 2000 Search Macworld’s Reviews database online (www.macworld.co.uk),updated throughout the month reviews
New standard in Mac racing courses are divided into three groups – amateur, semi-pro and galactic. When you finish a group, one of four invitation circuits becomes available. Often, only a top-three or top-four finish will allow you to proceed to the next race. There are some nice touches. Whenever you crash and reappear, there are always a couple of racers in front of you to pursue – Star Wars great when you’ve just fallen off that rope bridge for the fifth time. Then there’s the Episode 1 Racer never-ending stream of taunts – hit the Publisher: LucasArts Entertainment Boy racer relevant key and fire back a set of your www.starwarsracer.com It’s crunch time for Anakin Skywalker on Ando Prime, own as you blast past your latest victim. Pros: Fabulous Star Wars atmosphere; fast, Racer’s icy, rock-laden world. The further you get into the game, the smooth graphics; stunning gameplay. better the selection of podracers – the Cons: Multiplayer mode requires multiple cut-scenes abound, lighting effects are money you earn from winning races gets CDs; needs a high-spec machine; no UK spectacular and the lens flares convincing. spent at Watto’s shop, or junkyard, with distribution. Plus, you get to sit back and watch the the owner giving a pretty good impression Price: $39.95, plus $16 shipping, original podrace film-footage. Even the of The Merchant of Venice’s Shylock. plus UK taxes (£45 in total) kid-actor who plays Anakin Skywalker, Star Rating: /9.2 Jake Lloyd, does the voice. Macworld’s buying advice First up is free racing, with a selection of Racer also offers a multiplayer mode, ou’ve seen the film and the around a third of the available tracks. Keep supporting up to eight players on a local incredible Boonta Eve Classic an eye on the on-screen map and try to area network. Unfortunately, each person Y podrace on Tatooine. Now relive avoid the other 11 racers – damage from needs a CD in their drive – a bit greedy of it in the best possible way – at the wheel the non-stop bumping and barging can be LucasArts. Also, I found a nasty bug, where of a speed king’s dream. mended partially, via the repair key, but the the use of the comma key zaps all keyboard Graphic detail is very impressive from resulting speed-decrease drops you down a shortcuts. the off, and justifies LucasArts’ minimum few positions. But this is hair-splitting. Racer is the machine spec – a 233MHz iMac with Then it’s on to the main event – the best racing game ever seen on the Mac. hardware acceleration and OpenGL. tournament where you race for real on You’ll have to buy the game on-line from Here is a game that has been created 25 circuits, spread across eight different the States courtesy of LucasArts’ attitude to without compromise. The silky-smooth worlds. Snow, forest, underground, arena the UK market – but it’s worth every penny. screen redraws are testimony to this – – every kind of track’s on offer. The first 21 Vic Lennard
Audio-sequencer change the pitch of audio files, or easily view single tracks in the Notation window. Even though Metro lacks some features, it can do much more than record MIDI and audio data. The program gives you some useful musical goodies – for example, you can record multiple takes without having to stop and start the sequence. Using Multiple Take Mode, you select an area of a Metro 5.0 sequence, determine how many takes you Publisher: Cakewalk Making tracks wish to record, and start recording. As you www.cakewalk.com Metro 5.0 offers typical sequencer features such as finish each pass, Metro returns to the Distributor: Et Cetera (01706 228 039) track overview and graphic editing of MIDI data. beginning of the selected section and starts Pros: ASIO and VST support; records up to recording your next take in a new track. A 64-audio tracks. with those of more expensive competitors – unique Note Spray tool lets you add semi- Cons: Sparse documentation; too many dialogue it records countless MIDI tracks and up to random MIDI data to a track – for instance, boxes. 64 tracks of digital audio. It supports ASIO notes constrained to a particular scale. Price: £189 (including VAT) (Steinberg’s Audio Stream Input/Output)- Star Rating: /7.9 compatible audio cards, as well as Adobe Macworld’s buying advice Premiere-compatible and Steinberg’s VST- Metro 5.0 is a good sequencer for those on hat can you say about a company compatible effects plug-ins. Metro 5.0 a budget, offering a competent – though that discards the 500-page also offers such common features as occasionally shallow – set of features. W manual that graced a fairly mix automation, groove quantize, Regrettably, some users may never discover complex MIDI application, and then audio scrubbing, and audio cross-fades. these features due to the lack of proper “upgrades” it with 60 pages of PDF-format Of course, you shouldn’t expect miracles documentation and an unintuitive interface. quick-start material and inadequate online from a sequencer that costs hundreds of Christopher Breen help? While you may praise Cakewalk pounds less than the competition. Not for its efforts to save trees, you can just as surprisingly, once you begin to explore easily denounce it for making its mid-price Metro’s features you discover they lack Win MIDI sequencer, Metro 5.0, more difficult depth. For example, Metro’s effects plug-ins, ... One of five copies of to use than is necessary. such as reverb, delay, and chorus, are of Metro 5 with Macworld The lack of documentation, and an questionable quality. The mixing console Jackpot. Ring 0900 interface that buries common commands within the Instruments window doesn’t 1010 261 before in dialogue boxes, mars an OK MIDI let you assign a name to a fader, or switch March 31. Calls cost sequencer. Metro’s features compare well effects on and off. Nor can you loop or 60 pence per minute.
Search Macworld’s Reviews database online (www.macworld.co.uk),updated throughout the month Macworld MARCH 2000 53 reviews
Rehash of utilities classic
Action Utilities Publisher: Power On Software www.poweronsoftware.com Pros: Convenient navigation features; extensive drag-&-drop support; adds needed enhancements to Open-&-Save dialogue boxes. Cons: Lost functionality with Navigation Services; no single installer, serial number, or manual; some redundancy. Price: £62 (excluding VAT) Star Rating: /8.6
ac veterans who remember Now Software’s Now Utilities are likely M to have bittersweet recollections of this set of system enhancements. Early adopters may retain fond memories of Super Boomerang – the tool that let you easily navigate through volumes and folders from within the Open and Save dialogue Worthy action Power On Software has resurrected and enhanced the best parts of Now Utilities and made them compatible boxes – and Now Menus, a control panel with the latest Mac OS. that extended these navigation powers to the desktop. Alas, these same users were surely that listed favourite and recently accessed folders, currently running applications, disenchanted when elements of Now files and folders. It also made the Open-&- and local and networked volumes. Utilities ceased to function with newer Save dialogue boxes resizable, and within Granted, Action GoMac makes some versions of the Mac OS – or became so those same dialogue boxes it added a Find of this functionality redundant. But, Action unstable that they were more hindrance command and provided Finder-like Menus offers some other goodies. You can than help. functions. For example, Action Files lets add items to the Apple menu by dragging Thankfully, Power On Software you create folders and aliases, rename them from the desktop, or an open window, resurrected and enhanced the best parts of and duplicate files, and view files by into the Apple menu. And, you can easily Now Utilities; made them compatible with name, date, size, and type. assign custom key commands in the latest Mac OS updates; and released, in Power On has introduced a few changes applications – assign ⌘-T to the Empty single form, Action Files, Action Menus, and since then. The utility now supports Apple’s Trash/Wastebasket command in the Finder, Action WYSIWYG. Now Power On has Navigation Services – the new Open and for example – by selecting a command with bundled these three utilities with Action Save dialogue boxes introduced with Mac the mouse and pressing the desired key GoMac – a utility that places a Windows- OS 8.5. Regrettably, the design of these new combination. Note, however, that the like Start menu and Task Bar on your Mac’s dialogue boxes is at odds with Action Files assignable Function Key option within desktop – slapped a £62 price tag on the – if you invoke the Find command in a new Mac OS 9’s Keyboard control panel takes suite, and dubbed it Action Utilities. Open or Save dialogue box, Sherlock precedence over Action Menus’ key Considering its reasonable price, and the appears rather than Action Files’ own commands. fact that at least three of the utilities are Find dialogue box – and the Open or Save Action WYSIWYG replaces the font extremely useful, it’s a compelling product. dialogue box closes. Despite this annoyance, menu within each application with its own The initial release of Action Utilities we’re relieved that Power On made Action font menu. While viewing font names in isn’t quite an integrated whole – there’s no Files compatible with Navigation Services, multiple columns, in their true typefaces, single installer, serial number, or manual. and we believe Apple should fold Action and in family groups may be a godsend to You must install each utility separately, Files’ features into the next Mac OS. graphic designers and desktop-publishers , enter a discrete serial number for each users without a wealth of fonts may find one, and sift through four separate More good stuff Action WYSIWYG less useful than the suite’s manuals. Power On said it will resolve these Action GoMac 2.0.3 is almost unchanged other three utilities. Although we like being issues in an update that should be available from the version we reviewed last year. able to view fonts in different colours and by the time you read this. This utility mimics and improves on sizes, Action WYSIWYG is more of a bonus Fortunately, the utilities aren’t as Windows’ Start-menu, Task Bar, and Clock than a necessity. dissociated once they’re installed on your Tray features. It gives you quick access to hard drive. You can control the settings for recently accessed items, currently running Macworld’s buying advice each utility from a single control panel. To programs, and your favourite applications. For those who mourned the passing of Now modify a utility’s settings, simply click on A powerful substitute for Apple’s Launcher Utilities, we’re pleased to announce that an its icon, and then click on one of the and Application menu, Action GoMac is enhanced, stable, and affordable version of settings tabs. well worth having. these venerable tools is now available in a When we last reviewed Action Files, we Action Menus is the third useful single package. If you missed Now Utilities mentioned that it added new functionality component of Action Utilities. It lets you and wondered what all the fuss was about, to the File menu’s Open and Save As create custom menus for quick access to perhaps it’s time to leap into Action. commands. It added hierarchical menus recently used applications, files, and Christopher Breen
54 Macworld MARCH 2000 Search Macworld’s Reviews database online (www.macworld.co.uk),updated throughout the month reviews
Audio- and MIDI-editing software gigs – while the accent is still on the At the top of the tracks display, in the audio capabilities. Edit window, the new Ruler View displays Firstly, I recorded a DX7 synthesizer ruler tracks. This shows Bars/Beats, SMPTE using a MIDI track. When I pressed stop, Timecode, Feet/Frames, Mins/Secs or the notes were immediately visible in the Samples. Ruler tracks are also available to edit window for graphic editing. From here, display Tempo events, Meter events and notes can be made shorter or longer, and Marker events – any combination of these the Grabber tool used to move the pitch or can be turned on or off. position. It’s even possible to draw notes in New scrolling options in the waveform Pro Tools 5.0 using the new Pencil tool. edit window include a continuous scroll Publisher: Digidesign The Selector tool, used with the MIDI showing the playhead – a blue bar www.digidesign.com Menu, can apply powerful region indicating where the playback point is in Distributor: Digidesign UK (01753 653 322) commands. These include comprehensive the edit window. With the playhead visible, Pros: The new MIDI features and other program Quantize options, Change Velocity, and the playback position stays where it is when enhancements give a much-needed boost. Change Duration – all of which are quite you stop. The zoom tools have been Cons: Some buggy behaviour; examples of similar to MotU Performer’s MIDI Region improved with five-zoom-level buttons now sloppy programming. commands. Existing velocity, volume, pan, available. And the Link Selections button Price: £5,279 to £6,599 (including VAT) mute, and any continuous controller data links or unlinks the Edit window and Star Rating: /9.0 can also be drawn in. The Pencil tool can be Timeline selections. set to draw freehand, or to automatically igidesign’s Pro Tools system has draw straight lines, triangles, squares or Macworld’s buying advice always included software and randomly. SysEx data can even be recorded I can recommend Pro Tools version 5.0 D hardware components. The and played back – although it cannot be to anyone looking for a well-integrated hardware consists of one or more audio- edited as in Performer and similar software. professional-audio and MIDI software cards, along with one or more audio- What I missed – badly – is the list- application. Entry-level users should interfaces. The software offers a multitrack editing mode found in MIDI sequencers, consider buying the LE version with the waveform editor, a mixing console such as Performer. What I didn’t miss from cheaper Digi 001 hardware. emulator. Also included are controls and these sequencers is the music notation and Mike Collins commands to let you record and playback advanced MIDI-processing features. These audio from a hard disk. are much less important for straightforward The system is so popular because MIDI recording. In fact, I found myself Digidesign has encouraged software enjoying the simplicity of the more basic developers to offer Pro Tools options for approach of PT5. recording and playback. So, plenty of The transport bar now has both main musicians and composers use Pro Tools and secondary positional displays. Within systems with the Midi and audio sequencer each you can show your choice of of their choice. Bars/Beats, SMPTE Timecode, Feet/Frames, With version 5, Pro Tools has finally Mins/Secs or Samples. There is a come of age as an integrated Audio- and Metronome on/off button with an Balancing act MIDI-recording environment. It can handle associated Click and Count-off options Pro Tools 5.0 edits everything from notes to tempo, and most straight-ahead MIDI-programming dialogue box. allows editing in audio and MIDI.
