MacWorld 9906 June 1999

THE BIG SCREEN: MACWORLD LAB TESTS 33 21-INCH MONITORS, P. 80 JUNE OVER 200 PRODUCTS! The USB Universe YOUR ULTIMATE GUIDE pe 4 INPUT DEVICES DIGITAL CAMERAS DRIVES SCANNERS _’ PRINTERS GAME GEAR YA AND MUCH MORE! $7.99 U.S./$8.99 Canada 06> > 06924" "8 “Gi. y 0""70992 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. LACIE _ Mode for ideos. 2 68 80 89 June 1999 Features Cover Story USB from A to Z Got a new Mac crying out for peripherals and accessoriés? Find nearly every USB product under the sun in Macworld’s comprehen- sive directory. Think Big BY STEPHEN BEALE AND MICHAEL Gowan If your current moni- tor is cramping your style, it’s time to go bigger. Macworld Lab tested 33 nice and roomy 21-inch monitors for general users and graphics pros to help you get more eyeball space. The Macworld Web Merchant's Companion BY TOM NEGRINO Soyou want to make a fortune on the Internet? Before you hang out your e-shingle and navigate the untamed road of e-commerce, learn the do’s and don'ts from our expert guide. ON THE COVER Photograph by Kevin Candland: digital imaging dy Stephen Sugg MACWORLD JUNE qh 2) 2) © Whether you're a spreadsheet jockey or a prepress pro, we've found a big monitor for you, page 80, GWOr Incorporating MacUser Command Photoshop's masking tools like an expert, page 107. 112 Create Workflow Don't Sabotage Your Professional Print Job BY STEPHEN BEALE Learn ten essential ways to keep your service bureau project from tanking. Graphics Master Photoshop's Masking Tools BY DAVID 8LATNER Become an expert user of Photoshop's powerful digital masking tape. Graphies Turn Snapshots into Art BY JANET ASHFORD Make beautiful illustrations with just a few found photos. 27 28 29 30 30 Developers are plugging into Adobe's new InDesign software, page 28. News Apple's Open Source Gambit Apple once again surprises the computer industry by releasing the source code for key parts of Mac OS X Server. Plugging Into InDesign developers add potent es to Adobe’s new page- layout software. Welcome Back, Canon After a two-year hiatus, Canon is back in the Mac market with a new ink-jet printer. Product Watch New products for your Mac, including Adobe Acrobat plug-ins and an upgrade to Linker Sys- tems’ Animation Stand Pro 4.0. Color Management for the Masses New software makes it easier than ever to create profiles for scan- ners, printers, and displays. Opinion 23 The Vision Thing BY ANDREW GORE The search for Sherlock, Apple’s Internet sleuth. 63 The Game Room BY CHRISTOPHER BREEN How to cheat at your favorite games. 180 The Desktop Critic BY DAVID PoGUE Numbers lie—and that’s the truth. 10 How to Contact Macworld The new Palm V means the Mac finally has a truly usable handheld organizer, page 34. Secrets 97 Common Problems, Affordable Fixes BY TED LANDAU Use share- ware to straighten out the kinks in your Mac. 99 Quick Tips BY LON POOLE and shortcuts. Tips, tricks, ‘Make nice with your service bureau, page 103. 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 40 41 41 45 47 49 50 52 56 58 60 Reviews $9#8 3Com/Palm Computing Palm V Handheld personal organizer $%% = MacPac2 Palm-compatible desktop PIM $499% form-2 3.0.2 3-D modeling and rendering software $$ Aatrix Accounting 3.0; $¢9% M.Y.0.B. Accounting Plus 8.0 Small-business accounting software $888 Epson Stylus Color 900 Ink-jet printer $889 FastTrack Schedule 6.01; $898 Job Manager 1.5; $8 JobOrder 7.02 Job-management software $998 Epson Expression 800 Color flatbed scanner 886% ImageAXS Pro 4.0 Image database §86%'% PC MacLAN 7.2 for Windows 95/98 PC-to-Mac networking software $¢$% Olympus P-330 Snapshot printer $4%%% PhotoScripter 1.0 Scripting tool for Photoshop $88% VectorWorks 1.0 CAD software $886 Unity Ds-1 Software-based digital sampler $## LaCie electronaa 24-inch monitor $8#% Action GoMac 2.0 Navigating and launching utility $$ VSE HTML Turbo 2.0 Web-page optimizer 844% Printdesk2.5 Print server software $$ Umax Technologies UGate II Internet-access server $$%% BrainForest Professional 1.0 Outline and project-management tool www.macworld.com June 1999 3 BUY YOUR MAC FROM APPLE BUY YOUR PRINTER DIRECT FROM GCC. = jmlERE o VV Gis GCC TECHNOLOGI We're GCC Technologies, and our printers are sold direct against some of the most famous names in the computer industry. This 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. 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 12 pages per minute Maximum Print Area: 8.5" x 14" Letter/A4, legal, envelope 250-sheet Universal Tray PostScript® Level 2 compatible, PCL 5 35 PostScript fonts, 15 PCL fonts, 45 downloadable fonts RAM expandable to 64 MB Ist year Platinum Exchange Warranty EtherTalk®, LocalTalk®, TCP/IP Ethernet (10 BaseT), Bi-directional Parallel 2nd Paper Feeder* (Includes 500-sheet Universal Tray) Add $299 20 pages per minute Maximum Print Area: 12.6" x 35.1" letter/A4, tabloid/A3, legal, envelope, poster 500-sheet Universal Tray PostScript® Level 2 compatible, PCL 5 35 PostScript fonts, 15 PCL fonts, 250 downloadable fonts RAM expandable to 64 MB Ist year Platinum Exchange Warranty EtherTalk®, Localfalk®, NetWare™, TCP/IP Ethernet (10 BaseT, AAUI), Bi-directional Parallel 2nd or 3rd Paper Feeder* (Includes 500-sheet Universal Tray) Add $299 8 pages per minute Maximum Print Area: 11" x 17" Letter/A4, tabloid/A3, legal, envelope 250-sheet Universal Tray PostScript® Level 2 compatible, PCL 5 35 PostScript fonts, 15 PCL fonts, 45 downloadable fonts RAM expandable to 64 MB Ist year Platinum Exchange Warranty EtherTalk®, LocalTalk®, TCP/IP Ethernet (10 BaseT,10 Base2), Parallel 2nd Paper Feeder* (Includes 250-sheet Universal Tay) Add $319 (Includes 500-sheet Letter/A4 Tray) Add $419 ELITE 12/600 $999 600 x 600 dpi resolution 8 MB RAM expandable to 64. MB 2nd year Platinum Exchange Add $ 99 Business Lease $50 Month/24 months** ELITE XL 20/600 $1799 600 x 600 dpi resolution 16 MB RAM expandable to 64 MB 2nd year Platinum Exchange Add $179 Business Lease $63 Month/36 months** ELITE XL608LC $1399 600 x 600 dpi resolution 8 MB RAM expandable to 64 MB 2nd year Platinum Exchange Business Lease Add $139 $50 Month/36 months** ELITE 1212 $1199 Evite xL 20/800 $1999 1200 x 1200 dpi resolution 800 x 800 dpi resolution 16 MB RAM expandable to 64 MB 24 MB RAM expandable to 64 MB “The Elite 12/600, Elite 1212, ond the Elite XL 608 LC support one. 2nd year Platinum Exchonge Add $119 2nd year Platinum Exchange Add $199 Sarina, ml The lie 20/60, Ee 20/800 oid he Business Lease $59 Month/24 months** Business Lease $69 Month/36 months** by independant leasing companies to qualified customers. Lease payments bated on 24:month and 36-month lerms. Lease erms subject fo change without nolice or ebligation, occ airs is a registered trademark of GCC Techr Elo 12/600, Eto 1212, Bite XL 608 LC, Elite XL 20/600, Elite XL 20/800 and the Elite XL 20/1200 are trademarks of GCC Technologies, Ine, All ther trademarks or registred lrademarks ‘are trademarks of their respective companies. ELITE XL 20/1200 $2199 1200 x 1200 dpi resolution 64 MB RAM installed 2nd year Platinum Exchange Add $219 Business Lease $76 Month/36 months** jes, Ine. t our web site, www.gcctech.co (0 order call 1 Choose 43 at www.macworld.com/getinfo 6 NTHROCARTS June 1999 Take Control of Your Space! Configure your AnthroCart to fit your space and hardware. We'll be happy to work with you so you have just the right solution. Call us! LIFETIME WARRANTY * DOZENS OF SHAPES AND SIZES « OVER 75 ACCESSORIES * TOUGH AS NAILS CALL FOR A FREE CATALOG! 800-325-3841 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM PST, M-F ANTHRO CORPORATION® TECHNOLOGY FURNITURE® TUALATIN, OR 97062 ® FAX: 800-325-0045 ANTHRO JAPAN: 03 (TOKYO)-3947-2735 www.anthro.com Lifetime Warranty. Dozens of shapes and sizes, over 75 accessories. Since 1984. Prices from $299. GSA contract. Available for OEM applications. MACWORLD ‘Macworld | SENIOR EDITOR/FEATURES. ‘Jason Snell, SENIOR ASSOCIATE EDITORS Allyson Bates, ASSISTANT EDITORS. Michael Gowan, Jonathan Seff CONTRIBUTING EDITORS David Biedny, Henry Bortman, Christopher Breen, Bruce Fraser, Ted Landau, Deke McClelland, Rik Myslewski, Tom Negrino, David Pogue, Lon Poole, Stephan Somogyi, Franklin N. Tesler INTERNATIONAL EDITORS Steven Noble, Australia; Bernard Le Du, France; Andreas arico L D: ed Jame, Taiwan; Bahattin Apak, Turkey; Borchert, G iy Italy; Yoshio Moriya, Japan; ‘Tomasz Bitner, Polan | Hakansson, Swed! ‘Simon Jary, United jel de Blas, Spain; Lennart igdom LAB ‘TECHNICAL DIRECTOR Jefé Pitetkau Lae pingcron Kristina De Nike SENIOR LAB ANALYSTS Jeffy K. Milstead, Kevin Mitchell ASSOCIATE LAB ANALYST Gil Loyola | twvanrony coorsinaton Ulyssis Bravo | copy epit MANAGING EDITOR Chaire H. Breen ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR Paul-Michael King cory cnicr Jon Zobenica SewoR COPY EDITOR Elissa Rabellino ART AND DESIGN DESIGN DIRECTOR Eleanor Leishman ART DIRECTOR Sylvia Chevrier ASSOCIATE DESIGNERS Martha Katt, Michael Rattary DESIGN ASSOCIATES Jackie Goodman, Jonathan Woolson ONLINE VICE PRESIOUNT, SALES, & PUBLISHER Matt Sweeney DIRECTOR OF CONTENT Matthew Rothenberg, ‘Semon Ontine coITOR Philip W. Dyer conten encineen Jeff Cheney AsustaNt conTEur enointsR Jessica Graves | omecton, ausmess pevewormenr fox ontint Nicholas Harvey ONLINE AD PRODUCTION MANAGER Steve Spingola WYSIWYG’ Video From Any Source. Pie “I = [=] é i 09:32:66 4/8/99 8mm °] bo Sa] From Video Source... ...t0 QuickTime Movie. “What You See Is What You Get. Introducing InterView’ interactive imaging for USB Macs. Makes video for your Macintosh as easy as 1-2-3. This one simple device transforms any USB enabled Mac or Power Mac G3 into a true media machine. InterView accepts video from almost any source, from a camcorder, a digital camera, a VCR, to a full-blown S-Video Satellite system. The newest version of Strata” VideoShop ensures that you'll have the tools you need to build your InterView captured video into high quality storyboards, web movies, or just about any 3 - form of visual, full motion communications. You can even create QuickTime movies that you InterView? ships with fs € the fill version of can email to Grandma or post on a webpage! Strata's Videosbop, fer isiseprbach For more information on the new InterView, or the MACh Speed Performance Package, visit wwwxlr8,com, or call 888-XLR8TOR today! Available from distributors and resellers worldwide. www.xlr8.com 1-888-XLRSTOR Py BINTEREX® Available now. Did we mention it’s only $99? XLRS by Interex, Inc. * 8447 E. 35th St. N. * Wichita, KS 67226 * 316-636-5544 * 316-636-4639 fax (thar brand and product names ae trademark or registred trademarks of thei respective holdes, Product speciation subject o change without noice, ©1999 Intrex, In. Project Scheduling Made Easy! I'm not a project management expert, but everyone thinks | am. Most of my time is spent completing tasks, so | need a scheduling tool that’s easy, fast, and flexible. Fas{Track Schedule 6.01 fils the bil. It keeps me organized and in control displaying all my project details in rich, colorful timelines. FastTrack Schedule provides just the right ‘amount of power because it's more sophisticated than day-planners, but easier fo use and half $ * the price of traditional, 199 high-end project ‘managers. The presentation-quality schedules clearly, ilustrate project objectives and deadlines keeping team members and clients informed and up-to-date, Inasingle schedule, | can Macworld PRESIDENT AND CEO Colin Crawford ASSISTANT TO THE CEO. Sharon Sanderson CCHIEE FINANCIAL OFFICER Stephen Daniels USINESS MANAGER Eos de Feminis ACCOUNTING COORDINATOR Ronda Bittner Ir assistaNT Christian Semmet DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES ‘Sue Murphy HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGER Marisa Chow DISPLAY ADVERTISING SALES VICE PRESIDENT, SALKS, & PUBLISHER