MacWorld 9812 December 1998

MAC GAMING SUPERGUIDE THE ESSENTIAL MACINTOSH® RESOURCE www.macworld.com Mac Gaming Is Back witha Vengeance! - EXCLUSIVE Tomb Raider Il Reviewed Top 20 Mac Games ; Holiday Gift Guide HBXBKLIW****CAR-RT SORT**C063 4RBT20038094 74302556 2H 276-08 PLUS MAR 00 LLOYD A ROBINSON BALA Macworld Lab Tests 2003 SUNKYYIEH LA #1152 - MOUNTAIN VIEW CA 94040-3839 19 Flat-Panel Displays UnbeccleE Lecccll lect blelltel ted PROTECTION. You can never be too careful when it comes to backing up your ideas. That's why LaCie Tape Back-Up* has a wide range of sizes, speeds and formats. Each will protect your ideas from hazards like crashes, viruses and production interns. WN@|= Made fonda Features 70 Tvs holiday shopping season again. Macworld advises you on the best ‘ways to part with your paycheck. 72 20 Unforgettable Games BY CAMERON CROTTY Present- ing this year’s Game Hall of Fame. 78 10 Delightful Discs BY CHRISTOPHER BREEN Our top ten picks for CD-ROMs that inform and entertain. 82 Supreme Stocking Stuffers Excellent goodies for your Mac- loving friends and relations. 86 What, Fruitcake Again? BY ANDY !HNATKO Creative ways to avoid the embarrassment of pathetic gift giving. 88 The World Is Flat By JULIE PoLITO The latest flat-panel displays are sleek, easy on the eyes, and downright affordable. Is it time to banish your bulky CRT? Macworld Lab tests 19 flat-panel displays to help you decide. December 1998 MACWORLD D 113 117 ECEMBER 1998 GWOr Graphics Photoshop Retouching Techniques BY DAVID BLATNER Master tricks for cleaning spots, lines, and other unwanted flotsam from any Adobe Photoshop image. Print Easy Tables in QuarkXPress Use these tools and techniques for over- coming QuarkXPress’s_ table- creation illiteracy. BY BRAD WALROD Motion FileMaker Does Video BY HENRY BORTMAN ‘Trans- form FileMaker into a capable video postproduction assistant. Incorporating MacUser Mac Gaming Superguide 72 Game Hall of Fame BY CAMERON CROTTY Mac- world’s Holiday Gift Guide pre- sents the definitive collection of Mac games. Do you have them all? 185 Nothin’ but Net BY CHRISTOPHER BREEN Don't blow away alien monsters and enemy warplanes alone—set up a gaming network and let your friends join the bloodbath. 192 The Game Room sy pHitip over Whatwere they thinking? Pondering the Mac gam- ing world’s low points in the Game Hall of Shame. When it comes to display technology, thin is definitely in, page 88. 31 32 32 33 33 34 Will Microsoft and Netscape duel to the death? page 196. News Let Your Browser Do the Walking Netscape’s Navigator upgrade could make your Web life easier. Desktop Color Separation Xanté’s Accel-a-Writer 3G printer and FilmStar 2 processing unit offer near-imagesetter film quality for about $7,000. AppleScript Meets Photoshop Main Event’s Photoscripter lets you use AppleScript to automate image- editing operations. Adobe Expands Web Turf Adobe's new ImageStyler software brings Illustrator-like functions to Web-graphics creation. Product Watch The latest products for your Mac, including a pair of plug-ins that add transparency capabilities to Adobe Illustrator 8.0. A New SCSI Standard Ultral60/m SCSI promises to deliver up to twice the speed of Ultra2 SCSI. 15 27 196 10 Opinion The Vision Thing BY ANDREW GORE Things are better than ever for Mac gamers, but there’s still plenty of room for improvement. The Desktop Critic By DAVID PoGue Whowill die first in the Netscape Naviga- tor/Microsoft Internet Explorer suicide pact? How to Contact Macworld Apple's new 300MHz PowerBook G3 with DVD lets you watch movies while on the go, page 38. 103 105 Secrets What Do You Want to Read Today? BY JOSEPH SCHORR Discover the lesser-known charms of Adobe Acrobat Reader. Quick Tips BY LON POOLE and shortcuts. Tips, tricks, ON THE COVER Original art for Tomb Raider created by Core Design Ltd. Cover are digitally enbanced by Job Lund. Netscape and Microsoft offer hints of future browser directions, page 31. 38 40 ea) 46 48 50 52 56 60 62 66 www.macworld.com December 1998 3 Reviews $844 PowerBook G3/300 High-end portable system $8%% Keyboard-in-a-Box; 886% SmartBoard Replacement keyboards compared $884 Infini-D 4.5; 466% Strata Studio Pro 2.5 3-D authoring packages compared $$$ MacCoach 2.0; 9% Powerkey Rebound Server-restarting devices compared $8844 Conflict Catcher 8 Extension- management utility $866% QX-Tools 4.0 QuarkXPress plug-ins $89% Bullet Drive Express Portable hard drive $% Wootech Voyager Professional Edition Web-site manager $88% ArchiCAD 6.0 CAD software $88 Mailsmith 1.1 E-mail client $% Digital Darkroom 1.5 Image-editing software 08% =FTPForms 2.3 Internet file-exchange utility $868 LinkUPPP Duo 1.1 ISDN multichannel PPP client 886% WebSentinel 2.0 Web-security plug-in $00 AFP Logger AppleShare IP logging tool 68% 1999 Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia—Deluxe Edition Reference CD-ROMs 1998. © & PUBUSHED By CDOS INTERACTIVE LIMITED 1998 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, TOMS RAIOER i LARA CROFT © & ™ CORE DESIGN UM BUY YOUR MAC FROM APPLE BUY YOUR PRINTER DIRECT FROM GCC. cco MERE’S WEIS: We're GCC Technologies and our printers are sold direct against some of the most famous names in the computer industry. Which creates a buying opportunity for those who understand a basic principle of free enterprise: Selling direct is better for the manufacturer and buying direct is better for the customer. Therefore, we sell our printers direct, eliminating many prosperous middlemen, and lowering your costs. We also provide direct technical support, eliminating other middlemen who can’t solve your problems. And we are compassionate hand-holders. We offer unlimited free technical support, not just on business days, but on Saturdays too - throughout the one-year warranty period. And if during that period you have a problem that our technical support people can’t solve, our Platinum Exchange program guarantees you a replacement printer by the next business day. We invite you to buy your next printer direct from GCC and join our growing family of satisfied customers. All GCC printers come with an unconditional thirty-day money-back guarantee. For complete details, call the 800 number below. And for the record, yes, our printers have wonderful technology too. It’s just that you don’t have to pay extra for it. ELITE 12 Series ELITE XL 20 Series ELITE XL 8 Series | 12 pages per minute 1 year Platinum Exchange Warranty Maximum Print Area 8.5" x 14" Letter, legal, A4, envelope 250 sheet Universal Tray PostScript? Level 2 compatible, PCL 5 80 PostScript fonts, 15 PCL fonts RAM expandable to 64 MB EtherTalk®, Localfalk®, TCP/IP Ethernet (108qseT), Bi-directional Parallel 2nd Paper Feeder* (Includes 500 sheet Universal Tray) Add $299 Extra 8 MB Memory Add $ 49 $999 600 dpi Business Lease $35 Month/36 months Platinum Exchange Warranty Program ‘Additional Yeor Add § 99 $1199 1200 dpi $41 Month/36 months Platinum Exchange Warranty Program Additional Year Add § 119 Business Lease order call 1-800-422-777 20 pages per minute 1 year Platinum Exchange Warranty Maximum Print Area 12.75" x 35.25" Ledger, letter, legal, A3, A4, envelope, poster 500 sheet Universal Tray PostScript Level 2 compatible, PCL 5 285 PostScript fonts, 15 PCL fonts RAM expandable to 64 MB EtherTalk®, Localfalk®, NetWare”, TCP/IP Ethernet (1 0BaseT, AAUI), Bi-directional Parallel 2nd or 3rd Paper Feeder” (Includes 500 sheet Universal Tray) Add $299 Extra 8 MB Memory Add $ 49 $1799 600 dpi Business Lease $63 Month/36 months Platinum Exchange Warranty Program Additional Year Add $ 179 $1999 800 dpi Business Lease $70 Month/36 months Platinum Exchange Warranty Program Additional Year $ 199 $2199 1200 dpi Business Lease. $75 Month/36 months Platinum Exchange Warranty Program Additional Year Add $ 219 8 pages per minute 1 year Platinum Exchange Warranty Maximum Print Area 11" x 17" Ledger, letter, legal, A3, A4, envelope 250 sheet Universal Tray PostScript? Level 2 compatible, PCL 5 80 PostScript fonts, 15 PCL fonts RAM expandable to 64 MB EtherTalk®, Localfalk®, TCP/IP Ethernet (10BaseT, 10Base2), Parallel 2nd Paper Feeder* (Includes 250 sheet Universal Tray) Add $319 (Includes 500 sheet Universal Tray) Add $419 Extra 8 MB Memory Add $ 49 $1399 Business Lease 600 dpi $48 Month/36 months Platinum Exchange Warranty Program ‘Additional Year Add § 139 * The Elite 12/600, Elite 1212, and the Elite XL 6081C support one additional paper feeder. The Elite XL 20/600, Elite XL 20/800, and the Elite XL 20/1200 support two additional trays. GCC Technologie i. regitered rodemark af GCC Technologies, ne. Elo 2 /60, Ee 1212, Elta Mt 608 LC, Ele XI 20/600, Bite XL 20/800 ite XL 20/1200 are trademarks of GCC Technologies, Ine. All other trodemerks or reittered rdomerks ‘ore trademarks of heir respective companies Choose 43 at www.macworld.com/getinfo EDITOR m CHIEF Andrew Gore EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT (Cynthia A. MeDonald EDITORIAL o1roR Michael Penwarden StwoR eoiton/news AN REVIEWS Stephen Beale StuloR eorToR/DEPARTIENTS Naney Peterson stwion ebiton/rearunts Jason Snel SENIOR ASSOCIATE EOITORS Allyson Bates, Linda Comer, Scholle Sawyer Laura Lindhe, Brooke C. Wheeler ASSISTANT EOITOR Michael Gowan CONTRIBUTING EDITORS David Biedny, Henry Boruman, Christopher Breen, Bruce Deke McClelland, Rik Myslewski, David Pogue, Lon Poole, Franklin N. ‘Tessler Fraser, Ted Ls INTERNATIONAL EDITORS Steven Noble, Australia; Bernard Le Di Borchert, Germany; Enrico Lott, Italy; Yoshio Moriya, Japan; France; Andreas Gert-Jan Oelderik, Netherlands; Tomasz