mac week v 1 n 12

4 Volume I July 27, 1987 INSIDE Opening doors Handicapped benefit by using Macs Page 9 Hot rod Macs Enhancing performance Page 14 Presentation spreadsheets Reviewing Trapeze, Ragtime Page 17 “Know what you can do with a Mac {| Hand no monitor? 54 You can hear the nicest startup sound ever. Instereo.” Desperately seeking a monitor Bill Steinberg discusses the trials «and tribulations of owning a new Mac IT Page II ZOOM IN WHERE DO YOU BUY MOST OF YOUR SOFTWARE? Full circle: VersaCAD comes back to Apple Precision PC product boosts Macintosh for engineering BY STUART SILVERSTONE Special to MacWEEK HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. — Versa- CCAD, maker of one ofthe top design and drat- ing software systems forthe MS-DOS world, plans o release a Mac version of its 2-D prod- uct inthe fall. Known as VersaCAD/Macintosh Editon, it will be priced at $1,995 “It willbe functionally very close tothe PC version but written o take advantage of the Macintosh interface, with cons and pulldown menu, and o exploit the Clip- board's integration with other applications,” said Paul Barr, VersaCAD's project director Images join text on Apple fax modems BY RUSTY WESTON MacWEEK Siaff ‘CUPERTINO, Calif. — Apple is preparing to fan the flames ofthe red-hot document image- processing marketplace by introducing prod- ucts forthe direct transfer of text and high- resolution graphics — without a fax machine. Experts say Apple's intial tp into the $2 billon-per-year facsimile business will include low-end, stand-alone fax modem forthe Mac us anda workstation plug-in, 9,600-bavd fax ‘modem for the SE and Mac IL. Apple hasn't announced these products, sources suid, because of problems with it scanner. Industry analysts predict Apple will score a ‘major success inthe fax business this year by ‘emphasizing its reputation for quality graphics. “We think a fax modem and scanner are important products because there's a word- wide fax network,” said Peter Friedman, Apple's marketing manager for desktop-pub- lishing systems. ‘The release ofthe modems may depend upon development ofthe seanner, which prob- ably won't be ready by Aug. 11, the date ofthe i “Mac Expo in Boston at which oer new fax product for the Macintosh willbe amounced. LoDown of Scotts Valley, Calif, DEST 3 Corp. of Milpitas, Calif as y bought Gulfstream Micro Systems, F See FAX HODES, Pape BE for esearch and development. ‘A separate 3-D package forthe Mac is planned for future release, although itis cur- rently available forthe PC. Both packages are intended for use by design professionals such as architects and mechanical engineers ‘VersaCAD for the Mac allows upto 250 <rawing layers for separating building ele- ‘ments, such as dimension lines and structural, ‘mechanical and interior desig systems. The software wil suppor floating-point line-end ata for calculating rotations and angular rela- tionships. Integer formats for quick sceen- See VERSACAD, Page 21 | 3Com welcomes Networking giant Mac to its PC LAN BYRICK LEPAGE. MacWEEK Staff SANTA CLARA, Calif — Claiming it has finally achieved transparent integration of Macintoshes and MS-DOS computers, net- working vendor 3Com Corp. wil begin ship- ping a Macintosh module frit file-erver software A 3+ Macs intended to be a major part of 3Com’s 3System network environment, which will allow PCs and Macs to share information and peripherals via AppleTalk, Ethernet and IBM’s Token Ring network media connected {0 3Com’s 3Server3 ile Server. It wil run on the Macintosh Plus, SE or Mac I, and willbe Priced at $495, See 3COM, Page 21 SIGGRAPH PREVIEW Macintosh aims for graphics big time BY ABIGAIL CHRISTOPHER MacWEEK Staff ‘ANAHEIM, Calif. — ‘Three-dimensional color graphics and animation flash onthe high-resolu- tion screen in Hugh Dubbely’s office. The head of Apple Computer's creative services depart- ‘ment is experimenting with new ideas for Mac adverising, ampaigns. ‘Dazzling a they are, however, the images may never see the light of day. Afterall it might be and promotional Continued on Page 7 “Design Stage” a computer graphic by Som P. Khoe ofthe Art Center Collegeof Design, wil show at SIGGRAPH. MacWEEK July 27, 1987 NEWs BY ABIGAIL CHRISTOPHER MacWEEK Siaff PALO ALTO, Calif. — Macintosh appl tions have been sped running on prototype versions of NeXT Inc. computers, according to reliable sources, But whether Steve Jobs’ company wil legally be able to offer Macintosh emulation on its computers remains clouded in controversy — like most of Jobs’ mercurial career. Running Macintosh applications on other machines requires emulating the coe routines that make up the Mac operating environment. ‘At Brown University’s computer science epartment in Providence, RL, Mac applica- tions, including MacPaint and MacDraw, have run on Masscomp's UNIX computers using the same process employed by NeXT. But an official Apple statement issued Jan 17, when the lawsuit filed against former Apple Chairman Steven Jobs was sted said “Apple has the right to inspect any new com- puter from Jobs’ new company before it can be ‘marketed to determine if any of Apple's pro- ‘retary information o technology was used.” ‘A the centr ofthe controversy are two computers that will una hybrid version of UNIX 4.2 and 53 and offer from 2 Mbytes to 4 Mbytes of memory, as well asa plete of 166 milion colors. Fax modems with rates of 9,600 baud and BY CLAIR WHITMER MacWEEK. ‘SAN FRANCISCO — As pat ofits effort to integrate the IBM and Macintosh hemispheres ofthe personal computer world, Apple has developed PC AppleShae, to be announced at ‘Mac Expo in Boston. PC AppleShare isthe companion software to the AppleTalk PC adapter card, distributed cearir this year, tha allows IBM computers to access a Laser Writer through AppleTalk. The software greatly amplifies the ability ofa PC to participate on an AppleShare network Although itis not known whether the pro- gram willbe offered asa retail product at Mac Expo itis part ofthe agenda ofthe Apple Communications and Networking Conference, held concuretly with the expo. Some third-party developers said they feel that with this release Apple is making danger- ‘ous inroads int their territory. “Apple contracted us o get their card (he ‘AppleTalk PC card) to work. Now they've cu sof atthe knes,” said Guy Maiande, vie president of Tangent Technologies. ‘Tangent, a Norcross, Ga, maker of PC-Mac ‘connectivity products, makes acard-and-soft- ware connectivity solution called TangentShare that allows IBMs to acess AppleShare file servers. TangentShare will be shipping before the expo, Mariande said. ‘Apple's LAN package also allows a PC 10 acess Mac data files, use network resources and be designated asa network resource. ‘Though connectivity has become aig pat ‘of Apple's marketing strategy forthe corporate NeXT computers to run Mac software? NFS-compatble Ethernet will be standard on the motherboards. Both computers will be bundled with word-processing software from the programmers who developed ‘TMaker Co's WriteNow. The low-end model, which will run the “Motorola 68020 processor and cost $3,000 for universities willbe demonstrated athe UniFo- rum conference in September. The higher-end ‘mode! willbe built around a 68030 processor ‘or two 68020 3. The company has but prototypes around Transputr chips from Inmos Corp. of Colorado Springs, Colo, but has decided not o use that architecture, [NeXT reportedly is experimenting with a RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Chip) fo its higher-end system, which wil be ‘rced at approximately 86,00. The company will use 16.nch Sony color monitors with a resolution of 1,280 by 1,024 pines, [NeXT computers wll support computer sraphics that rn ona dedicated- graphics bus. Inthe past, Aple as defended sucessfl- Iy its proprietary technology through legal ‘maneuvering. However, companies such as Phoenix Technologies in Norwood, Mass. have successfully cloned the IBM PC BIOS through reverse engineering NeXT also is developing a graphic interface ‘over its UNIX operating system tat supports ‘Adobe PostScript on he screen Apple develops AppleShare network for PCs world, some analysts said they don't expect PC AppleShare to have high-volume sales. “It’s not going to become a commodity item. The people who have IBMs who want to geton AppleShar if theyre going to have that with all the complications, they might as well switch,” sid Peter Ting, an analyst with ‘Shearson Lehman Brothers in San Francisco. Cs and Macs also can be used as equal ‘members ofa network through the TOPS net- ‘work from Centram Systems Wes of Berkeley, Calif TOPS allows data to be shared between PCs and Macs without a dedicated file server ‘Apple's willingness to risk its relationships with third-party developers undrfnes its determination thatthe Mac connect with IBM. Gursharan Sidhu, product manages for Apple's connectivity section, sad Apple has made is intention clear since the January Sey- bold Conference that it would provide the soft- ware for its adaper card o acess AppleShare. Ting said Apples willing to compete with <evelopes who ae normally allies because this typeof product does not provide direct support forthe Macintosh “This producti one forthe PC, and that marke Apple] doesnot consider sacred” Ting said. Wl CORRECTION ‘Mac WEEK reported July 13 that SuperMac ‘Technologies had shipped Sentinel, a data- encryption program, and Network DiskFi, an ‘AppleShar backup program. The programs hhave not yet shipped. SuperMac expects them tobe shipping i time forthe Mac Expo. CONTENTS NEWS Mitsubishi introduces 37-inch color monitor 05 Al applications get down to real business 06 ‘Mac fanatics flock to Apple business forums 08 BUSINESS WATCH Proposed ban on Toshiba threatens ImageWriter II production 10 Presentation spreadsheets: Trapeze and Ragtime 17 MARKETWEEK Focus: Accelerator boards 19 Bill Steinberg: Desperately seeking a color monitor Il Steve Rosenthal: Visible results 16 ‘Mac the Knife 2 LATE NEws Updated PageMaker 2.0a compatible with Word 3.0 ‘SEATTLE — Aldus Corp. announced shipping its updated Version 2.0a of PageMaker forthe Macintosh lst week. ‘The new version includes compatibility with Microsoft Word 3.01; the previous version of PageMaker was compatible with T/Maker Co.’ WriteNow. The updated version add the ability io expor text from PageMaker back o original WriteNow tex files. Version 2. also has improved support for Apple's ImageWritr and Image Writer I printers and ads a new Aldus Prep file to improve printing performance. Customers who bought Version 2.0 afer July 1 and Akds Extended Technical Support sub- seibers can get the update free. Other registered users can buy Version 2. for $10. ‘Aldus Corp. i located at 411 First Av. South, Suite 200, Settle, Wash. 98104; (206) 628- 2392. Borland announces relational update for Reflex ‘SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif. — Borland Intemational Inc. announced lst week Reflex Pus, ally oriented fully relational update to its Reflex forthe Mac database. Reflex Plus’ relational ability lets users organize data in virally unlimited ways, the compa- ny sid, “na customer database, you may hae a separa file foreach customer and or ech product. You can relate the produc fle toa customer by linking them,” said a Borland spokeswoman, Reflex Pus includes 55 built-in functions, including antthmeti, statistical and financial func- tions. It will be priced at $279 and will ship inthe third quarter. It isnot copy protected. E-Machines working on color monitor TUALATIN, Ore. — E-Machines is close to making the leap from monochrome to color moni- tors, according to Steve Vollum, resident. The company is working toward the debut of new color monitor forthe Mac Ihe sid. Also late last weck, E-Machines got its new monochrome controller forthe Mac I out the door. ‘The new color monitor will not be shown at Mac Expo but, aid Vollam, because of “strategic considerations, the company i trying o come out withthe monitor as soon a possible.” ‘The controller costs $1,995 with E-Machines Big Picture monitor and $795 on its own. E-Machines is located at 7945 S.W. Mohawk St, Tualatin, Ore, 97062; (503) 692-6656. “Best of Category’ “.. the real gems bd in the SuperMac collection.” — MacWeek SPOOLERS: “\..the most complete and well- designed spooler available...” — Jim Heid, MacWorld “\,.the spooler of choice for the Macintosh Publisher.” — Publish! magazine “clearly the winner...the outstanding choice...wins on features, speed and stability.” — Howard Bornstein, The Macazine “The speed at which SuperlaserSpool returns control of the Mac to the user is impressive, in some cases even astonishing.” — Rick LePage, MacWeek 1H SuperSpool (for ImageWriter I and Il): $74.95 Hm SuperLaserSpool (for all Apple printers): $149.95 1 Multi-User SuperLaserSpool (for up to 5 users): $395.00 System requirements: Macintosh 5120, Plus or SE BACKUP: “gett” “ven though I have been preaching the virtues of backing up files for years, I rarely take my own advice... It took DiskFit to get me to back up on a regular basis.” — Michael Wesley, MacUser Magazine — MacUser “|. found religion. I now practice what I preach by regularly backing up my files. On the Macintosh, I use DiskFit...” — lawrence J. Magid, Los Angeles Times @ DiskFit for HES hard drives: $74.95 ‘System requirements: Macintosh 512, Plus, SE, or Macintosh II with one or ‘more HES-format hard disks SUPERMAC 295 N. Bernardo Avenue, Mountain View, CA94043. (415) 964-9694 MacWEEK July 27, 1987 NeWs BY C.J. WEIGAND Special to MacWEEK ‘CUPERTINO, Cali — Apple Computer Inc. has tod some ofits dealers to expect aneight- ‘week delay in eceiving the I-Mbyte single inne memory modules (SIMMS) forthe “Macintosh SE and Mac TL. According oa few dealers, Apple has suggested they buy 1-Mbyte SIMMS (using Mbit chips) directly from Dove Computer Corp. “Apple as been using our SIMMs for some ime now and they've been completly satisfied,” said Rick Greene, Dove's vie pres- ident of sales and marketing. “They've been recommending our products to developers as well aso direct and dealer accounts.” ‘Apple’ customer relations department said istibution of Apple's I-Mbyte SIMMS to dealers will be restricted for several weeks ‘because of limited quantities. Dove's SIMMS consist of surface-mount (CMOS chips designed to expand the intemal ‘memory ofthe Macintosh Plus and SE to 4 Mhyes andthe Mac Io 8 Mbytes. Dove's modules are interchangeable among the SE, Mac I and Mac Plus. Dove BY ELINOR CRAIG MacWEEK Staff ‘The introduction of TurboLase/PS printer by [AST Research Inc. of trvine, Calif, at $3,995 isthe first in around of laser printer price cuts that may soon involve Apple, said Petr Ting, industry analyst with Shearson Lehman Broth- cer inc. of San Francisco, “Ina couple of years they [laser printers} will cost ony $1,000,” he said. ‘The PostScript-equipped AST printer costs $1,800 ess than Apple's equivalent Laser ‘Writer Pus.“Appl’s response to the market challenge willbe to drop the price. They always do,” ai financial analyst Bret “Maxwell of Fist Analysis in Chicago. Others ae not so sure Apple will tke a defensive poston, though. “Apple has always presented itself a high-quality vendor that oes ot have to respond to other company's products,” said Doug Cayne of the Gartner Group in Stamford, Con, "They will probably ‘ait and see if the AST printer sells and iit actually cuts into Laser Writer profits before they respond with any action.” Apple declined ‘o.comment “Apple genert- cd abuge profit margin [with the LaserWriter). They had acaptve sidTing. “Ldon't expectitto hurt Apple that such,” said Apple may be drawn into printer price war Apple admits memory shortage and Apple each offer a -Mbyte upgrade it using the new 1-Mbyte SIMMS. Using the kit creates 2.5 Mbytes of continuous memory by replacing two ofthe four original 256-Koyte SIMMs with I-Mbyte SIMMS in a Mac Plus or SE. Both kits camry a retail price of $999, Dove also offers a 4-Mbyte upgrade kit fr $1,999 and an 8 Mbyte kit forthe Mac I for $3,958. ‘A east one other vendors shipping su- {ace-mount SIMMs fr the Mac SE and Mac Open Mac Enterprises of Concord, Calif, offers 2-Mbyte kis for $699 and 4-Mbyte kits for $1,199. “We offer substantially lower prices than other distributors, including Dove, because we ‘don’t sll oan installed dealer base,” said ‘Adam Lazare, executive vice president of (Open Mac Enterprises “All our sales ae made boy mal order, cutting out the middle m ‘Open Mac Enterprises products carry two-year waranty Dove Computer Corp. can be contacted at P.O, Box 7008, Wilmington, N.C. 28406, (919) 763-7918. (Open Mac Enterprises sat 140 Mason Cir cle, Concord, Calif. 94540; (415) 682-0440. Maxwell. “They will makeup in volume sles What they lose on price tag number.” Other low-end laser printers are waiting in the wings to challenge Apple's first-place sta- tus. Tandy based in Fort Worth, Texas, is expected to announce a competitive laser printer, but it may not include PostScript ‘Adobe Systems Inc. of Palo Alto, Calif, ays itdoes not have a contract with Tandy. ‘Wang of Lowell, Mass, DEC of Maynard, ‘Mass, and QMS Inc. of Mobile Ala. alo are rumored to be announcing competitive PostScript printers. Ting said speculation around the possible price war rests onthe strength of the AST Tur- boLaserPS. “The eight separate page-per- ‘minute capacity and the Ricoh 4081 engine ‘make for strong competition,” he said ‘The TurboLaserPS includes an AppleTalk port and works with any host computer. I has 3 Mbytes of RAM and | Mbyte of ROM, a substantial increase over the Apple Laser Writ cx Plus’ 5 Mbytes of RAM and | Mbyte of Ete sie SNAPSHOTS SoftView program lets managers track Macs in use CAMARILLO, Cali. — SoftView In. earlier this month released a network version of “MaclnUse a program that allows microcomputer managers to track the use of Macintosh comput- ers in their organizations, The new version is compatible with AppleShare, TOPS, MacServe and other networking prod- ucts and allows data fom various workstations to be gathered into one fle ‘Fhe $79 program rus in the background and works with the entire Macintosh ln. Site licens- ing is available “We have found that employees of corporations are using the data gathered from MacinUse to jusiy the purchase of additional Macintosh hardware and software,” said Susan Morgan Sot- View's president. “MaclnUse 2.0 can be used to track use of applications and machines because the program records the application name, date, star time, duration and any addtional user-defined informa tion ina data file. For example, MacinUse can keep records for tax purposes, follow progres of students fulfill ing course requirements, track time for companies renting time on Macntoshes or Laser Writers or ‘maintain ecords of work done fr diferent clients or jobs Used on a network, MacInUse can be customized bythe network administrator to track the user's mame along with workstation data. An information screen also can be customized to prompt users for additional data. SoftView Inc. is located at 4820 Adobt Lane, Suite F, Camarillo, Calif. 93010; (805) 388-260. Update software permits electronic distribution DEL MAR, Calif. — A new strategy for exterminating Macintosh software bugs has been devised bby Paragon Concepts Inc. The company recently released two application programs to help Mac software developers and publishers casly distribute updates and bug fixes to users. Called PUP, the Paragon Update Procedure, the system involves two programs: the encoder and the decoder. The encoder is availabe to software developers for $195. “The encoder creates a file containing the update changes to specific programs, The file is then ‘encrypied so it can only be read through the companion decoder, distributed free through normal ‘retail and electronic channels. ‘Because only users with both the decoder and the original software can use the encoded file, ‘updates can be distributed through user groups and bulletin boards, eliminating the need to mail a ‘new disk to all registered users, This saves the publisher both time and effort and ultimately reduces the: cost PUP Update Folder for users, Paragon said. ET82K i ick In addition to fa ing the distribution of | upgrades, the program oem wed pat ages ir ope ieee Targa Cong jis located at 4954 Sun Valley Road, Del Mar, Calif. 92014; (619) 481- un. a a TBM PC files accessible through QuickShare BOULDER, Colo, — Compatible Systems Corp has announced QuickShare, a product that allows a Macintosh to directly acces the files onan IBM PC or compatible. ‘CSC President Matt McConnel said QuickShare includes a Mac-compatible SCS interface for the IBM PC, plus cable and software to link a Mac directly tothe PC. The Mac can then iecly acces the files on any ofthe PC's disks “Nobody does disk sharing quite the way we do,” McConnell sid. “We're trying to make a ‘one-stop fst solution to the problem.” ‘The QuickShare board transfers information at 1.4 Mbit to 4.2 Mbit per second, depending ‘on the model of Mac being used. (QuickShare can acess PC storage devies, oo, said McConnell. QuickShare has ileransfer storage program tha allows the Mac to read and writ files from anywhere onthe PC system. For example, Microsoft Excel can read Lotus 1-2-3 files. ‘ext and graphics also can be converted to MacWrite or MacPain formats with QuickShare, MeConnel said. Quickshare wil ship in mid-August, said McConnell ‘Compatible Systems canbe contacted at P.O. Drawer 17220, Boulder, Col. 80308; (303) 444- 9532, ee 1K aati x Pre Eeryptr 1 98 ext PUP Decrypter v1 08 VIaCWWEER Tt EXECUTIVE EDTOR Dest Ray ‘NEWS EDITOR Jeni stn ARTDIRECTOR Li Vespens MANAGING EDITOR SENIOR EDITORS “Mel Godin. Henry No Reviews) TECHNICAL EDTORS. ae Cle, Ri ard Bos) SENIOR WRITERS ‘pa Oise, Rik LePage Boss) ASSOCIATE EDITOR Chats Habel ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR ‘Moy Kens ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR Gat Waper ‘STAFF REPORTERS Bia: Cig Wes Ry West, (Ce Whi, Ci Leben Cory DIToRS)PAGINATORS Stan Andon, ars ent, Devt Snah ‘CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Jon Eva, Levene Magi, Soret C1 Wage” BUSINESS MANAGER Ken amin ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANTS ‘ama Gas, Mele Caps INFORMATION DIRECTOR Enly Bor PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Bem Kinsn PROMOTION DIRECTOR Gyn Abat CGRCULATION DIRECTOR Witan oove PUBLISHER Mice ‘ADVERTISING MANAGERS Win Pe Wes) Be Hef Ex) [Bor and aersg flrs: 55 a Semcon Ct 97 5 BTC felon eninge Se aes ‘Wado Ave Teale, Fa 3780. Path Comat PRESIDENT/CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Mica Bing VICE PRESIDENT/CHIEFINANCIAL OFFICER Domi We YIcE ResDewr BUSES DEVELOPMENT GRoUr PUBLISHER Riad Govt ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER/ADVERTISING Reva ac WEEK (S992 811 pid et evo mcs yearend by MacWEEK ‘duet fac Geen 118 Wok ie Tae a Segoe copy ee fo Ean teats eerie et ee {tol ent cpl psa a ‘Scnunic Cas sce mang eis imide pt nt "Stace case cree MchEk ie Al tet Zell epost HPO dyaoesoo io See be Sr as, Cle. Pa ab a ees Mitsubishi introduces 37-inch, high-resolution color monitor BY CLIFF LEHMAN MacWEEK Staff ‘TORRANCE, Calif. — Far bigger than a breadbox and not much smaller than a piano, the grandad of al big color monitors is shipping. It's the XC-3710 from Mitsubishi Electron ics. The gigantic monitors the world’s fist 37-inch, high-resolution, auto-tracking color ‘monitor, the company said The XC-3710 is Mac I-compatible, but the necessary cables will not be available for afew months, according o Paul Paulsen, a