Man Sweeney ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Steve Plevin (415/243-3509) SALES & marketing coonDINATOR Karla Kyrias (415/278-8542) SALES ASSISTANT Jennifer Russell (415/243-3577) HATIONAL ACCOUNTS MANAGER _ Jessica Ross (415/243-3583) Account executive Govetta Wright (415/243-3615) ruamiowat accounts manacex Sara Culley (970/327-499) account execunwe Margaret Level Green ($15/243-3582) EASTERN ADvERTISING DIRECTOR Cynthia Ramsey (973/243-1197) warionat AccouNTSs manacen Paul Bonartigo (508/533-4020) ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Jo Zowarelli (516/277-4134) sworren account awacsn Niki Suranz (415/243-3664) sworeen accOuNT Mawactn Carol Johnstone (415/243-3691) SHOPPER AOMINiSTRATIVE assistant Alissa Mach (415/243-3628) outline multiple projects, FESEAN make assignments, SENIOR RESEARCH ANALYST Phillip Hibbert track cash flows, set- MRRRATING up dependencies— anxeriva MANAGER Francesca Koe even add graphics. Comune mancerinc MANAGER Whether use it Gamay Pe Ieeescaievent Ratcara ‘once a week or every day, FastTrack Schedule makes ] project scheduling easy, For the free Demo CD, more info, or to place an order call 800-450-1 982. | FastiIrac Version 6.01 Schedule. AEC Schedule Tomorrow's Success Toda} ee ee pep dross ome. “Esra Sea 9 esr ay Xie Wishes ohn sees Oi nd Sie, peal 5 at MacOS85 Choose 203 at www.macworld.com/getinfo 8 June 1999 MACWORLD MACWORLD GLOBAL PRODUCT SUPPORT CENTER ‘COORDINATOR Sharon Sanderson PRODUCTION Vice PRESIDENT OF MANUFACTURING Anne Fi propucrion pintcron Cynthia Neustade [MANUFACTURING TECHNICAL O1RECTOR ‘Clayton Haberman DIGITAL AD COORDINATORS Russ Nordmeyer, Mae Seott ‘AD SALES COORDINATOR, Rick Sandoval Macword is 4 publation of Mac Publihing, LLC. Macworld ap ndependet journal not afilated with Apple Computer Ine Shopper, MWY, MU Lab, AAW Shopper, The Desktop Cri, Expet Graphics. Quick Tips, Star ting, Buyer’ Tool, Streetwise Shoppe, and Conspicuous Consumer te repuered tacematis of Mac Pubishing, LL. Appl, the Apple og, Ac, and Macintosh ie tegstered trademarks, and Macteter and PowerBook are of America, Copyright © 1999 Nae Publihing, LLC. Ali rghts If Your On-Screen Color Isn’t What It’s Cracked Up To Be, You Need SpectraView From Mitsubishi. Unsurpassed Color Accuracy For A Wide Range Of Applic If you're fanatical about color accuracy, Mitsubishi has just what you nee w ctraView a color calibrated display system providing the ultimate solution for a ange of color-critical applications such as pre- ideo editing webdesign, medica i SOE TRAY IEW AAD. And, with ve jew you can color e les electronically between COLOR CALIBRATED DISPLAY’ SYSTEM fc imum efficie d convenience. Featuring award-winning ZONDIRGNS CRTs (19.7-inch and 16.0-inch DVI*, respec- olor calibration by actual on-screen color meas ments using a high-speed SpectraSensor™ colorimeter and custom software. Color adjustments are made in the moni- , giving you the maximum number of colors Plus, cross platform color mate monitors can be matched identica ‘or true color matching, the solution is as e2 Spe ee iew from ee ibishi EiBecnics a MITSUBISHI DISPLAY PRODUCTS Innovation On Display,, Sensot ate trademarks Choose 261 at www.macworld.com/getinfo Introducing the amazing VST FireWire Hard Drive ‘Simply amazing. They're designed for those who want the most convenient, lightweight, small and durable hard drives on the market. In fact, the drives are so small they fit easily into a purse, briefcase, or even your pocket. And with data transfer rates up to 400 Mbps and the ability to hot-plug, these drives have it all -~- speed, performance, portability and good looks, Just plug one into any FireWire enabled PC or Power Macintosh? G3 and you are ready to work or play. Currently available in 2GB, 4GB and 66B capacities, these hard drives can easily e linked er ang ] together in a chain with no device |D's or termination. te ® ‘Amazing? We think so. Visit our website for more information, - Ez 1394 FireWire. i ~ Kensington tock rated| |r Mac 0 www.vsttech com Optional | 125 Nagog Park, Acton, MA 61720 (878) 269-9700 1294 Fete port mmm joa Mazes a mgd ator Ape Cpt, ne Choose 73 at www.macworld.com/getinfo furniture for the ¥,800.688.2446 how agiodesigas.com Choose 265 at www.macworld.com/getinfo 10 June 1999 MACWORLD HOW TO CONTACT MACWORLD Subscription Services Phone 800/627-2247 or 303/668-8930, North America orly 303/604-7445, outside North America US. mal ‘Macworld Subscription Services PO, Box 54529, Boulder, CO 90322-4529 World Wide Web wwurw.2dnet.com/a2dsubs/macworld/service Subscription Rates The one-year (12-s8ue) subscription rate $34.97 in the United States and $54.97 in Canada and Mexico; for al other countries, send ether $54.97 for surface mall or $104 97 for air mall. The two-year US. ates $59.97, and the three-year rate is $79.97. Checks must be made payable in US. currency to Macworld, Pease allow 6 to 8 weeks to receive your fst issue. Back Issues of Macworld Back fsues (subject to avalabilty) are $8 perssue for U.S, delivery ($12 outside the United States; prepayment in US. currency to Macworld is required. Send check or money order to Back Issues Department, Zitf= Davis inc, PO. Bo» 53131, Boulder, CO 80322-3131. Reprints and Permissions. ‘You must have permission before reproducing any material from Macworld, Waite to Macworld. Reprints and Permissions, 301 Howard St, 16th FL, San Franesco, CA 94105; include a phone number, To order reprints of your company’s edtonal coverage, call Reprint Services at 800/217-7874 or 651/582-3800, ax 651/633-1862. Newsstand CD-ROM Subscribers interested in receiving CD-ROMs monthly should call 303/665-8930 for more information. Mailing Lists ‘We periodically make lists of our customers avaable to mailers of goods and services that may Interest you. f you do not wish to receive such malings, please wit to us and include 2 copy of your maling label ‘Macworld on Microfilm ‘Macworld is avalible on microm and microfiche from UMI, 300 N. Zeeb Ra, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346, 734/761-4700, ‘Macworld Editorial The editors of Macworld welcome your tips, compliments, or complaints Stores and product reviews from past issues can be located at www smacworld.com., We are unfortunately unable to look up stores from past Issues; recommene products; or dlagnose your Macintosh problems by phone, e-mal or fx. Contact Apple tol-ree at 800/538-9696, ext 500, {or information on user groups in your area. (Our offices are located at 301 Howard St, 16th FL, San Francisco, CA 94105; 418/243-0508, fax 415/442-0766, LETTERS TO THE EOITOR Ditect all comments and suggestions regarding any aspect of the magazine to letters@macword com Due to the high volume ef mail received, we can't respond personally to each letter. We reserve the right to edt all submissions. Al letters published in ‘Macworld or Macworld Online become the property of Macworld ‘QUICK TIPS Send your questions o tips on how to use Mc comput ers peripherals, or software to Macworld, Quick Tips, 301 Howard St. 16th FL, San Frandsco, CA 94108; fax 415/442-0766; e-mail quicktips@ -macwotid com. Please include your name, addres, and telephone number VPA. iclurer’s sugges Br Adobe Sy! “ sara It's not just your work. It’s your life. Keep it safe on the Jaz* 2GB drive and disks. The fastest performing Jaz drive with twice the capacity as the original. And it works with the millions of Jaz 1GB disks already out there. 2GB drives now priced as low as $349. Disks as low as $99. For more information or to find a dealer near you, visit our Web site at: www.iomega.com jomega. = ss = R rh sels SONY The Sony FD Trinitron® Display. The better to see your world with. Sony Ein e ssn isprotibted ¥y tage, Trnitcon, FO nally Flectieu aco a oft and microsoftSF are ratios Metincayi 2 Wiens: b one gs and specifications are-subje When microsoftSF opens its doors this year, it will showcase Its graphic professional software on the stunning new FD Trinitron displays from Sony, Located at Metreon in San Francisco, microsoftSF was created to provide a unique environment in which to interact with Microsoft's cutting-edge products. To present their graphics software in a dramatic and impactful manner, microsoftSF chose Sony's flattest, most accurate CRT screens ever, the new FD Trinitron displays. The virtually flat FD Trinitron display series is the most revolutionary advancement in image technology since the invention of Trinitron technology in 1968. Web designers will enjoy the superior resolution. CAD professionals will appre- ciate the precision of the tight aperture grille pitch. And graphic designers will be dazzled by the truer, brighter colors. So whether it's the 19” or 21” model (18” and 19.8” VIS), the FD Trinitron display makes an immeasurable impression. www.sony.com/F-Series VIRTUALLY FLAT FD TRINITRON cRT for minimized distortion and reflective glare TIGHTEST APERTURE GRILLE pitch available (0.22mm across the screen) for unprecedented sharp and clear images. DIGITAL MULTISCANO TECHNOLOGY for broadest horizontal scan range and highest resolutions: 30-121kHz for resolutions up to 1800x1440 @ 80H2 (F500); 30-107 kHz for resolutions up to 1600x1200 @ 85Hz (F400 SMART CABLE DESIGN for shorter display depth on desktop. UNIQUE DISPLAYMoUsE™ control for quick, smooth adjustments of digital controls h comprehensive OSD. face of the FD Trinitron display en te striking, distortion-free images with ented clarity and precision. FO Trinitron Jays hav acurvatur only 0.7 mm | across the than typical iy re CRT f It is this often as great as 17mm horizontally and verticatly, that pro visual inaccuracies and corner distortion common in typical CRT screens. HIDENSITY™ ELECTRON GUN With Enhanced Elliptical Correction System™ technology for consistent, accurate focus throughout the creen — even in the corners GeoLock PLuS™ ciRcurTRY for improved color and brightness uniformity. ACTIVE SIGNAL CORRECTION (ASC™) technology for one-touch instant image sizing and centering. DUAL INPUT CONNECTIVITY provides 15 pin mini D-sub and 5 BNC connectors for simultaneous connecticn to two computers use Hue connectivity ports (1 upstrear 4 downstream) for easy connection to USB peripherals. FD Trinitron Choose 14 at www.macworld.com/getinfo Gladaptec Go ahead, upgrade to that new G3 without sacrificing the SCSI peripherals you depend on. And in case you didn’t know, Adaptec® SCSI cards support Apple’s old SCSI Manager and newer SCSI Manager 4.3 devices so you can connect to whatever SCSI peripheral you might be using. But it gets even better. Adaptec SCSI significantly outperforms Apple’s previous built-in SCSI, enabling your Jaz, scanner, and other peripherals to operate at peak performance. So if you want to upgrade to a new blue G3 without sacrificing anything, get an Adaptec SCSI card. For more information visit www.adaptec.com/mac. JUNE InCompetentUSA -AVID POGUE'S MARCH 1999 DESK- top Critic column, “CompUSA: Apple's Not-So-Superstore,” was right on target. Iwas recruited from our local Macin- tosh user group as an official Apple repre- sentative for the iMac introduction and the OS 8.5 rollout ata CompUSA in Col- orado, When J arrived at the store, I intro- duced myself to the manager. He said that he didn’t care about Macs, didn’t know anything about Macs, and as far as he was concerned I was wasting his time. Several Mac customers indicated that the Apple Store-Within-a-Store at this CompUSA was usually used for storage of overflow PC merchandise, and they were left to find what they needed on their own. For a program of this type to be suc- cessful, there must be a positive attitude on the part of store management. Hype at the corporate level means nothing if the store managers have a negative atti- tude and short-circuit corporate policy with their condescension. WitLiam C. RoEMER Fort