Super-quick colour printer printer in its class, the ink giving everything a glossy-magazine look. A thinner layer of ink is used than in previous models, making it easier to write on – although writing on a full-colour image is still next to impossible due to the waxy ink. In most offices this is not an issue – but it always raises the hackles of our production staff, who need to write corrections on glossy pages (Too bloody right – ed). The 850 comes with 10/100BaseT Tektronix Phaser 850 ethernet and USB right out of the box, Manufacturer: Xerox/Tektronix (0870 241 3245) so it will work with any Mac. It is stuffed www.tek.com/color_printers/ with features – such as duplex and Pros: Fast, clean and simple to use. extensive print- and ink-management Cons: Print-offs difficult to write on. control, including remote management Price: Base model £2,406 (excluding VAT) via TCP/IP. Star Rating: /8.8 If you are familiar with the Phaser 840, Macworld’s buying advice ektronix has updated its Phaser range the 850 holds no real surprises. It uses the This printer may cost more than a mono with a faster A4 model, the same solid-ink technology – which enables laser, but you always have to pay for extra T Phaser 850. It improves on speed faster colour than any laser-based colour features. The free black ink ensures that and is now the fastest A4-page printer printer. The secret is a quick first page you don’t have to buy a mono laser. There in the world – achieving a blistering to print. Laser printers must spend time is no need to be worried about wasting 14 colour-pages per minute. warming a fuser wire before a page can be money. The solid ink is much cleaner and Tektronix has done something no other printed. The solid-ink technology uses a simpler than laser, which can be messy and company has been able to: give away free chamber that is always kept full of hot ink, complicated to replace. The Phaser 850 is black ink. This makes it economical to use as soon as you need to, it is ready to print. the perfect office printer for most situations. the colour printer for all office printing. The quality of image is unrivalled by any David Fanning
56 Macworld MARCH 2000 Search Macworld’s Reviews database online (www.macworld.co.uk),updated throughout the month reviews
Empire-building strategy game
Civilization: Call to Power Publisher: Activision/MacSoft www.wizardworks.com/macsoft Flawed masterpiece Distributor: GT Interactive (0181 222 9700) More beautiful than a medieval tapestry, Call to Power Pros: Based on great Civilization II; at least looks better than its illustrious predecessors. superb new graphics; new units and advances. Cons: Gameplay “improvements” often annoy; bizarre World for you to build: the Labyrinth, East combat results; no Leonardo’s Workshop – argh! India Company, and Dinosaur Park, to name Price: £39.99 (inc.VAT) a few. This is a great improvement on Star Rating: /6.8 Civ II’s limited options – but the lack of Civ II’s Leonardo’s Workshop wonder makes s befits a game with so grand a unit-production a bind. name, Civilization is billed by its In CTP, you can build underwater cities A makers as “the greatest strategy and orbiting space colonies. And, you can game series of all time”. The empire- wage unconventional warfare, with building simulation has sold over economic attacks, propaganda, biological 2.5 million copies since its inception terrorism, and religious conversion. While as Sid Meier’s Civilization ten years ago, adding realistic levels of complexity, I found yet hasn’t been properly updated since these relentless non-combat attacks – the 1996’s best-selling Civilization II. injunction-wielding Lawyer especially – The latest version, Civilization: Call to detracted from the traditional blood-&- Power, follows the same epic course as the thunder fun of clashing armies. earlier games. You start out as a brave but CTP lets you witness your units clash puny settler – armed with a ragged sack with your enemy’s, in a small animated of basic technologies – and slowly build combat sub-screen. Combat has been made yourself an empire of cities and awesome more sophisticated by the pooling of units’ army of might. attack and defence ratings. Sounds super, Turn by turn, you explore your new but even small groups of primitive units world, building cities here and there, can now wipe out a Stealth Bomber discovering and inventing things, managing – which is just silly when it happens more your natural resources, organizing your than once. This is equivalent to Star Wars’ people, and knocking seven bells out Ewoks winning time after time. of neighbouring nations. Instead of colonizing Alpha Centauri as The first things you notice about your ultimate goal, in CTP you must breed Civilization: Call to Power (CTP) are the alien life forms – although you can still win wonderfully modelled 3D unit icons and by knocking off every other nation. terrain squares. In the original Civilization, CTP’s gameplay “improvements” aren’t the Settler unit was a flat wagon on a always welcome. A line follows your cursor coloured square; in Civ II, it became a to show you the path your unit will take, static peasant with a spade; in CTP, we get but in practise, this just gets in the way – a walking, talking young man – looking a ruining your centred position on the map lot like a gay gardener. if you move your mouse. One slip of the Settlers no longer build roads, irrigate or mouse button, and the path can also issue mine – this is now down to the size of your false instructions to your unit – sending it Public Works budget. While it makes things marching off in totally the wrong direction. easier, it does take some fun out of the early stages of the game compared to Civ II. Macworld’s buying advice And, roads no longer affect production or While I haven’t spent anywhere near the trade, only movement points. game hours on CTP that I have over the years on Civ II, I’m still perturbed by many Scottish-Australian axis of CTP’s gameplay “improvements”. The CTP offers you a trireme-full of new nations lush graphics and wider range of units, to choose to hail from: aside from the usual advances and wonders are welcome, Romans, Greeks, English, etc, you can now but some of the fun seems to have | be Scottish, Jamaican or Australian. been stripped out in favour of either CTP is also full of new unit types – from sophistication – often too complex – Samurai to Storm Marine, there’s now or simplicity – often too automatic. 65 in total. And civilization Advances are, Civ II addicts should try it out for size, well, more advanced – from Alchemy to but don’t delete the old classic. Newcomers Nano Assembly, there are 90 to complete. should grab Civilization II while they can. There are also some new Wonders of the Simon ‘Tyrant’ Jary
Macworld MARCH 2000 57 reviews reviews
FireWire PC cards for PowerBooks The RATOC card also includes a Powerful-Web plug-ins for Adobe Acrobat connection for standard power adaptors, allowing the use of FireWire devices that rely on the host system for power. Desktop Macs can power FireWire devices through the cable, but you can’t do this with a PowerBook – even one that’s plugged in – because it would overheat the PC Card. RATOC gets around this limitation by CBFW2 placing the power-jack on the dongle Adobe Acrobat 4.05 Manufacturer: RATOC Systems used to connect FireWire devices to the Publisher: Adobe (0818 6064001) www.rexpccard.co.jp card. The Newer card lacks a power www.adobe.com Distributor: CompuB (0800 018 6625) Newer connection. Pros: The free plug-ins add the missing features of the earlier upgrade to Acrobat; Pros: Fast; comes with power connection. Technology, and Although the RATOC card is faster, and ability to download Web sites to browse when offline. Cons: Limited technical support. the CBFW2, from offers more features, the Newer card is Cons: Large sites take a long time to download completely. Price: £189 (including VAT) RATOC Systems. The RATOC card is faster backed by superior technical support. Price: Free download. Star Rating: /7.7 and works with unpowered peripherals, but Newer offers extensive technical Star Rating: /7.3 Newer provides better technical support. information on its Web site; RATOC’s Orange Micro and VST Technologies have manual doesn’t list any support contacts. acworld exclusively FireWire 2 GO also announced FireWire cards, but neither reported in News, Manufacturer: Newer Technology arrived in time for testing. Macworld’s Buying Advice M and Reviews, www.newertech.com Both cards are a cinch to install – you RATOC’s CBFW2 card gets the nod for its August 99 that Adobe Distributor: AM Micro (01392 426 473) run an installation program that copies the faster performance and standard power Acrobat 4.0 for the Mac did Pros: Good technical support. needed extensions to your System Folder, connection, which allows the use of not have the same features Cons: Relatively slow; no power connection. reboot the PowerBook, and plug the card unpowered FireWire devices. However, if as the PC version. Price: £120 (including VAT) into the PC Card slot. Along with the driver you’re a novice user who needs some hand- However, Adobe Star Rating: /7.5 software, Newer provides QuickTime 4 Pro, holding, you may find that Newer’s superior announced in November the which you’ll need if you want to capture technical support compensates for the free plug-ins for Macintosh ireWire is the best hardware interface video directly from a DV camcorder. FireWire 2 Go card’s limitations. users which fill that gap. for Digital Video (DV) camcorders When writing a 1GB QuickTime movie Kevin Mitchell Namely, the Web Capture F and other peripherals that require to a FireWire hard drive, the RATOC card feature, digital-signature high-speed data connections. Until recently, was the speed champ, taking 3 minutes support, Web Buy and however, FireWire devices were trapped on 23 seconds compared with 3 minutes Win the ability to send emails the desktop, due to the lack of FireWire 53 seconds for the Newer card. However, ... One CBFW2 or one directly from the page. A long wait ports in Apple’s PowerBooks. Now, thanks neither card could keep up with a FireWire- of two FireWire 2 Go E-commerce has thrown It took longer than expected to download to FireWire PC Cards, you can connect equipped blue-&-white Power Mac G3, with Macworld up many issues regarding pages using Acrobat’s new features. FireWire devices to any G3 PowerBook which copied the file in 2 minutes Jackpot. Ring security and methods of running at 300MHz or faster. 27 seconds. When the cards were reading 900 1010 262 before identification. The Web Buy plug-in allows you to download Macworld Lab looked at two FireWire from the drive, the difference narrowed, March 31. Calls cost encrypted files in PDF Merchant – a server-based technology, that can CardBus cards: the FireWire 2 Go, from with each taking about 3.5 minutes. 60 pence per minute. be used alongside e-commerce products for secure transactions and encrypted PDF files. This allows your computer to be individually identified, in a similar way cookie string. Home picture-editing Photo House is for photo-editing and painting, and is particularly good for Digital Signatures retouching old photos and removing red Whether you want to authenticate a purchase online or are eye. Project Designer is a graphics-based “signing off” important documents, being able to add your own app. It offers text and layout features for digital signature is becoming more important. Adobe’s SelfSign the creation of cards, newsletters and allows users to create personal valid authority, meaning there’s no stationary. It comes with 1,000 sample need for a CA (Certificate of Authority). layouts that cover most eventualities. The biggest new feature is the Web Capture utility. It lets you Both bits of software draw on Custom connect to a specified URL, and download and convert images, text, Corel Custom Photo Photo’s stock of 10,000 images. Sounds frames and links from a Web site. You then view the site in PDF Publisher: Corel great, doesn’t it? The only thing is, 4,000 format. www.corel.com of these are tacky clip-art images that only P-P-P-P-Pick up a Penguin Downloading, recording and restoring the links took some time Distributor: Corel (0800 581 028) the worst free newspapers would dream of Custom Photo’s stock cut-outs can give hours of fun. – although Acrobat warned me that it would. You can set conversion Pros: Offers passable layout capability. using. Of the rest, there’s the usual line-up preferences before downloading – such as size and file type. Cons: Unintuitive; rubbish at object cut-outs. of wild animals in their natural habitats. interface – the result being a frustrating However, it still took about half an hour to collect 50 pages. Price: £43.99 (including VAT) For a collection of animals in an unnatural non-connection between the two. Database-generated information can be gathered easily. You Star Rating: /6.1 habitat, take a look at the screenshot (left). can fill out Web forms in the downloaded PDF version and post One serious drawback with Custom Macworld buying advice your query without having to launch mail client software. mage-editing software is all the rage. Photo is its poor image cut-out ablilities. If you have a scanner, this product will It would, however, be useful to show the time taken to download Apple has even got in on the act, Slicing up pals and placing them in weird offer little that your bundled software a site as well as the number of bytes collected. Also, you can specify I bundling its latest iMacs with the backgrounds is image-editing basics. doesn’t already give you. what level of download to make, but not what to miss out. Some capable Adobe PhotoDeluxe. The message is Yet there’s no tool capable of accurate cut- That leaves owners of a digital camera form fields were re-sized and I couldn’t find any way to stop this clear – punters are buying digital cameras outs – just a lasso that can only be used and a Mac lacking any image-editing happening. and scanners in droves, and love playing freehand and at low magnification. This software. Custom Photo has some decent around with snaps of loved ones – it brings results in cut-outs that are unacceptably things to offer – not least an impressive Macworld’s Buying Advice out both the child and artist in us all. crude, even for light-hearted use. range of templates for cards, calendars and As the plug-ins are free from the Adobe Web site, I recommend that Leaping onto this pixel-mixing Custom Photo is also unintuitive to use. invitations, and for the price it’s not a bad you get them. Even if just for the extra Web security and the phone- bandwagon is Corel, weighing in with On-screen hints for use of its tools assume buy. But, in trying to cover so much ground, bill saving capture ability. Once you’ve downloaded the Web Buy Custom Photo. It’s comprised of two apps: intimacy with the manual. Similarly, the it has spread itself too thin. plug-in, you can download selections from popular books for free. Photo House 5 and Project Designer. manual assumes familiarity with the Sean Ashcroft Gillian Robertson
58 Macworld MARCH 2000 Search Macworld’s Reviews database online (www.macworld.co.uk),updated throughout the month Search Macworld’s Reviews database online (www.macworld.co.uk),updated throughout the month Macworld MARCH 2000 59 reviews
Guitar-teaching software (Kevin Garry) playing the songs, and talking you through the basics. A further three hours of audio files gives you more information and tuition. The animated fretboard shows you the finger positions and chord names – as the tune plays, helping you get to grips with their relationships with rhythm. The software’s use of Simplesound lets Guitar for dummies Guitar Method 1.2 you play your versions of chords or songs Guitar Method 1.2 is perfect for novice musicians. Publisher: eMedia into a computer, and then play the sounds www.emedia.org back, giving you a fair idea of how you are Method 2. CD 2 teaches you hammer-ons, Distributor: (0181 970 1909) progressing. It teaches 12-bar blues, music pull-offs, bends, vibrato, slides and barre Pros: Easy to use; provides everything you notation and rhythm patterns. Sadly, like chords – but the whole course is geared need to learn guitar. most guitar methods I’ve encountered, the toward learning at your own pace. Cons: Such an innovative guitar course should songs tend to fall into the old-time folk, A couple of minor quibbles. The teach some modern songs; seems built for blues and traditional categories. windows are pretty basic, without even 17-inch plus monitors. the virtual chrome of Mac OS 9. Another Price: £49.95 (including VAT) Lessons on tap negative is the impression I get that the Star Rating: /8.8 Essentially, this is a great way to learn software is built to run on 17-inch-plus guitar. You get one-on-one instruction when sized monitors. Sometimes when using uitar Method 1.2 is a structured you want it, the tutor never loses patience, the animated fretboard, the top part of course aimed at beginners. The and I can’t think of a better package to the page disappeared. G novice guitarist goes through the open the doors to rock ‘n’ roll heaven for essentials of strumming, tuning and time budding guitarists. Macworld’s buying advice signatures, all the way to bass note strums Guitar Method 1.2 does what it says Guitar Method 1.2 is an invaluable piece and finger-picking styles. it does – teaches you basic guitar in an of software. It teaches you how to play The appendix dealing with musical unpressurized way. You learn at your own the guitar in a far more accessible way than notation is also very useful. You get pace, and occasional end-of-topic quizzes book-based guitar courses. It’ll still prove 60 lessons, a hundred songs, and a running help you retain the information and assess useful once you’ve finished the course for start in playing the guitar. your own success. the chord dictionary alone. To play guitar, The beauty of the program is the way it eMedia has a couple of other products start here – as far as I know this is the only teaches. Multimedia is used throughout – out, including a CD full of more varied Mac-compatible guitar-tutoring course. 60 different videos show the guitar tutor songs and a more advanced CD, Guitar Jonny Evans
Web-broadcasting software Sorenson Broadcaster offers a multicast mode. Multicasting uses network bandwidth efficiently by letting all users on your network “tune in” to one stream. And multicasting doesn’t require QuickTime Streaming Server – all you need is Sorenson Broadcaster. Sorenson Broadcaster can also archive a live stream to disk. This lets you save a live Sorenson Broadcaster event for subsequent on-demand delivery Publisher: Sorenson Vision using QuickTime Streaming Server. You can www.s-vision.com also archive live content without actually Distributor: Trimedia Broadcast (0207 734 8404) streaming it. Pros: Straightforward interface; supports Before you can begin streaming, you multicasting. have to announce the broadcast. This Cons: Some minor bugs; poor documentation. Live feed involves exporting, via Sorenson Price: £149 (excluding VAT) Sorenson Broadcaster lets you stream live video over Broadcaster, a QuickTime movie containing Star Rating: /6.9 the Web. URL and compression information, that your audience’s QuickTime Players use pple’s QuickTime 4.0 is the first your audio source into your Mac’s input to connect to the live stream. QuickTime version to permit jack. To encode video, you need a If you’re streaming over the Internet, A streaming of live content, such Broadcaster-compatible capture card – a list you need to create a reference movie, as radio or television feeds, convention of them is available on Sorenson’s Web site. stored on QuickTime Streaming Server, speeches, and conferences. But, while Choosing compression settings that points to the live stream. It’s a simple QuickTime Streaming Server can dish appropriate to your content, and to process – or at least it would be if it were out live streams, it can’t encode them. In your audience’s connection speeds, is accurately documented. Sorenson broadcasting terms, QuickTime Streaming key. Broadcaster’s presets make this job a Broadcaster’s documentation is light Server is merely a transmitter; it needs an breeze, and a Customize button lets you on details, and often downright wrong. incoming signal to beam out. tweak settings. After choosing compression And that’s where Sorenson Broadcaster settings, you specify the name of the Macworld’s buying advice 1.0 beams in – it lets you compress live broadcast as well as copyright information. Sorenson Broadcaster has a few minor audio and video signals into QuickTime Then you enter the Internet Protocol (IP) flaws. But, by and large, version 1.0 is streams. address of the QuickTime Streaming Server a fine effort. If you’re doing QuickTime Regardless of your Mac’s configuration, you’ll be using. streaming, it’s the only encoding tool you don’t need additional hardware to If your audience is connected to a you need. encode audio-only content – just plug local-area network, rather than the Internet, Jim Heid