Bitner, Poland; Daniel de Blas, Spain; Lennart Hikansson, Sweden; Fred Jame, Taiwan; Bahattin Apak, Turkey; Simon Jary, United Kingdom LAB tab DinecTOR Jeff Pittelkaw ASSOCIATE LAB DIRECTOR Kristina De Nike SENIOR LAB ANALYSTS Jelly K. Milstead, Kevin Michell ASSOCIATE LAB ANALYST Gil Loyola ventory COORDINATOR Ulyssis Bravo copy EDIT MANAGING tDITOR Claire H. Breen cory cute Paul-Michael King SEMOR COPY EDITORS Blissa Rabellino, Jon Zobenica ART AND DESIGN DESIGN DIRECTOR Eleanor Leishman ART DIRECTOR Sylvia Chevrier ASSOCIATE DESIGNERS Martha Katt, ‘Michael Rattary Jackie Good Jonathan Woolson DESIGN ASSOCIATES ONLINE Puausnen Jeff Julian DIRECTOR OF CONTENT Matthew Rothenberg SENIOR ONLINE EDITOR. Philip W. Dy CONTENT EweINeeR Jeff Cheney ASSISTANT CONTENT ENGINEER Jessica Graves DIRECTOR, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT FOR ONLINE Nicholas Harvey ACCOUNT MANAGER Diana Berry Mitsubishi Is Changing The Face Of Desktop Monitors. The Finesse Of Flat: Introducing Mitsubishi’s Diamond Pro® 900u With The Breakthrough DIAMONDTRON NE™ CRT. Mitsubishi’s new DIAMONDTRON NF (Natural Flat) CRT technology represents an unprecedented improvement in the way you'll look at monitors from this moment on. The revo- -faced CRT creates distortion- free, intuitively correct images that are much easier on your Conventional CRTs produce curves and distortions that are hard on your eyes, increasing fatigue and reducing productivity. DIAMONDTRON NF CONVENTIONAL FLAT Secon sushsa Tipo surftice Tire stirtace: innererniere aniersiriace You've come to expect crisp, clear images from Mitsubishi’s award-winning DIAMONDTRC monitors, and now the innovative Diamond Pro 900u takes monitor performance to an even higher | The Diamond Pro 900u delivers consistently accurate image quality — side to side, center to comer. In addition, Mitsubishi's patented CRT manuf: Diamond Pro 900u stay brighter up to tw long as conventional CRT designs. First in a family of DIAMONDTRON NF monitors, the 19-inch (18.0-inch DVI*) Diamond Pro 900u has a maximum resolution of 1600 x 1200/75 F added flexibility it also featur powered USB hub that two independent computers may share the display and a single set of USB devices. DIAMONDTRON NF monitors are just flat-out better. For more information contact Mitsubishi Electronics today. Choose 261 at www.macworld.com/getinfo ts MITSUBISHI DISPLAY PRODUCTS Innovation On Display, 8 Schedule Today, Succeed Tomorrow. ‘Sites Tasks The Right Choice for Easy Project Scheduling, Why waste time strugaling with complicated project management or spreadsheet programs? FastTrack Schedule 5,02 is easy to use, intuitive, and extremely flexible. So whether you need to plan a day's worth of activities or a year's worth of projects, you'll stay ‘organized and achieve project goals. FastTrack Schedule has the tools to track and revise progress end costs as changes occur — even link activites to establish depend- ‘encies. Add your schedules to proposals, reports, or use the web: ‘publishing features to tum your schedules into HTML tables or web. ‘graphics, FastTrack Schedule is also available for Windows '3.1/95/NT*, so everyone in your office can stay on schedule, hast Track ‘2 Schedule Lh = Duck For information or to order, call (800) 450-1982 e 2) SIE cone iyi pra a Macworld, Deo, 97 MacWEEK, Oct. 97 Macworld, UK, Dec.97 Maclser, UK; Nov. 97 Choose 230 at www.macworld.com/getinfo December 1998 MACWORLD Macworld PRESIDENT AND €£O Colin Crawford ASSISTANT TO THE CEO. Sharon Sanderson CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Stephen Daniels BUSINESS MANAGER Eos de Feminis AcCOUNTING COORDINATOR Ronda Bittner sr assistan Christian Semmel DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES Sue Murphy uian nesounces coonomAaron Ada Yims DISPLAY ADVERTISING SALES VICK PRESIDENT, SALES, & PUBLISHER Matt Sweeney ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Steve Plevin (415/243-3509) SALES COORDINATOR Karla Kyrias (415/278-8542) SALES ASSISTANT Bryan Farnsworth (415/243-3577) NATIONAL ACCOUNTS MANAGER Liz Pabéin (415/243-3584) REGIONAL ACCOUNT MANAGER __Jessica Ross (415/243-3583) NATIONAL ACCOUNTS MANAGER Sara Culley (970/32 1499) account pxtcurive Margaret Level Green (415/243-3582) EASTERN ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Cynthia Ramsey (973/243-1197) nariowat accounts manager Paul Bonarrigo (508/533-4020) Jo Zorcareli (516/277-4134) SHOPPER ACCOUNT MANAGER Niki Seranz (415/243-3664) sopeen account manacéR Carol Johnstone (415/243-3691) RESEARCH SEWOR RESEARCH ANALYST Phillip Hibber "MARKETING a VICE PRESIOENT, MARKETING Vickie Welch MARKETING MANAGER Francesca Koe TRADE SHOW/AVENTS COORDINATOR Nancy Galanty MACWORLD GLOBAL PRODUCT SUPPORT CENTER COORDINATOR Sharon Sanderson (415/243-3640) PRODUCTION Vice PRESIDENT OF MANUFACTURING Anne Foley Pnopuction piatcton Cynthia Newstade suanuracrunne Teowieat pimgcro Clayton Haberman bicitat aD coonoiwaror Mac Scott AD SALES COORDINATOR Rick Sandoval By the time other graphics accelerators have finished showing you her... 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Upgrade to OrangePC: $399* OrangePC 620 Complete: $549 OrangePC Windows’ Compatibility Card Our new OrangePC 620 is the best priced Macintosh Windows® 95/98 compatibility card in history. Virtual PC™ and SoftWindows®users can upgrade to OrangePC for only $399, experiencing a giant step up in performance. In fact, the OrangePC benchmarks** four to twenty times faster than sleepy software emulators. The OrangePC 620 answers the “price/performance” question by offering true hardware speed at a breakthrough price that every Mac user can afford! It actually has a Pentium® compatible 200MHz processor (user upgradeable to 300MHz) with 16MB of real RAM (user upgradeable to 128MB) on board. This means you can run any PC application on your Mac as fast as a real with the ultimate in compatibility. And the OrangePC’s Version 3 software has significant improvements as well. It sports 32-bit drivers facilitating CD-ROM long file names and NDIS3 networking. Our exclusive SnapShot™ feature allows a Windows screen to show the Mac environment inside a Win 95 window and conversely, the (800) 615-3183. Mac screen to lay the Windows | environment. It’s like a “picture in picture” . (ant Ue. neal @ Orange Micro bed Inc, So take a step in the right direction - upgrade your software emulator to real hardware for only, $399, or buy the OrangePC outright for 549, “18 Years of Innovation and Excellence” 1400 N. Lakeview Ave., Anaheim, CA 92807 (714) 779-2772 www.orangemicro.com “Available through MacPowerhaus and Orangs Micro, lnc ‘Must have OEM version of “Benchmark ait: Banc, Wistone 9A: fower Mic (3 with GAME, Vaal PC™ 20 ¥4 Orange’PC 620, OXS4MXPR20D, 12MB. View PC Windows? 95 are aera o registered tenis of Comes Corporation, Orage Me lac. uhd Mrs. © Orange Mi, Is 199% Choose 33 at www.macworld.com/getinfo indows 95 10 December 1998 MACWORLD Macworld HOW TO CONTACT MACWORLD ‘Subscription Services Phone 303/665-8930, United States only 303/604-7445, outside the Unted States US. Mail (Macworld Subscription Services PO. Box 54529, Boulder, CO 80322-4529 World Wide Web www zdnet com/adsubs/macworld/servce Subscription Rates ‘The one-year (12-ssve) subscription rates $34.97 in the United States and $5497 in Canada and Mexico; for al other countries, send either $54 97, ‘or surface mail oF $104.97 for air mall. The two-year US, rate is $59.97, and the three-year rate & $79.97. Checks must be made payable in US. ‘currency to Macworld. 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We are unfortunately unable to look up stores fom past issues; recommend products; or diagnose your Macintoth problems by phone, e-mail, or fax. Contact Apple tol-fre at 800/538-9696, ext 500, fer information on user groups in your area (Our offices are located at 301 Howard St. 94105, 415/243-0505, fax 415/442-0766. 16th Fl, San Francisco, CA LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Diect all comments and suggestions regarding any aspect ofthe magazine to letters@macworld com. Due to the high volume of mail received, we can't respond personally to each | etter. We reserve the right to edit all submissions, Alletters published in | Macworld or Macworld Online become the property of Mucworld ‘QUICK TIPS Send your questions or tps on how to use Mac comput- e's, peripheral, or software to Macworld, Quick Tips, 301 Howard St. ‘6th FL, San Francisco, CA 94105; fax 415/442-0766; e-mail quicktips® smacworld com, Please include yourname, address and telephone number VPA. America Demands Digital Color For Everyone Fry Driven isa trasersark of Electonics toe maging, Inc. © 1998 Ricoh Corporation Affordable Digital Color. For Every Company. Every Department. From $11,500 Brilliant digital color every office can afford. Spectacular Aficio Color” Presentations every time. Experience the productivity of smart digital A complete range features for thousands less. Ask for a demo of the most affordable, f digital soluti i! Raa ge at fully featured, fully connectable digital color systems in the U.S. RICOH hi kg For more details, call 800 63 RICOH. Online www.ricoh-usa.com Image Communication Choose 4 at www.macworld.com/getinfo eo NS price % give ai QoS une> _ i gato ye, yoo ait! wt a qe se Ny ihe eases ast on S yi) KY are notes presse Ben feo ut Nino ac wee Sunt gail eh ent) - a ‘0 sk, pone gave gat gat a yes: ath NK . ie, tly guts A ait ms an ne vi yon" ne \erl eo. 