Collins, Colorado Y EXPERIENCES WITH COMPUSA have been almost identical to David Pogue’s. At the store in San Marcos, Cal- ifornia, I asked several questions about the iMac and received less-than-stellar answers. Finally, I started asking the young salesperson questions that he could have answered if he had just turned around and read the advertisement behind him. He failed miserably. I tried again at the new store in Encinitas and received the same results, Whatever Apple is paying this company to sell its products is too much by a factor of ten. Epwarp L. Lane Oceanside, California 129-9159) T LEAST MR. POGUE WAS ABLE TO talk with a salesperson. When I went to buy Apple’s Laser Writer 8500, I couldn’t get anyone to wait on me, CompUSA's treatment of Mac customers is abhorrent. Asan Apple Computer shareholder, I find this situation intolerable. Keirn A. Rust Saint Paris, Obio Blues for the 63 uy HE NEW G3 IS CUTE, ISN'T IT (“iMac Envy,” March 1999)? And those handles—if it only had a set of wheels on one end, we could tote it around like luggage! Is there some future integration yet to be announced for these impressive yet mysterious design addi- tions? Do they imply that I need to carry this machine often? Do I need to lift it every day? Maybe it’s an attempt to start some new exercise trend—Macxersize! ‘The new G3 case is-a bad design. My ae desktop is packed with hardware. I can’t spread out anymore, so I rely on stacking components to save space. I put periph- erals on top of my PowerPC Mac, which allows me to use short SCSI cables, I wish these designers would look more closely at the environmental needs of Mac users and design hardware that doesn’t incor- porate useless obtrusive elements. Work with a Mac every day fora living, and then tell me you still have enough room on your desk to accommodate retrograde ergonomic design—like handles. Troy KILGORE Bloomington, Indiana T SEEMS APPLE HAS GONE AND done it again: they took two steps for- ward and three steps back. When it came time to look seriously at purchasing a machine for digital-audio applications, I decided that the Mac was for me. A salesperson recommended two options: look for a used 9500 or 9600 or wait and see what the new G3s come with. The new G3s appear to have so much going for them (improved bus speed, FireWire and USB ports, ATI Rage 128- bit graphics, great price point) that step- ping up to one seems like an easy decision. Easy, that is, until you start to dig deeper, and discover that Apple decided to drop many of the features that made the original G3s attractive in the first place: the new G3s have no serial ports, no built-in video, no floppy-disk drive, a lack of expansion slots, and no SCSI! Every time Apple gets a good thing going, they get clumsy. And they certainly did it again this time. A greatnew machine, hobbled by a lack of expansion and the connections people use every day. WILLIAM T.B. LATANVILLE ‘Toronto, Ontario, Canada continues www.macworld.com June 1999 17 Go early for a change! Work faster, not harder, with QuicKeys! Ever wonder what it would be like to knock off early? QuicKeys turns dreams of extra time into reality. It automates any task you do on your Mac. Launch apps, check E-mail, type your name, select a printer, a server ... whatever. Total control over your Mac is just a keystroke away. Plus, new version 4.0 makes automating your Mac easier than ever. Upgrade for as little as $35.95 and get all these new features: > Compatible with Mac 0S 8.5 > Over 50 brand new features > Revised and updated interface > Easy-to-use Setup Assistants > New drag-and-drop toolbars > Plus much, much more ©1999 CE Software, Inc. QuicKeys is a registered trademark of CE Software, Inc. Choose 170 at www.macworld.com/getinfo 18 June 1999 MACWORLD LETTERS Complete Canvas EN LONG MISSED THE TWO MOST important features of Deneba Can- vas 6 in his recent review (Reviews, March 1999). First, with Canvas I can create high-end output in one pro- gram—instead of using Adobe Photo- shop, PageMaker, and Illustrator—and without all the hassle. Second, I have been released from the “Adobe extor- tion program”—each year I fork out about $169 to $189 for upgrades to each program! Canvas gives me the output that I need, I save a bundle, and I get the same results, if not better. D Curis Harey Middteville, New rork Slower Than the IRS ID JOHN RIZZO REVIEW A DIFFER- ent version of MacInTax Deluxe ’98 from the one those of us who bought the product in the open market have (Reviews, March 1999)? When using the Interview mode, the program slows to an unaccept- able level—easily two minutes or longer to launch or close the application, plus additional minutes to switch to each sub- sequent interview entry box—on both G3s and 68040s. Read the comments on Intuit’s own Web site. This is either an example of Intuit’s complete lack of qual- ity assurance or their utter disdain for the Mac market. RICHARD GLANTZ Lexington, Massachusetts Infectious Virex N HIS REVIEW OF VIRUS-PROTEC tion software, Stephan Somogyi mentioned that Norton AntiVirus has a straightforward interface (Reviews, March 1999). I disagree. I tried a demo version of Symantec AntiVirus (now NAV), and I feel that Virex is a much better choice. NAV did the job, but it was very intrusive, and I did not like the interface as much as Virex’s. Virex’s interface is not perfect, but it’s easy to use and understand. I used Virex 5.8.1 for several months, and it did a great job. After two months or so of my using version 5.8.1, Virex revved to version 5.9. I contacted Network Asso- ciates and they sent it to me free! Somogyi complained that Virex did not offer an automatic upgrade feature, but he also noted that this feature for NAV is flawed. Anyone who knows how to use a Web browser can get the free upgrades for Virex via the Web. It sounds like Somogyi’s a NAV fan. I bet he also prefers PCs. ARTIE Riva, Maryland VANS Go beyond the Root EPHAN SOMOGYI’S REVIEW OF the OrangePC 627 overlooks a major software limitation (Reviews, March 1999). You can share a folder from your Mac so that it appears on the PC as a network vol- ume (allowing you to work on the file on both platforms), butyou are limited to the outdated DOS “8.3” file-name conven- tion. Worse, you can use only files located in the root directory of the shared volume! Ltried many fixes, including adding a sec- ond Ethernet card and mounting a trial version of Dave. . The PC will recognize all files and subdirecto- ries on a floppy or an external SCSI device, such as a Zip drive—even files with long names. The only apparent limitation is that sometimes you have to eject and reinsert the disk when switching OSs so that the new OS can recognize changes made to files. Since discovering this, I’ve been quite pleased with my Orange. Of course, it’s still no Mac, but that’s com- paring Apples and Orange: Scort OWENS Gaithersburg, Maryland Orange Micro says it is aware of the file-name and shared-volumes problems, It is planning a 32-bit version of the shared-volumes software, which should fix the problem. In the meantime, Scott's workaround will do the trick —Ed. Microsoft Makes Good ICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER (IE) 4.5 is amazing (“Internet Explor- er Gets Back to Basics,” News, March 1999). Fast, compact, and reliable, it’s such a huge leap over what browsers used to be just a year ago, and a fine piece of software to boot. IE plain cooks on my old Power Mac 7600/132 here at home; at work we continues Sleek, voracious, efficient, smart- and able to kick anybody’s butt in the pond. (No, we're talking about the Intuos graphics tablet system.) Introducing Intuos, The world’s first intelligent graphics tablet system. To create it, we questioned everything, reviewed every datapoint, rethought every purpose and every detail. We started by analyzing professionals who use graphic tablets for hours and days at a time. We wanted to give you every ergonomic advantage, to make every aspect of Intuos effortless, natural and direct, Then we built a totally redesigned pen—one with 1024 pressure levels, more sensitivity and more capability than ever before. And we added an integrated set of precise and expressive instruments, including a cordless mouse that can move in four dimensions, a revolutionary new airbrush and more, The result— the most advanced tablet available. It’s light years beyond other tablets while still delivering the superb quality that has made Wacom the universal choice for professionals worldwide. The Intuos intelligent graphics tablet system. From Wacom. Who else could give you all this? a WACON ee 800.922.2585 or www.wacom.com/sharks (©1995 Wacom Technology Corporation. Wacom is a reastered trademark and Intuos fsa trademark of Wacom Company Ld. Allright reserved. Wacom preducts are avaliable at ComaUSA, Microcente and other fine retall and mailorder reselles nationwide ncludes Bends Panter Classic. No gosh were harmed inthe making of this ad. Choose 84 at www.maeworld.com/getinfo Conquer Disk Damage Introducing DiskWarrior: a (evolutionary new way to restore damaged disks! DiskWarrior is a revolutionary new utility that combats disk damage. It quickly rebuilds, recovers and optimizes your HFS and HFS Plus disk directories, eliminating all directory errors and recovering lost files. Other utilities attempt to repair disks by patching the damage. Patching can result in more damage and permanent loss of files. 1007 Recovery Assurance Only DiskWarrior builds a new optimized directory using data recovered from the damaged directory. You have 100% assurance that DiskWarrior will always restore your disks and recover your files when directory damage is your enemy.* You'll also have 100% confidence that you're getting the desired results. DiskWarrior’s exclusive Preview ability lets you preview the restoration. You can examine your damaged disk in the Finder as it will appear after the directory is restored but before any changes are made to your disk. Routine Maintenance DiskWarrior is your first line of defense against unseen disk damage. Running DiskWarrior regularly prevents small unseen problems from becoming. large ones by keeping your directories error free, You'll also keep your directories optimized to speed up overall disk performance. 