60 Macworld MARCH 2000 Search Macworld’s Reviews database online (www.macworld.co.uk),updated throughout the month reviews
3D design for beginners
MetaCreations Carrara Manufacturer: MetaCreations www.metacreations.com Distributor: Computers Unlimited (0181 358 5857) Pros: Easy to learn; fast rendering; fun physics. Cons: Runs out of steam with complex scenes. Price: £299 (excluding VAT) Star Rating: /8.7
he world of 3D design is a closed book to many 2D designers. The T prospect of making the shift to 3D can be daunting. Enter Carrara, the new 3D modelling/rendering/animation program with high-end features, but simple enough for a novice. More bounce to the ounce The team that produced the fabulous Once you’ve set the material of which an object is made – in this case rubber – you can experiment with the levels of Carrara-d, has combined with the Ray bounce and friction, as well as density. Dream Studio team, to develop Carrara. Both these applications can be seen in get carried away making complex models tutorial for this room to make sure the Carrara, though the interface will be more that bring the physics engine to a halt. Two concept is well understood. familiar to users of KPT Goo and other Kai- or three elements in a scene with gravity is The final stage of rendering is faster inspired apps. fine, but more than that and you’ll wait than any I’ve seen. This is down to the Even though the interface is funky, it longer than the laws of physics allow. Hybrid Renderer, which uses the latest isn’t so weird that you can’t figure how to Eventually, the application gives up – but advances to determine which parts of the use it. It’s both intuitive and complex, and not without a polite warning of impending image require ray-tracing and which need there’s a huge tutorial and reference guide doom – and a chance to save. the simpler and faster Phong shading. as back-up. You can assign three physical properties In the past, if you had a single reflective The creation process is divided into five to any object: Density, Bounce and Friction. surface in a scene you would have to ray- sections, or rooms as MetaCreations calls These determine how the object will react trace the whole thing – even though not them. First is the Assemble room, where when it is in contact with any other object. all surfaces require ray-tracing. you bring the elements of your scene There are a few pre-set material properties together. Next is the Model room, where available – including rubber, wood, clay Macworld’s buying advice objects are created within the scene. The and ice. Each one can be tweaked to get Carrara isn’t designed to be the next third room is called Storyboard, offering the desired effect. Cinema 4D or Maya – it’s much simpler a quick-and-easy way to sketch out your The physics modeller is good, but than either. If you are a 2D designer, it animation. The forth is the Textures room, flawed. Occasionally, I had a problem with would normally require a big investment for adding colour and patterns to objects. objects falling through the floor. Also, it’s of time to learn a 3D program. But with Finally, there is the Render room, for setting easy to make objects that can cause Carrara, you can get the majority of the the parameters for final output. problems. I created a basic animation with features figured out in a weekend. With a There are a number of features that you a bowling ball and skittles, but wasn’t little swotting, you can be an expert within simply don’t expect to see in a graphics accurate enough when making the skittles, a week. program like this. and they had slightly rounded bottoms. The MetaCreations has targeted this package Realistic physics, for example, has result was an animation where the skittles at Web designers and traditional 2D historically been a high-end and expensive fell over before the ball hit them. designers. It’s capable of outputting feature, but it is available in Carrara. It’s The Assemble room is clear and easy MetaStream files for Web use, so it fits into extremely simple to use, though it’s easy to to navigate. In each of the rooms there is MetaCreations new “Internet visualizations access to tool palettes from drawers at the solutions” strategy. Hopefully, this will side of the screen. These can contain ensure it remains a product past version anything from pre-designed objects to 1.0, unlike some other MetaCreations textures and other shaders. On the right- software. Carrara is fun, and represents hand side, the drawer contains information a great opportunity for artists to go 3D. and properties for each object, and the David Fanning bottom drawer is devoted to animation settings. There are dozens of shaders available, and adding to them is simple. Win If you use your own bump-maps or custom ... One of three copies of textures, you’re given the opportunity to Carrara with Macworld save them with each document. Jackpot. Ring 0900 The Modelling room is more difficult 1010 263 before Rough terrain to use. Creating new objects can be a little March 31. Calls cost Carrara’s Terrain Editor is almost identical to Bryce’s. confusing for the beginner – go through the 60 pence per minute.
Search Macworld’s Reviews database online (www.macworld.co.uk),updated throughout the month Macworld MARCH 2000 63 preview
Illustrator rival FreeHand 9.0 Publisher: Macromedia www.macromedia.com Pros: Lots (and lots) of interesting new features. Cons: Poor value for money as a whole-number upgrade; rough edges to some new features. Price: FreeHand 9 .0, £279; upgrade from FreeHand 8, £99 (all excluding VAT)
he sheer quantity of new features in FreeHand 9.0 makes it look like a T worthwhile and interesting upgrade. But, on closer inspection, the package lacks cohesion – ultimately, it’s more of an 8.5 than a 9.0. The rawness of some of the new features only underlines this. It’s tempting A matter of perspective Flash Export (above, left) is the sexiest of the new features in FreeHand 9.The New Perspective Grids feature has a to draw the conclusion that the looming slightly unfinished feel (above, right). arrival of Illustrator 9.0 (and the kudos of being in a position to release FreeHand X to coincide with Mac OS X) has forced month on the drawing board. The Library new path. Finally, there’s a handful of Macromedia’s hand. It may have been wiser carries graphics that are frequently used in improvements to existing tools. For to be second to market, with a more tightly- the document, and each occurrence within instance, object transform handles now focused version, rather than release this the document is linked to the graphic in have integrated skewing and resizing built collection of disparate tweaks – that the Library. Updating a particular graphic in. The Freehand tool has a precision represent only moderate value for money. becomes a matter of a few keystrokes, control to smooth or jag paths. And, the even if you’ve used it thousands of times. Blend tool now has the ability to blend Fascinating feature But if you’re used to Flash, where composite paths and groups. Grumble done. It also has to be said that, clicking on the symbol’s icon in the Symbols To add to all this, there’s a heap of other although the new features are all over the palette makes the item appear ready for incremental improvements to FreeHand 9’s place, most of them are useful and editing, you’ll be confused by FreeHand 9’s tools and features. These include a new interesting. And, there’s plenty of them. equivalent. A symbol first has to be found Page tool showing document layout and If quantity, not quality, made an upgrade, in the document, released using the Modify allowing deletion, addition, duplication, FreeHand 9.0 would get a Star Rating in menu, selected and edited, and then re-orientation and resizing of a page or the high nines. dragged back to the Symbols palette pages. Also, it’s easier to manage linked Sexiest of all, is the extended Flash to replace the original. external files. And, new selection synchronicity – mainly the SWF Export commands including invert, subselect, feature, which allows any document created Keeping it in perspective select all items on a layer, select on contact, in FreeHand 9 to be exported as a Flash file Also interesting is a new Perspective Grids nudge increments and extended locking – either static or animated – with options feature, that should gladden the hearts facilities. for autoplay and import protection. of cheesy corporate-sting animators. Set FreeHand 9 has added new The ability to export static Flash files horizon lines and up to three vanishing measurement units – including the is particularly useful. Because vector-based points, and any vector object attached to bizarre ‘nautical miles’. It can now, at last, format – .swf files – are resolution- and the resulting perspective grid scales and recognize clipping paths on imported EPS PostScript-independent, a document can changes perspective as it’s positioned on files. Step-&-repeat facilities have been be output on any printer and still maintain the grid. Grids can be changed while added, and it has a “sharper knife” – its integrity. The new Release to Layers objects are attached for immediate up to 32,000 cut-points on a path. feature supports the SWF Export facility – updating. Other improvements include a new selecting a group of objects (or a text block) Again, there’s a slightly unfinished feel Lasso tool, a Paste Special – which allows and applying Release to Layers separates to this feature. For instance, clicking on the the paste format to be specified – PDF each object, or letter, to individual layers Perspective tool doesn’t automatically import/export, and enhancements to the ready for export to Flash. display the perspective grid. And, locking GIF Export facility (four dithering levels, More underwhelming is the new HTML items to the grid is a real faff of keystrokes optimize colours, and an adaptive Export feature, which is currently of limited – click, keep mouse down, tap an arrow Websnap). functionality, and, therefore, limited use. In key. Macromedia has its work cut out if it’s Also, there’s now Relative my tests, it simply dumped the whole image to tidy up this upgrade from the beta Grid – a trip down Memory Lane to as a single file into an HTML file containing version we’re previewing here FreeHand 3.1 – with FreeHand 9.0 the appropriate embedding tags. There is The new Enveloping feature is a plug- remembering the placement of an object no dialogue box for a Save location – in brought in from the cold, and very clever in relation to a grid. output appears on the desktop – and too. It warps and distorts objects directly although a listing window warns of on the page. There are pre-set envelopes, Macworld’s buying advice translation problems, it doesn’t fix the or users can create their own using There’s plenty of stuff here, but nothing more straightforward ones – or offer FreeHand 9’s paths. that puts Freehand 9.0 in the “must have” suggestions for fixing the rest. There’s also a new Magic Wand tool, á la category. It remains up for debate whether The Symbols Library is another useful Photoshop. Just click to select continuous Freehand 9.0 should really have been feature, although its unintuitive interface areas of colour, in either bitmaps or vector Freehand 8.5, with a smaller price tag. suggests it could have done with another objects, and convert the selection into a Karen Charlesworth
64 Macworld MARCH 2000 Search Macworld’s Reviews database online (www.macworld.co.uk),updated throughout the month Coming soon: Mac OS X refreshing
Apple has finally revealed the luscious interface to its thoroughly modern, next-generation operating system. Simon Jary thinks it’s a Aqua cool, class act. Macintosh
any, many years ago (back in 1988, to be precise), pre-emptive multitasking, multi-threading and protected memory. In 2001 – meaning that this next-generation system would not just be Apple realized that its core asset – the elegant May 1996, Apple’s then-CEO, Gil Amelio, announced that Copland for high-end professional users as was at first expected, but was also Macintosh computer operating system – was slipping would never ship as a complete product, but would instead be intended for consumer machines, such as the iMac. Second, Jobs M behind in the technology stakes. The Mac OS has never chopped up – with the best available pieces becoming part of the showed us exactly what OS X will look like. And, it looks superb – been beaten for design grace and intuitive features, but Microsoft’s upcoming System 7.6. Other bits appeared in Mac OS 8, released in almost worth the 11-year wait. Windows NT and the various flavours of Unix were way ahead in 1997. But none of those all-important modern features made the cut. Because Mac OS X is for iMacs as much as it is for G4 Power Macs, many areas of functionality and system stability. Without Copland, Apple was staring defeat in the face – soon Apple could not abandon its traditional twin pillars of OS design: In 1991, Apple responded to Windows 3.0 with the mainly Microsoft would really have no competition in the desktop PC front, attractive appearance and pleasure of use. Apple claims that “the cosmetic changes of the Mac’s System 7. But, behind System 7, and only disparate flavours of Unix to beat in the workstation and same design sensibility that gave the world the iMac, iBook, Power Apple engineers were busy working on its planned successor – the server markets. Amelio looked to buy former Apple chief technologist Mac G4 and PowerBook inspires the Mac OS X interface”. future-friendly operating system, code-named Copland. Jean-Louis Gassé’s BeOS as its next-generation operating system. But, Copland wasn’t alone. Apple also worked on a couple of object- in the end, Apple plumped for the advanced – but little-used – Aqua-tonic: Liquid looker oriented operating systems, code-named Pink and Red (System 7 NeXTStep operating system. For $425 million, Apple not only gained And the new Mac interface we’re all going to have to move to one day was Blue). Neither made it out of the labs. So, it was up to Copland the foundation of its next major OS, but eventually found a new CEO soon is called ‘Aqua’ – because of its cool-watery appearance. It’s a to move Apple on to the next plane of computing technology. – none other than its whizzkid original co-founder, Steve Jobs. kind of electric sky blue. According to Apple, “the characteristics of Sadly, and very nearly tragically for Apple, Copland was a lamer For Apple’s purposes the Unix-based NeXTStep became known as water infuse the lucid feel of Mac OS X. Aqua brings your computer duck than a one-legged Mallard – with an arthritic knee. It was Rhapsody. This would run current Mac programs under something to life with colour, depth, translucence and motion”. meant to be completed in 1993, in time for Windows 95 – “the called the ‘Blue Box’ and modern, native applications in its ‘Yellow While Mac OS X does allow a fair amount of user customization, biggest single competitive threat in Apple’s history”, according to Box’. Again, Rhapsody looked like it was the answer to Apple’s OS Apple will not be offering Appearance Themes as in Mac OS 8.5/9. Michael Malone’s Infinite Loop – a study of Apple Computer. But, problems, but it was a complex plan to make it as intuitive as The director of OS technologies in Apple’s worldwide product when Microsoft shipped the aptly named Win 95, Apple still had Macintosh users were sure to demand. marketing department, Ken Bereskin, told me that Aqua will always no response – and had spent hundreds of millions of dollars on Rhapsody changed names to Mac OS X (pronounced ‘ten’), and a be sky-blue – but public pressure may force Apple into offering the Copland’s development. Despite the massive spending, Apple ship date was scheduled for this spring (see Macworld, July 1999). new interface elements in all its fruity and Graphite colours. seemed more interested in its Newton handheld computer than At January’s Macworld Expo 2000 in San Francisco, Steve Jobs – Apple has two principal goals for Aqua: to create a modern its crown jewels – the Mac OS. now returned as permanent CEO – announced that Mac OS X would operating system that’s easy to use; and “to make it look more To catch up, the Mac OS needed to be two things. It had to be released this summer (after public betas in the spring). Apart from appealing than any Mac you’ve ever seen”. By definition, that means be super speedy, and it had to be more “modern” – meaning it the slight delay, Jobs’ announcement held two particularly important Mac OS X has to be more intuitive and better looking than anything
required several impossibly complicated sounding features: VISION OF DIGITAL COURTESY WALKER/PHOTOGRAPHY ILLUSTRATION:JAMES show stoppers. First, OS X would be installed on all Macs by January continues page 70
68 Macworld MARCH 2000 Macworld MARCH 2000 69 The “Go” item is new to the Mac OS X menu bar Now-central Apple icon. Dialogue boxes are no longer like the new Finder, Mail, and the system-preferences panel will all onwards), with many applications it’s all-too easy to waste time and reflects both the OS’ Internet focus and its modal, and are attached to the be confined to a single window. Apple’s approach is clean and simple. arranging windows, or switching between applications. origin in the multiple-user NeXTstep system. The new Finder retains some of relevant window. Instead of Apple has taken the single-window concept one step further and Mac OS X actively helps you organize your screen space with a the look and feel of NeXTstep’s simply appearing and applied it to the whole operating system. While today’s Mac OS can new feature called Single Window Mode – click the purple button on Pull-down menus have some File Browser, but can also disappearing, they are animated run many applications simultaneously (depending on the amount of the right-hand side of each window. When you’re in Single Window transparency, and fade out display files and folders in to scroll down out of – and up installed and virtual memory), you can interact with only one at a Mode, the Mac makes the current window the active window and if they’re not needed. a more-familiar icon view. into – the window’s title bar. time. Even with the tear-off Applications palette (from Mac OS 8.5 automatically hides all the other open windows. When you want to work on another document or application, the currently active document is automatically removed – and the new document becomes the only active document on the screen. Again, this is a clean and simple solution for a growing problem that threatened the whole desktop-file-folder thing.