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NY tt at a iy gant anie> ate an se® Aes tant \o aye ge \as you ‘qos nue 9 2 ax 0 Wk A NL ort pest : aye Ny a0 Cho AAG 7 a it Ww" ww. nm acwerld, omni getin’ ifo Our quality and craftsmanship Naven4-word single’ award. tevesaen ~~ They've won 400. proudly presents the latest member of our award-winning family, the PT771 Professional Series Soniclron” monitor, This 17” (16.0 viewable) monitor is tailor-made for wake Gaicnensin: ; cos ViewSonic is acclaimed for its quality, and the P1771 is a fine example. It has an ultra-fine, 0.25mm aperture grill i, sophisticated SonicTron technology that delivers clear, crisp images, and a SuperContrast” screen for brilliant, bold colors. ‘The P1771 also offers a super fast 86Hz refresh rate at a 1,280 x 1,024 resolution, OnView* controls for fast, push-button screen adjustments and Plug & Play which Supports easy SALsiy under NS 5 and 98. Ask for the better monitor Z rest you, call ViewSonic at (800) 888-8583. and ask for agent 81345, or risit our website at: 6s774 \ 6810 March 1998 January January 1998 EDITORS’ ‘CHOICE Choose 59 at www.macworld.com/getinfo pa ViewSonic’ ‘open of thee respecte corpani See The Difference!” — Lelong Working Through Guilt D AVID POGUE SHOULD KNOW that he’s not the only one trapped in a love/hate relationship with Microsoft (The Desktop Critic, September 1998). I too have been converted by Internet Explorer 4's top-notch interface. Th fact, as I read his article on Macworld Online, T stumbled upon yet another nice touch: as long as you’re not in a text field, press- ing the spacebar will page down and option-spacebar will page up. James Muspearr West Roxbury, Massachusetts PON READING DAVID POGUE'S confessional column where he, like other Mac users, shamefully admitted the benefits of a Microsoft product, I decided to swallow my Netscape pride and try out Internet Explorer 4.01. After wasting an evening downloading the 12.4MB file and spending over an hour trying to open a Web page, only to have the program crash my Mac each time, I’ve decided thar if anyone should feel guilty, it’s Microsoft. Mark CICHRA Independence, Obio PowerBooks in Europe ED LANDAU’S “ONLINE ON THE Road” (Secrets, September 1998) was a good discussion of what you need to think about when computing while traveling. But he states in the sidebar “Go Mobile, International-Style” that U.S. Mac users will have trouble using their PowerBook AC adapters in Europe, due to voltage dif- ferences. Not true—PowerBook AC adapters can use all voltages from 90 to 240 volts and line frequencies of 50Hz to 60Hz, thus covering all the European AC systems. However, you will need a simple plug adapter, available at utility stores in many airports for around $10. JON AALBORG Oslo, Norway The Ongoing Slot Controversy NDREW GORE GOT IT EXACTLY right in pointing out Apple’s misstep in dropping down to three slots in the high-end G3 machines (The Vision Thing, September 1998). My base configura- tions use a minimum of four PCT slots: two video cards, one ultrawide SCSI card, and a 100BaseT Ethernet card. This is a very common and necessary configuration in content creation as well as prepress. I’m anxiously waiting for the next-generation designs, and I hope that in the short term, my souped-up Umax $900’s will hang tough. Joun Strut Boston, Massachusetts *M BEMUSED BY ALL THE BLEAT- I ing from digital-video and other high- end-graphics professionals about the lack of six-slot G3’s—especially when they complain about the expense or inconve- nience of an external PCI chassis. Excuse me? This | or 2 percent of Apple’s mar- ket, who supposedly have dollars to burn and would allegedly contribute so much to Apple’s bottom line—they haven’t got the money for an expansion chassis? Would they, if it came down to the crunch, rather change platforms—with the corresponding loss in productivity from retraining, the purchase of all new software, and increased IS needs—than buy and use an expansion chassis at a minute fraction of the cost? I don’t get what all the fuss is about. CHUAN CHEW Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Peeved about Premiere 5.0 IM HEID IGNORED THE FACT that Adobe has chosen to remove a major speed enhancement from Premiere (Reviews, September 1998). Premiere 5.0 does not use its preview files when build- ing final movies—which effectively dou- bles rendering time for video that has to be compiled. Furthermore, he ignores Premiere’s interface downgrade. Version 5.0’s win- dow adjustability is more limited, hinder- ing interface customization. The Com- mands window no longer offers color coding or column-orientation options. The Controller is now locked to the Pre- view screen and is too large and cumber- some even at its smallest setting. The most staggering omission ofall is one I discovered in the first ten minutes continues www.macworld.com December 1998 15 LETTERS © Freddi Fish is a she, and her friend’s name is Luther, not Norman (“Back- to-School Guide,” Reviews, Septem- ber 1998). YankPro 2.0 (Reviews, October 1998) is from Maui Software (831/689- 9314, wow.manisoftware.com). | Ambrosia Software's URL is wave ambrosiasw.com (“Escape Velocity: | Override,” Reviews, October 1998). Epson’s PhotoPC 700 has a list price of $699 and requires NiMH batteries (“Focus On,” October 1998). of operation: all transitions render three to five times slower than in version 4.2.X. Add this rendering slowdown to 5.0’s inability to utilize preview files, and [can’t even calculate the overall addition of hours to a project. Jor AMADEO Pleasant Hill, California Yes, it’s true that Premiere 5.0 doesn’t use pre- view files; this is caused by a bug that will be ‘fixed ina maintenance release that Adobe plans to ship before the end of the year. As for the Con- troller; you can unlock it from the Monitor win- dow by clicking on the collapse button, Beyond that, Premiere 5.0’s interface is greatly improved over earlier versions’. The ability to hide and collapse audio and video tracks, the fast- editing convenience of the new Monitor window, and the new Navigator window—these are all terrific, timesaving enhancements. Spend some time learning the new interface, and Vm sure you'll find it preferable to 4.2. Premiere 5.0 is indeed, however, often noticeably slower than 4.2, as the review pointed out, Adobe claims that the maintenance update will address these per~ formance problems.—Jim Heid Tip Troubles ENCOUNTERED SOME PROBLEMS with tip number 16, “High-Powered Launcher” (“Macworld’s Top Tips,” Sep- tember 1998). When the Recent Docu- ments folder is moved out of the Apple Menu Items folder, it is immediately replaced by the system. The folder moved to the Launcher Items folder is a non- updating list of the items used at the time 16 December 1998 MACWORLD the move was made. This is, obviously, not helpful. Is this tip Mac OS 8-depen- dent? It sure doesn’t work in 7.6. D. B. AULD Coventry, Rhode Island Mea culpa. You're right—this tip did work, and now, bizarrely, it doesn’t, Allow me to atone by offering up an entire Web page of extremely dazzling tips and tricks, all of which actually work. They're at warw.macworld.com/more/. —David Pogue Sound Advice for PowerPoint N “POWERPOINT GOES INTERAC- i tive” Jim Heid recommends dragging the sound icon off the edge of the slide layout in order to hide it (Create, Septem- ber 1998). This is not necessary. Instead, once you've added a sound and selected its Timing in the Custom Animation win- dow, click the Play Settings tab, and check the box for Hide While Not Playing. You still see the icon in edit mode, but not while your presentation is playing. Concerning playing a portion of a track from an audio CD during your presenta- tion, I found that if you want to add a sec- tion of audio from the middle ofa track, the application takes so long to search for the clip that the flow of your presentation is compromised, Instead, I use a tip from Lon Poole’s book Mac OS 8 Bible for adding audio-only QuickTime movies. This still adds to your file size, buta I-minute, 16-bit stereo clip adds only 10.1MB to your pre- sentation, versus 47.1MB for the 4:40 track from which I selected the clip. ALICIA CHASE Cadyvitle, New York You're correct about my sound-icon tip—this was a necessary technique for the beta version of Microsoft PowerPoint 98, but the final shipping version has the handy Hide While Not Playing check box. As for sound-only Quick Ti they are certainly a viable option. Of course, you can also avoid slow performance when taking the audio-CD route if you play tracks only from the beginning. —Fim Heid e movies, Wanting More on Linux LTHOUGH YOUR REVIEW OF 4\ Tenon’s Power MachTen was infor- mative, it implied that Machen was the only Unix environment available for the Power Macintosh (Reviews, September 1998). Not one, but zwo, versions of Linux have been available for the Power Mac for some time now: MkLinux, the microkernel version, and LinuxPPC, the monolithic- kernel version. Both have brand-spanking- new releases (check out www.mklinux.apple .com and www.linuxppe.org). And unlike MachTen, both are free—with their source code freely available. Yet nary a peep about either Linux has emerged from Macworld. What gives? An in-depth look from you guys on these rock-solid alternative operat- ing systems is way overdue. DAN CAUGHERTY Research Triangle Park, North Carolina Web-Server Dissension DISAGREE WITH THE COMMENTS and ratings you gave to WebTen and Quid Pro Quo Plus (QPQ) server soft- ware (Reviews, September 1998). I've tried to install three successive versions of WebTen on my server, and none worked within a reasonable