101998 Alsot Inc: PO Box 927, Spring. “Texas 77383-0927 USA, 261-393-4090 or fax 281-353-9868, DiskWartior Aitalemark of Alsoft Ine. *Visit our _ Web site o call or reqlterents, DiskWarrioris nota magician, No tality ean restore directories that “Ihave been writen ovr Choose 140 at www.macworld.com/getinfo june 1999 MACWORLD LETTERS run IE 4 on Windows NT and it is terri- ble, an utterly lifeless piece of software. What's going on? Face the facts. Micro- soft the Great is starting to consider the Mac more seriously. Office? Better on the Mac, IE? Better on the Mac. Now all we need is Flight Simulator 5. Jerr BayNarD Baltimore, Maryland How about Banana? FTER READING THE ARTICLE “Flavorful iMacs Debut” (News, March 1999), I realized where Apple got the five new iMac flavors. If you look at the classic Apple logo, starting at the bottom of the apple the stripes are blue, purple, red, orange, yellow, and green. ‘These corre- spond to the flavors blueberry, grape, strawberry, tangerine, and skipping yellow, lime. The only flavor I can think of for yel- low is lemon, and there isno way that Apple is going to call their product a “lemon”! Tom JELMELAND Seal Beach, California Ufyou're craving a splash of yellow with your iMac, check out Contour Design’s (800/462-6678, www .contourdesign.com) banana UniMouse—Ea, Letters should be sent to Letters, Macworld, 301 Howard St., 16th Fl., San Francisco, CA. 94105; via fax, 415/442-0766; or electronically, to letters@ macworld.com. Include a return address and day- time phone number. Due to the high volume of mail received, we can’t respond personally to each letter. We reserve the right to edit all letters. All published letters become the property of M: You can print an entire help topic directly in OS 8.5 by opening the File menu and choosing Print (“On the Trail of Mac OS 8.5,” March 1999). To copy or print | only a selection David Pogue's mn the help text, use Deneba Canvas 6 can apply image adjustments simultaneously on mul- tiple bitmapped objects (Reviews, | Marcb 1999). In March 1999's Quick Tips, the cor- rect name for Joseph C. Lee Company's premade iMac restart gadget is the iMacButton. m IT AIN’T BRAGGING (AT THIS RATE WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO THINK OF SOMETHING ELSE TO CALL THEM BESIDES CRITICS.) OF COURSE, WE’RE ONLY REPEATING WHAT THE EXPERTS ARE SAYING. CAN WE HELP IT IF THEY GO ON AND ON ABOUT OUR REVO- LUTIONARY SPRITELAYER™ TECHNOLOGY AND ITS NEAR MAGICAL ABILITY WITH TRANSPARENCIES? Is IT OUR FAULT THEY’ RE SMITTEN WITH CANVAS 6’S KNACK FOR CUT- AWAYS, VIGNETTES AND COLLAGES? WE'RE STILL BLUSHING OVER THE RAVES FOR ITS SNAZZY CUSTOMIZABLE INTERFACE, IMAGE EDITING AND EASE OF USE. GRANTED, WE COULD HAVE KEPT ALL THIS TO OURSELVES. BUT THEN HUMILITY CAN BE HIGHLY OVERRATED. Reel Se RUE. *COmpating (Freehand, Ilustrator and CorelDraw] directly to Canvas is like comparing apples to, well, the whole basket of fruit...ln the competition of the graphics titans, Canvas 6 is fighting with a unique set of weapons.” Macworld. February, 4999 “SpriteLayer technology is an excellent piece of pro- gramming wizardry. With it, designers can easily experiment with complex graphic ideas that would have been prohibitive cr impossible in any other program.” Digital Design and Production. January/February, 1999 “With its elegant interface, Canvas is a compelling alternative to suite-based solutions that require separate illustration and image editing programs to perform the same functions.” PC Magazine. January, 1999 “..A standalone graphics application that skil- fully integrates its separate components. Canvas 6's price and its range of tools combine to earn it a place on our Winlist.” Windows. March, 1999 “..An integrated, easy-to- use graphics package that’s so sophisticated you're not likely to outgrow it.. We found Canvas 6's transparency tools alone to be worth the upgrade price.” PC Computing, March, 1999 “The hype is well deserved...Canvas 6 features a variety of transparencies that can significantly bump up the oh-lala quotient of your images.” MacAddict. Apri, 1999 “Deneba hhas done what Adobe has refused to do: unify graphics apps..Canvas 6.0's unique ability to combine disciplines will lead the designer down previously inaccessible creative paths...SpriteLayers composite like no other program can.” Maximum PC. January, 999 “Canvas 6's array of new trans- parency tools allows you to create awesome depth and layer- ing in your images — and it does so better than other graphics products on the market today.” MacAddict Maga- Zine, “Canvas continues to deliver a vast scope of graphics tools in one convenient application, and does a remarkable job of breaking down barriers between bitmap and vector graphics.” PC World Online. December 28, 1998 “...No pro- gram comes close to Canvas’s ability to combine vector and bitmapped graphics...Canvas 6's strong integration of text, painting and drawing tools makes it a good one-stop graph- ies application.” Macworld. Match 1999 *ONT1¥079 G3I4INOTGNN WIHiVY SIMs ¥OO7YIAO NIAY “ONENIANY 1SOWTY 04 O1 AGVIH ag 17.n0A GNY ame (ANVAS This ad was created and color Separated using nothing but Canvas 6, vzmated vet rig, dln, Pig ts et cle ph cote Shp de ager. © 9 Oe Stns. Alte dems rete waemas wee poe ele spect wes. intestine er tenor Ameen. Cae Choose 57 at www.macwerld.com/gotinfo STOWINOD 3HL Lv S31NNIM AB4 ¥ * /CTHOMDVN/HOI'V@3N3G"MMM LY 1VI¥L AVG-QE V GYOINMOd UD ‘NOA 4S3yV3N Y3aIVaT "AVGOL 9 SVANVD 40 AdOD YNOA YACHO aHl X© SVANVIQ'QOS'T 11Vv9 {Glos Cohen, C. Cohen Desigat Inc, Fronso, Caray Rendered with Render Works VectorWorks Chases Duncan Pry La DA Bs Bh +" Choose 46 at www.macworld.com/getinfo Vector Works the design process by making it easy to create common design state of the art Object Technology helps streamline elements. Now, Objects like doors, windows, nuts and bolts, can be created and edited with a click of the mouse, making it easy to explore design : aon 4 IM =s alternatives, consider "what if |) = scenarios, and handle last- , op ae minute client changes. pied Ge = —7/ Vector Works offers a solid foundation based on proven CAD technology—giving you the power and flexibility to tackle any design problem. New features such as Workgroup Referencing, DWG (v.14), Round Walls, Multiple Undo/Redo and an improved scripting language, strengthen Vector Works’ core CAD capabilities. And, with RenderWorks, photo-realistic rendering plug-in, you can bring your designs to life JectorWorks’ new with textures, shadows and dramatic lighting. With VectorWorks, you get it all—the flexibility and control of proven CAD technology and the productivity benefits of Object- Based design. VectorWorks ships FREE solutions for Architecture, Landscape Design, DTM and HVAC among others. Best of all, you aren't limited to the solutions we provide. VectorWorks is completely customizable, allowing you to create your own custom business solutions. % Vecier Wis Save $279 by purchasing Vector Works with photorealistic rendering direct for $820 or, without rendering for only $595. Includes FREE Tech Support and a 90-Day Money-Back Guarantee. Diehl Graphsoft Inc Software for Today's Professional INNOVATION ead Where's Sherlock? The Vision Thing by Andrew Gore THE MYSTERY BEHIND A GREAT INTERNET TECHNOLOGY'S STRANGE DISAPPEARANCE T IS A MYSTERY WORTHY of the great detective himself. His namesake, Apple’s Sher- lock, is quite possibly the most easy-to-use search technology available on any platform. Want to find something on the Internet? Type in a simple phrase describing your query and Sherlock will track it down. Sure, lots of search-engine Web sites can find stuff for you. Some even have simple interfaces, although these are few and far between. What makes Sherlock so special is its ability to use al/ these sites to find what you’re looking for. Sherlock is a single interface that encompasses all the varied and diverse search and archival resources on the Web. But despite its obvious power, sim- plicity, and uniqueness, Sherlock itself seems to have vanished. No, not from the Mac OS—you still get the search facility in every copy of OS 8.5. I’m talk- ing about Sherlock’s apparent removal from Apple’s marketing and development plans. Little has been heard from Apple or developers about the technology, with the notable exception of Microsoft, which added a Sherlock button to Inter- net Explorer 4.5 last January. Elementary, My Dear Apple Crime most foul, you say? Let us follow the principles of deductive reasoning used to such great effect by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous sleuth and see if we can ferret out a motive. Could Apple be unaware of the importance of Sherlock? Unlikely. When OS 8.5 first shipped, Sherlock was the key feature the company used to push sales of the upgrade. So, what could have changed? Could Sherlock have lost its luster in Apple’s eyes? Again, unlikely. The company is actually making money off Sherlock every time someone uses it to find some- thing on Amazon.com and then buys that something. Certainly, the potential prof- it can’t be lost on Apple. Perhaps developers are balking. The most likely developer to have a problem with Sherlock would be Microsoft, which built its own search system into Internet Explorer. Yet Microsoft is one of the very few application developers to support Sherlock directly. Once you've eliminated the obvious, whatever remains—no matter how unlikely—must be true. It seems, then, the reason for Sherlock's disappearance must be simple neglect. Apple has had so many bigger fish to fry of late that the company hasn’t had time to give this impressive technology the benefit of its attention. Which is unfortunate, because with proper support, Sherlock could be to the Internet what QuickTime is to digital video—a critical, platform-agnos- tic enabling technology. The Game's Afoot Allow me now to discard the deerstalker cap, because the time for deducing cause and effect is over. There are three things Apple can do to capitalize on Sherlock, taking it from an interesting sideshow to the juggernaut it deserves to be. First, Apple must start marketing Sherlock again—not just as part of OS 8.5 butas part of the Mac itself. We've all seen how Apple emphasizes the iMac’s simplic- ity in its commercials; why not tout the simplicity of finding your way around the Internet using Sherlock? I can picture it now: “Step one, launch Sherlock. Step two, tell Sherlock what you're looking for. Step three . , . there’s no step three!” Second, Apple needs to expand Sher- lock’s bag of tricks with more plug-ins that access more search engines, FTP sites, publication archives, and the like. There should be hundreds of Sherlock plug-ins, not dozens. And before I get letters about how nutty it'll drive you to select from hundreds of plug-ins, I'll add that Apple needs to make Sher- lock smarter, so it can select plug-ins by parsing your query. And while we're at making Sherlock smarter, I'd like to see the intelligence Sherlock uses on searching your Mac’s hard-drive contents expanded to encompass the Internet as well. No mean feat, I know. But right now Sherlock is only as good as the search engines it connects to—and we all know how bad some of those are. Third, Apple must make Sherlock work on Windows. Only when Sherlock is cross- platform can it be truly domi- nant. And in case Apple is worried about losing money by offering Sherlock to Win- dows users, the company should remem- ber the money it can make from referrals. to e-commerce sites, and how many more Windows users there are than Mac users. No climactic battle to end this mys- tery; no unmasking of the evildoer or frus- trating near-capture of Dr. Moriarty. To end the mystery of “Where’s Sherlock?” we must look to Apple for a solution. m Questions? Comments? E-mail them to Andy at visionthing@macworld.com. www.macworld.com June 1999 23 IT TAKES ONLY ONE LITTLE THING TO RUIN AN ENTIRE PRESENTATION. If your reputation hinges on accuracy, consider that Tektronix has been making color printers for more than 15 years. You might also like to know about the Phaser® 780 color printer. It's loaded with color management tools that take the guesswork out of getting what you want. There’s our exclusive PhaserMatch™ ICC software, which allows you to match the output of a specific press, paper, or ink, Want to know how your work is going to look on newsprint? Use one of the newsprint profiles, or create your own using International Color Consortium standards. And it supports ColorSyne, so what you see on your screen is what comes out of your printer. Avoid embarrassment. Call toll-free 1-877-362-6567 ext. 1616. Or visit wwwitektronix.com/Phaser780x1616 Tektronix: 7 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. “inated tne offer expires April 30th, 1999. Price subject to change without notice, Upgrad fot all distributors will be offering t ©1998 MicroMat Computer System, Ine, All rights reserved. reek Ine, Macintosh is a tr istered trademark of Mi uark of Apple Computer, i 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? MicroMat Inc. 800-829-6227 707-837-8012 FAX: 707-837-0209. info@micromat.com www.micromat.com Fix different: SGI aap a etree cr re Sas ea special upgrade GOH CR Ser ver Se Pepe ey epereeete ‘omputer Systems, inc, Norton is: trademark of Symantec, Inc. Choose 46 at www.macworld.com/getinfo Lanny coe JUNE 1495959, Apple Goes Open Source