Dock culture shock As befits a new OS interface, Apple has been thinking different about many of the working ways we’ve got used to – particularly, the Mac’s desktop metaphor and means of navigation. The company claims to have stuck to a simple guiding principle: “a place for everything and everything in its place”. On top of all its hard work in reducing screen clutter with the Single Window Mode, Apple has ditched the Control Strip for something called “the Dock”. At Macworld Expo, the Dock demo was the most wildly applauded. In essence, the Dock is Apple playing catch-up with Microsoft – which introduced a very similar feature in Windows 98, called the Active Desktop Taskbar. As David Pogue recently pointed out in his ‘Desktop Critic’ column (Macworld, September 1999), Apple has been ‘borrowing’ Windows elements since Mac OS 8 – it sure makes a change after years of Mac imitations in Windows. continues page 72
Darwin: evolution of the Mac species
ccording to Apple, the Darwin core-OS layer is “the cornerstone of Apple showcased its own A the rock-solid foundation” under the new Aqua interface. All that explosive BombApp that modern stuff – pre-emptive multitasking, multi-threading and crashed itself, but left a protected memory – that is supposed to offer us amazing new levels QuickTime movie playing of stability, reliability and speed is possible because of Darwin. uninterrupted in the back- Remember I said that Mac OS X’s architecture is radically different ground. from what we’ve experienced previously? This is because Darwin is And, when an applications related to the powerful Unix operating systems of the über-computer needs memory, the new servers and workstations that run the Internet and do all the special virtual memory manager effects for Hollywood. automatically allocates precisely the amount of memory needed by Mac OS X ignites the performance potential of the PowerPC the application. This should mean the end to “Out-of-memory” processor, via the sophistication of its kernal. A kernel is the key messages – unless you fill up your hard disk. Perhaps stung by widespread The Dock is always centred As the Dock grows full, Instead of a black border, component in the OS that handles most of the interaction between Faster data throughput Darwin includes a high-performance criticism, Apple revised the along the bottom of the individual “tiles” shrink. A user default buttons pulse gently. the OS and the hardware. Mac OS X relies on the Mach 3.0 kernel – plug-&-play I/O subsystem for quickly moving large chunks of data QuickTime Player’s sound screen and can accept any option magnifies tiles as the And scroll bars look like originally developed at Carnegie-Mellon University by Avadis from peripherals – such as storage devices, printers, and DV cameras. control from a thumbwheel window or document. It cursor moves over them. liquid-neon thermometers. Tevanian, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering. Multiple applications can access multiple devices simultaneously with to a good, old-fashioned replaces windowshading. Tevanian came to Apple with Steve Jobs as a part of the NeXT deal. minimal interference, for faster, priority-driven data throughput. slider. Darwin also uses Apache – the Web server that runs over half the Managing tasks Pre-emptive multitasking makes your Mac at lot Web sites on the Internet – and, according to Apple,“makes it friendly smarter handling its G3 or G4 processor. Mac OS X prioritizes tasks – enough to use on your desktop for personal file sharing”. ensuring activity levels are at maximum, and making sure that every else before it. Some task, but the people who revolutionized the PC grate nerves as the initial wonderment diminishes. But Aqua is Darwin incorporates the BSD networking stack – the basis of most task gets the resources it needs. When something more important market with some neat technology and coloured plastics really do determined to take full advantage of Quartz (see “Mac OS X: killer TCP/IP implementations on the Net today – extended to support the comes along, the controller prioritizes it over other tasks in the queue. seem to be on course to deliver this time. graphics”), with the interface’s on-the-fly rendering, anti-aliasing, next-generation Internet Protocol IPv6. There is also built-in support This means your Mac can handle several different tasks at once, giving compositing and built-in transparency. for PPP and IPsec, allowing users to securely access remote networks. priority to your primary application, but still crunching away at other Interface makeover Larger, more detailed icons also mean better document previews Full support for AppleTalk should ensure smooth interoperability with jobs in the background. In my ‘Read Me First’ opinion column (Macworld, February 2000), I in the Finder – no more peering at tiny icons or switching to List view existing Mac networks. Darwin is open-source, meaning that Apple has made a lot of the recalled a conversation I had with graphics guru Kai Krause a couple to determine which file is which in a crowded folder. If big icons give code public, and encourages third-party developers to offer of years ago – in which he revealed that he was once asked by Apple you a big headache, Aqua lets you customize icon sizes – a simple Major benefits suggestions on future versions – this is similar to work being carried to help redesign the Mac’s ageing interface. And there’s a distinct Kai feature that has long been required on PCs of any platform. Crash-resistant computing Protected memory walls off applications out on the increasingly popular Linux OS, and in direct contrast to flavour to Aqua’s 32-bit 128-x-128-pixel, photo-quality icons – But bigger icons pose the potential problem of losing screen space from each other. Each running application is allocated a unique Microsoft’s proprietary Windows systems. closely resembling the luscious icons seen in MetaCreations for multiple windows, control strips and aliases. Fear not, Apple has address space. Isolated in their own memory space, protected As Darwin is the core OS for Mac OS X, we can look forward to applications such as Soap and Bryce. thought ahead. Giant icons or not, multiple windows of open hard programs can’t interfere with each other if one comes a cropper. So, if important developer contributions to Darwin making their way into Dialogue boxes’ default buttons – commands that respond to the drives, CDs and folders create more clutter than a toddler’s your Adobe InDesign or QuarkXPress crashes, you won’t need to future versions of Mac OS X. This should result in a tighter, more return-key, and save on mouse miles – are no longer merely double- playroom. Navigating deep, structured file systems is not always a restart your Mac. Darwin simply shuts down the offending program compatible operating system that works with, rather than beneath, bordered. In Aqua, default buttons pulse with a calm sky-blue tidy business. and its memory space, without interfering with other running apps. key applications and technologies. heartbeat – see the Save button of the central window in the Mac OS X’s Aqua interface eliminates this clutter by focusing screenshot above. This gentle throbbing is a nice effect, but could many of its applications in a single window. Key system components
70 Macworld MARCH 2000 Macworld MARCH 2000 71 Close Maximize The Mac’s ‘zoom rects’ – animated Mac OS X: Killer graphics Minimize rectangles that display transitions in window states – have always put it in a different class to Windows. Aqua goes See it work! overtime on these subtle behaviours. Go to the ‘Mac OS X Window swoosh down to an icon to fit Movies’ folder in the into the "dock", and then stretched back ‘Cool Extras’ section out from the dock to become windows. of this month’s CD. Apple calls this graphic feature the ControlFinal.mov “genie effect”,as it resembles the mythical passage of Aladdin’s genie to and from its lamp.
See it work! Windows get a bright new set of traffic-light buttons. Windows are geniefinal1sor.mov now ‘minimized’ by being sent to the Dock – and not left as hanging title bars. You can operate Aqua’s new buttons even on inactive elements, such as buttons, windows, and scroll bars. Moving windows (see above), leaving your active window live and ready for to OS X from OS 8 shouldn’t require too much head scratching. your next command.To switch window,move your cursor over the left- Apple Guide also gets the heave-ho, with Apple moving entirely hand side of the inactive window and press the green button. The to an HTML-based Help system that allows developers to use the buttons reveals +, - and x visual cues when you mouse over it – handy same documentation code for both OS X and their own Web sites. for the colour blind. All three become less prominent when the window is not the frontmost window. Finder blinder This new placement is rather like Windows’ title-bar controls, but While today’s Finder takes up the whole of your screen, Mac OS X’s better spaced to discourage clicking errors. Also better than Windows, easy-to-navigate Finder can be fully contained within a single the Minimize control goes in between the opposing Close and window. This is a major step away from the present format of hard o maintain and extend its lead in its traditional markets, Apple maximize controls. In Windows, it’s all-too easy to click ‘close’ disk on desktop by default. You will be able to keep an icon link to T promises “killer graphics” from Mac OS X. This advance should when you mean ‘maximize’, and vice versa – giving you the your hard disk on the desktop, but its default position will be inside benefit both professional artists and consumer gamers, fitting well precise opposite effect than you desired. the new Finder window. with Apple’s single-OS strategy for all Macs post-January 2001. A purple button to the right-hand side switches the view to The Finder’s large icon-buttons – like those in Mac OS 9’s For these killer graphics, Apple combines three powerful Single Window Mode. See it work! Sherlock 2 – instantly transport you to the most frequently accessed graphics technologies: Quartz, QuickTime and OpenGL. The singlefinalsor.mov areas on your Mac: Computer; Home; Apps; Docs; Favorites; People company claims this combination will “take the Mac’s graphics (network); and, View. Click on the Home button and the File Viewer capabilities beyond anything you’ve ever seen on a desktop immediately takes you to your Home directory – which can be operating system”. The Dock sits at the bottom of your screen and holds folders, located on your hard disk drive or on a network. It’s a more intuitive, Based on Adobe’s Internet-standard portable document applications, documents, and storage devices (hard disk, Zip, DVD, visual refinement of the old Finder, Chooser and Network Browser. With today’s giant hard drives, DVDs and fast networks, files often format (PDF), Mac OS X’s new 2D graphics system, Quartz, delivers etc). It can also hold just about anything else you’d like to keep multiply faster than we can cope with them – forcing you to create on-the-fly rendering, anti-aliasing and compositing of PostScript handy for instant access: QuickTime movies, digital images, links to Gentle journey more and more nested folders. Even Ferdinand Magellan would graphics with “pristine” quality. According to Apple, graphic Web sites, or minimized windows (push that amber button now). With a single-OS strategy – as opposed to Microsoft’s multiple have had trouble navigating a full 27GB hard drive. Mac OS X elements that were sharp before will now be “dramatically Each item you store there is displayed in the Dock as a colourful. variations of Windows – Apple is dedicated to providing a “gentle” offers us a whole new way of navigating our drives and networks. sharper” – even when you greatly increase their size. Because the Dock allows programs to update its icons, they can 12-month migration from Mac OS 9 to Mac OS X. Eventually, you’ll Mac OS X’s new File Viewer gives you three different options for PDF is a universal file format that preserves all of the fonts, provide useful feedback about the applications and documents they have to move to Mac OS X – in a couple of years time, all applications viewing your file system: Icon; List; and, Columns. The Icon view formatting, colours, and graphics of any source document, represent. For example, an email program will display the number of will be optimized for it. (top picture) is pretty similar to the one we’re all used to – except, regardless of the application and platform used to create it. new messages received within the Dock icon. If you store an image, Mac OS X is an entirely new operating system compared to OS 9. with the bigger icon size, they’re a bit like the old (and now Mac OS X’s Aqua interface itself takes full the Dock shows it in preview mode, so you can tell what it is without That’s pretty scary, until you realise that Apple has merely refined the thankfully discontinued), horrible Button-view. See it work! advantage of Quartz’s compositing engine, creating opening it. interface you’ll be dealing with, rather than changing it utterly and In OS X, double-clicking on items in the icon or list views no pdfFinal.mov translucent controls and menus, and giving the The old Applications menu – currently found at the far right of the making us learn everything anew. But, behind the Aqua-fuelled longer brings up separate windows. Instead, the view on the new system visual depth with drop-shadows around the top menubar – is no longer needed as you can minimize running interface, the architecture is radically different. And those of us who folder replaces the old folder view within the single File Viewer edges of windows. Only Apple would bother with this level of applications into the Dock. A glance at the bottom of the screen tells made the switch from System 6 to 7 and from 680x0 chips to window. As in OS X’s Single Window Mode, Apple has made detail, and, with Quartz, now only Apple can. you what applications you’re currently running. To switch between PowerPC processors, are naturally nervous that moving to Mac OS X smarter use of screen space – further eliminating the problem of Quartz’s foundations include built-in support for PDF,enabling tasks, you need simply to click the application or document icon you is going to be a real strain. Incompatibilities, bugs and bombs are the proliferating windows. Mac OS X users to embed and manipulate PDF data (including want to start using – it then becomes the new active task. The Apple usual guests on any OS or chip switch, but Apple has thought well- Apple has added a new Column view (bottom picture) Save to PDF) with any Mac OS X application. Menu also disappears from Mac screens thanks to the Dock. ahead this time. designed to make it easier to navigate deep file systems – and to As mentioned earlier, the power of Mac OS X’s Quartz layer According to Apple’s Ken Bereskin, the Dock can hold as many To make