company spokesman, Priced under $8,000, the XC-3710 is availabe trough Mitsubishi's nationwide network of distributors and to OEM customers. ‘The 37-inch CRT has an actual viewing area nearly two-and-a-half times larger than a 25-inch monitor. According to the company, it can display a two-page newspaper spread edge to edge onthe screen. ‘Although the oversized monitor weighs 286 pounds without its bas, the company said, “The sim design ofthe XC-3710 does not ‘occupy much space.” But at 35 inches high by 40 inches wide by 29 inches deep the monitor is certain to domi- nat all but the most expansive offices. The base alone measures 28 inches high by 40 inch- s wide by 23 inches deep and weighs 121 is. ‘The XC-3710 is being purchased for ofice automaton, presentation graphics, traning, teleconferencing, merchandising display, pub- lic information service media, CAD/CAM and industrial process contol, according to Mike Foster, Mitsubishi vice president of sales The screen delivers horizontal resolution of NEWS MacWEEK July 27, 1987 0) 5 (640 dots and vertical resolution of 480 lines. “With such a massive seen, the XC-3710 has unlimited applications and provides an effective alternative to video projection,” said Foster, Because it sa CRT, the monitor can be Viewed from any ange “Tcan’t imagine where someone would use this monitor for personal applications,” said J. Swartz general manager of 4Site Technolo- ties of Santa Cruz, Calif, a computer graphics software company. It's better viewed from a distance, but its vale is you can get alot of people around it.” ‘Mitsui’ 374nchXC-3710 has viewing are nearly tw and times larger than a 2S4nch olor mnie. The monitor's auto-tracking circuitry allows the XC-3710 to lock onto any horizon- tal frequency from 15 KHz to 35 kHz and any vertical frequency from 40 Hz to 75 Ha. The XC-3710 accepts input signal from TTL, ana- Jog or television type NTSC. ‘Depending onthe input mode o graphics board used, the XC-3710 can display eight, 16, (64 or virtually infinite color requirements. Mitsubishi Electronics America Inc.'s (Computer Peripherals Division is located at 991 Knox St, Torrance, Calif 90502; (213) 515-3993. Programmers discuss how to improve Macintosh file transfer BY CLAIR WHITMER MacWEEK Staff SAN FRANCISCO — The programmers gath- er, the tension rises idea ly back and forth high over the heads ofthe rest of us, and the debate continues uni anew standard is bor. Inthe compater industry, this scenario is ‘not unusual; thediference with tis session, however, is thatthe conference tok place on- lin in an effor to improve onfne technology, specifically the Mac file transfer ‘timed by the proliferation of new software and a shared awarenes of the old version's limitations, a group of leading tlecommunica- tions programmers decided the time had come fora new version of MacBinary. An on-line “conference” was called June 21 on Com- puServe and another forthe following week Representatives from Delphi Technologies Corp. and GEnie Systems In. participated. First developed in the spring of 1985, MacBinary was a routine created to help trans- fer Mac file, Now incorporated in most telecommunications programs, MacBinary takes the sender's data and creates a “header” ‘with information from the Finder about the file, assembles the different components ofthe file and links them together ina sequential package. The receiving computer then restores the data to it original Macintosh format, com- plete with con information. foe MacBinary, each downloaded file had to be run through a separate application called BinHex to convert what looked like gib- berish on the sreen into a usable file. With “MacBinary les would be transmitted in one ‘comprehensible pice, although the routine itself i nt an eror-checking protocol. ‘MacBinary Iis intended to make the pro cess even more dependable. For example, with ‘MacBinay Ifthe program being sent is an installer program, double-<lcking on the icon will ll the computer whether to use the sys- temo the hard disk or the one included with the program. ‘The programmers also made adjustments forthe newer networking abilities ofthe Mac- intosh, The routine an now distinguish more accurately between IBM and MacBinay files. ‘Space also was leftin the MacBinary header for extra information tat might be required for future Apple systems. ‘According to Don Brown, one of the pro- ‘grammers involved, by the end of the June conference a decison was reached that the time had come to sharpen such fine points. New versions have been planned for many of. the telecommunications programs, and the programmers wanted MacBinary Ito be included in as many as possible ‘Since the exact release dates of many of those programs are unknown and since a new standard cannot be created overnight, MacBi- nary was carefully structured so that fils sent from a program with the new version can sil be received by a program with the old version, Brown says although te file format has already been agreed upon, the exact wording ‘ofthe application proposal ssl being final- ined. The fist program that will incorporate ‘MacBinary Iwill be FreeTem, the public domain software from Dreams ofthe Phoenix ‘of Jacksonville, Fl, distributed in part bythe Apple Programmers and Developer's Associa- tion. The program shouldbe available by the end of this month. ‘According to Chris Allen, president of Dreams of the Phoenix, the next version of Red Ryder, a shareware telecommunications program from FreeSoft of St. Louis, also should use the new version. i MacWEEK July 27, 1987 NEWS Al applications get down to real business BY JIRI WEISS MacWEEK Staff SEATTLE — The database contained every- thing anyone would want to know about the paintings of Vincent van Gogh —even the images ofthe paintings themselves. To demon- strate, Daniel P. lickingr, a researcher at Hewlett-Packard’ s Distributed Computing Center, typed: “Show self portraits.” ‘The HP 9000 worksttion’s green light blinked asi translated the natural language command into SQL, a database query lan- guage, nd then searched the attached laser disk. In seconds, series of familiar van Gogh images popped upon the screen, ‘Let metry,” I asked and typed: “Did Van Gogh paint any boats But instead of retrieving the daa in sec- ‘nds, the workstation chugged away for one minute, two minutes, three minutes. “Is taking its time because it is searching for paintings frst and then fr boats,” Flicknger said and hit the reset button. ‘The inability ofthe HP system to handle a simple query illustrates the types of problems sil plaguing natral-anguage understanding systems, ‘Nevertheless, the Sixth National Confer- ence ofthe American Associaton for Artificial Intelligence (AAD, held herein mid July, showed that Al applications, especially expert systems, ae being used todo real business. Boeing Aerospace took advantage ofthe show's visto its home city to showcase its advanced Al applications. Important new prod- uets were rolled out by Texas Instrument of Dallas, Symbols Inc. of Cambridge, Mass. and others. And fr the first time at an AAAL conference there were a significant number of ‘Macintosh products, Despite that conference atendence was down 20 percent, o around 4,50, from 5.400 in 1986, Some blamed it onthe location or on corporate budgets, but others said the figures are an indication that business has become tired of AU hyp. “AThas not delivered,” said Larry Gise, president and CEO of an AI company formed 10 weeks ago fo deiver PC- and, perhaps, ‘Mac-based AI applications. “The problem with the AI industry is that it has not been market-driven he ssid. “Virally al the companies have been founded on the bass of some academic clique wih esearch rectors who have ha litle experience in busines.” With one foot planed firmly in academia, ‘Al has been slow to come to the Macintosh, “Alot of people are taking a waitand-see attitude,” said Steve Weyer, research scientist in Apple's Al systems group, who attended the conference. For Al the Mac model of choice will be the Mac Il, which is not shiping yet in. large quantity. ‘What could give the Mac a boost as an AI platform would be the development ofan add- in board to process LISP, a language used for {A development that taxes the memory and processing resources of ordinary computers. “Tenas Instruments raised the possibilty of developing such aboard tte introduction of its new 32-bit Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI chip. The TI chip packs more than 553,000 transistors ona I centimeter-square ea, about 25 times more than a Motorola 68020, sccording oT. ‘The chip wll not be sold as an ofthe shelf product, but itis available on a $20,000 NuBus add-on board as an uperade for uses of earlier Explorer models, said Neil McGlone, TT spokesman. Making a Mac Il add-on board ‘would not be difficult. "We are talking to Apple and looking for third-party developers.” Bu the Mac showed promise even without the LISP processor. ‘A crowd besieged the booth of Neuron Data, publisher of Nexpert Object, an expert system writen in C forthe Macintosh Il and oer workstations Coral Software Corp. of Cambridge, Mass, introduced CoralFranz Extended Common LISP, more complete version of Common LISP than has been previously avaiable (see sidebar) “Tis should make LISP code more portable,” Appe’s Weyer sid ExperTelligence of Santa Barbara, Calif. demonstrated ExperTeligence’s Experinter- face builder, which can be used to build a sraphical interface for Mac applications. “That ‘will interest my customers,” said a salesman ‘who sells Macs to the government. Some corporations do take AI seriously, including AI on the Mac. Boeing Aerospace Co. bused hundreds of attendees to show off its 100-person Boeing Artificial Intelligence Cen- ter. Boeing decided to emphasize AI research in 1982, when the company caried outa study of what business would be like inthe year 2000, according to George Roberts, the cen ter’s general manager. One application, an expert system running ‘on MicroVAX Il from Digital Equipment Corp. of Maynard, Mas, is speeding up assembly of connectors. Inthe pat, employees have spent an average of 45 minutes looking ‘up what types of tools they should use in 20 different specifications manuals. Now impor- tant specifications have been input nto an exper system writen in Prolog, called CASE, The look-up procedure now takes only ive minutes, according to Bill McClay, an Al spe <ialst who designed the system Boeing also is developing a Mac Pus-bsed expert system that willbe used for diagnosis of problems on the company's new 747-400 jets, ‘source within Boeing sai. The company spends 4,000 man-hours to develop huge fault trees forthe aircraft. “With the expert sytem, that number has been cut in al,” MeClay said. Such microcomputer applications are “valid” sid Edward Feigenbaum, a professor at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Cali, and leading figure in Al research. But Feigen- ‘baum cautioned companies should not mit their applications to low-end machines. “The way people think is limited by the tools they us. If they have binoculars instead ‘of telescope, they may miss the ings of Sat- um,” he said. Hewet-Packard’snaturaHlanguage system translates questions written in English into SQL queries. The database ofthe HP workstation atthe conference contained data about Vincent van Gogh including his ar SE, II open architecture spur AI development BY JIRI WEISS MacWEEK Staff SEATTLE — The open-architecture Macin- tosh SE and Mac Il are spurring new artificial intelligence software, according to vendors who attended the AI conference here recently. Three products highlighted a group of Mac- intosh Al entries demonstrated atthe show. Developers of AI applications on high-end LISP machines can now port them much more casily toa Macintosh