with Mac Server SURPRISE MOVE WILL ACCELERATE MAC OS DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS by Stephen Beale pple has once again surprised the com- puter industry with its recent decision to offer key parts of Mac OS X Server as publicly a able source code. Leaders of the open-source movement have praised Apple as the first major computer company to adopt an open-source strategy —the same approach that’s made the Linux operating system a popular alternative to Windows NT. But what does this mean for Mac users and future versions of the Mac OS? Plenty, Apple says. “Tt’s as if we had hired a huge bunch of programmers for free,” asserts Ernie Prab- hakar, Apple’s product man- ager for Mac OS X Server. “We'll have a final product with better performance and new features.” How It Works Apple has created a subset of Mac OS X Server called Darwin that includes Apple’s versions of the Mach microkernel, the Berkeley Systems Distrib- ution (BSD) 4.4 version of Unix, the Apache Web server, and such Mac-specific tech- nologies as AppleTalk and the HEFS+ file system (see “What's in Mac OS X Server”). Apple has posted the Darwin source code (the underlying pro- gramming commands) on its Web site. Developers who agree to Apple's license agree- ment can download the source code, modify it, and include it in their own prod- ucts. They don’t have to pay royalties or license fees, but they do have to make their source-code modifications publicly available. Apple is then free to incorporate any changes into future versions of Mac OS X Server—and Mac OS X, which uses the same Darwin components. Apple plans to release Mac OS X, its next- generation client operating system, later this year. There are other benefits as well. Developers of G3 accelerators for older Macs could theoretically use Dar- win to create drivers that would allow those Macs to run Mac OS X, which other- wise requires an Apple G3 Mac. Large Apple customers, especially universities, are now free to customize Mac OS X Server for their own needs. Developers who might otherwise turn to generic ver- sions of Mach 2.5, Apache, and BSD 4.4 Unix—all avail- www.macworld.com June 1999 27 What's in Mac OS X Server MAC OS X SERVER, WHICH APPLE began shipping in March, repre- sents the company’s first serious foray into the corporate server market. Apple hopes that the product will be a major player in the market for hardware-software server configurations that sell for less than $5,000. The server also provides an early look at the mod- ern OS technologies you'll find in Mac OS X, the next-generation client operating system slated for release later this year. Mac OS X Server includes Apple-modified versions of the Mach 2.5 microkernel—a Unix- based OS core originally devel- oped at Camegie-Mellon Univer- sity—and the Berkeley Systems Distribution (BSD) 4.4 version of Unix, a popular variant of the Unix operating system. Mach and BSD 4.4, along with the Apache Web server and such Apple tech- nologies as AppleTalk and HFS+, form the basis for Darwin, which Apple is giving away to develop- ers under an open-source strategy (see “Apple Goes Open Source with Mac Server"). Beyond the components in Darwin, Mac OS X Server also includes Apple file services; WebObjects 4.01, Apple's high- end Web production software; and NetBoot, which allows client ‘Macs to boot off the server (see “Apple Introduces OS X Server,” News, April 1999). Although based on Unix, the server has a Mac-like user interface that Dar- win will not include. A software-only version of Mac OS X Server sells for $499; Apple originally announced that the price would be $995, Apple also offers a $4,999 version bundled with a 400MHz Power Mac G3. The latter includes 256MB of memory, two 9GB hard drives, and a four-port Ethernet hub. Apple's targeted customers include small businesses that are hoping to establish a cost-effec- tive Web presence and educa- tion customers looking for an inexpensive and easy way to administer Mac-based networks. Competitors in this space include PC vendors, such as Dell and Compaq, that bundle their hard- ware with Windows NT, Net- ware, or Linux server software. Low-end configurations of Sun Microsystems’ Solaris servers also compete for small-business customers, although these sys- tems typically sell for more than $5,000.—STEPHEN BEALE able currently as open-source software—will have a chance to work with Apple's versions of these components. The move also makes Mac OS X Server a more viable competitor with Linux, the best-known open-source software. After all, it’s hard to compete with a free product unless yours is also available in a free version. Darwin's Limits Although it is a fully functional modern operating system, Darwin lacks some of the differentiat- ing features in Mac OS X Server, including NetBoot, which allows Mac clients to boot from a server partition 28 June 1999 MACWORLD (see “Apple Introduces OS X Server,” News, April 1999). Darwin also lacks a graphical user interface, but developers could theoretically port one of several freely available Linux windowing environ- ments to the new OS. Apple interim CEO Steve Jobs says the company could move other Apple technologies to open source, but he has not announced specific plans. Developers are free to modify Darwin in any way they choose. They can also create versions for Intel processors or other chips. But there's no guarantee the modified soft- ware will even run ona Mac. [ News Plugging Into InDesign FORTHCOMING UTILITIES EXTEND ADOBE'S PAGE- LAYOUT SOFTWARE by Stephen Beale ne strength of Adobe's new InDesign soft- ware is its extensi- bility. It implements even many built-in features, such as the toolbox, as InDesign plug-ins, One developer, a new company called PowrTools, says that with InDesign’s flexible archi- tecture, plug-in vendors can make the page-layout pro- gram “sit up and beg.” PowrTools (604/649-7560, www.powrtools.com) is one of several companies that say they will ship InDesign plug- ins shortly after the host pro- gram’s expected summer release. PowrTable, the first in a planned series of Powr- Tools utilities, will let you create text tables for use in InDesign documents. Also in the works: Mapsoft (www.mapsoft .com) has announced Sherpa for Adobe InDesign, a plug- in that permits the creation of Adobe Acrobat PDF files that include links, bookmarks, forms, action handlers, and other interactive features. ShadeTree Marketing (800/678-8848, www -borderguys.com) says it will offer an InDesign version of Fraemz, a program that lets you apply one of 404 high- resolution borders to text and picture boxes in In- Design documents. The pro- gram also features a drop- shadow function. Virginia Systems (804/739- 3200, www.virginiasystems .com) announced an InDesign version of Sonar Bookends, a $195 indexing utility. You can index books that span multiple documents, auto- matically reverse first and last names, and sort single-level or multilevel word lists. Enfocus (888/363-6287, www.enfocus.com) says it will PDF Check-Up 150 preflight- ing program that inspects PDF files saved in InDesign for conditions likely to cause output problems. Em Software (740/264- 0583, www.emsoftware.com) announced InDesign ver- sions of its database publish- ing plug-ins. Em’s InData automatically formats data- base or spreadsheet informa- tion for use in catalogs, directories, and other struc- tured publications. InCata- log creates hot links between a product database and In- Design document so that changes in one automatically update in the other. A Lowly Apprentice Pro- duction (888/818-5790, www .alap.com) announced that it will develop InDesign ver- sions of ShadowCaster, a QuarkXTension for generat- ing shadow effects, and Xpert Tools, a set of page-layout productivity aids. LizardTech (888/320- 9969, www. dtech.com) announced that it will offer an InDesign plug-in that lets you compress image files using the company’s Multiresolu- tion Seamless Image Database (MrSID) format. The com- pany ys that MrSID, which wavelet compr technology developed for the federal government, offers a 30:1 compression ratio with minimal loss of image qual- ity. LizardTech will provide the plug-in as part of a suite of publishing tools and plans to include it in the InDesign package. Other developers, includ- ing several vendors of Quark- XTensions, are less certain of their plans. Extensis (800/ 796-9798, www.extensis.com) promises that its Preflight Pro preflighting software will work with InDesign files, but says it plans to hold off on developing InDesign plug- ins until the program gains some significant market share. Markzware (800/300-3532, www .markzware.com), Vision’s Edge (800/983-6337, www.visionsedge.com), and DK&A (888/488-8118, www .dka.com) say they plan to offer InDesign plug-ins. How- ever, they have not announced any specific product plans or timetables. Corel Readies Dual Software Upgrades FACE-LIFTS FOR PHOTO- PAINT AND CORELDRAW by Macworld Staff orel (800/772-6735, www.corel.com), con- tinuing its efforts to gain a foothold in the Mac graphics market, is preparing upgrades to Corel- Draw, its flagship illustration program, and Photo-Paint, an image-editing package that competes with Adobe Photo- shop. Corel has been preview- ing CorelDraw 9 and Photo- Paint 9 for Windows. PR director Susan Gauthier says the company expects to ship Mac upgrades with identical features by the end of the year. Both upgrades will fea- ture interface refinements, new color-management fea- tures, and enhanced export functions. For example, you'll be able to export Adobe Acro- bat PDF files using custom settings or one of three default styles: PDF for Pre- press, PDF for Web, and PDF for Document Distribu- tion. CorelDraw will give you the additional option of including fonts or converting text into curves as you export the document. New color-management features in each program will let you include ICC color pro- files in PDE, TIFF, and EPS files. You'll also be able to extract profiles from images in which they've been embedded. Each program features a miniature preview dialog box for quick print previews and a preflight warning function that notifies you if problems arise. Expect new drawing func- tions in CorelDraw 9, includ- ing a natural-media drawing tool and a multipoint mesh fill tool. Photo-Paint 9 adds import and export of Quick- Time 3 movies, automated image-slicing for Web graph- ics, and a Contact Sheet wizard that produces a Web page of thumbnail images hyperlinked to the original photos. Updates for Eight Mean- while, Corel has released free updates of CorelDraw 8 and Photo-Paint 8 for Mac, featur- ing bug-fixes, performance enhancements, improved com- patibility with Mac apps, and support for double-byte fonts. The 8.02 updates include a utility for creating profiles of a service bureau's equipment, abilities, and file requirements. Photo-Paint 8.02 also directly supports TWAIN plug-ins. Epson, Ricoh Debut Color Laser Printers EPSON COLORPAGE 8000 FEATURES EFI FIERY RIP by Macworld Staff icoh (800/955-3453, www.ricoh-usa.com) is an established vendor of digital color copiers and Epson America (800/463-7766, http:// prographics.epson.com) is well known for its color ink-jet printers. Now both are moving in new directions by offering their first color laser printers, Ricoh has introduced a pair of color lasers. The $2,395 AP204, scheduled to ship by the time you read this, features 600-dpi resolu- tion, a PostScript-clone con- troller, and a maximum color print speed of 4 pages per minute, It handles letter-size pages in its standard sheet input tray, but you can also print on legal-size stocks by adding an optional second cassette. This May, Ricoh plans to ship the tabloid-for- mat AP305. Pricing has not been set. Epson’s ColorPage 8000 uses the same 600-dpi tabloid- format printing engine found in recently introduced color laser printers from QMS and Tektronix. However, while those printers use built-in controllers, the ColorPage continues Canon Returns to the Mac WELCOME BACK, CANON. THE COMPANY THAT DEVEL- oped the ink-jet engines for the Color StyleWriter 2500 and other Apple printers has returned to the Mac market with the BJC-6000, an ink-jet printer with an optional interface for USB-equipped Macs. Canon (800/652-2666, www.usa .canon.com) claims that the BJC-6000 is its fastest inl printer ever, producing up to 5 color pages or 8 monochrome pages per minute. The printer offers maximum resolution of 4,440 by 720 dpi and uses individual tanks for each color, so you don’t have to replace all the CMYK inks when one runs out. The $249 printer requires a $69 USB adapter to work with a Mac. Canon offers an optional $43 Photo Ink cartridge for producing photo-quality prints.