amount of trouble- shooting time. On the other hand, QPQ took two minutes to install. T also wonder how you came up with QPQ'’s lousy per- formance in your benchmark. I gave QPQ 20MB of RAM anda 10MB cache, set the ‘Tasking Time and Sleep Time to Best Per- formance (in QPQ’s Global Settings), and left QPQ as the front-running application on the server (QPQ is substantially slower when running in the background). And I got great performance—certainly much better than that of Apple’s Personal Web Sharing. The server is stable and user- friendly—and the regular version of QPQ is free. I would recommend QPQ over its competitors for all but the largest Web-site applications. But you are right about QPQ's support—it stinks, The good thing is, you don’t need it. ETIENNE Dovaze Singapore Letters should he sent to Letters, Macworld, 301 Howard St., 16th E., San Francisco, CA 94105; via fax, 415/442-0766; or electronically via CompuServe (70370,702), MCL Mail (294-8078), AppleLink (Macworld1), or the Internet (letters@macworld com). Include a return address and a daytime phone d, we can't respond personally to each letter, We reserve number. Due to the high volume of mail ree the right to edit all letters. All published letters become the property of Macworld. ™m a» “MON UCU] 10}}0g ST JaMaN SelLaWIOS Introducing the Latest Apple G3. Want G3 power for your trusty old Power Mac? Simply plug in a Newer Technology MAXpowr™ G3 processor upgrade card, and for a fraction of the cost of a new machine, your old Mac will go toe to toe with Apple's new G3 models. A MAXpowr card is easy to install, and it's available for most Power Macs and clones. So, order a Newer Technology MAXpowr G3 card today, and breathe new life into your older Mac. i) > newertechnologe: To learn how to beef up your Mac, visit us at www.newertech.com Choose 55 at www.macworld.com/getinfo Think different” mum New Ideas for a ee . Orierasluess = Annle’and MacConnection’ oe App - Only (that's in morning) fee Apple the Limits of Technology. When you purchase a new Apple ignited the personal computer INSTALLED FREE! Macinttsh from us ve wal revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II, rein- configure it for you at no 3 . additional charge. vented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh, and is re-defining the personal com- puter for the 1990s with the highly successful G3 series SN and the new iMac. And the innovation continues with tech- nologies such as QuickTime, which makes video, sound, music, 3D and virtual reality come alive on both Macs and PCs. MacConnection Setting the Standard then. ..and Now! ww acconnection.com * Secure Online Ordering * Powerful Search Tools *; Apioneer in the direct marketing business, MacConnection / — introduced services that are now standard throughout the . industry. Innovations such as overnight delivery, toll-free eee i ; Authorized technical support, One-Minute Mail Order and late-night img ees ordering for next day delivery were unheard of before MacConnection introduced these services. 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Think different: Since 1984 MacConnection has been providing award-winning service and support for Macintosh users Over on the PC side, PC Connection has EAT done the same for PC users. Company an Named the Best unprecedented seven times by PC World Magazine, and honored as one! of the companies by PC Magazine. So, whichever & platform |e Fusing you can be sure to find a Connection you can trust. ihe Sup, Lasplles PowerBook G3s have buil APPLE POWERBOOK” G3 Processor/Speed [Backside Cache G3/233MHz 63/233MH2 G3/233MHz G3/266MHz G3/300MHz BusinessWeek Magazine calls the new PowerBook G3 line 10BaseT Display 12.1" DSTN 12.1" THT 14.1" TFT XGA 14.1" TFT XGA 14.1" TET XGA Fast JULY 1998 —and with good reason! Three new 14.1" models are now available, housing the latest release of the powerful G3 processor, with speeds up to a Pentium-crushing 300MHz. 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Power Mac G3 Minitower 433MHz SCSI Hard Drives YJ Upto OMByram in oaehe Delivering scorching speed and true expandability, Cash!" = the new Power Mac G3 models are designed to |) an 24Xcp.nom serve the needs of graphics and design professionals, /#aa—> by MacCannecton re sutectio a content creators and general productivity users. stead } 1% restoghig lee, = i 5 ; 4 q epee wen yo vice Every model includes a high-capacity hard di : SREASE NOTE Deco : : ae = ot eure drive and at least one expansion bay for additional >< Pessina storage, plus a 24X CD-ROM, built-in 10BaseT a Leplakshistelninl fine Ethernet support, and high-quality video and audio. You also can add the Apple FireWire option that enables you to connect your digital video camcorder to produce professional- quality digital video easily and affordably. : Fosse cieentarelpaeen Authorized Gy Recir anni Some Prowler ‘ ie erie i aN 200209001 AS ae Choose the system that’s right for you, 3 ‘aio 0 dys acon oF e Sin | Cnausensed rea rene and hang on for the ride! ois pac MO PC Conectn. Ine enea apes ts eappns a mata ter prodcts 402716 MAXpowr G3 Series 333MH/166/1MB. 1199 3858. Backups 400 99.99" VIDEO CARDS 102717 MAXpowr G3 Series 366MHz/183/1MB.... 9685 SurgeArrest Pro 7 nn. 29.95, All Technology STARE MNS Re Eset] Belkin 103289. Nexus GA 168, PI sn ABS hac uaeaeta 53628. ReSouce UPS $og95 49733 XCLAMvR,4NB nnn DS0.05 (Or ec 51098 MAXpowr G3 210MHZIST2K...-- 499 ee ae u ese am ne (gat fate toe 102124. SurgeMaster wteCear.... i yar 200 Ayrton 51097 MAXpow: G3 240M IMB. Oo) eared Oixwicne hed keseeaaears ver ere eT ELE 102124 Super Premier wife | 13D Utimate Rez | | epealipeaeeece: 51098 MA¥powr G3 210MHZ/ST2K 599 ts | ‘Whenbundled | PC Comedie. Mir NH 52145. SurgeMasterl Gold 128-bit, 8MBVRAM witha system | MileConnsetn Sth rneeeoe SE ee a EN 2a aay | Only $199.95" ormontae choc ae ested nent ‘57443 MAYpowr G3 Series 220MH2/512K non-A\ 579 Tripplite - s | [airccupnsles ise eae ‘57441 MAXpowr G3 Series 240MHz/1MB non-AV 779 100094 Internet Office 400VA UPS Wtsle supplies ist... 989,95, IX Micro ‘vadeourts remain property ove Computing ouerase AT7B2. Ultimate Rez 8M, PCVRAM $469 terrace capa 52517 MAYpowr 3 Series 220MH2/TNO/ST2K wenn SAS 52334 Pro Rez 8MB, PC, SGRAM 279.95 Picervodponctn re uicta ‘UMAX C500, (600 52336 Mac Rocket - 4MB, PC, SGRAM. 21995 | abe. 52515. MAXpowr G3 Series 220MHa/110/512k 549 aint 59576 Road Rocket-4MB,PCL SGRAM xc nomereen 278.95 Aaple Power Mac 3 series 402719. NEW! MAXpown G3 Series 333MHz/166/IMB.......1199 H 402720 NEW! MAXpowr G3 Series 366MH2/183/IMB.......1499 we www.macconnection.com 1298MW 102721 NEW! MAXpowr G3 Series 400MH2/200/ 1MB. 1999 Orange Micro 5B0B1 Orange PC.626 PR200 MMX/16MB.. ee) aA Ol } | eC 101 \ 102181 Orange PC 627 1DT200 MMX/16MB/WinNT 549 UPS/SURGE 2 [The Original Macintosh Mail-Order Source -Since 1984!) American Power Conversion _ 56170. BacUPS Po 650 NP (40-wat) $279.95 OLL FREE = 21929 Bac-UPS Pro 1000..... r ORDERING = .= 145 on reader service card MACWORLD December 1998 2 Windows/Macintosh’ Sess a4 The Easiest, Most Cost-Effective Way to » Design decade, professionals seeking an out-of-box CAD solution have selected the award- / winning MiniCAD. This stand-alone program lets you create everything from For more than a ii 2 | | precise working draw- ings to sophisticated client presentations Now this total CAD solution speeds your design process with these new features: tries—multi- decimal accu- racy for pre- * Precise Sun Positioning * Expression Evaluation Inside T * Automated Databases/ Spreadsheets * Multi-Decimal Dimensioning * Rotatable Grid and Customizable xtboxes Coordinate System * Plus Dozens of Performance and Interface Enhancements To learn more about MiniCAD’s extensive feature set and why the program has been called “the way to design, 1-888-MINICAD or visit our Web site: www.diehlgraphsoft.com MiniCAD 7, which retails for a suggested price of $ with 18 months of FREE Tech Support and a30-Di Back Guarant , comes to extensive materials lists and cost estimates. As always, MiniCAD 7 offers the same core features that have made for design professionals in more than 80 coun- MiniCad ya trademark of Dish G Choose 46 at www.macworld,com/Getinfo cise drafting, a built- in database/ spreadsheet to track costs and materi- als, extensive library of industry- specific symbols, cross- platform compatibility (Mac and Windows), and a macro program- it the program of choice ming language for automating complex and routine tasks. * True 3D Boolean Solid Modeling * DWG and DXF Import/Export * Dual-Unit Dimensioning * Auto Wall Framing * QuickDraw 3D Rendering * Associative Hatching * Automatic Wall Joining + Next-Generation SmartCursor Jou rirren Macs Get With the Game The Vision Thing by Andrew Gore 1998 ELEVATED MAC GAMING TO A NEW LEVEL. BUT THERE'S STILL ROOM TO IMPROVE. HERE'S NO QUESTION that 1998 will go down as a watershed year for Macintosh gaming. ‘Twelve months ago, before Apple’s turn- around became the stuff of business legend, there was serious doubt as to whether any game developer would do anything new on the Macintosh again. But here we are with the holiday season upon us, and we have the single-best library of cool Mac games to choose from in the history of the platform (see “20 Unforgettable Games,” in this issue). But lest we forget, Philip Dyer’s “Game Hall of Shame” (see The Game Room, in this issue) reminds us that we still have a long way to go before Mac gaming is on a par with PC gaming. As always, [havea few humble suggestions on how Mac gaming can catch Wintel gaming and—who knows?