with the Common LISP interpretive language announced atthe show by Corl Software. Applications developed in Common LISP ‘on any machine, including workstation from ‘Symbotis inc, Sun Microsystems Inc. and ‘Apollo Computer In, wil ran onthe Mac with litle modification, said Andrew Shalit, a spokesman for Corl. The $400 Coral/Franz Extended Common LISP is full implementation of Common LISP and takes up less than 1 Mbyte of RAM. It stats sipping this week. The Coral/Franz LISP includes an integrated EMACS eiitor and a programmable text editor. A $99 version with reduced capabilities also will be available. ParePlace Systems released Version 2.2 of its Smalltalk-80 object-oriented programming language. ‘Version 2.2 is designed for greater port ity between different platforms, according to ParcPlace Systems. To achieve this, ‘Smalltalk-80 is vided into two pats: a ‘machine-dependent portion and a machine independent one that includes the language, rumtime system and user interface. The new version of this object-oriented language sup- ports PostScript and RS-232 pont. I runs 2.5 times faster than previous versions and adds accesso Desk Accessories andthe ability to ‘ut and paste between Smaltalk-80and the Mac Clipboard It also support color displays and 54 type fonts, according to the company. Proponents of Smalltalk suid hi approach allows a programmer to be 10 times more ef cient, especially when building simulations. ‘A basic Smalltalk-80 programming envi- ronment retails for $695, or $995 with the enhancements. Softsync In. introduced the Macintosh ver- sion of Super Exper, an exper system based ‘on examples rather than rules. Users enter relationships consisting of con- ditions that have to be met fora particular out ‘come into spreadsheet-like cell. In effet, uses build a table of ll the possible outcomes. ‘The computer uses the table to ask users ques- tions and then make a recommendation. ‘The $199 Super Expert runs on Macintosh ‘models from the Mac 512KE up. “If you have six diferent criteria [ora par ticular outcome] and two possible value, ‘yes" and ‘no,’ then the numberof examples you enter is 64,” said Jeff Higgins, Sotsyn’s soft ware development manager. ach program wil handle 30 criteria and 200 examples, but expert systems can be chained, Higgins said, “You are ony really confined by the disk space." Coral Software can be reached at P.O. Box 307, Cambridge, Mass, 02142; (617) 547- 2662. ParcPlace Systems is located at 2400 Geng Road, Palo Alto, Calif 94303; (415) 859-1015 Softsync inc. sat 162 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y. 10016, (212) 685-2080. Apple shows its 3-D stuff at SIGGRAPH Continued from Page | difficult to explain why graphics meant to showcase the abilities ofthe Macintosh I! have been generated ona high-end Iris workstation from Silicon Graphics of Mountain View, Calif. Dubberyis quick to point out that his use ofthe Silicon Graphics machine is purely experimental, but it ilutrates Apple's dlem- ‘ma, Until the introduction of the Mac I, Apple did not have the power, high-esoltion display and third-party suppor to generate its own 3-D color images. Apple’s goals include overcom- ing technical professionals’ attraction tothe ‘UNIX world and encouraging major graphics vendors to por their UNIX software to the ‘Mac Il via A/UX and, eventually to write Airectly tothe Macintosh operating system. ‘Now Apple has a computing platform that begins to address the neds ofthe professional raphics market, ‘Supported initially by graphics software such as Dimensions from Visual Information Inc. of La Puente, Cali, and several programs from MacroMind Ine. of Evanson, I, the ‘Mac I wll soon be abe to offer highly sophis- tiated computer graphics in its own righ Although Silicon Graphics reigns high with is 3-D workstation platform, companies whose software already runs the SGI systems want to ‘move tothe Mac I ‘That shiftin the market is evident at this year’s SIGGRAPH, the premier computer ‘raph show. For the first time, Apple is at SIGGRAPH in a big way. But can the Mac Il take on some ofthe workstation vendors? What does Apple need to do to compete in computer graphics and tech- nical markets? How much will the company have to rely on its UNIX (AJUX) and Ethernet support forthe Mac It? Will the standard Mac- intosh operating system win over enginers, architects, drafters and technical publishers? How many CAD developers will ort their software othe new Apple computers? Is the Mac I powerful enough for technical users? Apple's 30-by-30-oot booth willbe packed with 17 Macitoshes, more than half of them “Macintosh Is; several third-party color moni- tors; and software for a target user base Apple refer to as the “technical profesional.” Asif to answer these questions, David Kul- bars, Apple's technical marketing programs manager inthe scientific and engineering divi sion, said: “We already have a petty good installed base in engineering areas. Between 5 percent and 12 percent of the million installed ‘Macs are used by technical professionals — architects, drftsmen, software programmers.” However, Apple has a lot of catching up to do in the high-end graphics world befre it wll beable to generate images comparable o those proiuced on systems from Apollo Computer Inc. of Chelmsford, Mass, and Symbolics Inc. ‘of Cambridge, Mass. Experienced Macintosh programmers are anxious to bring such sophistication othe Mac TL Mare Canter of MacroMind, developer of several graphics programs for Macintshes, including VideoWorks Il and Graphic Works MacWEEK July 27, 1987 1) 1.1, is porting high-end 3D software tothe Macintosh I from platforms like Digital Equipment Corp's VAX machines. Canter is working with the Computer Graphics Lab at the MassachusetsIstiute of Technology to bring sophisticated 3-D graphics effets ike rendering, shading ray tracing and ligt mod- clsto the newest Apple platform. ‘Alias Reseach, a $17-million 3D anima- tion and modeling software company in Toron- to, has exploited the Silicon Graphics Iris ‘workstations forthe past two years, Now the ‘company is anxious to por its software to the Mac I Having won contracts with General Motors, Kraft Foods, Revlon, Motorola and Boeing, Alias says it as alot in common with Appl. ‘Art Bell, vce president of marketing for ‘Alias, sai: "We perceive the Mac It wih its (68020) CPU as a low-end workstation Alias hasan affinity with Apple because of our user interface. Our aims and Apple’ are similar. ‘We have a tightly coupled design and 3-D sys ‘tem that requires graphics suppor. Apple has a strong user interface that would add value to ‘our software. It should be easy for us to port ur software to the Mac I The Mac Tis the right pric, the right ize, but Apple needs to make a commitment tothe animation and design worlds.” Kulbarsh said: “Apple's strategy isnot to 0 with a single vendor fora particular applica tion, What we've done is divide engineering ‘nto six markets: general drafting, architec ‘ure/enginering/oonstruction (AEC), mechai- cal engineering, electrical, software develop- ment and scientific “The goal is to develop a range of solutions in al the different markets by developing rela- tionships with third partes in hardware and software,” he said. In response to questions about the compet tive workstation market, Kulbarsh si: “We don’t typically compare ourselves to the Sun 23/50 Sun Microsystems inc.s $5,000 system) because it’s not an open system. The Mac It is an open system with six slots. The 350 is a closed machine with a limit of 4 Mbytes of memory. We look atthe Sun 3/110 LC as our competition. We view them as roughly compa rable machines. Both have the same CPU, a ‘68020 [chip] and fosting point 68881. But the 3/110 LCs about $20,000, “A Mac I wth a SuperMac ora PCPC TL 1,024-by-1,024-pixel color monitor, 4 Mbytes of memory, 80 Mbytes of storage, sx slots, 40 Mbytes of tape backup and A/UX would «cost about $18,000. A Sun 1/110 LC with a 1,024-by-1,024-piel high-resolution color ‘monitor, 4 Mbytes of memory, a 70-Mbyte disk, three slots, 80 Mbytes of tape backup, Ethernet and UNIX is about $21,900.” Suns vce president of research and mar- keting, Bll Jay, didnot agree with Apple's analysis: “The Mac belongs in the retail chan ne. Buying & Mac is ike buying a stereo. ‘Apple can't throw money atthe engineering market problems and expect to sell the Mac there. And developing UNIX (A/UX) for the Mac is a mistake.” “Doplaycap'e rig omer Peter Vol ofthe New York Institute of Technology wil pe- phic by ira he SIGGRAPH ar sh, Vac crete pictare sng sare rom Computer Grapes La no ‘DEC Micro-PDP 1 compute, The im “Stanley and Stel in Breaking the Ie includes scenes in which s many a 160 birds and sh are si ulated on Symbolic ns 3600 series workstation. The characer animation was achieved by using new surface texturing technigues with Symbolic’ paint and animation software. The fm wa oily produced by Symbalis Graphics Divison and Whitney/Demes, both of Los Angeles. ‘This scene from “Pair Ply,” an entry in the the adio-ssal show at SIGGRAPH, demonstrates the capabilities of 3 graphics software. The eet inthe three-minute, computer animated fl were cleulated using rayrac- ing software. Rayracing creates images by tracing the path ofeach ay of ight rom the source to the viewer. Miche Seal of Apollo Compute ne. directed and produced the fim. MacWEEK July 27, 1987 NeEWs Mac fanatics flock to Apple business forums BY JIM BEAVER Special 10 MacWEEK ‘ANAHEIM, Calif, — Gilbert Lehmann looks around the cavemous, crowded convention ballroom atthe Anaheim (Cali) Hilton & Towers. He whistles sofly."Apple sure spent ‘lot of money, didn’t they?” he says He's probably right. Apple’ business forums have been sprawling over the mezza- nines and conference-room flors of hotels across the country throughout the summer. The ‘centerpiece ofthe forums isthe business expo, which ills a large convention reom. About SO vendors are spaced around the room like crap tables ata Las Vegas casino, and just ike ata casino, different tables gt crowded as people seek out the hot new products, ‘Seminars, application showcases and hands-on session ae held in adjacent, smaller rooms. The seminar subjects include all the usual suspects: desktop publishing, communi- «ations, accountng and business management, engineering and productivity. Te forum-goers have a complain, and not ‘many do, it's that the hands-on sessions are too crowded and dificult to get nto. Apple says it expects 23,000 people o attend this summer's 16 forums. Just ow much money Apple spends on its busines forums i a closely guarded corporate secre, In any case, according to Apple the forums are notin business to make money — atleast not through ticket sales. But as a direct result of last summer's forums, Apple says, dealers’ sales increased significantly. However much Apple spends onthe forums, its not helping Shelley Antonissen as she stands on her tptoes trying to see through a crowd toa screen 6 feet away. Antonissen says she as not had much luck at several other exhibit either Is prety busy,” she says. “shard to get someone to talk to.” Apple started the forums in response to demands from companies for more information about the range of hardware and software solu- tions for common business problems. The forums are designed to give business people a “one-stop” opportunity to check out products But the question of whose products they will get to se has caused some controversy Several firms have been “disinite.” (See Mac WEEK, June 22.) And others — who pre- fer to remain unidentified —have dropped out because of the lack of “a good sense ofa mar etng plan.” ‘The forum isa two-day affair: Day one for VIPs andthe press; day two, says one busi- rnessman, “is for us humans.” Who exactly ae the "VIPS"? They are selected