the switch as gentle as possible, Apple has created not see what’s in them at a glance. Columns list the contents of each allows for much of Aqua’s flash detailing. For example, the new are items as you want to keep there, although a figure of 128 has been one but three applications environments in Mac OS X: Classic, folder,and single clicking on a folder creates a new column view to lined,have a slightly translucent effect,and cast a shadow to create mentioned in some reports. As you add items, the Dock expands until Carbon, and Cocoa. the right of the previous folder view containing the contents of the a pleasing 3D effect. The animated windows/icon transitions are it reaches the edges of the screen. Once it reaches that point, the Under Classic, Mac OS X can run most of the over-13,000 new folder. Each additional folder spawns a new column to the also fun, but may use up a few of your megahertz in their pretty icons shrink proportionately to accommodate additional Dock-able existing Mac apps without modification. The programs you work right of the previously current folder.This makes it easier to move progress. items. This could make items in a packed Dock even harder to with now will run exactly as they do on Mac OS 9 – but won’t take through today’s deep file systems or networks. The Column view QuickDraw 3D is officially pushed aside by the integration of make out than today’s titchy pics. So, to make the smaller advantage of OS X’s modern architecture or new Aqua interface. even maintains a history of your navigational forays in short-term OpenGL – the industry-standard 3D technology used by games icons more legible, Apple has designed an impressive new Carbon applications, on the other hand, are programs that have memory. Again, this is initially similar to Windows’ file views. But like Quake 3 Arena from id Software, and Star Wars Racer from feature called Magnification. As you pass your cursor over been specially optimized to run on Mac OS X. It’s a mix of old and OS X’s File Viewer is much smarter. You can pick out relevant files LucasArts Learning. Since its introduction in 1992, OpenGL has the Dock’s icons, they individually fan out to magnify to your new, in a kind of Catherine Zeta Jones/Michael Douglas way – except from rich document previews – even QuickTime movies show up become the industry’s most widely supported 2D and 3D graphics preset maximum resolution. This is one of Aqua’s See it work! you can take it seriously. Unlike Classic, they’ll use the new interface, as previews with file details. API. Apple believes that Darwin’s “state-of-the-art plumbing” biggest Wow features, and knocks the socks off dockfinalsor.mov and take advantage of all the modern features of the core OS – such The File Viewer can access all resources connected to your Mac actually boosts OpenGL’s performance to a new level on Mac OS X, Windows’ Active Desktop Taskbar. as protected memory for “crash-resistant computing” and pre- – from externally connected storage devices like FireWire and USB “making it the ultimate PC platform for 3D games and graphics”. The Finder icon will always be the leftmost icon in the Dock, with emptive multitasking for a more responsive system. At Expo, Steve hard drives, to DVDs, digital cameras, and even the Internet. Under Of course, Mac OS X includes Apple’s home-grown QuickTime the now-wastebasket-like Trash icon always at the right. Bereskin Jobs demoed a Carbonized version of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 5 the People button, Apple has made the network an extension of technology for streaming Internet media, MP3 audio tracks and says that Apple is looking at ways to allow grouping active beta, which immediately took on all of Aqua’s liquid appearance. the file system by incorporating it into the File Viewer, making videos. Mac OS X applications can embed any audio, video, or applications and user links in the Dock, which would free-up Dock Apple expects most of the popular Macintosh applications to be network forays as easy to navigate as your local hard drive. image data that QuickTime can handle. space. The Dock does away with the Apple Menu, Applications menu available in “Carbonized” versions this summer. and Control Strip, but Aqua merely refines the Mac’s basic interface continues page 74
72 Macworld MARCH 2000 Macworld MARCH 2000 73 Aqua blows away the computer’s traditional 32-x-32-pixels icons, originally sized for yesteryear’s low-resolution displays. Today’s larger display sizes and higher resolution levels are ready for Aqua’s giant richly coloured 128-x-128-pixel icons – but they’ll take some getting used to. Ironically, just a couple of months after Apple controversially renamed the UK’s old trash-can lookalike ‘Wastebasket’ icon as ‘Trash’,the new Trash icon (below left) is now a photo of a wire-framed wastebasket. Someone is having a laugh, surely.
Cocoa is an advanced Objective-C-based object-oriented This new OS – from industrial- programming environment that is reserved for Mac OS X’s super-fast native applications. However, Apple seems to be more interested in strength architecture to Java than Cocoa’s favoured Objective-C programming language. That said, Apple is building several of Mac OS X’s key components in Cocoa, including its built-in smart-addressing email client. whizzy new interface – is the Mac OS X’s MailViewer lets you drag messages out of the mailbox indexes and drop them into new mailboxes that pop out of its sides. MailViewer has full POP3 and IMAP support, and is intended to be hidden final piece in Apple’s the mail application used with OS X. Mac OS X will run on any G3 or G4 Macintosh, including the early professional/consumer beige units. It requires a minimum of 64MB of RAM. Apple is not promising compatibility with older Macs running on G3/G4 processor upgrade cards. product line-up. Ken Bereskin, director of OS technologies, worldwide product marketing, said Apple doesn’t have the engineering time or resources to provide support. In other words, Apple wants you to splash your cash on new Macs not upgrade cards. Upgrade-card manufacturers will, of course, work hard to ensure compatibility. I can’t see Apple engineering upgrade-card incompatibility into OS X, so it shouldn’t be too long a wait for a solution. A sure-fire frustration on any major new operating system release is lack of device drivers to ensure compatibility between the OS and your hardware peripherals. Apple claims to have been working closely with printer manufacturers to ensure drivers are ready as soon after the release of Mac OS X as possible. Basic PostScript driver support will be built into Mac OS X, so most laser printers should be able to support basic printing from day one this summer. Generic USB drivers should provide support for most mice, keyboards and removable storage devices. Interestingly, Mac OS X will accommodate multi-button mice, but Apple hasn’t announced any plans to create its own such mouse. Mac OS X introduces new dialogue panels that attach themselves to Mac OS X will upgrade on top of current systems, using a “one- documents in a similar manner to the tool side panels in Kai’s Photo button” installer program similar to the one available with Mac OS 9. Soap, and, to a lesser extent, like the side tabs in Internet Explorer. Already more than 100 developers – including some of the In Mac OS X, Save and Print panels – called ‘sheets’ – now have the biggest, such as Adobe, Microsoft, Quark, Macromedia, Palm visual appearance of dropping down from the title-bar of a window, Computing, and id – have committed to supporting Mac OS X. Those and stick with that window if you move it around. You can even have companies and more will be busy working on Aqua and all the other multiple interleaved documents, each with its own Print or Save Mac OS X developments from now till the operating system’s summer dialogue panel open simultaneously. This means you can complete release date – possibly as early as Macworld Expo, New York, in July. other tasks before dismissing any panel. Other new panels can slide out from either side of the window title, New Mac, from Apple, XXX and their translucent, shaded quality makes them look as though After years of trying and failing to properly update the Mac OS, they’re floating above the document. All Aqua menus are semi Apple really seems to be on course to produce a thoroughly modern transparent, so you can see the contents of the window or desktop operating system this time. Mac OS X – expect a £99 retail price – is pattern beneath it.Moving windows display their contents at all times, very fast, very smart and very cool. While its bubbly colours and unlike today’s windows that retain just their borders. Instead of whizzy effects take advantage of Quartz’s on-the-fly rendering, anti- immediately disappearing, elements gracefully fade away after you aliasing, compositing and built-in transparency features, it’s not so release the mouse. The basic view gives you the filename field, flashy that it becomes a distraction – although you can expect much and a pop-up menu with predefined menus for Application Docking and un-Docking early on. OS X and the iMac should stun and Documents.You can also create your own lists of Favorite first-time buyers in product comparisons with Windows 98 and 2000. locations. This new OS – from industrial-strength architecture to whizzy new The genie animation also works with the interface – is the hidden final piece in Apple’s professional/consumer See it work! way sheets come out of their respective product line-up. The link up will be another step forward for Mac sheetssource1sor.mov Windows. market share. MW
74 Macworld MARCH 2000 Road sense How to get more mileage from your iBook. By Christopher Breen
ot so long ago, if you wanted to be taken seriously as a commutin’, computin’, highfalutin, warrior of the road, you adorned your person with a parcel of drab devices – a cellular phone, a pager, and of course, the requisite laptop computer – all in grey and black tones. How dull. How common. Thanks to Apple’s introduction of the iBook, common is out and colourful is Nin. Powerful enough for professionals yet affordable enough for students, the two-toned iBook is likely to appeal to a broad range of users – perhaps you are among them. Although the iBook is a Mac at heart, it’s also a laptop. And with laptops comes a whole new corpus of concerns – making the most of battery life, synchronizing your iBook with a desktop computer, and keeping ne’er-do-wells from making off with your machine. This may sound like a lot for a first-time laptop owner to absorb, but we’re here to help. Before you next bundle your two-toned buddy into a backpack, briefcase, or book bag, read through the following tips, tricks, and techniques. With this information, you’ll transform your iBook from a cute consumer curio to a productive portable as capable as any other computer
on the road. Continues page 80
Macworld MARCH 2000 79 Safe, not sorry handle that’s devilishly difficult to remove. Loop a security cable or Inside the iBook It’s unfortunate that the minute you walk out the door with your new chain through this handle and attach a secure lock to keep your iBook, you must start thinking of ways to protect it from theft. Let’s iBook from walking away. Because you don’t need a laptop lock, a (Before removal of the metal shield) The AirPort card sits atop this face it – the iBook, with its rich blue or orange skin, is attractive not steel chain and a padlock will do the trick. plate and is attached to the only to you, but also to those who’d like to make your iBook their What’s the password? If you plan to use your iBook to take slotted connector seen at the own. After all, it’s a portable and is easy to snatch. Because we want notes in class or update spreadsheets when your flight is delayed, bottom edge of the plate. you to own your iBook long enough to gain some benefit from the you’ll want to keep your data from the prying eyes of others. rest of this article, consider the following security measures. With its PowerBook series, Apple provides the Password Security Lock it up Apple’s PowerBooks have long carried a security slot control panel for protecting a PowerBook’s hard disk, but regrettably This connector – an antenna Remove these two for attaching special cables that tie the machine to an anchored this control panel isn’t compatible with iBooks. Even if you choose a lead – attaches to the AirPort screws to lift out object. The iBook lacks such a slot but does come with a foldout custom installation of Mac OS 8.6 and attempt to install the card. the metal cover Password Security control panel, your iBook will chuck it at restart. that hides the RAM Apple has provided no solution for password-protecting your The iBook’s hard drive sits slot and insert Coming to terms iBook with Mac OS 8.6 installed, so you have to use a utility such as beneath this metal plate. RAM here. Power On Software’s £38 On Guard (Softline, 01372 726 333). If you Unless you’re fearless about use Mac OS 9, however, you can use the Multiple Users control panel working in tight places, have When purchasing an iBook, you join the ranks of the to help fend off prying eyes. a dealer install a new hard Laptop Legionnaires – a group of users with specific To configure Multiple Users for password protection, simply open drive. computing concerns and a language all its own. If you the Multiple Users control panel (Apple menu: Control Panels: expect your iBook to walk the walk, you should know Multiple Users), click on the On button that appears next to Multiple User Accounts, and close the control panel. The next time you start how to talk the talk. This glossary of terms will help you up your iBook, you’ll be presented with a “Welcome to Mac OS” make sense of portable prose. window that contains your name. To start using your iBook, click on the Log In button, type your After lifting out the keyboard, File synchronization password – the same password you used when you first set up your lay it face down across the The process whereby changes that have been made to a file or folder iBook (the one in the File Sharing control panel) – and you’re on iBook’s Trackpad. are made to its duplicate on another computer. For example, if you your way. Although some know-it-alls may figure out a way around update a database or an email file on your iBook while on the road, you this protection, most casual users will be dissuaded from can use file synchronization to update the copies of these files on your investigating further. If you want to disable password protection, desktop Mac at home. simply open the Multiple Users control panel again and click on the Off button, next to Multiple User Accounts. Location Manager Note, however, that if you plan to be away from your iBook for a An application that allows you to create groups of software settings for while and are about to put the iBook to sleep, you should log out iBook runs out of juice because you’ve been pounding