—maybe even surpass it. More versus Better Which would you rather have: a lot of games or the best games? If it’s the latter— which it should be—then don’t be too threatened by the sheer volume of games on the PC platform. Let’s not mince words here: all too many of those PC games are nothing more than rip-offs of other PC games. Doom clones, Tomb Raider clones, WarCraft clones. Sure, some games suc- ceed in improving on the original— Quake, for example, is a-vast improvement over Doom—but most do little more than demonstrate that imitation isn’t always flattering; sometimes it’s just repetitive. Ofcourse, there are plenty of games on the PC that aren’t knockoffs—they’re just bad. Once you filter out the poor copies and the bad originals, what you have left is a precious few PC games that are really worth the plastic they’re burned into. And therein lies the challenge: those great games still come out first for the PC, and if they ever come to the Mac, their arrival often takes months (our cover girl, for example, stars in a game that has been available for PCs for over a year). Rather than try to convince every game developer to do a Mac version, Apple should focus on the hottest studios and ensure that the best PC games arrive on the Mac simultaneously. Timing Is Everything The reason for doing simultaneous releases is simple: publishers put a lot of marketing money behind the launch of their major games, which means that the developers’ best opportunity to pick up the maximum number of Mac sales is to strike when the overall buzz about the game is loudest. Of course, the trick for Apple is to encourage the right publishers to bring the right games to the Mac. Itcan be hard enough to pick the winners before they leave the starting gate, but the subtle dif- ferences between Mac and PC gamers make it even more difficult. As Philip Dyer points out in “Game Hall of Shame,” runaway PC hit Deer Hunter is selling sluggishly on the Mac. No won- der: the game is mediocre in terms of graphics and game play, and let's just say that if it’s an accurate simulation of what the sport is like, most trophy bucks must die of boredom. But I digress. The point is that Apple must be selective in persuading main- stream developers to publish their games for the Mac, Because if too many of the wrong titles are brought to the plat- form—and therefore fail—game develop- ers will once again shy away from ship- ping Mac games. Mac First Which brings me to an all-too-often over- looked strength of the Mac gaming mar- ket: cost of entry. To put it bluntly, some- times it’s better to be a big fish in a small pond. It can cost a small fortune to launch a new game in the PC market and get any attention. Contrast this with launching a game for the Mac platform, where the size of the market and the relatively small number of distribution channels make the cost of entry much lower. The Mac market essentially amounts to a great incubator for new games. ‘There's even a precedent show- ing that this can work: Bungie, creator of breakthrough games such as Marathon and Myth, started as a Mac-only game developer during one of the weakest moments in Mac gaming. Thanks to the excellence of its products, Bungie built up a solid business that was eventual- ly strong enough to go cross-platform— and succeed. As you can see, things are looking up for the Mac gaming market. Let’s just hope Apple can continue its efforts to make the Mac into a compelling place to introduce: the hottest new games, If it does, then 1999 will be a very good year, indeed. m Andy “High Score” Gore is taking feedback (and Tomb Raider tips) at visionthing@macworld.com. www.macworld.com December 1998 27 Look at the speed on that one! What power! | 3000 PowerMac 4400 Star Max 3008] New Price ‘598 i PCI PowerMac New Price 5499 5899 ‘389 | Apple 54xx 64xx Super Mac C500 New Price 5499 5499 Vpower Advantages: ‘Instantly revs up your machine with @ next-generation PowerPC G3 (750)CPU «Employ revolutionary backside cache technology ‘*Vpower PM 4400 G3/240 CPU outperforms the Power Macintosh desktop G3/233 *Vpower G3/300 delivers lightning fast performance, second to no other chip of its generation *Vpower G3/233 performance exceeds that of the desktop Power Mec G3/233 ‘*Vpower PB 1400 G3/233 for the PowerBook 1400 series outperforms the Power Mac G3/233 desktop machine Improves your Power Macintosh 4400's CPU performance 2.8 times and FPU speed 1.5 times ‘Boos!s your PowerBock 1400 series mochine's CPU speed by 4-5 times & opproximately doubles yout FPU speed ‘Every Vpower cord comes equipped with « high-speed L2 cache Vpower Performance Comparison MacBench 4.0 *MacOS 8.5 compotible Brings 0 massive speed improvement fo your computer's builtin video capabilities: Vpower 4400 G3/240 yields o speed increase of 1.5 times Vpower PB 1400 G3/233 approximately doubles the speed of your video performance Vpower 3/300 provides a 3 to 5 times improvement for Power Mac 7500/8500, and roughly triples the video speed of a Power Mac 8600/250 Vpower 750 brings a 2 to 4 times improvement to the Power Mac 7500/8500, and increases the speed of a Power Mac 8600/250 by about 2.5 times Sach rome Ava Bl Veower PB1400 Performance Chart PU aT eens > Fost pects sn —} 1 > Fost ee —— |) ——————— I a SS v2 alia LS Tamme Fees Rear eee eee es ees eae ar, a Boe a a a power PF Performance Chart :CPU Soret menred oh Me 81 ‘Vpower PM. Sch nedih Ma58.0 nes ve my Perot rs ) m8 i) = oS ——— oS) Ss Se eS ‘Vpower 3/300 Power Mac 7300,7350,7500,7600,8500,8550,8600,9500,9600,9650_UMAX $900,910 G3/300MHz | IMB/soMEz | __$ 798 Vpower G3/300/512 Power Mac 7300.7350,7500,7600,8500,8550,8600,9500_UMAX $900,S910 G3/300MHz | SI2KB/ISOMHz| __$ 598 ‘Vpower G3/233 Power Mac 7300,7350,7500,7600,8500,8550,8600,9500_UMAX $900,S910 G3233MHz | 5I2KBIN7MHZ| $389 ‘Vpower PB 1400 G3/233 Power Book 1400 G3233MHz | S12KBINTTMH2| $499 ‘Ypower PM 4400. G3/240 | Power Mac 4400. Motorola Star Max 3000,4000 G3240MHz | SI2KBI20MHe| $499 ‘Vpower PM 4400 G3/300 | Power Mac 4400 Motorola Star Max 3000.4000 G3/300MHz | IMBiISOMHz | $899 Vpower PF G3/240 Power Macintosh/Performa 54xx.64xx Super Mac C500 G3/240MHz | S12KBID0MH | $499 ‘The PowerPC name and the PewerPC logotype are trademarks of Intemational Business Machines Corporation, used under license tharatrom, To Order Call Toll Free: a 4 6 2 ae 1-877-4VIMAGE Mon-Fri 8AM to 5PM(PST) or FAX:(310)225-3989 ted warranty. tworyear is a trademark of Vimage. ©1998 Vimage Corporation eaeaouiaiee Vor For the newest information on Vimage products, check out www.vimagestore.com If this is Norton” When your Macintosh computer is not operating correctly, having the right tool to find and fix the problem is important. And as any technician will tell you, you can never have too many tools. TechTool Pro 2 checks more aspects of your Macintosh than any other utility available. Besides repairing and recovering damaged drives (including those with the new HFS+ format), you can also test all those other critical parts of your system that our famous competitor ignores like RAM, CPU, floppy drives, scanners, modems, Internet connections, CD-ROM drives and much, much more. Fax v This is TechTool® Pro: But just because TechTool Pro is the most advanced Macintosh troubleshooting utility available doesn't mean that it's difficult to use. In fact, we've added an easy-to-use interface that makes checking and fixing your Macintosh a snap. For the advanced user, our expert mode allows you to control and configure TechTool Pro in almost any way you wish. So if your Macintosh troubles are getting you down, check out TechTool Pro. After all, you have the most powerful computer in the world. Shouldn't you be using the most powerful utility? >, Ls _ MicroMat Inc. 800-829-6227 ™ 707-837-8012 FAX: 707-837-0209 info@micromat.com www.micromat.com Fix different: (©1998 MicroMat Computer System, Inc. All rights reserved. TechTool is a registered trademark of MicroMat Computer Systems, Inc. Fix Different is a trademark of MicroMat Computer Systems, Inc. Macintosh is a trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. Norton is a trademark of Symantec, Inc Choose 46 at www.macworld.com/getinfo DECEMBER SMART BROWSING FINDS INFORMATION BEFORE YOU KNOW YOU NEED IT by Cameron Crotty our Internet experi- ence is hardly com- plete unless you've spent hours wading through multiple search engines. But Netscape claims that the next release of Communicator—version 4.5 —will do much of the leg- work for you. Meanwhile, Microsoft is beginning to release preliminary details about the next version of Internet Explorer. Smart Browsing The next version of Navigator—cur- rently available as a preview version on the Netscape Web site—will use the company’s own databases and Web indexes to implement what the company calls Smart Browsing. One Smart Brows- ing feature, What's Related, attempts to quickly guide you to alternate sources of infor- mation. When you click on the What's Related but- ton, Navigator automatically checks the current URL against Netscape’s NetCenter databases and provides links to information and services related to the site you’re cur- rently viewing. 