—MICHAEL GOWAN www.macworld.com June 1999 29 Product WATCH Acrobat Additions Several ‘companies have joined Adobe Sys- tems’ Acrobat act with new plug- ins. Enfocus Software’s (888/363- 6287, wwwenfocus.com) $295 Pitstop 4.0 performs preflight checks and lets you edit text and ‘objects in PDF files. Quite a Box of Tricks, a $205 PDF utility suite from Quite Software (www.quite .com), features enhanced RGB-to- CMYK conversion and image- reduction features. The company's Quite Imposing Plus, a $599 imposition program, takes advan- tage of Acrobat's new maximum page size, 200 by 200 inches. Animated Features Animators can forgo ink and paper with Linker Systems’ (949/552-1904, wwwalinkercom) $5,000 Anima- tion Stand Pro 4,0. New features in the cel-based 2-D animation soft- ware include automatic color cor- rection and support for combined simultaneous moves and effects. Unplugged Now you can use Adobe Photoshop plug-ins even if you don't have Photoshop. Ver- tigo Software's (604/684-2113, www.vertigo3d.com) $39 Adver- tizer Web-graphics utility lets you create banners by importing an image and applying Photoshop plug-in effects. Direct Savings Looking for a new screen saver? Create your ‘own with CinéMac 1.5. This $299 Macromedia Director Xtra from MacSourcery (800/622-7723, ‘www.macsourcery.com) converts Director 7 files to screen savers. —EDITED BY MICHAEL GOWAN Ricoh's $2,395 AP204 prints at 600 dpi on letter-size pages. includes an external EFI Fiery print server with built- in PostScript 3, networking, and color-management capa- bilities. Epson will offer the printer exclusively through Ikon Office Solutions (610/ 296-8000, www.ikon.com). ‘The printer and Fiery server together will sell for just under $10,000. Color Profiles for the Masses NEW PROGRAMS MAKE IT EASIER TO CREATE YOUR OWN DEVICE PROFILES by Stephen Beale oftware developers are seeking to demystify the arcane science of color management by introducing inexpen- sive products that make it easy to create your own color- device profiles. These pro- files, designed for use with Apple ColorSyne and other color-management systems, provide information about the color-reproduction character- istics of specific monitors, scanners, and printers. / News Monaco Systems (978/749-9944, www -monacosys .com) has introduced MonacoEZcolor, a $299 profiling pack- age that’s also bundled with Epson’s Expression 800 flat- bed scanner as MonacoProfiler Lite. ‘To create a scanner profile, you simply scan a standard IT8 target; the program analyzes the scanned color values and compares them with the known values in the target to determine the scanner’s color characteristics. Creating a printer profile is a little more complicated: you print a page from the pro- gram that includes a set of color swatches in the upper half, then you attach the same IT8 target to the bottom half and scan the page. You can profile monitors by adjusting a series of on-screen images; the program also accepts data from Monaco’s $199 Monaco- Sensor, a hardware device that measures the actual colors that the monitor produces. Color Solutions (760/436- 6593, www.color.com) has introduced ColorBlind Prove- It, a monitor-profiling package for local area networks. In addition to creating monitor profiles, you can use the pro- gram to view the color charac- teristics of any monitor on the network. A software-only ver- sion will sell for less than $50; a version with a monitor sen- sor will set you back $299. Color Solutions also offers a $999 package called Color- Blind Matchbox that combines a colorimeter with color-pro- filing software for scanners, monitors, and printers. ProfileEditor from Color Partnership (800/554-8688, www.colorparmership.com) is a $245 program that lets you create profiles for printers and other output devices by visu- ally comparing a printed sam- ple image with one displayed on a calibrated monitor. You adjust the on-screen display to match the print, and the pro- gram generates a profile. Hexachrome Help It’s not a color-management product, but Pantone’s (888/726-8663, www.pantone.com) new $129 HexVector plug-in for Adobe Illustrator makes it easier to match spot colors by giving Illustrator users access to the company’s Hexachrome sys- tem. Macromedia FreeHand already offers built-in Hexa- chrome support. In any print job there are two ways to specify a spot color: you can simulate it using CMYK process colors, or produce an extra plate for the spot-color ink. The for- mer makes it difficult to get an exact color match, but the latter is typically more expen- sive and cumbersome. Pan- tone says that Hexachrome, which uses six process colors rather than the standard four, can accurately reproduce 95 percent of Pantone Matching System colors, compared with about 50 percent in CMYK. Certification Setting up a reliable color-management system, especially in a high- volume production environ- ment, can still be a challenge. The Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (800/910-4283, www.gatf.org), a nonprofit trade group, has teamed with Apple Computer to provide a certification program for color-management specialists. To be certified, printing companies and service bureaus must pay a fee and pass a one- day audit in which they show proficiency in using a Color- Sync-based color-management system. The foundation says certified companies will be well positioned to help customers by educating them about color management and_ providing customized device profiles. one/fax recosnition | EDITORS Lad CHOICE 1 — 4h LOBAL VILLAGE Choose 61 at www.macworld.com/getinfo vailable at Mac dealers nati Elaine Lau TECHNICAL SUPPORT REPRESENTATIVE Mark Vappi SOFTWARE DEVELOPENT MANAGER iy | ae ila = = Tara Rolfe eal “, ash abe i " 1 kf dest, onl ep ised ops, tg U.P £m. nd is my ber ens. Tb eu oe ideal Our, td lege lited canaries. al her weds cts poate heiceipcive owes, 36026AD) IN the 0 “Features” tike Mark, Elaine, and Tara — just three of the people who are as much at the core of QuarkXPress” 4.0 QuarkXPress. [qj as the text to box and long-document features. Whether it’s filling your order, working with you on technical issues, or reviewing your ideas for future versions, they stay focused on you because you are key to the success of QuarkXPress. ano QuarkXPress 4.0 can help you create successful, exciting, and effective pieces that deliver your message with impact, from the simplest brochure to the most complex catalogs and magazines. That’s why over 2 million QuarkXPress users in a variety of industries would never even consider the idea of publishing with anything else. We want to hear from you. Call us at (800) 995.4343 with questions, comments, and ideas. (800) 676.4575 | http://www.quark.com foruparades | fora list of resellers, product information, and to download updaters ; Palm V PALMTOP NOW MORE MAC-LIKE THAN EVER ONSIDER THE SIMILARITIES between the PalmPilot, the smash- hit pocket computer, and the Mac- intosh: both devices are based on a Motorola chip, they have nearly identical user interfaces, and both reflect an obsession with simplicity and intelli- gent design. Even the designers are the same—60 percent of Palm Computing’s employees once worked at Apple. And yet for the first years of the PalmPilot’s exis- tence, its connections to the Mac were crude at best. Almost overnight, everything has changed. With the release of 3Com/Palm Computing’s long-awaited MacPac 2 (see the sidebar), at last we can heartily rec- ommend the PalmPilot as a Macintosh peripheral. An explosion of third-party software conduits connects all kinds of Mac data—FileMaker, Microsoft Word and Excel, and Intuit Quicken docu- ments, plus your calendar and address- book information—to the PalmPilot with the press of a button. And 3Com/Palm Computing has released a pair of new models: the Palm IIIx and the ultrachic Palm V, whose sleek, sculpted, heat- blasted aluminum case seems inspired by the same curvy coolness factor as Apple’s own recent models. Style Statement ‘The stunning-looking Palm V represents a pure hardware makeover—it’s slightly shorter and narrower than previous mod- els, and much thinner and lighter (0.4 inches thick, 3.8 ounces). This shrinkage makes it even likelier that you'll carry the Palm V with you. The palmrop’s superthin profile hints at the next big change: this is the first model not powered by AAA batteries. Instead, a Lilon battery drives it; the bat- tery gets recharged whenever the Palm V sits in its new, AC-powered HotSync cradle. One charge lasts approximately a month, a complete drained-to-full charge takes 90 minutes, and just one HotSyne (two-way update) a day is enough to keep the Palm V fully charged, according to the company. This new battery scheme is arguably better for both the environ- ment and your battery budget. It also means that you can leave the Palm V turned on all day as it sits in its cradle, displaying your schedule, a clock, or even a family photo. On the other hand, since the device now draws power through its sole con- nector—its HotSync jack—no existing add-ons fit the Palm V. All Palm periph- erals must be redesigned, including the REAL PRODUCTS REAL RATINGS Reviews you can trust: Macworld rates only final shipping products, not prototypes. What we review is what you can actually buy. OUTSTANDING: $6968 VERY GooD: $$8% Goon: 68% FLAWED: $$ UNACCEPTABLE: § 34 June 1999 MACWORLD Delorme Tripmate (a GPS satellite receiver) and LandWare’s GoType portable PalmPilot keyboard (the company has already announced a Palm V-compatible version). Nor will Palm’s own snap-on Palm modem fit the Palm V; you'll have to buy the sleek new $170 Palm V clip-on modem. (A $50 travel kit, featuring a recharging cord that doesn’t require the cradle, is also available.) The Palm V’s other dramatic new fea- ture is its razor-sharp screen. Based on a new film technology from 3M, it provides a light yellow-green background for text and graphics, which seem to float on the glass’s surface. (PalmPilot fans who clamor for a color screen should note the cautionary tale of the new color Windows CE palmtops, whose batteries die after only eight hours of use. Compare that with two months for the Palm IIIx and one month for the Palm V.) Unfortu- nately, both the Palm V and the Palm IIIx do something bizarre when you turn on the backlighting: rather than simply light- ing up, Indiglo-like, as on previous mod- els, the entire screen also inverts black and white. The effect is disconcerting and not necessarily more readable than the original scheme. 