the latest Korn your iBook from the Software Restore disc to reinstall a piece of your Macintosh.Using Location Manager, you can change such settings (choose Log Out from the Special menu) if you want your iBook CD through your cranium since the beginning of the journey. software – it won’t wake up properly. To recover, reboot your iBook, as AppleTalk and TCP/IP configurations, the default printer, the sound protected during your absence. Unless you log out, your iBook will Because a simple action such as this can drain your battery, power by pressing ⌘-control-power (or the reset button). level, and the time zone. pop back to life without asking for a password. management is important for all portable users – not just for power Selecting Preserve Memory Content on Sleep in the Energy Saver Wrap it discreetly Using the iBook’s handle is a convenient users. If you want your iBook to deliver the goods when you most control panel should, in theory, help ensure that your work will still Power Manager way to transport your laptop, but carrying a naked iBook around need them, squeezing every second out of your iBook’s battery be there when your iBook next awakens. However, you might not be An integrated circuit that is responsible for tasks such as controlling simply advertises that you have a computer worth stealing. A should be your goal. able to get your iBook to stop snoring. If this happens, restart the backlighting, waking your iBook, spinning down the hard disk, computer bag, although a little less obvious, is also conspicuous. To Avoid battery-sucking operations The iBook’s LCD screen iBook and hold down the escape key until you see the Happy Mac controlling the Trackpad, handling some aspects of battery charging, disguise your iBook’s identity, carry it in a padded backpack designed and that Korn-filled CD-ROM drive pull a lot of power from the icon. This procedure tells the iBook to bypass any corrupted file that and making sure the iBook doesn’t go to sleep while you’re connected to carry a laptop. One, is Kensington’s SaddleBag (see the sidebar battery. To maximize battery life, turn screen brightness down to the might be keeping your iBook from booting correctly. to the Internet. “Road Tools” for details on this and other cool products). lowest setting you can tolerate and avoid or cut back on CD-ROM If your battery is running low and you have a spare, just swap it, Personalize your desktop You can also brand your iBook’s use. Remove CDs from the drive if you don’t need them. Also, switch right? Not exactly. Beware of haphazard battery swapping, because Processor Cycling desktop so that it can be easily identified later. To do so, create a off AppleTalk, either from the Control Strip or by opening the you can lose your work if your iBook isn’t plugged into a powered A reduced-power mode that causes your processor to consume less PICT file that contains a message such as “This iBook belongs to Chooser and clicking on the Inactive button. Finally, remove external socket. Pulling a battery switch without having the iBook plugged in power when idle. insert your name here, so hands off!” Open the Appearance control devices you’re not using – that button-studded game pad of death, wipes out the contents of the computer’s short-term memory – the panel, click on the Desktop tab, drag-&-drop this file onto the picture for example. If you’re a music enthusiast, turn your favourite CD information stored in its RAM chips. To preserve the contents of RAM Remote Access frame at the left side of the window, and click on the Set Desktop audio tracks into MP3 files and play them from the hard disk. If you while the iBook sleeps, open the Energy Saver control panel, click on The control panel in which you enter and save the user name, button. The message you created is now plastered across your have RAM to spare – and you won’t unless you add at least 64MB of the Advanced Settings button, and check the box next to Preserve password, and phone number for your Internet service provider (ISP). iBook’s desktop. RAM to the paltry 32MB that come with the iBook (see the sidebar Memory Contents On Sleep, under Sleep Options. Under Mac OS 9, you can configure Remote Access so that you can run To keep unsavoury souls from removing that message, rename the “Inside the iBook”) – create a RAM disk for storing applications you Reset the Power Manager With time, it’s possible for the another Macintosh from a remote location. Appearance control panel something sneaky – Read Me, for example tend to use often, such as your word-processing program. Steps for Power Manager to become corrupt, causing your iBook to act – and replace its icon with a generic text-document icon. To create creating a RAM disk can be found in Mac Help in the Special menu. strangely – refusing to recognize the AC adaptor, failing to wake from Reset button this icon, find a text document on your iBook (any Read Me file will Additional RAM may also allow you to avoid using virtual memory – sleep, or being unable to charge the battery. You’re probably A small, indented button that sits just above the iBook’s power button, do). Click on the icon, press ⌘-I to bring up the Get Info window, a scheme that forces the iBook to access the hard disk more often wondering how this happens, but it’s not a bug – it’s just one of the near the hinge. Pressing this button with the pointed end of a paper click on the document’s icon in the upper-left corner of the resulting and, consequently, drains your battery more quickly. You’ll find quirks of working with an Apple portable. To reset the Power clip makes the iBook restart. window, and press ⌘-C to copy the icon. Now click on the controls for turning off virtual memory in the Memory control panel. Manager, shut down the iBook, press the reset button (located above Appearance control-panel file, press ⌘-I, click on the icon, and press Use Energy Saver Be miserly with your battery life by using the power button near the hinge) with the end of a paper clip, wait Sleep ⌘-V to replace the Appearance icon with the text icon. Now drag the power-saving settings in the Energy Saver control panel. Put the five seconds, and press the power button to restart. A state in which a computer’s hard disk stops spinning,the screen shuts your renamed Appearance control panel to somewhere safe (and iBook to sleep after a minute of inactivity when on battery power, for Search for unexpected power sources All these thrifty off, and just enough power is fed to the computer to maintain the somewhere you’re likely to remember). Users who aren’t Mac-savvy example. And select the Allow Processor Cycling option in the habits won’t protect you from eventually running out of juice. When contents of the computer’s memory. will have trouble removing that message from your iBook, but you Advanced Settings window. the “battery low” warning appears, you’ll need to think fast. can change it, of course. Simply double-click on the disguised Sleep tight The iBook won’t automatically go to sleep when If you’re using your iBook at the airport, find a seat near a power Virtual Memory Appearance control panel and select a new desktop pattern. you have Speakable Items enabled in the Speech control panel. outlet and plug in. Scope out the location of any power outlets in Something that allows your Mac to use free space on its hard disk for Speakable Items allows your iBook to recognize certain spoken classrooms, lecture halls, and meeting rooms (and carry an extension short-term memory, or RAM.You can turn on virtual memory by going Pump up power commands. It’s unlikely that you’ll have Speakable Items enabled – cord with you). On a long flight, try giving your iBook a little extra to the Memory control panel (Apple menu: Control Panels: Memory), For some people, running out of battery life is an unlikely prospect. particularly since the iBook has no microphone input – but if charge by using the outlet in the plane’s lavatory. The battery takes but beware: because your Mac accesses the hard disk more slowly than But the truth is that it’s much more common than you might suspect. someone else has been using your iBook, it’s possible that this feature two hours to fully charge, so unless the plane’s completely empty, it does RAM, using virtual memory will slow down your Mac. Imagine this: you’re heading home on the train for the Easter break, was switched on. If you notice that your iBook won’t automatically you shouldn’t attempt to charge the iBook for more than a couple but you need to finish a college paper and email it to your tutor the sleep, check the Speech control panel. If you boot your iBook from a minutes at a time. second you arrive in King’s Cross. As you pass by Potters Bar, your CD-ROM and then put the iBook to sleep – for example, if you started continues page 82
80 Macworld MARCH 2000 Macworld MARCH 2000 81 The Airport arrives Road tools
he iBook wasn’t the only big news at last equipped devices can communicate with a SkyLine Wireless PC Card (Farallon 01372 726 Even with all the perks it provides, an iBook can benefit summer’s Macworld Expo. Steve Jobs single AirPort Base Station, and you can create 333), to connect to an AirPort network. T also introduced AirPort wireless larger networks by adding more Base Stations. Although this card provides data-transfer rates from a few well-chosen add-ons. When you take your life networking, a technology he promised would Apple claims that AirPort devices can of only two Mbits per second, it does offer an on the road, consider bringing these items with you. free iBook users from the tether of their transfer data at up to 11 Mbits per second – extended operating range – up to 300 feet (All prices include VAT) telephone cords and let them surf the Web and close to the speed of 10BaseT ethernet – over a indoors. To wirelessly connect two AirPort- send email without ever having to plug in. distance of up to 150 feet. Because AirPort uses bearing Macs, you don’t need an AirPort Base iMate For those Macintosh users who are still big fans of old ADB It took a while, but at press time, Apple radio waves, which can travel through walls, Station. With these Macs, you can use the peripherals – mouse, keyboard, and joystick – this £39 USB-to-ADB finally delivered the goods. You can now buy a AirPort devices needn’t be within each other’s software’s AirPort Control Strip and switch from adaptor may be a godsend. (Griffin Technology; 0171 622 6606). £79 (incl VAT) AirPort card for your iBook and a line of sight. That means you can tap away on using the AirPort Base Station to a direct Mac- £239 (incl VAT) Base Station (Apple Computer, your iBook in the living room and print your to-Mac connection. USB 6GB Hard Drive By today’s standards, the iBook’s 3.2GB hard drive 0870 600 6010) and surf without wires to your work on the printer in the den without ever Soon, using a scheme Apple has dubbed is considered cramped. To provide more storage, try this £268 device. heart’s content. leaving the comfort of your sofa. AirPort Software Base Station, you will be able (Computers Unlimited 0181 358 58 57). AirPort technology doesn’t begin and end How does it work? The AirPort to use the modem of one of your AirPort- with the iBook, however. This method of technology’s flexibility gives you a lot of equipped Macs to act as both Macs’ conduit to Targus Travel Connection Packs If you’re taking your iBook overseas, connecting computers without cables has also options. For instance, you can wirelessly access the Internet. you’ll need telephone and power adaptors. Port offers two collections – found its way into two other members of the Web from your iBook by either connecting Who needs it? From what we’ve seen so Global phone pack,£49;Global power pack,£29. (Targus,0181 607 7000). Apple’s computing family – the newest iMacs a phone line to the Base Station’s internal far, it looks like educators, students, and gamers and Power Macintosh G4s. It’s sure to be modem or, if you’re a DSL (Digital Subscriber – and the people who support them – will SuperDisk If you’d like to use floppy disks as well as a roomier storage included in the next generation of PowerBooks Line) user, by attaching this speedy line to the quickly grasp the value of AirPort technology. medium, the £151 SuperDisk is a good compromise – allowing you to as well. Considering that AirPort technology is Base Station’s ethernet port. With AirPort hardware in place, students use floppies, as well as Imation’s own 120MB disks. (Imation, likely to be a part of everyone’s Mac experience This ethernet port introduces a world of can waltz into a classroom with their iBooks, 01344 402 200). in the near future, perhaps it’s time to learn possibilities. You can connect to any ethernet- select the AirPort Base Station from the AirPort what makes it tick. equipped Macs, PCs, or printers simply by Control Strip, enter a password, and get started Zip 250 USB Drive Just about every computer today seems to have a What is AirPort? AirPort is a slick attaching them to the Base Station. If you use – no more labs full of deskbound Macs that Zip drive.Thanks to this slim drive’s USB interface,for £198 your iBook can technology that provides you with all the an ethernet crossover cable, you can quickly must be reconfigured for each class. have one too. (Iomega, 0353 1807 5133). convenience of a wired network – transferring connect to a single Mac. To attach an entire Gamers using AirPort technology will be up data from Mac to Mac, connecting to the network of computers, use an ethernet hub within minutes – without stringing cable to a MouseWorks Although the iBook’s Trackpad is reasonably responsive, Internet, and printing to a printer in another and standard ethernet cables. central ethernet hub and mucking about with you may still miss using a mouse.Try out this £57 USB four-buttons-and- room – but without the fuss of cables. Don’t feel left out if you’re a PowerBook arcane AppleTalk and TCP/IP settings. a-wheel input device. (Computer 2000, 01256 868 008) the iBook’s keyboard a wee bit flat, you can add elevation by using the The centre of an AirPort network is the user. If you have a PowerBook 190, 5300, 1400, For a review of the Airport Base Station and £15 iCoolPad. (Teleadapt, 0181 233 3086). AirPort Base Station, a flying-saucer–shaped 2400, 3400, or G3 Series, and you’re using Mac AirPort Card, see page 48 of February’s Screen wipes Even the cleanest of hands can smudge an iBook’s screen. device that carries a 56K modem as well as a OS 7.5.5 or later (or even if you have a Windows Macworld. Alternatively, you can visit Macworld Disposable towelettes can help you keep it spotless. They are available SaddleBag This good-looking and durable £36 backpack will protect 10BaseT ethernet port. As many as ten AirPort- PC with a PCMCIA slot), use the £230 (ex VAT) Online, at www.macworld.co.uk. from most high street stores and computer specialists. Also, if you find your iBook and make it easier to carry. (Computer 2000, 01256 868 008).