1998 Another Smart Browsing feature, Internet Keywords, lets you use Navigator's Loca- tion field to find Web sites based on keywords in addition to URLs. For instance, typing “ford ranger” into the Loca- tion field automatically lands you at the Ford Ranger page of Ford’s Web site. Get the Messenger Net- scape’s Messenger e-mail/ newsgroup client sports a Let Your Browser Do the Walking three-pane interface with folders and newsgroups on the left side of the screen, similar to the presentation in Microsoft’s Outlook Express. Other Messenger enhance- ments include improved mes- sage-search and filtering options, a revamped address book, and the ability to syn- chronize Messenger addresses with a 3Com PalmPilot. Communicator 4.5 will also add a new feature called Roaming Access, which stores your profile (including preferences, bookmarks, and address books) on a directory server. You can then log on to the server from multiple machines—even a borrowed computer—and access the Web, and your e-mail, as if you were using your person- ally configured browser. continues www.macworld.com December 1998 31 Color Separations from Your Desktop AN IMAGESETTER FOR $6,995? NOT EXACTLY, BUT THE Accel-a-Writer 3G, from Xanté (334/342-4840, www -xante.com), when used in combination with Xanté's Film- Star 2 processing unit, can produce color separations on positive or negative film with 175-line halftones (by com- parison, the halftones you see in Macworld are printed at 433 lines). Xanté describes the output as “near imagesetter quality.” Maximum output size is 13 by 35.5 inches. How does it work? Xanté took a Fuji-Xerox laser engine, boosted the resolution and halftone capabilities, and added software that compensates for the printer's ten- dency to shift images on the page. You can also produce — film separations on the company's PlateMaker 3 printer. ‘Once you've made the film, you run it through the FilmStar 2 processor, which increases toner density to improve image quality. The Accel- iter 3G also functions as a PostScript 3 monochrome laser printer—sTEPHEN BEALE To make maintenance easier for IT managers, Net- scape has added a Roaming Access control to the Mission Control desktop, a centralized application for managing Netscape clients and servers. As of December, the company had not announced when the final version of Communicator 4.5 would be available. Microsoft Hedges As this article was going to press, Microsoft was beginning to release details about the next version of Internet Explorer for Windows. Early docu- ments published for develop- ers indicate that the company will improve the browser's page-rendering performance, particularly for Dynamic HTML. The documents also 32 December 1998 indicate that Explorer 5.0 will support XML (Extensi- ble Markup Language) and will extend the capabilities and accessibility of both Cas- cading Style Sheets and Dynamic HTML. The new version of Explorer will also allow other developers to create what Microsoft calls “browser-less applications”—Internet appli- cations built from HTML, ActiveX, and Java that don’t use the standard browsing- software interface. However, bear in mind that Microsoft maintains separate develop- ment teams for its Macintosh products, and the existence of a feature on the Windows side is no guarantee that the feature will appear in the next Mac version. MACWORLD Vendor Brings AppleScript to Photoshop PHOTOSCRIPTER ALLOWS AUTOMATED IMAGING by Stephen Beale dobe Photoshop has long been among the primary graphics tools for publishing pro- fessionals. However, through all the program’s many revisions, it has never supported AppleScript. You could automate many Photo- shop functions by using the Actions feature, introduced in version 4.0, but this was only a partial solution for publish- ers looking for the customiza- tion that only a full scripting language can provide. Publishers may now have the answer in Photoscripter, a Photoshop plug-in from Main Event Software (202/298- 9595, www.mainevent.com) that brings AppleScript sup- port to the popular image- editing program. When you run the plug-in, it presents a dictionary of AppleScript commands that represent 75 to 80 percent of Photoshop functions. You can then write scripts that automate these functions. More Action Photoshop’s Actions feature provides a simple way to create macros that automate repetitive oper- ations. But scripts created in Photoscripter can go much further. Because AppleScript supports such programming techniques as loops and con- ditional branches, you can write scripts that intelligently process images. For example, you could write a script that scales images by 50 percent unless they are smaller than 400 by 300 pixels. AppleScript’s other big advantage is its ability to com- municate across multiple applications. Many publishers have created custom produc- tion environments with scripts created for QuarkXPress. With Photoscripter, publi ers can now _ incorporate Photoshop into these custom workflows. A Few Hiccups Photo- scripter does have some limi- tations, primarily the 20 to 25 percent of Photoshop func- tions that it does not support. You can’t control tool set- tings, most preferences, or features accessed through the Print dialog box. You can con- trol filters and other plug-ins that are installed with Photo- shop, but third-party filters, such as those from Extensis and Alien Skin, are not sup- ported—at least for now. Photoscripter is sched- uled to ship by the time you read this, Final pricing has not been set, but Main Event will offer it for $299 under an introductory promotion. Projectors Get Slimmer and Cheaper NEW MODELS INCLUDE A 4.9-POUND UNIT by Michael Gowan orget the slides. ‘The latest multimedia pro- jectors are lighter, smaller, and less expen- sive than ever before. One vendor, Lightware (503/ 641-7873, | www.lightware com), plans to ship a 4.9- pound projector this Novem- ber, and InFocus (503/685- AaNoto TIOSeI0. SUZANNE ROADY 8888, www.infocus.com) has announced a slightly heftier unit that pumps out 700 ANSI lumens for added brightness. New projectors from Box- light (360/779-7901, www -boxlight.com), Sanyo (818/ 998-7322, www.sanyoled .com), Sharp (201/529-8200, www-sharp-usa.com), and CTX Opto (408/ 541-6060, www .ctxopto.com) weigh in at about 10 pounds, and the heavyweight of the bunch—the Power- Lite 5300, from Epson (310/782- 0770, www.-epson -com)—is still a rela~ tively svelte 13.7 pounds. All of these projectors offer 800- by-600-pixel resolution. A New Beetle The Light- ware projector—code-named Beetle—achieves its slim dimensions by using a single 1.6-inch LCD panel. The $2,995 unit produces 400 to 500 ANSI lumens, suitable for most low-light confer- ence rooms. If you want something brighter—and don’t mind if it’s a little heavier—In Focus’s $5,999, 6.8-pound LP425 pro- duces 700 ANSI lumens using Texas Instruments’ digital light-processing technology, an alternative to the LCDs used in many other projectors. Triple Triple Three new projectors—each sporting a trio of 0.9-inch LCD panels for added brightness—weigh in at just under 10 pounds. Boxlight’s CP10T—tentative- ly priced at $4,399 at press time—produces 600 ANSI lumens and features a built-in PCMCIA slot, allowing you to store your presentation on a PC Card. Sanyo’s $6,995 PLC-SU1O0N also has a PCM- CIA slot; the projector pro- duces 550 ANSI lumens. Sharp’s $6,295 Notevision4 produces 600 ANSI lumens. Budget-conscious_ presen- ters who don’t mind some extra heft may want to look at the $2,995 EzPro 585, from CTX Opto, which weighs slightly more than 10 pounds. Due this November, the projector uses a single-panel, 6.4-inch LCD and has a brightness of 500 ANSI lumens. Lightware's Beetle weighs 4.9 pounds. High Lumen-essence If brightness is more important to you than a slim design, check out Epson's 13.7-pound PowerLite 5300, which pro- duces 1,200 ANSI lumens. It is scheduled to ship this October for $8,499. Adobe Grows Web Turf with ImageStyler SOFTWARE BASED ON ILLUSTRATOR TOOLS by Stephen Beale dobe Systems recent- ly announced new versions of PageMill and Illustrator and used the Seybold San Francisco show to preview K2, its next-generation page-la out program. But the graph- ics-software giant—smarting from poor financial perfor- mance and an aborted takeover bid by Quark—has provided the biggest hint of its long-term product strategy with the introduction of ImageStyler, a $129 program that brings Illustrator-like capabilities to. Web-graphics creation. It is scheduled to ship by year’s end. For Business ‘largeted at what Adobe describes as the creative business user, Image- Styler makes it easy to create and modify such standard Web-site elements as buttons, navigation bars, and ad ban- ners. Many of these objects are used multiple times in a Web site; much of Image- Styler’s power lies in the pro- gram’s use of object styles to simplify updating of such repeating elements. The styles define the look of the object and can include a wide range of attributes: color, gradients, opacity, tex- ture, 3-D effects such as bevels and embossing, and distortion effects such as twirl and spherize. You can apply these attributes in any combi- nation on up to five layers, which can be copied from one style to another. One you've applied. the styles to your graphics, you can quickly change the look of an entire Web site by modify ing the style or applying differ- ent styles to the objects. The package includes more than 100 preset styles. Simple JavaScript Image- Styler also makes it easy to cre- ate JavaScript rollovers in which buttons change their appearance based on mouse actions. You simply define the graphic’s appearance for the mouse-over or mouse-down actions, and the program cre- ates an HTML page with the appropriate JavaScript code. The program also eases cre- ation of image maps with embedded HTML links. Once you've defined your graphics, you can export them—with optimized color continues Transparent Illustrator