business cus- tomers ofthe local dealers who co-host the forums, and they get fre acess to the keynote speaker — Apple CEO John Sculley spoke in ‘Anaheim — plus mounds offre food for Junch. “Us humans” miss out. ‘Apple's brochure forthe forums shows two ‘men, One is saying, “Everyone's telling me our basiness wil do better wth computers. But no one’s teling me how or why.” ‘Nonetheless, despite the implication that the forums are aimed at beginners, Mac WEEK found few, if any, computer neophytes at two forums it attended. Most forum-goers are bona fide Mac fanatics who have already seen most ‘ofthe softwar atthe expo but who would rather eat an accelerator board than miss an Apple exhibit ‘Neil Tool sa software developer who hha 20 Macs in is shop, but he says, “T just had to see the Mac IT happened to notice the advertisement and just had to get ove.” ‘Doug Jones teaches sixth grade in the San Juan Capistrano, Calif, school district, but dur- ‘ng summer vacation he is “Mac Wizard,” a computer doctor who has made it his personal crusade “to get Macs into people's lps.” Today he is shepherding some engineers from Larmor Construction and Development around the forum. Although the company has several Macs already, a renegade band of accountants and property manages are pushing for PCs. Jones takes this a a personal afro He says he would love to talk about it, but he's got to hury the engineers to another seminar. ‘Another type of forum-observer isthe Mac user who works a a company with a prepon- derance of PCs, Michael Wright works for Holiday Inn, whose accounting and reservation systems are on IBM machines. Wright has 2 ‘Mac Plu at home and consiers himself ona mission of sors, gathering ammunition for “Mac assault on his boss. Other folks appear simply to have gotten the day off to attend the forum and are out fora 00d time, One such group is standing around «vendo, listening toa seteeching monkey startup sound and laughing uproarousl. Sill, the bulk of the crowd is made up of the very people Apple wan most to attract: “Mac users or potential users with specific prob- Jems in search of solutions. This includes Lehmann, a professor of refrigeration and airconditioning at Long Beach (Calif) City College, who is looking for «program that pertains to cooling loads. “T went to the enginering seminar, but I didn’t find what I wanted,” be says “TBM has programs inthe area; Apple doesnt ye.” Lehmann’s son, Lyndon, areent industrial technology graduate, walks over. A hands-on session he wanted to attend was “impossibly Cats Hngo of Creatine Challenge (center) wes a Maines ta hands-on session at an Apple business forum. The forums incude exits and application showcases, crowded,” he says. He couldn't get near it, 0 the two discuss what they have seen so ar. ‘When Lyndon hears about hs father’s fil- ure to find a cooling load program, he says, “People are waking up to Macs. There'll be some programs. I's just matter of time.” “I's kind of mind-bogaling,” his father says, referring both tothe aray of products and the numberof peopl trying to view them. Jus behind the Lehmanns is Guy Kawasa- i, president of ACIUS Inc of Cupertino, Calif. He is surrounded by a crowd that has jut seen his demonstration of ACTUS' ath Dimension programmable database. As usual, he is being peppered with questions. Speed? “The real test.” he says, “is to run <QBASE Il on a 386 and us on a Mac I.” Is 4th Dimension finally fre of bugs? “T've otto be honest,” says Kawasaki. “There's no such thing as no bugs.” Ellen Soot is devoting only half an ear to Kawasaki's discussion as she fils out a form that might win her a Mac I. She is hee to check out 4th Dimension for a program her ‘company, Cinical Systems International, is developing. The program is a clinical worksta- tion for physicians. “We're using Macs because ofthe graphical orientation,” she says. “For physician to accept it, it has to be the easiest o use with an ability to just cick on.” Jack Feingold from Isat isin the United States to develop a home energy system. Like Lehmann he has been disappointed with the lack of good Mac engineerin applications, but that is not his only problem. “Apple build avery god product,” he says. “But we've had a serious problem the dealers. We cannot gt the help we need. ‘They shy away from simply saying ‘I don't know.”” Instead, he say, "They suggest we try this and then this. We own alot of programs by the time we gett the solution we need.” Feingold and Lehmann say they do not expect tobe handed answers to all ther prob- Jems atthe forum, Like mortgage banker Jim Barrow, they ar simply Macintosh users com- bining busines and pleasure at an Apple show. “just want to see what's new and avail able,” says Barrow. “T haven’ found anything in the Apple world yet for my specific needs Joan processing, undervrtng funding.” ‘As the afternoon winds down, some ven- dors are beginning to lan on their counters, But exhibitor Tina Jackson is still ging 9 mph. It is nearly 4 pam. and Jackson, working atthe exhibit of Washington-based MCI Mail has been on her feet with only one break since the doors opened at 9 a.m. “Ym going on four hours fof sleep] right now,” she says, but her enthusiasm has not flagged. During her partners presentation, she jumps in regularly and excitedly to amplify or larity a point. People constantly interupt or wander away, but Jackson says the fragmented presentation doesnot bother her. “Three of us chating and one giving the presentation seems to work fine.” ‘The lone recipient ofthis particular effort is impressed. “'m going to use this product,” says the Mitsubishi Electronics representative. “That's great,” says Jackson, “love cus tomes like you.” Mac helps open doors for handicapped Technology provides opportunities for physically disabled BY PRESTON GRALLA Special to MacWEEK ‘A young commercial artist, paralyzed from the neck down, wearing a headpiece the size of a ‘Walkman headset sits in front of a Macintosh He puffs lightly ona straw, anda screen opens. With gente, practiced head motions he creates drawing of a powerful-looking eagle virtually indstnguishable from sketches he did before 8 car accident disabled him. Several hundred miles away, a mechanical engineer, legally blind but with some vision remaining, exits a Macintosh drafting and design program and calls up an Excel spread- sheet. The characters that appear on the screen are greatly enlarge so he can see the results of his work (On the other side ofthe country, ‘quadriplegic man confined to a wheelchair uses ‘4 Macintosh to turn off his television, fick on the ights and tum on his stereo — all through simple head movements and exhelations of breath ‘Most employers are unaware of how easily the disabled can use computers. Hence, one of the greatest blocks to employment isnot the technology itself but rather ignorance of its capabilites. Alan Brightman, director of Apple Comput- cer Inc.'s Office of Special Education, says that when siting in front of computer, there are often no differences between the capabilities of disabled and non-disabled peopl. But forthe disabled, he says computers can bea doorway into a world otherwise dened them, ‘Actos the United States, Macintosh com- puters have given thousands of handicapped ‘people acess to jb tools, employment possi bilities and chances for personal growth and expression never before possible. In most cases no extraordinary accommodations tothe Mac- iniosh are required Relatively inexpensive, off-the-shelf hardware and software can simply be plugged into existing machines. Tn fact, Appl is taking the handicapped market very seriously. Long aware of how its ‘computes can aid the disabled, Apple estab- lished an Office of Special Education to ad the handicapped. The company has even begun to build help forthe disabled inet int its ‘operating sytem by bundling is Basy Access lity with every Macintosh ‘The devices and software that allow the dis- abled to use Macs ar as different as individu als’ disabilities. But they fall into several gen ral categories and include ltemative-nput devices for people who cannot use the key board; accommodations that greatly enlarge sections ofthe screen forthe visually impaired ‘who have some vision; equipment that synthe- sizes speech and “reads” the screen out loud for people who are totally blind; and devices that translate screen or printer outpt into Braille or large-print documents ‘The pace of development of these tools for the disabled is accelerating, prodded by new federal laws and purchasing policies for micro- computers, the growing realization inthe industry ofthe importance of providing access for the handicapped and the normal advance- ment of technology Already, federal regula- tions require that U.S. govemment agencies provide “easonable accommodation” to hi capped employees, including modifying com- puter equipment to allow them to do thir jobs. Gregg Richards, a commercial ast living in Yuma, Colo.,is one person who demon- strates the capabilities of tis technology. Richards, who studied commercial atin col- lege, was in an automobife accident that lft him a quacplgic. In November 1986 he bought a Mac and a Headmaster system from Personics Corp of Concord, Mas. The Headmaster consists of a headset that send signal to a control unit on top ofthe computer's monitor and software that pops up a miniature keyboard on the screen, Head movements substitute for move- rents of a mouse, while puffs into a tube hooked into the headset recreate the mouse clicker. ‘Thanks tothe Mac, says Richards, he has been able tose up a design busines. His jobs have included designing logos for retail stores and a book cover fora publishing company. He also draws with the computer keps all his business records on it and uses ito type busi- ness and personal comespondence. Eventually, he plans to expand into deskiop publishing ‘Andrew Clement, an atomey in Eugene, Ore, also uses the Headmaster system — but not for business. Clement has muscular dysto- ‘hy and cannot use his arms o legs; he uses his Mac primarily fr playing computer games with is son. “Forme, it's a way to play with him on a semi-physical level that otherwise I'd never be able to do,” Clement said, ‘The Mac canbe usd by the visually impaired as well as by people who cannot use their hands, Jim Nuttall, a tatstician withthe Michigan Department of Education, uses a pro- gram called in ARGE from Berkeley System Design of Berkeley, Calif. Although legally blind, Nuttall, has some vision. InLARGE, magnifies scren fonts so he can read them. He particulary likes the ability ofthe LaserWrite or ImageWriter printer to ro duce large print and says he often uses them to ‘int eters that he sends olow-vision friends ‘The National Technology Center ofthe American Foundation forthe Blind uses the Mac ina similar manner. Eliot Schreier, direc- toro the center, says that although IBM PCs are often used atthe office, when something needs tobe printed it is set from the PC tothe Mac, designed onthe Mac and printed out in large type on a Laser Writer. Macs are well-suited for educating the dis- abled, says Dolores Hagen, publisher of Clos- ing the Gap newsletter, which focuses onthe handicapped, computers and education “Productivity software is more accessible ‘on the Mac than any other computer,” she says MacWEEK July 27, 1987 “Itallows you to use the machine with very it- tle orientation. Macs make the difference between functioning and non-functioning for ‘many people... A non-verbal person who was never able to speak can have a computer and it ives him a voice.” ‘Her husband, Budd Hagen, says there i a “finger-spelling” font available forthe Mac for people whose disability requires them to com- ‘mniate in this manner. The entire American sign-language dictionary als is avaiable. A user