Getting around trouble moving the cursor in small increments, open the Trackpad Or if you use AOL and another ISP, for example, you can create a Have you ever wondered why the word mouse has become a verb – control panel and select a slower tracking speed. At a slower tracking unique group of settings for each. You can easily switch from one as in “I was mousing around on my Mac the other day” – and the speed, your finger movements don’t need to be as exact, so you can group of settings to another, using the Location Manager module in word touchpad hasn’t? It’s simple: your hand was meant to mouse, it more easily zero in on your target. Some people find it cumbersome the Control Strip. was not meant to touchpad. Regardless of how long one uses the to use the iBook’s bottom bar to double-click. To avoid using the If you have a single ISP and need to change dial-up phone Trackpad, it never feels as natural as a mouse. These tips may make bottom bar, turn on the Use Trackpad For Clicking option. Now just numbers for different locations, don’t fiddle with the Location your “Trackpadding” feel tap on the Trackpad to click. Manager. Instead, open Remote Access – you’ll find it under Control a little more natural. If you don’t care for the iBook’s Trackpad or keyboard, attach a Panels in the Apple menu – select Configurations (⌘K) from the File Mouse tracks It’s USB mouse and keyboard and navigate your iBook just as deskbound menu, click on your ISP’s configuration, and then click on the sometimes it’s difficult to Macintosh users do. Likewise, attach a USB joystick or game pad for Duplicate button to create a new configuration. Name this new locate the on-screen better control over games. configuration something memorable, such as “School”, click on the cursor, particularly when Make Active button, enter a new phone number in the Number field, you’re using the iBook in Rules of the road close the Remote Access window, and save when prompted to. Now direct sunlight. To find it Chances are, you bought an iBook because you planned to take it on when you want to change configurations, just select the more readily, open the the road with you. When travelling or working from remote configuration you desire from the Remote Access control strip. Mouse control panel locations, it’s important to remember these helpful tips: Remote control While on spring break, you realize that your (Apple menu: Control Quick-and-dirty hard copy What if you need to print a file copy of 101 Jokes about Ladas is tucked away on the hard disk of Panels) and switch on but don’t have an accessible printer? If you’re working from a hotel Changing places your desktop Mac. You know that joke number 52 is going to be a Mouse Tracks (see the room, there’s an easy solution: fax the document to the hotel’s fax Apple’s Location Manager allows for swapping multiple configurations with one click. great hit with your friends. If only you could retrieve it! Relax – with screen shot “Making machine. Students may be able to use this fax trick with sympathetic OS 9, you can. Unlike previous versions of the Mac OS, Mac OS 9 Tracks”). Doing so causes librarians and professors. Email on the server When travelling, configure your email incorporates both the send and receive components of Apple’s the cursor to leave Slide show Photography students laden with slides may want program – most likely Microsoft Outlook Express – to keep copies of Remote Access. temporary vapour trails. to show off their work to fellow students and professors. With an your messages on the server, the computer where your Internet This means that you can use your iBook to call your desktop Mac, Select the Thick I-beam iBook, they easily can. Just open the iBook so the top lies flat, select service provider (ISP) stores your email. That way, when you return and then you can mount its hard disk on your iBook’s desktop – just option in this same a desktop pattern that’s completely white, turn up the brightness all home, you needn’t copy your email database to your desktop as if it were attached to a local network – and easily copy files control panel to create a the way, and place the slides on the screen. Instant light box. machine. Simply log into your email account with your desktop between the two computers. more visible I-beam Staying in sync In all likelihood, you have a Mac on a desk computer and download all your messages again. cursor. somewhere in addition to your iBook. A good way to stay up-to-date Shifting locations Hey, you’re going mobile with your iBook, The last word Trackpad tricks If on both Macs is to synchronize the files they contain. Here’s how: and when you bounce from place to place, it’s nice to have your With these tips, you’ve taken your first steps toward becoming a road you’ve got big fingers – Create a folder – called Road Work, for example – and place it on portable pal pre-configured when you reach your next destination. warrior. Before long, you too will begin thinking like a laptop user – or, for that matter, small your iBook’s desktop. Create a folder with the same name on the Apple’s Location Manager lets you create different groups of seeking ever greater security measures, trying to match Apple’s Making tracks ones that don’t glide computer you use at home. When you travel, place any documents settings to use at different locations (see the screen shot above). fabled claim of six-hour iBook battery life, and making your iBook a If the cursor’s hard to see turn on Mouse Tracks in across the Trackpad very you’ve worked on in this folder. When you return home, use Apple’s Create unique Internet and time settings for use at your college in full member of your computer family. Now close the lid and wind up the Mouse control panel. well – and are having File Synchronization control panel to synchronize the two folders. London, your home in Surrey, and your holiday cottage in Cornwall. that power cord. It’s time to hit the road. MW
82 Macworld MARCH 2000 Macworld MARCH 2000 83 PHOTOGRAPHY:MIKE LAYE decision Snap Two-megapixel digitalcamerasassessed. By David Fanning embraces thenon-expertprofessional professional photographers,italso two-megapixel-cameras doesincludes preferring thelook-&-feeloffilm. years, withmanyphotographers change enmasseovernight.It’lltake but professionalphotographerswillnot inroads intoprofessionalphotography, and lensadaptorsareimportant. factors suchasexternal-flashfeatures Resolution isnolongerabigissue,but many prophotographersgodigital. still somegroundtomakeupbefore professional features.However, there’s inparticular–have Olympus C-2500, label. Someofthecameras– users arestuckwiththe“prosumer” and topprofessionalgear. Thisbandof mid-range betweenconsumersnappers £500 and£600. bargains –withaveragepricesbetween its remainingpixelsforothermodes. (1,920,000 pixels),becauseituses a 1,600-x-1,200-pixelresolution megapixel cameramightboastonly addressable ineverymode.Atwo- although notallthosepixelsare resolution ofovertwomillionpixels, camera thatwetestedforthisfeature. two-megapixel camera–theclassof achieve suchresultsrequiresatleasta can beprintedonalow-endink-jet.To stage whereagood-lookingA4picture D So althoughthetargetaudiencefor Digital cameraswillmakesome Two-megapixel digitalcamerasare At thislevelofcamera,therearefew A two-megapixelcamerahasa Digital camerasarenowata long wayinthepastfewyears. igital photographyhascomea Macworld AC 0085 MARCH 2000 continues page87
test centre:2-megapixel cameras Test Breakdown design 86 Editors’Choice aal fpoesoa s,thisisit. capable ofprofessional use, many features –butifyou wantacamera commitment fromtheusertolearneachofits requiresalevel of It manual. juicy with abig, professional andcomes The Olympusissturdy, Macworld buying advice lenses andfiltersareuseable. whichmeansmost thread andastep-upring, designed especiallyfor itsdigitalcameras. provides aflashunit–theCamedia FL-40– Olympuseven flash. chance touseanexternal for seriousphotographersisthe important More andfunctional. isbothstylish which lens, which format istohand. soyou needn’t about worry There’s two slots, cards–orboth. 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With itsgiantlensthe price, Olympus C-2500–butatalmosthalfthe The DSC-F505can’t upwiththe keep Macworld buyingadvice shots. into themainsforbe pluggeddirectly indoor cameracan the Even better, longer thanmost. lasts The Sony battery for somuch power. drawback ofdigitalphotography istheneed One indicators found onothercameras. life mucheasierthanthethreebarbattery This makes is conveniently shown inminutes. life andthebattery positive on memory, effect user-friendly. itvery making reach, features areeasyto the automaticsettings.The andisflexiblewithoutall impressive pictures andothernon-essentialoptions. Fun, Art. Negative Sepia, Solarization, like use effects andyou can movies arepossible withsound, MPEG theSony issimpleandfun. complex, WheretheOlympusisstoicand approach. lighter-hearted butwithasimpler, Olympus, soitneedn’t beaproblem. reader, isasquickadigitalcard- the USBinterface but isadrawback, camera storageformats.This other all butincompatiblewith, similar to, then there'sa10xdigitalzoom too. a5xzoom isnotenough, If glare andflaring. zoom andaspeciallens-coatingtoreduce hasa5xoptical It therestofbody. dwarfs feature isthehugeCarlstriking Zeiss lensthat most Its photographers over todigital. The DSC-F505offers toluretraditional plenty Sony DSC-F505 :top three :top Sony claims the InfoLithium battery hasa Sony claimstheInfoLithium battery the DSC-F505takes For allitssilliness, issimilar tothe The wholepackage Stick– Storage isprovided by theMemory capable of2,048-x-1,536-pixel images. S20 willhave athree-megapixel resolution The the PowerShot S10–thePowerShot S20. batteries offer lesslife. AA Normal viewfinder inoptimalconditions. thisiswithoutusingtheLCD However, willallow you 230shots.fully charged battery Canon claimsa fromthepowerdirectly supply. anditcanalsorun batteries areincluded, Rechargeable there’s roomfor onlytwo. toaMac. downloading directly and there’s for USBandserialinterfaces asopticalzooms anyway.as goodquality has nodigitalzoom –butdigitalzooms aren’t It there’s nolenscapto lose. when retracted, Because thelensisautomaticallycovered telescopes outof the frontwhenturnedon. including A4prints. enough for mostuses, images aregood At 1,600-x-1,200dpi, achieve. you can ofpictures be surprisedatthequality your pocket. PowerShot S10issmallenoughtoslipin butthe camera withyou atalltimes, You digital your SLR-style may notcarry your camerawithyou whentheshotisready. photographs usuallyreliesonyou having good Getting great biglens-heavy camera. you don’t wanttolugarounda Sometimes, Canon PowerShot S10 no surprise. shouldcomeas sothisquality manufacturer, camera Canon isanoldandrespected lights. morebuttonsand some modelsthatsport arebetterthan itspictures lack ofgadgets, its Despite point-&-click for mostsituations. It’s asimplecamera–just megapixel class. is thesmallestdigitalcameraintwo- thePowerShot S10 At only 105-x-69-x-34mm, Macworld buyingadvice April willseethelaunchofasuccessorto size meansthatifyou useAAbatteries,Its Storage isviaan8MBCompactFlash card, apowered 2xopticallensthat sports It you may Because thePowerShot issmall, a speedyUSBinterface.However, ifyou problem asmostofthecamerastestedhave Mac,thisisno using aUSB-equipped is downloadtimesforlargerfiles.Ifyou’re One drawbackofhigh-resolutioncameras Slow snaps only, alower-endmodelwillsuffice. who requireadigitalcameraforWeb-use It isacompellingscenario.But,forthose can thenbeprintedatphotographicquality. attached toemailswithinminutes.They pictures canbepostedontheInternetor digital photographyisthatrecentlytaken superb –andinstant.Afurtherbeautyof photographers, becausetheresultscanbe cameras forsomeyearsnow. loss-adjusters andhavealluseddigital user –estateagents,surveyors,insurance Star Rating Contact Software Power Supply Interfaces ofsuppliedMediaCardCapacity Storage Media LCD screen Lens Highest resolution Digital Zoom ZoomOptical the flankofitshugelens. DSC-F505boastsarangeThe Sony ofbasicbutfunfeaturesthatareranged down Main feature Another keyuser-groupiskeenamateur M M 8MB Serial/USB cell Lithium Adobe PhotoDeluxe 1.8”TFT x2/x4 F2.8/4.0 none Canon (0500246246) £599 CompactFlash Lite PictureGear 3.2 Serial/USB battery Lithium 4MB Sony (0990111999) 2”TFT 1,600-x-1,200from 2.11Mpix F2.8-3.3 x10 x5 Stick Sony Memory CanonPowerShot S10 £699 Olympus Optical(02072532772) 1,600-x-1,200from 2.1Mpix Camedia Suite AA batteries Serial 8MB SmartMedia/CompactFlash Sony DSC-F505 1.8”TFT F 2.8-3.9 1,712-x-1,368 from 2.5Mpix none x3 £1,199 Olympus CamediaC-2500 /9.1 coating toreduce glareandflaring. DSC-F505 hasa5xoptical zoomandaspeciallens- The massive Carl Zeiss lensthatcomes withtheSony Long sighted(left) 0181 9026789).Thiswillsetyouback USB CameraMate(NewCenturyComputers, need acardreader(suchasMicrotech’s capability toyourbeigeMac.You’ll also AM Micro,01392426473)toaddUSB investing inaUSBPCIcard(Keyspan USB, editing images.Amoresensibleoptionis advantage offasterprocessorspeedsfor Mac, whichmeansyoucanalsotake Macs. Theexpensiveoptionistobuyanew the Internet.Andthat’sveryslow… as longdownloadinga20MBfilefrom memory card.To downloadafullcardtakes a serialconnection,andhas20MB to downloadimagesoflargeimages. connection –itwillbepainfullyslow have anolderMac–sportingaserial There areacoupleofsolutionsforserial The Kodak DC280,forinstance,supports The Olympus Camedia C2500 has two memory-card Camedia C2500hastwo The Olympus slots –oneforCompactFlash andonefor Thanks for the memory (right) Thanks forthememory design. Many ofthecontrols Many willbefamiliartofilm-photographers. design. case Toshiba’s wellasitscurvy as PDR-M5impresseswithitsneatcontrol layout, Toshiba continues page90 SmartMedia. /8.9 Macworld /8.9 AC 0087 MARCH 2000
All prices include VAT
features Specs design
Epson PhotoPC 850z Kodak DC 280 FujiFilm MX-2900 Toshiba PDR-M5 Casio QX200UX Olympus Camedia C-21 The PhotoPC 850z is a 2.1-megapixel camera, The DC 280 is smaller than most Kodaks, and This camera offers plenty of high-end The curviest camera on test, the Toshiba is big The Casio is a very capable consumer-level Olympus has a great high-end model in the but it can output three-megapixel images. has a higher resolution. It has generous features, like a hot shoe for external flash, but attractive. I know looks don’t influence camera. It offers a resolution of 2.1-megapixel C-2500, but the C-21 is aimed at consumers A con, surely? Well, yes and no. Images are storage capacity of 20MB on a Compact Flash 43mm thread for additional lenses and image quality and functionality, but then and a 3x optical zoom, which makes it one with smaller budgets. interpolated – a bit of a cheat – yet results are card – enough room for 245 pictures at the filters, and an optional Fuji-branded wide- looks aren’t important to a car’s performance of the better point-&-click models. Sadly, it Its aluminium casing is smart, but the stunning. Normally, interpolated images – standard resolution. angle lens.This makes for a rugged semi-pro either. In many ways, the PDR-M5 is similar to lacks any of the sophisticated features of the design of the lens cover presents problems: whether from cameras or scanners – suffer Kodak was one of the first manufacturers to camera with many manual controls for the Epson 850z, but with a curvier case.The semi-pro models, so it’s competing with it’s essentially a door that slides down to from blocky artefacts.The images from the realize that USB was important, especially to optimum images. controls are similar, but it has no high- models such as the Canon PowerShot S10. expose the view-finder, which also acts as the PhotoPC 850z don’t seem to suffer from this. Mac owners, and the 280 has USB and Mac FujiFilm has opted to forgo the loose resolution mode. Compared to the S10 it’s bulky and plasticy. on-switch.This means that, when adjusting The high-resolution images are useful for serial connections for downloads. Remember rechargeable battery route in favour of a There’s a flash that pops up above the lens, Functionally, it does a fine job – but as an settings on the back of the camera, it’s all-too printing on high-end ink-jet printers. To this though, downloading 20MB of images over a single rechargeable cell. This means that the keeping in line with the sleek design. The object of desire it doesn’t quite make it. It does easy to catch the door by mistake and switch end, the 850z can print directly to most of the serial connection will take forever and a day. battery life is excellent, but when you run interface is also slick and easy to use. It gives have some nifty features, though – such as the off the camera. Epson range of ink-jets – a convenient way of The pictures were sharp, but the white out, you’re stuck. But for convenience, simply the opportunity to record small movies in AVI ability to record small AVI movies. These are While the automatic settings are fine for