As Adobe prepates to ship tllustra- tor 8.0, software vendors are fast on its heels with plug-ins that add transparency capabilities to the illustration program. Hot Door's (530/274-0626, www hotdoor.com) $39 Transparency 4.0 changes Illustrator art into live transparency lenses. Lucid Dream Software's (847/202- 8424, www.luciddream.com) $45 TransparencyFX 2.0 lets you create lens effects between two objects; lenses in the previous version worked only with placed images. The software also cre- ates transparent masking effects. Pantone’s (201/935-5500, www. -pantone.com) ColorReady is a $139 color-management package consisting of a QuarkxTension for QuarkXPress, a plug-in for llustra~ tor, and an Xtra for Macromedia FreeHand. Each plug-in provides a color-preview window showing how spot colors will look before they are printed. ‘Migrating Macs Miramar Sys- tems’ (805/966-2432, www .miramarsys.com) PC Migrator is an $89 file-transfer utility for PC MacLAN. It moves Mac files to a Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows NT computer, attaching appropriate extensions and delet ing illegal characters en route. Native Norton It’s PowerPC- native and it's here. Symantec (541/334-6054, www,symantec com) is shipping Norton Utilities 4.0 for Macintosh, a long-awaited continues upgrade Boe 5 disk-repair utility that supports Apple's new HFS+ format. The current release requires 2 PowerPC CPU; Syman- tec says it will ship a version for 68040 systems by year's end. Milder Designs’ (415/331-4560, www Commotion Puffin .puffindesigns.com) Commotion LE is a stripped-down, $795 ver- sion of Commotion, the compa- ny’s $2,495 video-painting soft- ware, It includes the painting, cloning, and video-playback fea- tures of its high-end sibling but lacks the latter's wire-removal tool, complex rotosplines, and motion-tracking functions. Its also limited to a maximum frame reso- lution of 768 by 576 pixels. Store More SyQuest (510/ 226-4000, wwwsyquest.com) an- nounced a SCSI version of its 1GB SparQ removable-cartridge drive and said that it plans to ship the previously announced SparQ USB drive this November. Each drive sells for $249; a three-pack of 1GB cartridges sells for $99. Font ware (760/804-9900, Fixer Insider Soft- www insidersoftware.com) has re- placed Font Box, its font-mainte- nance utility, with FontAgent 2.7. The new version lets you recover unstable font sets and provides hot links to the company's Web site for the latest documentation and technical support. The standard single-user version costs $69.95. The $29 Limited Edition analyzes fonts on a single hard drive. —EDITED BY MICHAEL GOWAN palettes—in a variety of image formats, You can also export entire layouts as HTML pages for editing in Adobe PageMill or another authoring tool. Following on the heels of ImageReady—a $299 image- creation program based on Photoshop—ImageStyler is Adobe’s latest attempt to leverage its key software assets for the production of Web graphics. As the compa- ny struggles to improve its financial performance, don’t be surprised to see similar attempts in the future. New SCSI > Standard Introduced ULTRA160/M SCS! TO DOUBLE DATA SPEED by Macworld Staff he computer industry may be buzzing with talk of FireWire and the Universal Serial Bus (USB), but there’s still life in one of the tried-and-true hardware interfaces: SCSI. A group of well-known peripher- als vendors has announced sup- port for Ultral60/m SCSI, a new standard that promises up to twice the speed of Ultra2 SCSI, currently the fastest ver- sion of the technology. Ultral60/m SCSI—the number stands for the inter- face’s maximum throughput of 160MB per second—is an implementation of the Ulera3 SCSI standard recently ratified by the SCSI Trade Association. Vendors announcing support for Ultral60/m SCSI include Adaptec, Fujitsu, Hewlett- Packard, LSI Logic, and Quantum. Ultral60/m SCSI is [ News Workstation Features Rear-Projection Display YOU'VE HEARD OF REAR-PROJECTION TELEVISION, BUT a rear-projection computer display? The $7,495 Collaboration Station, from Lumavision Display (650/917-1144, www ldisplay.com), combines a height-adjustable, 72-by-48-inch desktop with a 40-inch-diagonal rear-projection screen driven by the InFocus LP425 LCD projector. Designed for use by artists working in collaboration, it can be outfitted with option- al speakers and LCD monitors. The display offers 24-bit, 800- by-600-pixel resolution and also runs video from DVD drives, VCRs, or other sources. The projector can be removed for use as a stand-alone presentation device MACWORLD STAFF a subset of Ultra3 SCSI, but given its critical mass of sup- port, the former is likely to become the industry’s pre- ferred implementation. The first Ultral60/m SCSI prod- ucts should appear by 1999. Ultral60/m SCSI has three key features: double-tran- sition clocking, which incre data-transfer speeds by utiliz- ing the connection more effi- ciently; cyclical redundancy checking, which improves data protection; and domain valida- tion, which provides a way of testing storage networks. The latter feature will enable ven- dors to develop products that intelligently scale their perfor- mance to the network's capabil- ities; if the network appears unreliable, an Uleral60/m SCSI device can reduce trans mission speed to ensure accu- rate data throughput. The interface is backward compati- ble, so you'll be able to run cur- rent SCSI devices with future Ultral60/m SCSI boards. Apple's Take Apple has committed to FireWire and USB as its future hardware interfaces—the former for peripherals that require high- speed data transfer and the lat- ter for most everything else. So don’t expect to see Ultra160/m SCSI as a built-in feature for your Mac. Howev- er, you can expect that vendors will introduce Ultral60/m SCSI PCI cards that enable ‘Macs to use forthcoming stor- age devices that support the new standard. Surviving in a Windows world just got easier. . Upgrade to award-winning MacLinkPlus’ Deluxe 10.0. k N ie Being a Mac user in a Windows world can be a pain. ih But with MacLinkPlus Deluxe 10.0, it couldn't be easier. N Just double click on a Windows file or use the sleek, ‘a new user interface and your pain is gone. R § Translate the latest Windows ‘I files into Macintosh formats — or vice versa. Translate one file or a whole folder full of Decompress files created using popular files at once. Files retain their _~ compression formats, including Stufflt, original formatting. Compact Pro, Zip, Gzip and Z. View the text of word processing and spreadsheet files without opening the original applications Get important information ___—2 on selected files, such as file format, size, creation & Select a folder for translated modification dates. documents. Then open this : folder and access translated Select a file or group a r : documents with just one click! of files to recognize, i : translate, decompress or view. Files with incorrect Types & Creators cause problems when double-clicked. Solve problems simply by clicking "Fix" then double-clicking the file to open it in the proper application. View files quickly, without opening the application that created them. The #1 selling survival kit for Mac users in a Windows world just got better. Isn't it great to know there’s a software company as committed to Mac as you are? For more information and to order, call 1-800-270-0030 ext.133. Visit our Web site at www.dataviz.com/easier hy Also available at fine retailers including: MICO CENtey D 1080 NEW YORK EXPO ‘Te comuren sppEReToaE © © 1998 DataViz, Inc.All names are wademarks or registered trademarks of ther respective companies Compatibility. Instantly. Choose 102 at www.macworld.com/getinfo Now your iMac can do Windows” Get the best of both worlds! Use the Mac you love and the PC software you need. With Connectix Virtual PC, you can run the latest PC software, including business, games and home applications, on your iMac. rectix Corporation 2955 Campus Drive San Mateo. CA 94403 800.950.5880 (U.S. and Canada only) 650.571.5100 email:info@connectix.com websitewwww.connectix.co| et Connectix! 1 RAM Doubler 8 allows you to runOS 8 and the Microsoft Office” 98 suite on a standa ac-without the hassle of adding more t Speed Doubler 8 delivers faster file keyboard)shortcuts to minimize rept | Speed Doubler 8 New Surf Express Deluxe lets you surf and search |= the web faster. It's the only internet accelerator that works with all the leading browsers that are pre-installed on your iMac. Surf Express Deluxe aes PowerBook 63/300 DVD ADDS NEW DIMENSION TO HIGH-END PORTABLE PPLE MIGHT HAVE STUMBLED onto the next killer feature for mobile computing: the portable cinema. The company’s new flag- ship portable, the PowerBook G3/300, offers several nice improvements over previous Mac laptops. But the most exciting new feature is hardware and soft- ware that lets you play off-the-shelf DVD movie titles. For a hardened road war- rior, nothing could be sweeter than pop- ping a favorite movie in your PowerBook the next time you have to suffer a cross- country flight in coach class. Marquee Performance The PowerBook G3/300, which repre- sents the high end of the portable line, is the only Apple notebook bundled with a DVD-ROM drive and an MPEG PC Card, both of which are needed to run DVD movies. If you have a different PowerBook G3 model, you'll need to buy a DVD kit for movie playback, and none were available as we went to press, even though one is on Apple’s price list for $499. Due to supply constraints, Apple suspended the build-to-order option for PowerBooks at