can type ina word andthe sign frit will appear on the screen Hagen says the Mac can be adapted easily and inexpensively for se bythe disabled. The purchase ofthe relatively inexpensive in ARGE, the Headmaster system or other ‘products makes the computer accessible to anyone, Several years ago, similar capabilites ‘would have cost tens of thousands of dollars and possibly required a special computer that might not work wth other computers in an office. Voice synthesis forthe totally bind is one area where the Macintosh i runing behind the JBM PC. While there area variety of popular voice programs forthe PC, Mac versions are ‘more rare and seem to be harder to sell One program, TexTalk from Assembly Comer in Maynard, Mass, has sold only about a dozen units to date, Nonetheless, Berkeley System Design is developing its own voice-sythesis program forthe Mac. In al likelihood, the federal govemment will become the main diving force for provid- ing the handicapped with greater access 0 computers. The General Services Adminsta- tion administers a Clearinghouse on Computer Accommodation to help federal agencies and ‘employees deal wit problems related to handi- capped employees. In addition, a joint ask force has been established by goverment of cials and the high-tech industry to look at ways of improving disabled people's accesso com- puters inthe private sector. Furthermore, as of October 1988, federal regulations will requir that all microcomput- ers bought by the federal goverment be easily ‘modifiable for ue by the handicapped. Because the federal government isa large buyer of PCs and Macs, hardware and software manufacturers will have to consider acessbil- ity requirements when designing computers and programs to gain lucrative federal con- tracts, The general market will surely benefit as wel, Gregg Vanderheiden, director ofthe Uni verity of Wisconsin-Madison’s Trace Research and Development Center on Commu- nication, Control and Computer Access for Handicapped Individuals, says this wil eventu- ally rod the high-tech industry into creating more accessible products. He says that because more information is kept on computers than ever before and many jobs now require using the machines, its vital thatthe disabled gain accesso them, fow important sit?” he asks rhetorically. fow important are doorways? Ifyou don't hhave accesso doorways, you can't get into any ofthe rooms. Inthe same way, if you can't operate a computer, you can't get information, you cant get jobs... you're dead in the wate.” ‘Apple's Office of Special Education can be contacted through Apple, 20525 Mariani Ave, Cupertino, Cali. 95014; 408) 996-1010. MacWEEK July 27, 1987 BUSINESS WATCH Proposed Toshiba ban threatens production of Image Writer II BY RUSTY WESTON MacWEEK Staff WASHINGTON — The proposed two-year ban on Toshiba Corp.'s imports would “devas- tate” Apple Computer Inc. which relies on a ‘Toshiba subsidiary for production of its ImageWeter Il printer, Apple officials say. ‘The Toshiba subsidiary, Tokyo Electric Co, would not be allowed to ship components to the United States for Apple's popula low- nd dot-matrix printer if the House approves the present version ofthe Senate's omnibus trade bl after the August recess Printer industry analysts say Apple could ose more than $150 million a yer if itis unable to pro- duce the ImageWrite Il forthe U.S. marke. ‘Apple finds itself nthe postion of having to oppose aban on Toshiba imports while not appearing to condone violations of important govemmental trade and defense agreements. ‘Apple lobbyist James A. R. Johnson, director of goverment affis told the House Ways and Means subcommitte on trade that Apple relies on Toshiba for products that “relat crt- ically to the future of our business.” Industry analysts say Toshiba produces important components for Apple's unan- nounced 24-in,leter-quality dot-matrix rine, the ImageWriter LQ. Appl officials ‘ay it would take two years to bring another ‘manufacturing company up to sped on basic ‘company specification. “t's really hard to get another printer that runs with the Macintosh,” sid analyst Charles LeCompte of Datk,a market research frm in Boston, But fnew shipments ofthe ImageWriter I Apple could oe moe than $150 milion annually fit canot produce the Image Writer I for its US. market. were banned, Brother Intemational Corp of Piscataway, NJ. or Panasonic Industil Co, cof Secaucus, NJ, might step in wit their Mac-compatible printer to grab a share of Apple’ 400,000-unit-per-year sales, he sid. “We know Congress does not want to hurt American companies,” std Marianne Letier, ‘an Apple spokeswoman. “We know Congress will do thei esto send a message without hurting American manu ‘The Toshiba controversy began in May, ‘when it was revealed that Toshiba Machine Co, a subsidiary of Toshiba, shipped four milling machines forthe production of quieter nuclear submarines toa Soviet submarine yar, Silent propellers help make Soviet sub ‘marines more difficult o track. The revelation has heightened pressure on Congress to adopt protectionist measures against Japan, the country most often blamed forthe United States’ record-high trade imbal- ance, Johnson told House members July 14 the governments of Japan and Norway, whose Kongsberg company also compromised the {technology should reimburse the U.S. gover- ‘ment forthe “full costs needed to once again ‘overtake the Soviets technologically.” ‘A spokesman fr the trade subcommittee, Chairman Sam Gibbons, D-Fl, sid the ‘Apple presentation went over well. However, strong sentiment abounds on Capitol Hill for punitive sanctions. “There's a need to give Toshiba punish- ‘ment that’s severe enough o deter other com- panies that are thinking about doing that inthe future,” said Secretary of Commerce Malcolm Baldrige Hajime Tamura, Japan’s minister of inter- national trade and industry, promised Baldrige that Japan plans to stiffen penalties aginst violators of export-contro laws. Tamura said he want prison terms increased to five years from the curen thre years Japan would also ras its contribution to the Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls from about $200,000 to {$750,000 annually, Tamura said. AST Research laser printer may signal rift between Apple and Adobe BY CLAIR WHITMER and ELINOR CRAIG MacWEEK Staff CUPERTINO, Cal. —The recent announce ment by AST Research Inc. ofthe frst com- petive laser printer that will support PostScript has some industry analysts specu- Inting about the status ofthe Apple/Adobe relationship. Priced at $3,995, the AST TurboLaser/PS wil substantially undercut Apple's Laer Writ- ct, which retails for $5,799. The ‘TurboLaser/PS should begin shipping in September. ‘The announcement by the Irvine, Cali, company i one ina series of events that nd cate all may not be well nthe royal mach of desktop publishing. Following an announcement in early ‘March hat IBM would license the PostScript page-descrpton language fr its Personal Pageprinter laser printer, Albert Eisenstt, ‘Apple's senior vce president, resigned from ‘Adote’s board of dtetors “Albert was in a very awkward positon since our contract was signed with IBM,” sid Charles Geschke, Adobe Systems In.’ exec- tive vice president. “I would love to have Al on our board; he’s great manager. But obvi- ously, now that we're going int the other side ofthe personal compater world, he can't be so lose othe competition.” Apple sil holds about 17 percent of ‘Adobe's sock, according to Adobe's March proxy statement forthe annual meeting of shareholders. Apple accounted for 84 percent ‘of Adobe's total 1986 revenue, according 10 Adobe's annual statement ‘Apple is developing an advanced version ofits QuickDraw intemal graphics routine that will allow a non-PostScrit laser printer, according to soures close to Appl. Despite speculation about growing autono- ‘my between Apple and Adobe, some analysts say the moves ae simply a natural business progression “The relationship is fine,” said Bruce Lupatkin, an analyst from Hambrecht and (Quist of San Francisco. “I's been bette, of cours. Itwas better when Apple was Adobe's only customer, ut al these things have been blown out of proportion.” Carles Geschke si he agrees with this opinion, describing a scenario of himself nd top Apple executives going to out to dinner and talking shop, with everything going jut fine. ‘Apple didnot tum phon calls by press time ‘The possible introduction of a non- PostScript printer by Apple does ot necessari- ly mean the Cupertino, Cali, company is dropping Adobe of Palo Alto, Calif, and its very successful line of PostScrip-based prod ucts, It's not inthe best interest of Appl to switch gears now when they've got all these PostScript printers ou hee,” Lupatkin said ven if Apple were to abandon the PostScript standard, which Luptkin said is highly unlikely, it would not destroy Adobe's financial standing “Apple could go away next year and it wouldn't make a huge diference in Adobe's Profits. They would fee it, but they sill have everybody else,” sid Lupatkin, Investment firm predicts increased Mac penetration in Fortune 1,000 companies BY STUART SILVERSTONE, Special to MacWEEK SAN FRANCISCO — Bullish Apple investors will find encouragement in a recent quarterly survey conducted by the investment firm Kidder, Peabody indicating that Macin- tosh penetration in Fortune 1,000 companies will continue and likely increase. “Apples stock price might well each $50 [per share] before the end ofthe year,” said survey irector Wiliam Easterbrook, Kidder, * stock analyst. The stock now trades in the low to mid-$4 per share, up from the low $30s pe har six months ago. The survey of 61 Fortune 1,000 compa- nies, seleted randomly from among a varity of industries, found tat of 125,000 personal computers installed, 86 percent were IBM or compatible machines and 9 percent were ‘Apple machines. In the corporate community, “Apple” means primarily Macintosh models. Thity percent ofthe companies hada sigif- cant base of Apple users Conducted alter the announcement of the new IBM PS/2 and updated three weeks g0, the survey also indicated that 30 percent ofthe companies interviewed intend to buy a sinili- cant number of Apples in 198788, Another 7 percent said they are considering Apple purchases, “The esuls were more favorable toward ‘Apple than I would have expected” sid East exbrook. “There were alot of doubies, inlud- ing us, about wheter Apple could penetrate the corporate markt. They exceeded our mar- ket share expectations, Also, thought that Apple penetration would decline [after the new IBM introductions] and te tock rice would go down. With sales performance well above original estimates fr the quarter ending in June and earings predicted tobe up 50 peoent, the outlook for Apple looks goo for the nxt two quarters and fr 1988." Recently, Apple reported the highest third- quarter profits inthe company’s history. Industry sources said, however, that Apple {snot in fran easy ride in the corporate ma- Kt. Some business accounts are reportedly Jes than happy with Apple's lack of a dret sales fore to serve and supor them FORTUNE 1,000 DOORS ARE OPENING Desperately seeking a color monitor The trials and tribulations of an owner of a new Mac Il BY BILL STEINBERG Special to MacWEEK [NEW YORK — Back tothe window again, looking for the brown truck. My UPS man has taken to waving t me; he knows I'm waiting fora big package from Apple. Nock today, though. The sun ses, the seasons change, and sill no Mac IL. It's been on oder for more than three months. Why is Apple doing this to me? I want my Mac I Now! Isher! I's here! The UPS man and I are both grinning lke the Cheshire cat, and I'm signing papers as fast ashe can thrust them in front of me shake his hand (again), thank him profusely (again), and shove him out the