Breakdown bypassing your computer. balance wasn’t perfect. Its features’ interface is plug in your camera rather than messing format – not a necessary feature,but a fun one. ideal to send as email attachments, and are a normal use, all settings are capable of manual It has plenty of high-end features, such as a simple and intuitive, and it offers a number of with batteries. As with other consumer-oriented cameras, fun gimmick. adjustment. It lacks a zoom lens, but does have hot shoe for an external flash gun, an adaptor digital effects. The DC 280 doesn’t have many There’s an option to print directly from its white-balance performance is less than There’s no support for external lenses or a digital zoom function. It’s capable of printing for additional lenses and filters, and a 3x pro features, such as external flash or lens the camera, but only to FujiFilm printers. perfect, but images were sharp, if a little noisy flash. And in our tests, the white balance failed directly to a printer, but is compatible only optical zoom – plus a 2x digital zoom. Also, mounts, but would be fine for use in the fields However, both Epson and Hewlet-Packard in places. to compensate adequately for the tungsten with Olympus brand printers – which is most of its features are manually adjustable, of property sales or insurance. This is because have printers in the works that will be lights we were using. Outdoor pictures were unfortunate,as it’s unlikely you already have an giving maximum control over the image. its automatic settings can be set by any rookie capable of printing directly from Compact- Macworld buying advice better, but not perfect. Olympus printer. and the result always be pleasing. Flash or SmartMedia cards. At £649, this camera is not the best deal Macworld buying advice around: its price is too close to the Sony Macworld buying advice. Macworld buying advice This 850z lacks some of the high-end features Macworld buying advice Macworld buying advice and Canon for it to to be competitive. Although a good camera, the Casio This camera offers Olympus quality at a of the Olympus C-2500 and some of the fun Simplicity is sometimes as good a feature as The FujiFilm MX-2900 is similar to the Epson Nonetheless, it’s a good consumer camera QX200UX’s price tag of £599 puts it in budget price. It may not have the looks of the features of the Sony. But it does have a good super-high resolution.This camera is ideal for 850z, both matching each other feature for – but would be a far more attractive competition with the Sony and the Canon – Canon compact camera, but the quality is balance of pro and consumer features – and non photographers who want fuss-free, yet feature.The only way to separate them is by purchase if Toshiba was to shave a few but it struggles to compete in this price range right up there with it. At almost £150 less, at a decent price. impressive, images. shopping around for a bargain on price. pounds off the price. and should be more affordable. I think most people can ignore the aesthetics. Test
£639 £699 £599 £649 £599 £595 Optical Zoom x3 x2 x3 Optical Zoom x3 x3 none Digital Zoom x2 x3 x2.5 Digital Zoom none x2 x2.5 Highest resolution 1,984-x-1,488 from 2.11 Mpix 1,760-x-1,168 from 2.1 Mpix 1,800-x-1,200 from 2.3 Mpix Highest resolution 1,600-x-1,200 from 2.14 Mpix 1,600-x-1,200 from 2.1 Mpix 1,600-x-1,200 from 2.14 Mpix Lens F 2-11 F 3/3.8 F 3.3/5/7.6/11 Lens F 3.5-5/7.6-11 F 2/2.8 F 2.4/8 LCD screen 2”TFT 1.8”TFT 2”TFT LCD screen 1.8”TFT 1.8”TFT 1.8”TFT Storage Media CompactFlash CompactFlash SmartMedia Storage Media SmartMedia CompactFlash SmartMedia Capacity of supplied Media Card 8MB 20MB 8MB Capacity of Media Card 8MB 8MB 8MB
Specs Interfaces Serial/USB Serial/USB Serial Interfaces Serial/USB Serial/USB Serial Power Supply AA batteries AA batteries Lithium cell Power Supply Lithium cell AA batteries Lithium batteries Software Adobe PageMill,Epson Photo! Adobe PageMill & PhotoDeluxe Adobe PhotoDeluxe 3.0,Home Software Toshiba Casio Camedia Suite Contact Epson (0800 220 546) Kodak (0870 243 0270) Fujifilm (0207 586 5900) Contact Toshiba (01276 62 222) Casio (0181 450 9131) Olympus Optical (0207 253 2772) Star Rating /8.7 /8.6 /8.8 /7.9 /7.5 /8.5 All prices include VAT include All prices
88 Macworld MARCH 2000 Macworld MARCH 2000 89 around £100 but will reduce your download times to a couple of seconds – instead of hours. Memory cards are solid-state storage media that store images like miniature floppy disks. There are two main formats – SmartMedia or CompactFlash. Even with USB Macs, it’s more convenient to buy a card reader than to mess around with cables every time you
design take a picture. You can leave the card reader plugged-in permanently, and pop the card in for instant access to images. Only Sony breaks format, using its proprietary Memory Stick card. There isn’t anything Nikon CoolPix 800 Ricoh RDC-5300 especially better about the Memory Stick Nikon has long supported the twist-in-the- This camera has the look of an older – it’s just a device to make you buy Sony- middle design for its digital cameras, but the consumer 35mm camera – chunky and branded peripherals, whether you want to CoolPix 800 moves away from this novelty- heavy. Although the LCD viewfinder image or not. A bigger drawback is that, currently, value design. was noisy, the final image was fine. It does there’s no Mac-compatible Memory Stick As with previous models, images are have a pre-set white balance for tungsten reader available, so you’re stuck with USB- sharp – but the white balance failed to lighting, though the results we achieved only picture downloads. produce a perfectly toned image. As with with this setting were disappointing. Other other models that had difficulty with white shots using automatic white balance fared Macworld buying advice balance under tungsten light, the 800 fared better in more natural light. If you’re going to buy a work camera that better in natural light. It has a USB interface, essential for large several people are likely to use, it’s best Focus has always been a strong point with images, but appears to lack a Mac serial to keep it simple. Digital cameras are Nikon digital cameras, and the 800 has the connection.This is not a problem for modern no more complicated than film cameras, familiar judder of the constantly updating Mac owners, but people with older machines but sophisticated features may scare off
Breakdown auto-focus. It’s a little disconcerting, but the may be left behind. However, if you’re using a novices. The fewer buttons the better. results speak for themselves. pre-USB Mac, spending more than £500 on a If the camera is for personal use, One unique feature is the Best Shot camera seems less sensible than upgrading there’s a reassuring feeling of expense Selector. This takes a number of pictures in your old Mac to at least an iMac. about ploughing through a breezeblock of rapid succession and then selects the The interface is simple to use and the a manual. If you have the budget to go for sharpest. It’s a novel way of working, and camera has a basic selection of controls. This the Olympus C-2500, you’ll be rewarded appears to work. makes it idiot-proof, but does limits control with a camera that gives you a mental over results. workout. It isn’t that it’s difficult to use – Macworld buying advice there’s just plenty of features to get to grips The CoolPix 800 is a capable mid-range Macworld buying advice with. When you’ve mastered these camera, but the black plastic finish makes it This is a decent but overpriced camera. functions, it can produce fantastic pictures. look cheap. At £699, it isn't cheap, unless I suspect, though, that this will change Even in automatic mode, it outputs pretty you’re comparing it to the forthcoming before long – because for an extra £50 you amazing images. If the £1,200 price tag Nikon D1 that’ll cost more than £3,000. could choose either the Sony or the Canon. doesn’t scare you, then the opportunity to add an external flash and extra lenses should. If you get carried away, you can spend a small fortune on this camera. Not too many budgets will stretch as far as the C-2500 – but Sony has a more affordable alternative in the DSC-F505. It’s almost all lens, and sports plenty of gadgets. Although falling short of being a serious professional camera, it’s a lot
Test of fun. It has an AVI-movie function and effects such as Victoriana sepia-tone. So-called pocket-sized cameras usually rely on people having outsized pockets – £699 £549 but the Canon S10 really is the slinkiest, Optical Zoom x2 x3 dinkiest model around. And it still takes Digital Zoom none none excellent high-resolution pictures. Highest resolution 1,600-x-1,200 from 2.11 Mpix 1,792-x-1,200 from 2.3 Mpix Lens F 3.5-4.8 F 3.2-3.7 None of the cameras disgraced LCD screen 1.8”TFT 1.8”TFT themselves in our tests, and all would be a Storage Media CompactFlash SmartMedia good buy at the right price. Prices quoted Capacity of supplied Media Card 8MB 8MB here were correct at press time – but the Interfaces Serial Serial/USB cut-throat world of digital photography Power Supply AA batteries AA batteries
Specs means prices drop quickly. New cameras Software Adobe Photoshop 5.0 LE Ricoh Photo Suite like the Canon S10 and the Sony Contact Nikon (0800 230 220) Johnsons Photopia (01782 753 300) DSC-F505, both retailing at around £600 Star Rating /8.7 /7.8 to £700, will force less worthy contenders to drop in price before long. MW
Macworld MARCH 2000 90 Dream on Dreamweaver 3 is a boon for Web designers. By Tom Negrino
ools for Web designers have come a long way. No longer Better Web pages do Web-page creators struggle with a mélange of lousy The quality of your individual pages is the ultimate test of your skill programs to get the job done. Whether you’re a code-shy as a Web developer – and Dreamweaver 3 doesn’t disappoint in this graphic designer, a jaded HTML geek, or someone in department, with new features that make it easier and faster to between, you can probably find a Web tool that dovetails create first-rate Web pages and meet deadlines. yourT skill level. Tags on demand Perhaps the most innovative new feature Now, Macromedia’s £299 Dreamweaver 3, (Computers Unlimited, in Dreamweaver 3 is Quick Tag Editor, a pop-up window that allows 0181 358 5857; £99 upgrade) is hitting the scene, offering an you to view and edit the underlying HTML code for any object while unprecedented mixture of friendly visual tools and fast, powerful you’re still in the visual editing environment. Previously you had to access to the HTML code that underlies all Web pages. take time to switch out of visual editing and open an HTML window This new version builds on the program’s traditional strengths; to get at the code. With Quick Tag Editor, you can peer beneath the adds a slew of features that enable collaborative teams to work surface of your document. together to build sites; and, of course, supports the latest other To invoke Quick Tag Editor, select an object and choose Quick Tag programs from Macromedia, such as the new Fireworks 3 (see the Editor from the Modify menu, or better yet, press ⌘-T. The free-
ILLUSTRATION:GRAHAM MURDOCH sidebar “Fireworks 3 Fights Back”). continues page 96
Macworld MARCH 2000 95 attributes or Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), Making Dreamweaver 3 work magic and Dreamweaver 3 retains these abilities. Both approaches have their problems. CSS styles veryone likes to watch a magician Objects When first installed, this folder display reliably only in version 4.0 or later browsers, and performing a routine. But while contains six subfolders: Characters, Common, even then your Web pages can look different depending on E some people simply enjoy magic Forms, Frames, Head, and Invisibles. Each of the end-user’s browser version. tricks as entertainment, some of us remain these corresponds to a submenu in the In general, tag attributes display accurately in any frustrated until we know exactly how the Objects palette and to an entry in the Insert browser, but if you want multiple attributes as in our earlier magician did it. menu. In addition to an HTML file, each object example (bold, blue, and larger), you have to apply them Dreamweaver 3 is a lot like that magician. Let’s Play has a corresponding GIF file containing the individually – and repetitively – to each text selection. You can simply sit back and enjoy its magic, or An HTML file is at the heart of this Dreamweaver icon for that object in Dreamweaver’s Objects Dreamweaver 3 has finally merged the ease of use of CSS you can go behind the scenes of the software dialogue box. palette. To add a new object, just add a GIF with the compatibility of tag attributes, in a feature and learn its tricks yourself. The advantage of and an HTML file. To add a new sub-folder, called HTML Styles. The new HTML Styles palette, which the latter approach is that you can then create a new subfolder in the Finder and put displays all the styles for the site you’re working on, holds both change its tricks – not only can you pull a event with the Play Sound action. When you your desired objects in it. character and paragraph styles. To apply a style, you simply select rabbit out of a hat, but you can also change choose Play Sound, Dreamweaver displays a Start-up If you want a command to run some text and click on the style name. You can create new styles by that rabbit to a mouse or even an elephant if dialogue box that’s defined in the file Play every time you launch Dreamweaver, all you selecting text that’s already formatted the way you want and then you choose. All it takes are three magic words: Sound.htm, located in the Actions folder (see need to do is write an appropriate HTML file choosing Text: HTML Styles: New Style. In the resulting dialogue HTML, JavaScript, and XML. the screen shot “Let’s play”).The Actions folder and put it in the Startup folder.Similarly, if you box, you give the style a name and add or modify other font and Start your quest for knowledge by finding also contains Play Sound.js, which stores the want a command to run whenever you quit paragraph attributes as you see fit (see the screen shot “Stylin”). the Configuration folder inside your JavaScript code that Dreamweaver inserts in Dreamweaver, add a Shutdown folder (it History Repeating Dreamweaver stores a site’s HTML Styles in an XML document in Dreamweaver folder. Inside this folder and its your page to make a sound play. doesn’t exist at installation) containing your You can select a series of entries in Dreamweaver’s History palette and turn them into the site folder, making the styles available to anyone who works on subfolders lie hundreds of HTML, JavaScript, Commands Each item in Dreamweaver’s HTML command file. or each of the above a macro by choosing Save As Command. your site. XML stands for Extensible Markup Language; it’s a more and XML files. Dreamweaver uses these files Commands menu corresponds to an HTML folders, modifying the enclosed files enables flexible cousin of HTML, that Dreamweaver uses to store many for just about everything it does – if you file in the Actions folder. (While behaviours you to change how a command or behaviour floating Quick Tag Editor appears, showing you the HTML associated different kinds of data, including styles, its own menus, and page change any of them, you can change the way add an action to your page, commands act acts within Dreamweaver. with that object (see the screen shot “Code on demand”). To help you templates. Having a separate style sheet also makes it easy to the program behaves. upon the page itself). For instance, the Clean write code, a pop-up hints list appears when you pause while typing collaborate with other workgroups and helps ensure that companies Up HTML command gets its dialogue box Nothing up my sleeve in Quick Tag Editor, showing you a list of all the HTML tags with multiple sites maintain a consistent look by using the same XML A rabbit out of my hat from the Clean Up HTML.htm file, and the Not only can you add, change, and delete Dreamweaver understands. The hints list is context-sensitive, so if style sheet. When modifying Dreamweaver, you must JavaScript file Clean Up HTML.js handles the extensions in your copy of Dreamweaver, but you pause on a particular tag, a list of its attributes appears. change the right file to achieve the right actual clean-up. you can pass your changes on to others, too. Quick Tag Editor is terrific for quick edits, and you see the results Time-savers effect.Here’s a tour of the Configuration folder Inspectors This folder contains the HTML A number of Web sites also offer immediately. Let’s say you’ve inherited a table from your predecessor With its big new features, Dreamweaver 3 should satisfy your lust for to show what’s hiding where. (A word of and JavaScript files that modify the Property Dreamweaver extensions for download; two and it has a border ten pixels wide and cell spacing of eight pixels. more, more, more power! Yet the program also has lots of small but warning:Before changing a file,always make a Inspector floating palette for particular tags. of the best are Dreamweaver Depot, at You want a cleaner look, so you select the table and press ⌘-T to call useful improvements that will make your work go more quickly and copy of it first. That way, if things don’t go When you want to change the