least until October, but the company says it does not plan to offer the DVD kit separately at that time. Once the kit ultimately does become available, it will work with all PowerBook G3 models introduced since last May—as long as they have an active- matrix display. (Passive-matrix screens can’t properly support DVD due to their lower refresh rates.) Luckily, this PowerBook configura- tion is an exceptionally good value: a 300MHz PowerPC G3 with a 1MB back- side cache; an 8GB hard drive; 64MB of RAM; 4MB of SDRAM for video; and, of course, the DVD-ROM drive and MPEG PC Card—all for $4,999. Com- pare this with the same configuration of the 292MHz G3 portable that this machine replaces, which cost $600 more and didn’t include the DVD kit. You also get a supersharp, 14.1-inch, color, active-matrix screen, which will now be standard equipment on all new PowerBook models except for one under-$2,000 “value” configuration with a 12-inch passive-matrix screen. (Apple has also boosted performance on the low end of the line by adding a much needed 512K backside cache to the 233MHz PowerBook G3.) As for the DVD capability, you have to see it to believe how great a movie can look played back full screen on the PowerBook’s active-matrix display. Video Reviews you can trust: Macworld rates only final shipping products, not prototypes. What we review is what you can actually buy. OUTSTANDING: $8668 VERY GOOD: $68$ coop: $$# FLAWED: $6 UNACCEPTABLE: § 38 December 1998 MACWORLD SUzANE ROADY purists may find fault in the modest pixel interpolation required to take native DVD resolution up to the PowerBook’s full 1,024-by-768-pixel display, but you always have the option of shrinking the image down to 720 by 480 pixels. Of course, playing a movie won't do you much good if the battery runs out during the cliffhanger, which might hap- pen if you don’t manage your power wisely. In tests where virtual memory was on and the hard disk stayed spinning, bat- tery life fell short of 14 hours. But with virtual memory off, we could eke out two hours, enough for most full-length movies. However, we noticed occasional video stuttering as the hard drive accessed vital routines. One solution to the power drain would be to put the laptop to sleep and pop in a fresh battery, but this doesn’t work because the Apple DVD Player quits if you invoke the sleep option. Luck- ily, the DVD software lets you jump directly to a scene, so you can get pretty close to where you left off, should you need to switch batteries. However, this works only if the DVD title supports scene selection. Despite the inability to put a movie to sleep, Apple’s DVD software is easy to use and supports all major DVD features, including subtitles and second audio- program tracks. Speeds and Feeds The PowerBook G3/300 also supports resolution switching, another standard feature on new Apple laptops. Instead of being locked into the single 1,024-by- 768-pixel resolution of the previous G3 PowerBook models, the new portables can reset the built-in display to 800-by- acworid B TEST computer has gone to sleep. ‘Ta view this DYD diac, restart Appte OVD Player. Cx) No Rest Apple's DVD Player software supports all major DVD fea- tures, but you can't put your movies to sleep. 600 or even 640-by-480 resolution. However, the PowerBook’s antialiasing (pixel smoothing) is fairly primitive and leaves images at these lower resolutions looking somewhat out of focus. What- ever you do, don’t combine lower reso- lutions with DVD video—the results aren’t pretty. We saved CPU performance for last because it is the least-interesting improvement on this model. While Apple kicked up the processor speed from 292MHz to 300MHz, it reduced the bus speed from 83MHz to 66MHz. The result is largely a performance wash (see “Faster by a Nose”). A couple of other nice performance tweaks: as on the iMac, Apple has added support for the V.90 protocol to the modem built into all new PowerBooks. In our tests, the modem could more con- sistently make faster connections than could older modems following the Faster by a Nose Best results in red. Reference systems in italics, SpeedMark scores are relative to that of a Power Mac 7100/80, which is assigned K56flex protocol. (Apple plans to offer a software patch for download from its Web site so you can upgrade older modems to V.90.) Apple has also added ATT’s latest low- power 3-D-acceleration chip set, Rage LT Pro. This, com- bined with the built-in 4MB of video RAM, makes for pret- ty snappy portable game play. Apple DVD Player cannot continue after your Macworld's Buying Advice Being a mobile-computing afi- cionado and a movie buff who's already invested heavily in the DVD format, this reviewer greeted the arrival of the new DVD-equipped PowerBook with a mixture of joy and cha- grin. Joy, because no product could be bet- ter suited to his travel needs than a DVD theater that fits in a briefcase. Chagrin, because like any good PowerBook fanatic, he had already bought a high-end Power- Book without DVD. However, sore feelings aside, the new PowerBook is a good step forward for a product that was already at the top of its class in price and performance. For some high-end users, the DVD alone will justi- fy buying a new PowerBook G3/300 and passing your DVD-less notebook down the company food chain.—anorew core RATING: $868$ PROS: Built-in DVD; many minor improvements; a good value compared with the model it replaces. CONS: Can't put DVD movies to sleep; lower resolutions cause slight blurring. COMPANY: Apple Computer (408/996- 1010, www.apple.com). LIST PRICE: $4,999. a score of 1.0. MacBench 5.0 scores are relative to those of a Power Mac G3/300, which is assigned a score of 1,000 in each test. SPEEDMARK MACBENCH 5.0 I Overall Performance | [ Processor Disk Graphics ] ‘Apple PowerBook G3/300 — =o = 7 a - 1,392 Apple PowerBook G3/292 ——EqEo C— 7 — 1,377 Apple Power Macintosh G3/300 I Ra: 100 —- 1 a: [Longe bar re beter: 7,000 i Behind Our Tests For Speedark testing, the desktop system was set to 832-by-624-pixe| resolution, giving that system an advantage over the PowerGooks, which were set to 1,024-by-768-pixel resolution. For MacBench testing, the desktop system was set to 1,152-by-870-pixel resolution. For detailed information on our tests, see www.macworld.com/tests/—Macworld Lab testing supervised by Kristina DeNike www.macworld.com December 1998 39 [ Reviews Replacement Keyboards KENSINGTON, DATADESK OFFER INPUT ALTERNATIVES ESPITE ALL THE PUBLICITY surrounding the potential health risks of computing, most people don’t give more than a passing thought to choosing a new or replacement keyboard for their Macintosh. That’s a shame, because keyboards are probably responsible for the lion’s share of computer-related injuries (see “Occupa- tional Hazards,” November 1998). Although they’re not meant to directly compete with each other, two new keyboards from Mac-peripheral veterans Datadesk Technologies and Keyboard-in-a-Box (left) and the SmartBoard Kensington Technology Group illus- trate the range of choices available. Generic Input ‘True to its name, Kensington’s Keyboard- in-a-Box offers a no-frills option for people on a budget who need a full-size keyboard. The keyboard sports a row of 15 function keys across the top, a numeric keypad at the far right, and a standard complement of cursor-control and page- navigation keys in between. The supplied six-foot cable connects the Mac to an ADB jack on either side of the keyboard. Like Kensington’s other input devices, the solidly built Keyboard-in-a-Box carries a five-year warranty. The Keyboard-in-a-Box’s nearly silent keys feel a trifle spongy when pressed. As with other conventional key- boards, the Keyboard-in-a-Box’s keys are laid out in neat rows that tend to make your palms angle upward as you type, which puts stress on your wrists. Plastic 40 December 1998 MACWORLD feet at the back of the keyboard let you tilt it upward slightly; unfortunately, this position only accentuates the bend in your wrists, adding to the strain. (To be fair, these drawbacks are shared by all conventional keyboards, And to Kensing- ton’s credit, the brief manual includes a helpful section on workspace ergonomics and proper typing technique.) Split Layout Datadesk’s SmartBoard is designed to over- come the deficiencies of conventional designs like that of the Keyboard-in-a-Box, although there’s no guarantee that ergonomic keyboards can prevent or lessen injury. ‘The most obvious differ- ence is the setup of the keys: instead of being arranged in horizontal rows, they’re split into two groups that are angled away from each other. This odd-looking layout, popular- ized by Microsoft’s Natural Keyboard, helps you keep your hands and forearms ina straight line when you're typing, which minimizes the strain on your wrists. The two groups of keys are also angled slightly upward at the cen- ter, which allows your arms to assume a more natural position. Unlike those of most keyboards, the SmartBoard’s fold-down feet—Datadesk calls them Wrist Levelers—are located at the front, so they tilt the keyboard back- ward slightly when they’re deployed. Negative tilt minimizes bending at the wrist, which may help prevent some computer-related injuries. Unique Keypad The SmartBoard sports another unusual feature that is claimed to provide addi- tional ergonomic benefits. Instead of being uniform, like the key caps on most other keyboards, the SmartBoard’s keys vary in size, with the largest keys located farthest from the center. According to Datadesk, this makes it easier to type on the Smar