oor. Three months of anticipation (insanity) evaporate in 15 seconds drag the boxes over to my computer table The power stip is siting there, already plugged in, along with pair of extemal speak- ers, a2400-baud modem and a brand-new mouse pad. Everything i ready, Unpacking takes no time at all. Installing the video card and extended video memory (256 colors!) goes Without a hitch. Now where's that magnificent color monitor ordered? It must be her some: where. Hmm, guess what? I's not. Somewhere someone stars laughing; it’s not me. ‘The trouble wasn't with the “mai,” so called developer relations and discovered Apple wasn't sipping color monitors to any ‘one, “Nothing personal,” they told me, “the color monitors just haven't been made yet. Callus back when you want o order the ‘monochrome monitor.” Click Worse, they had no idea when the Apple color monitors might be available called everyone I could think of at Apple, people who ‘always knew the answer, None of them knew this time; some even laughed when I asked! It ‘tumed out color monitors were in such short supply tat they can’t get one ether. I began to ‘get the picture, While there was no insidious plot keeping my Apple color monitor from me, there was also no way I could beg, buy or steal ‘one, no matter how much I whined. ‘Know what you can do with a Mac I and ‘no monitor? You can tum it on and hear the nicest startup sound you've ever heard In stereo, no less. The Mac Il also has a nice en plot ight on the fron. You can look at the green pilot ight and listen tothe “boing.” ‘Tha’ Fortunately, my good frend Frank Brooks was about ogo on vacation, and he was wil {ng to lend me his monochrome monitor while the was away, Frank’ act of kindness gave me time to investigate the altematives and to make a rational decision, without being unduly influ enced by having a Mac I sting there that was totally useless (except fr it’s nce “boing”. Choice No. 1 isto buy the Apple monochrome monitor, which is available now. Then, when the Apple color monitor comes ou, you'l have ‘an extra monochrome monitor, which you can sell fora fraction of what you paid fort (Think of all the other people who ae buying Apple monochrome monitors now while they're waiting forthe Apple color monitor. They'll all have an extra monochrome monitor atthe same time you will). ‘You could buy a second video card when the Apple color monitor is availabe and use both monitors. Since the Apple monochrome ‘monitor costs almost as much asthe 13-inch color monitor describe shorly, I don’t rc- ‘ommend getting the Apple monochrome mon torunless you really want atwo-monitor rig ‘Choice No. 2is one ofthe third-party large-Sereen monitors, SuperMac Technologies Inc. and Personal Computers Peripherals Corp. bot have 19-inch color modes, and they're both quite good. Both companies offer their ‘own video cards, and both cards display more piels than the Apple card does. More pixels, this case, means you'll see more characters ina window or more windows onthe desktop, but characters appear the same size on the larg- cer screens as they do on a regular Mac screen, Youll also get to see two pages in your page layout program instead of one. Both mon- itos are very sharp and have very good color saturation and contrast. Full-color pictures viewed on either monitor are staggering real, ‘even moreso than onthe Apple 13-inch color ‘monitor. Unfortunately, both ofthese monitors arin the $5,000 price range and are huge. If] had an unlimited budget or an acute need fora large color monitor, 'd be tempted to get one ofthese. (Note that SuperMac is now supply- nga differen monitor than it frst was. This OPINION July 27, Mac WEEK 1987 1)1 ‘monitor ues a Sony picture tbe, and it’s ‘uch better than SuperMac’s orginal offering, which I don't recommend at ll.) Which leaves us with choice No.3: the Sony Multisean (CDP-1302). This Sony uses the same picture tube asthe Apple color moni- tor, and the two are almost indistinguishable You can buy a Sony Muitscan at discount prices in New York City for around $600, and if you really decide you want the Apple color ‘monitor, you can sell the Sony for almost as ‘mach as you paid frit ‘At at alight on the horizon! Irun over to my local friendly discounter, and sure enough, they have a Multiscan available. As I'm plunk- ing down my creditcard, I ask about a monitor cable. “Sure, we've gota cable, as long as you ‘want to hook it upto an IBM PC.” Ub-ob, I buy the monitor anyway, figuring I'l stop off at the Apple dealer onthe way home, and pick upan Apple monitor cable. I should've known better. Even if any ofthe Bl liner, who has won nie Emmis or video engineering, a stems operator forthe Mac Uses Forum on CompuServe. Hes abo an Apple certified develope. half dozen Apple dealers here in New York City did have an extra monitor cable they were willing to sel (they ida’), it tums out the Sony has different connector from the one on the Apple monitor, so the Apple cable wouldn't work anyway. Time fra litle detective work. log onto (CompuServe’s Macintosh Users Forum (my second home), and it tums out that Bob Perez (of Apple) has lft a wiring diagram that shows how to make up the necessary cable. Iun back downstairs and hit the local Radio Shack. They have every conceivable computer connector except the 15-pin male D connector tat oes on the Mac end. Living in midtown Manhattan does have its advantages though, and I finally ranage to find the necessary connectors and cables ata litle electronics store around the ‘comer. Two hours of pin connecting and sl- dering create a beautiful compromise. ‘Through the smoke, rises my Mac I, alive and in color. Tips for using Sony, NEC monitors with Macintosh II PIN CONFIGURATION TO (CONNECT MAC II TO MONITORS Scan Mute 1 6 Goud Fea 7 een iat ees eee S Syne Bue ‘Here are some useful thoughts if you decide to take the same path Idi: Make sure you set the analog-digital switch onthe Sony monitor to ae tiscan i you have already committed ip igaicre al ae an really want o buy the Apple when it comes ‘Ifyou can't finda Sony torent, you can usually rent an NEC MultiSync. I don’t recom- ‘mend the NEC MultiSync because it isnt near- [yas sharp as the Sony. ‘You don’t have to build your own monitor cable ik I id. Cables are now available for both the Sony Multisan andthe NEC Mult- ‘Sync from Desktop Software. You can reach the company at (404) 446-2295, For those of you who like to make cables, here isthe pin-out information you'll need. ‘The connector onthe Ma Il end is a 15-pin male D connector, and the Sony (or NEC) end takes anie-pin male D connector. If you use three mini-coax cables the way I dd, you'll want tial thre shields together on each nd, solder a small wire tothe shields and sol- der the small wire othe ground pin on both connector rs. you use cable that has a singe shield, connect the shield othe ground pin of both connectors, using the same solder-asmall- wite-o-the-shiel-frs trick, if necessary. If your cable isthe kind with afi shield rather than a braided-wire shield, you should find an uninsulated drain wire in the bundle of ‘wires along with the normal insulated wires you use forthe red, green and blue signals. ‘Use this uninsulated drain wire forthe ground connections Set the Sony to “analog” and the NEC 10 “analog” and “manual.” Whether you make your own cable or buy oe, make sue it uses ‘shielded cable. If it doesn’, you'l get los of interference in your picture, especially when you access your disk drive. (Desktop Software uses shielded cable) — By Bill Steinberg Hardware and software for the business Mac. ‘SOFTWARE Nop denotes not copy protected [CP denotes copy-protected, ‘Aegis Development .... NCP (Doug Ciapp's Word Tos Affinity Microsystems... NCP Tempo (power users macro uty) ALSott ~.. NCP DiskExpross (maximize disk perormance) 27. Altsys Ne FONTasic Pls (advanced font editor)... 49. Fontogranher (Lasermntr font editor) 245 ‘ann Arbor... 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MConneton isa dvision and trademark of PC Connection, In, Marlow NH. From the people who gave you BASIC to begin with, comes Tue BASIC I's the flexible structured programming version of BASIC wi a ful ange of contro rari. And, i you've been lusting after tis lite anguage, Nw is the time to tke the plunge. Because we've go two, thats two, two True deals in ‘one, For stares, we've cut a monster chunk ‘ou of the price ofthe basic package. And, you buy ue BASIC, wel sll you ether or both of ho ofthe most papular optional libraries, Catulss and 30 Graphics fr only $625. These programs are not copy-protectd, True BASIC... $59 Way back wen, in the peaceful ite vitage of Marlow, NH (pop. Callus EG. $35) wil purcase of Tue BASIC $25, 0 552), Lucian and Lucius Tinker laid the foundation for our Macintosh 3D Graphics (REG. $35) with purchase of Tue BASIC $25 mail order megalopoly. Sure, they thought a mouse was something you set tran for, and chips came from buffaloes, but when it came to running a business, Lucan and Lucius knew the seorets. Like taking Db the time to answer strangers’ questions, And dealing fay wih every Be presenta! le. customer. And alvays delivering on time. Ter ae ol et programs fo creating aap ie chats, ‘At MacConnection, we do business the same way. We are the PowerPoint. baled Laser waitin eee) etc. but turning them into leading mail order supplier of Macintosh adé-ons and software. Our kz pesmions cae tha PovePon makes 5 Nregates smoot wih ober sales people know what works, how it works, and how to make it 7) programs, leting you pul together al the txt and aie work better. We ofer competitive prices combined with complete Teed fo: overhead precions. And, thas overt des capa product support. But, most of al, we have a reputation forgiving the tes bitin so you end up wh one coherent coecion of cha kind of personal sevice that many people thought went out of style eS ee es with starched colars, So, next time you need to perk your Mac up a aan itl, give us a cal PowerPoint conc)... ...-------e-0- GBA) iat F F Pass the graphics Build your own image bank. Back Up! a = ‘Wouldn't it be nice to have all your favorite format a, graphics in one convenient location, instead of 33 pawing through all those disks trying to remem- ud ie ber where you left them? Well, get Graphidex. With Give, you can easily share You can put up to 10,000 MacPaint or MacDraw pictures into the Graphix index. Then you can retrieve, preview, edt, and paste them whenever and wherever you lke, without touching the originals. information with anyone even if they i) BrainPo don't have the same software you dala! Diskfit a clever litle backypldisk used to crate the document Just Graphidex (rt conyrotected)..... $69 BN angus t geay spies te process of backing up your daa from “print to disk” with Give. Share the | ‘your hard disk to floppies or Bernoulli file via a network, fle server, or diskette. Then the other person can . 7 ae | cartridges. And it also does some serious use Give to read the pit le, wih Micro bookkeeper. — oaeha tare ut even knowing how you created HAM Ps enon Reonbnegeem kage oars ema, | 2 BB esse your aun oly grows as A your files grow. DF also stores fies in Ky standard Macintosh formal, and can be a sed o optimize sorage on your hard i No more duplicaing sofware = => 4 | sccous payee neg, palit one esse, uly libraries. No more learting whole ital progran You ct keep ae open smutareus, programs just to read someone tong back ar ath bees he as te 2 ue. The progr isk or aster access. bisa fies | aso compl wih os mar buses progam so youcan _ = | rans es eyo your spenshet or wor process. “soe Solutions, | Digital, Ete. J) SuperMac Technology } Glue (not nh oo) .. $41 ‘Turbo Maccountant (not copy protected). .. $262 IO) Diskeit (rot copy-proteces).... $49 LIFE IN THE FAST LANE Speed up your Mac to enhance your : performance BYRIC FORD MacWEEK Staff Like any personal computer or workstation, the Macintosh is just too, a means to an en. Getting to that end is inherently easier on a fast machin tan ona slow one. very time the computer makes you wait for task to be completed, you stop thinking about what you're dong and think instead about what you're doing it with. Your produc- tivity sues asa result ‘Most would agree thatthe widespread acceptance ofthe Macintosh Is directly attributable to its stunning performance com- pared with other machines in its class. But you don’t have to trade in your Macintosh Plus or SE to get similar performance. This article takes a look at some ofthe basic components ofthe Macintosh and the performance issues surounding them. Then it ‘describes the latest options to enhance perfor- ‘mance of a Macintosh, ‘The accompanying chart gives a quick pc- ture of the history of Macintosh performance. Itshows the amount of time it takes to scroll through a MacWrite document on a variety of different Macintosh computers ranging from he ol Macinosh XL orignal called the Lis) to the latest Macintosh SE with a General Computer 68020 accelerator board. Titook ony three years to quadruple Macintosh performance, and the price range is unchanged. ‘The performance chart looks simple, but these results representa long development path with many obstacles and decisions. Let's look at performance component by component Hardware Al Macintoshes use 32-bit Motorola 68000 series processors Fortune was smiling on Apple when the processor decision was made, and that wise choice is now paying of in soa- ‘ng sales. The 68000 series is powerful and rogramme-friendly, and is clean architecture hhas made upgrading the Macintosh to new gen- erations of the processor fr easier than ‘upgrading the IBM PC and its clones ‘Much ofthe quadruple increase in speed shown on the chart is due to improvements in the processor itself, notably the ability to run at a faster clock rate — almost 16 MHz inthe Macintosh I and accelerated Macintosh SE vs. about 4 MHz forthe Macintosh XL. The newer 68020 processor used inthe ‘Macintosh I and most accelerator boards has ditional built-in support for coprocessors such as the 68881 and 68851, powerful chips dedicated to specialized applications such as arithmetic and memory management. When an application is written to se ths kind of proces- so tam, computational tasks an be speeded up 10 oreven 100 times. Now, with the advent ofthe Macintosh I and is standard 68881 numeric coprocessor, we're beginning o see examples of applice- tions, lke Excel 1.04, that ae written to take advantage of coprocessor. ‘The Macintosh is at hear, a graphics ‘machine. Graphics made it what itis, and _raphies performance keeps i head of other computers. The key to graphics isthe ROM, two chips that contain the QuickDraw pro- written by Bill Atkinson, and some other Improvements to QuickDraw in ater versions of the ROM have given us a boost in graphics speed of perhaps 25 percent ‘overall. Atkinson's work was good to start with and we can expect o see more features lke the Macintosh I's color before we see more per- formance enhancements Wen yout naga VAX mpi ae ee ee add more RAM.” It'sno different on & Macintosh Extra RAM can be used in many ‘ways from disk caching and RAM disks to software like Switcher and Juggler that allow a degree of multitasking. RAM isa sort of Belin Wall for aplication programs —they are tightly confined by the limits of available RAM, Ifyou want performance and you've exhausted cheap solutions such as using the [RAM cache onthe Control Panel, the fist place to invest your dollar isin additional RAM. Even if you speedup your Macintosh pro- cessor and add lots of RAM, you'll stil spend lots of time looking a the watch cursor unless your hard disks fas enough to keep up. Fort nately, the SCSI port provided with ll Macin- toshes since the Macintosh Pluss a fast con- uit for moving data quickly to and from your disk ‘The key to SCST hard-disk performance is the driver software and the controler used by the disk vendor. Disks like SuperMac Technol- ‘0gy's Datarame 40XP provide high perfor- ‘mance through software and controller opt- ‘mization although the hard drive used is not significantly different from those used in slow- cr uits. Data transfer inthe Macintosh is bot- tlenecked atthe processor because the Macin- tosh lacks a big-computer feature known as DMA (direct memory acces). Hard-sk speed is tied to processor speed through the driver software. Faster processors make it easier for disk manufacturers to increase data transfer rates, but there may be performance problems if disk is formatted withthe faster processor and then moved to & slower Macintosh Plus or Macintosh SE. Disks like the DataFrame 4OXP don't have this prob- Jem because they already transfer data at full speed on a Macintosh Pls Ofcourse, if you really need the ultimate in disk performance, the answer is till RAM. A. RAM disk can be created using the Macin- tosh’s intemal memory, and its speed will far exceed the performance of any harddisk. An «even faster solution would bean extemal RAM disk connnectd to the SCSI port and support- ed by batery backup. Unfortunately, we know ‘of no such device. Software ‘The speed ofthe System and Finder is crucial to overall sytem performance and the current versions are significantly faster than before, although Apple doesn't adverse the fact. For those users stil running 1984-vintage Finder Continued on next page Accelerator boards: Peak of performance ‘The accelerator board isthe ultimate perfor- ‘mance enhancement you can add to your Mac. With the more-open arcitetue ofthe Macintosh SE, companies ike General Com- puter of Cambridge, Mass, and Levco Inc. of San Diego can now develop and sel perfor- mance products without the usr fearing that the SE's waranty will beafected orhaving to construct fans, power supplies and special con- rectors. They've taken the bait, and several new accelerator boards ae now availabe, Sur prisingly, a group of Macintosh Plus accelera- for boards have appeared on the market a the same time, probably because many technical problems have been worked out during the last Yyear ors, ‘The biggest drawback to acelerator boards has always been ther high prices. This prob- lem has been addressed aggressively in 1987 Levoo's Prodigy 4 was $7,000 when it was introduced a year ago, but it’s now les than $2,000, andthe Radius Accelerator has just been introduced at less than $1,000. ‘The result of significantly lower prices is that Macintosh If performance is now available for regular Macs at an affordable price. The added benefit of many accelerators is acom- patibility mode thatthe Macintosh I lacks, enabling uses to run vitally ll Macintosh applications whether they've been designed to work with the Mac I or not How do these accelerators work and how do they differ? ‘What all Macintosh accelerator boards have in common isan ational 68000 series pro- cessor tha is used in place of the Mac's normal (68000 to gain greater speed. The processor on ‘most of these boards has a clock speed of 12 MHz to 16 MHz (one and one-half to two times the noma rat) This improved clock speed gives acore- sponding improvement in performance; most applications wll run one and one-half to two times faster. You can get an even greater per- formance boos if your accelerator board uses a (68020 processor rather than a 68000. ‘The 68020 has something called an instruction cache” built into the chip. Like the RAM cache mentioned earl, the instruction cache stores recently used information ina spe- ial high-speed buffer. Most software now being developed will be designed to take advantage ofthe instruction cache and other features of the 68020. For example, Word 3.0 scrolls much faster when the instruction cache is available Another feature ofthe 68020 is fll sup- por for coprocessor. A 68881 arithmetic coprocessor will bost performance when used ina 68000-based board, but it will perform even better wit a 68020 parer. The upcom- ing 68851 coprocessor wil provide the Mac with a hardware foundation that can support dramatically different software — software that will handle massive amounts of RAM and wil enable many programs to run simul- taneously. The 68851 will work only with the 68020. MacWEEK WINDOW ON July 27, 1987 ‘Accelerator boards typically come with extra RAM on board. Manufacturers do this partly because extra RAM capacity is fant to performance, but also because their ded- icated RAM can be designed to operate faster than the Macinfosh's own RAM, Except for the ‘Mac I, the 68000 processor usd in all Macin- toshes shares access to RAM between the pro- ‘cessor an the video circuitry. The 68000 can get two characters at a time (16 bits) rom RAM, btitas to wat ifthe video RAM is ‘being used to update the screen. A 68020 pro- cessor on an accelerator board can grab four characters at atime from its own RAM, and because the RAM is dedicated exclusively t0 the processor, it doesnt have o wait forthe video circuitry. The resulting speedup can be noticeable. In addition to Apple’s RAM cache and Motorola’ instruction cache, Rais has implemented a third cache technique called SRAM, SRAM is shor for static RAM, a type ‘of RAM that is expensive but very fas. Radius has put a small amount of SRAM on it acel- ‘erator board, using it to store often-sed data from RAM and ROM. The overall perfor- ‘mance improvement with this technique is pressive, and the cost of this small amount cof SRAM is less than the megabytes of normal ‘RAM used in other designs. ‘The standard Macintosh processor can ead from ROM faster than it can read from RAM because of the video convention described above. With dedicated accelerator RAM, how ever, the situation is reversed: The ROM access appears slow. One solution is Radius’ SRAM cache, which works as well for ROM Continued from previous page [LL and System 1.1 switching to System 2.0 or 3.2 would give them a dramatic increase in overall performance. HES, the hierarchical filing system provid- with all recent Macinfoshes, resulted in another quantum leap in performance over older software, making hard disk use far more efficent ‘A disk cache is a portion of memory that is set aside to store information that has recently been read from the disk. If the Macintosh needs the information again, it gest from the disk cache. This improves performance ‘because accessing RAM is much faster than accessing a disk. Disk caching isa built-in fee ture ofthe Control Pane ‘The future Performance is tricky thing that's hard to measure, What's important is how i relates to your job and productivity not what magazine advertisements say about clock rates and acces times. “Many performance improvements come cheap, Using a disk cache andthe current soft ware, for example, can make dramatic improvements ‘Apple's basic hardware and ROMS are volving, to. Hard-eared lessons are pric: ing incremental improvements inthe design of the computer that make aig diference when they are added together. Upgrading to newer Macintoshes isthe second step for achieving 00d performance. ‘The third step is to add basic hardware building blocks: RAM and a fast hard di ‘These components are not trily expensive, and they have a large effect onthe system asa whole. If you need still moe speed, there is now avast menu of processor option fom which to choose, Graphics and other tasks will be & lot faster when an accelerator board is used, ‘The time required to do arithmetic calcul- tions can be cut dramatically with 68881 coprocessor. ‘The future of Macintosh performance encompasses more than and disks. Macintoshes ar rapid being integrated into networks, and network performance soon willbe as important a processor a