3Com has solved the contrast-knob problem at last. On the original PalmPilot models, it was all too easy to bump off this knob in your pocket; the Palm IIT recessed the knob so deeply it was almost inaccessible. On the Palm V, you press a physical button to summon an on-screen contrast slider—a great improvement. The rest of the Palm V story involves low-key touches; there’s now a stylus slot on both sides of the device, a nod to left-handed users. (The Palm V includes a leatherette screen cover; one edge slides into the unused stylus slot as a hinge.) And 3Com/Palm Computing sells a line of Palm V accessories, includ- ing a combination stylus-ink pen and a head-turning, brushed-aluminum hard case (this prevents accidental button- pressing in your pocket, which the leather flap often fails to prevent). Less Flashy Sibling Although the Palm V is remarkably beau- tiful, it also costs $80 more than its pre- decessor, the Palm III, and doesn’t add features or memory. (On the other hand, the Palm V's 2MB go a long way; a typi- cal Palm program is under 20K.) The less flashy but more practical buy is the Palm MacPac 2 REBORN PIM SYNCS WITH PALMS HE LONG-AWAITED PALM- compatible version of Claris Organizer, which 3Com acquired from Apple last year, is here at last. Like Organizer, 3Com/Palm Computing’s MacPac 2 combines an easy- to-use scheduler and contact manager in one convenient package—but it can also share data with Palm organizers. Full Calendar MacPac 2's multiday view shows banners and appointments on top, to-do's below. You can access MacPac’s datebook views from the tool bar or by clicking on tabs in the calendar window. Sched- ule items include timed appointments, banner events, and to-do’s (although there’s no place to describe events). The contact manager sports all the custom- ary data-entry aids and supports popular formats for printing envelopes and labels. An optional Instant Desktop IIx (686%; $369 list price). This model is nearly identical to the Palm III but sports twice the memory, a screen almost as good as the Palm V’s, an expansion slot, and a more rugged circuit-board design, (The budget-conscious should also note that the Palm IIIx pushes the previous model, the Palm III, down to well below $300 and the two-year-old PalmPilot models to less than $200.) Neither new model introduces any software changes. Skeptics may grumble, but there’s much to admire about a company that refuses to pile new fea- tures, Microsoft-like, on a machine popular for its speed, simplicity, and elegance. Furthermore, remember that the Palm III, IIx, and V are flahh-ROM upgradable—in other words, when 3Com does decide to update the software, menu lists your favorite contacts’ names and phone numbers, along with the cur- rent day’s events and tasks. MacPac is an excellent stand-alone PIM, but its real strength is its ability to share data with Palm organizers. On the plus side, 3Com has done an admirable job of writing fast, reliable conduits to handle the flow of data to and from the Palm hardware. But if you’re expecting the desktop software to mirror the data on your organizer faithfully, you may be disappointed. For example, untimed events that repeat daily, weekly, or monthly don’t transfer from the Palm to the desktop. Even more annoying, notes linked to calendar items on the Mac lose their attachments when you transfer them to the Palm. Macworld's Buying Advice MacPac 2 will probably satisfy most Palm users. But if you find the inconsistencies between the desktop and the palmtop frustrating, try Chronos’s $50 Consultant (see Reviews, April 1999)—it syncs with Palm organizers and lets users share con- tact and schedule data.—rranktin Tesster RATING: $$ PROS: Syncs reliably with Palm devices. CONS: Desktop software doesn't always mirror data on Palm. COMPANY: 3Com/ Palm Computing (800/881-7256, www.palm .com), LIST PRICE: Free for download; on CD, with adapter cable, $15. you'll be able to do so by downloading a software updater to your Macintosh. Macworld’s Buying Advice The Palm V is the StarTac phone or Mont Blanc pen of pocket electronics; the Palm IIIx is the rugged workhorse. Both new models represent careful, welcome improvements to one of the most beauti- fully conceived pieces of electronics since the Macintosh itself—pavio pocue RATING: 886 PROS: Gorgeous, slender case design; outstanding new screen technology; rechargeable batteries. CONS: Expensive; incom- patible with existing add-ons. COMPANY: 3Com/Palm Computing (800/881-7256, www -palm.com). LIST PRICE: $449, t www.macworld.com June 1999 35 form-Z 3.0 [Reviews INDUSTRIAL-STRENGTH 3-D MODELING UTO-DES-SYS’S FORM-Z, WITH its strong feature set and range of geometry-creation capabili- ties, has long been the high-end modeling package to beat on the Macintosh. Version 3.0.2 expands form-Z’s modeling prowess in both obvious and subtle ways, and it offers (at a price) an improved renderer that deliv- ers a degree of realism not previously attainable without a separate rendering program. It’s not designed to appeal to the 3-D novice, but the many enhance- ments will please advanced users. A Better Modeling Model form-Z’s forte has always been 3-D model- ing, and this revision brings a variety of enhancements to the drafting table. Unlike Radiant RadioZity With the optional RadioZity rendering module, form-Z 3.0 can simulate real-world lighting conditions and pro- duce exquisitely realistic scenes. previous versions, form-Z 3.0 supports true NURBS (nonuniform rational B-spline) objects. In addition, the program now lets you mix and match editing modes regard less of how the objects were created—for example, you can easily convert a cylindri- | shape created as a basic primitive into a NURBS or patch object (one that can be broken into nonuniform constituent chunks). Version 3.0 supports the full range of patch operations, including custom sub- divisions and attaching and. stitching patches. Spline handling has also been beefed up with B-splines and quadratic and cubic Bézier splines for creating complex shapes. These major improvements— 36 June 1999 MACWORLD combined with an already potent variety of modeling tools—solidify form-Z’s position as the most capable 3-D modeling package for the Macintosh. Some of the more subtle improve- ments in the modeling realm include support for skinning between sources that have different numbers of vertex points and the ability to preview the expanded alignment options—for example, you can select different alignment modes for a set of selected objects, and form-Z interactively displays the objects with the selected alignment settings. The new hierarchical layering and manipulation features are tremendously useful for editing and managing complex objects made up of many smaller parts. Version 3.0’s interface, although it still takes some effort to mas- ter, is more intuitive for the production-minded 3-D artist and a bit more approachable for new users. For example, it’s more customizable; you can edit the core tool palettes to display only the items you use the most, and arrange tools in any combination. The new Options palette displays most of a selected object’s vital sta- tistics—a simple task that required bringing up a dialog box in previous versions—and lets you edit object parameters. Overall, this version seems more accessible than previous ones, even though learning the program still requires a substantial invest- ment of time and effort. Pictures at an Exhibition In the rendering arena, form-Z’s improve- ments include new shaders for rendering snow, fog, and volumetric lighting—wel- come additions for architectural applica- tions. An optional module, RadioZity, offers strikingly realistic radiosity render- ing (which simulates light energy in a scene, resulting in much more realistic shadow and color detail than ray tracing can offer). If you need ray-tracing capa- bilities, you have to purchase the Render- Zone module. It’s also important to note that RadioZity, while delivering very high rendering quality, is simply not fast énough for even the most basic camera animation—for example, flying around a building that is illuminated by more than a couple of light sources would take an inordinate amount of time to render. This is not a limitation of form-Z or RadioZity’s implementation of radiosity rendering; the complex calculations that radiosity requires are simply too much for anything more complicated than a still image frame. Although objects and scenes are usually best exported to a separate ani- mation program (such as Electric Image’s Electriclmage), form-Z now offers basic tools for animating the cam- era ina scene. These tools allow you to create fly-throughs of 3-D scenarios and form-Z documents. Unfortunately, because you can’t do anything more complex (such as moving the actual objects in a scene), you still need an external animation program for anything but the simplest tasks. This requirement is a drawback for anyone seeking a one-stop solution for 3-D animation; on the other hand, form-Z’s intended audience is clearly more inter- ested in industrial-strength modeling than in advanced animation. But the rel- atively high price of the rendering options, combined with form-Z’s limited animation controls, still force serious users to buy a separate rendering and animation program—not an attractive option for those on a budget. Macworld's Buying Advice form-Z remains the most powerful, flexible 3-D modeler for the Macintosh. Although better object animation would have been welcome, form-Z has never been billed as an animation package. The bottom line: if you can’t model something in form-Z, chances are you can’t model it ona Macintosh.—pavio sieony RATING: $$9$% PROS: Useful additions to modeler; true NURBS support; customizable inter- face; enhanced scene-organization tools. CONS: Animation limited to camera movement; expen- sive rendering options. COMPANY: auto-des-sys (614/488-8838, www-formz.com). LIST PRICE $1,495; with RenderZone, $1,995; with Radio- Zity and RenderZone, $2,390. Accounting Software - NEW OPTIONS FOR SMALL-BUSINESS ACCOUNTING significant changes in the accounting-software landscape: Intuit stopped developing Quick- Books for the Mac, Peachtree Accounting resurfaced as Aatrix Account- ing, and BestWare updated M.Y.O.B. Accounting Plus with time-billing sup- port and links to Microsoft Office 98. Both Aatrix Accounting 3.0 and M.Y.O.B. Accounting Plus 8.0 do a cred- itable job of shielding users from the mys- teries of double-entry accounting while offering the essential components of a small-business accounting system. How- ever, M.Y.O.B.’s additional features and better stability make it a smarter choice for most small businesses. Getting Started Both programs give you a sample com- pany file to experiment with before com- mitting your financial data. To speed the setup process, M.Y.O.B. uses wizards that help you select and modify a chart of accounts; enter vendor, customer, and employee contact information and histor- ical data; choose a default invoice and purchase-order form; and customize the program’s operation. Aatrix Accounting also uses a wizard to collect basic information and create your chart of accounts, although you have fewer sample companies to choose from. As you enter your setup information, an on-screen checklist reminds you of the incomplete tasks. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get check marks to appear for the completed sections. Perhaps because Aatrix isn’t as fea- ture-rich as M.Y.O.B., ier to use for basic operations such as paying bills and recording receipts. You can quickly select an activity from the hierarchical pop-ups at the bottom of the screen; to enter a vendor code, customer code, or account identifier, you double-click on the field or click on the magnifying-glass icon, Ever-present Smart Guides display field-related help information. And while the online tutorial needs updating (it still refers to Peachtree Accounting), the Help file does contain an excellent introduction to double-entry accounting. M.Y.O.B. has a more polished inter- face and a more professional-looking ma ual. You select operations from a graphic, hierarchical interface similar to Aatrix Accounting’s (see “Selecting Activities tomizing reports and forms, on the other hand, is reminiscent of DOS accounting programs. Few users will have the patience to do more than add a logo to their forms. M.Y.O.B. is designed for multiple users; you just buy a license for each workstation you want to add. Although you can run Aatrix Accounting in a multi- user environment, the company says it’s too slow to be used that way. In either program, you can set pass- words that allow access to the entire package or only to cer- tain functions or modules. Each program has a back- up command to safeguard your data files, Unfortunately, ‘Aatrix’s backup procedure repeatedly crashed our test machine, even after a clean install of OS 8.1; backups had to be restored manually. (The Selecting Activities However, many seemingly simple opera- tions force you to search through the man- ual and the myriad of help systems; I fre- quently found myself looking in the wrong sections of the program for previously entered data. Even the method of display- ing code lists takes getting used to. For example, to view a list of vendor or account codes, you must tab out of the field. M.Y.O.B.’s new support for time- billing accounting will make it attractive to service-oriented businesses. You define activities that are billed according to an employee's hourly rate, a customer-spe- cific rate, or an activity rate. And you track work in progress with activity slips; times can be filled in by hand or by click- ing on the slip’s timer button. Reports, Forms, and Security Both programs offer many standard reports, along with customizable forms, that you can view on screen or print. Here, M.Y.O.B. is clearly superior. You can easily change the order of the fields, which fields appear in a report, and the fields’ formatting. You can customize forms by dragging or resizing fields and pasting graphics from the Clipboard. Ver- sion 8 can also export data to Microsoft Office 98—a feature previously available only to Windows users. Aatrix Accounting’s approach to cus- To select activities in M.Y.0.8. Accounting Plus 8.0, you click on buttons in the hierarchical interface; drop- down menus list reports and other advanced features. company is aware of the prob- lem and says it affects only users of certain versions of the OS prior to 8.5.) Macworld's Buying Advice Of the two programs, M.Y.O.B. Account- ing Plus 8.0 is clearly the more polished, evolved, and feature rich; Aatrix Account- ing 3.0, although easy to learn and use, has stability problems and lacks time-billing and multiuser features. Regardless of which program you choose, nonaccountants should expect to seek professional assistance when getting started and plan ona relatively long learning period. —sreven schwartz Aatrix Accounting 3.0 RATING: $$ 7/2: PROS: Choosing modules and entering data is easy. CONS: Complicated report writer and forms customization; frequent crashes; doesn’t support multiple users. COMPANY: Aatrix Software (800/426-0854, www.aatrix com). LIST PRICE: $169. M.Y.0.B. Accounting Plus 8.0 RATING: $$$ PROS: Excellent setup routine; time-billing support; links to Microsoft Office; multiuser ready. CONS: Difficult to learn; confus- ing help system. COMPANY: BestWare (800/ 322-6962, www.bestware.com). LIST PRICE: $199, plus $99 per workstation license. www.macworld.com June 1999 37 | Reviews Epson Stylus Color 900 INK-JET PRINTER BREAKS THE SPEED BARRIER ACK IN APPLE'S DARKEST DAYS, Epson was the only major manu- facturer of ink-jet printers for the Mac. Now that Apple is healthy again, Hewlett-Packard and Canon are moving into Epson’s territory with new Mac-based ink-jet models. But Epson isn’t resting on its Mac laurels; the company’s new $449 Stylus Color 900 offers unprecedented speed and print quality with an added bonus—it works with older Macs that have serial ports, in addition to the new USB-equipped Power Mac G3 systems. Speed Demon ‘Two features distinguish the Stylus Color 900 from its predecessor, the Stylus Color 850: speed and image quality. the Stylus Color 900 is its fastest ink-jet printer; Maeworld Lab tests show that while it doesn’t quite match the rated 10- ppm print speed, it’s a speed demon at lower resolutions. We produced a variety of sample prints on both plain and photo-quality paper, at 180 by 180 dpi, 360 by 360 dpi, and 720 by 1,440 dpi. One unusual aspect of the printer is that its speed is nearly identical at 180 dpi and 360 dpi: an ISMB Adobe Photoshop image took 50 seconds to print at the lower resolu- tion and 55 seconds at the higher set- ting. When we switched to the 360-dpi fine mode—which offers better image quality—the same file printed in about 75 seconds. We saw similar results when print- ing a seven-page QuarkXPress docu- ment: it took 98 seconds to print at 360 dpi in normal mode and nearly 4 minutes at 360 dpi in fine mode. However, the printer slows considerably at its maxi- mum resolution of 1,440 by 760 dpi: the Photoshop file printed in about 10.5 minutes, while the QuarkXPress docu- ment took nearly an hour. Variable Dots Epson has boosted the printer’s image quality by reducing the minimum ink- drop size to 3 picoliters, compared with 11 picoliters in the Stylus Color 850 and 6 in the more recent Stylus Color 740 (see 38 June 1999 MACWORLD Reviews, January 1999). The smaller drop size allows the Stylus Color 900 to gener- ate variable-size dots for sharper edges and enhanced photo quality. Although it’s a four-color printer, the Stylus Color 900 produces photographic images whose quality appears to equal or exceed that of images printed on the six- color Stylus Photo 700. Even printed at 360 dpi on plain paper, images looked very good. Printed at full resolution on photo-quality glossy paper, the images were spectacular (although one sample photo in our test suite appeared a bit dark when we used the default settings). Text, line art, and photos all showed sharp edge detail, and text printed on plain paper was virtually indistinguishable from laser- printer output. Thanks to the smaller drop size in the Stylus Color 900, you'll see the biggest difference in photos with lots of fine detail. With softer images, you won’t see as much difference between the Stylus Color 900 and the Stylus Color 740 (which also uses variable-dot printing). The printer uses two ink cartridges, one for black ($33) and the other for cyan, magenta, and yellow ($40). Epson says the black cartridge is good for 840 pages— assuming 5 percent coverage at 360 dpi— while the color cartridge produces 570 pages at the same resolution. This works out to less than 4 cents per page for black and about 7 cents for color—quite rea- sonable for an ink-jet printer. However, with a three-color cartridge, you have to replace the entire unit if even one color runs out. Flexible Bundle Epson ships the printer with its standard driver software, which includes tools for adjusting output and checking the print- er’s operating status. You can reposition output on the page; bump cyan, magenta, and yellow channels up or down using a curves function; and check the ink level in each cartridge. The driver automati- cally adjusts output to match the media type you've selected; you can also choose from Apple’s ColorSync or Epson’s built- in color-management software. Although the Stylus Color 900 produces CMYK output, you get the best results when gen- erating RGB images, which the printer converts to CMYK as it prints the pages. The Stylus Color 900 has no built-in network connec- tions, although you can use the serial or USB ports to add it to an AppleTalk network. A $649 networked version with a built-in 10/100BaseTX card should be available by the time you read this. You can also add an Ethernet card to the base model. Epson is offering an unusual software bundle in which you can choose any two Mac programs from a list of five: Dr. Solomon's Virex, Lotus Orga- nizer 97 GS, Sierra’s Print Artist 4.0, Berkeley Systems’ You Don’t Know Jack Volume 1, and Blizzard Entertainment’s Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness. i Macworld's Buying Advice The Stylus Color 900 continues Epson’s tradition of bringing groundbreaking ink-jet printing technologies to the Mac market. Its high speed and relatively inex- pensive consumables make it a viable alter- native to costlier color lasers for general business applications, However, it’s pricey for an ink-jet printer, and you los all of the speed benefits when printing at fall resolution. If you're willing to com- promise a little on speed and photo qual- ity, consider the Stylus Color 740, which costs about $170 less.—sTePHEN BEALE RATING: $$$ PROS: Fast; excellent print ‘quality. CONS: A bit pricey for an ink-jet printer; much slower at high resolutions, COMPANY: Epson America (800/463-7766, wwwepson.com). COMPANY'S ESTIMATED PRICE: $449. Job-Management Software KEEP PROJECTS ON TRACK WITH FASTTRACK SCHEDULE, JOB MANAGER, AND JOBORDER ERVICE BUSINE WITH 10 to 200 employees face unusual challenges in automating their billing and job-tracking processes. ‘The three packages covered here— AEC Software’s FastTrack Schedule 6.01, Management Software’s JobOrder 7.02, and MetaCommunications’ Job Manager 1.5—offer productive job-management functions without the cost and complex- ity of high-end vertical systems. automatically created when you turn an estimate into a job, shows underused or overbooked resources. The program also generates extensive printed forms and reports. Creative Order Management Job Manager 1.5 is similar to JobOrder in a variety of ways. It tracks jobs from initial order entry through invoicing; employees record time and material data, and the program can generate feor] Acivty Sime ety te Toe Visual Timeline FastTrack Schedule makes it easy to display a job's progress. JobOrder 7.02, based on the ACI US 4th Dimension database, will appeal to ad agen design shops, consultants, and engineering firms. It handles job planning and estimating, scheduling, pro- posal creation, inventory management, and accounting. The software requires much attention to detail and takes some time to learn, Setting up JobOrder takes from a few hours to several days; you enter everything from sales-tax rates and work-center names to general-ledger account numbers. Ac revolve around a job, which you initiate by creating a proposal speci- fying the time and material resources required. Using one of many forms, you select general work categories and enter the duration of each phase. Once a client approves your proposal and the job begins, each person records his or her daily activities using time slips. This data automatically flows to the account- ing area, yielding up-to-the-moment invoices and financial listings. JobOrder offers valuable manage- ment tools. For example, a timeline, management reports at any time. However, Job Manager lacks JobOrder’s formal esti- mating step, and you need a third-party application for detailed accounting. The back- end database is Microsoft SQL Server, requiring Win- dows NT. Appropriate for commer- cial printers, publishers, and design shops, Job Manager has much going for it. The pro- gram is reliable and easy to customize, and it usually works more quickly than JobOrder. Creating a new job requires only a job number, name, and customer; forms are prefilled based on a user's log-in. So how do you maintain discipline and consistency? Electronic job tickets track employee time, and workflow tem- plates graphically show how each job should run through your production cycle. As a result, managers can deter- mine just when a job entered and left each cost center and who worked on it. Version 1.5 adds the ability to track out- side purchases, and gives you the option of including sales and service representa- tives in the workflow. Scheduling without the Overkill Traditional project-management software demands that users understand a lot of theory. FastTrack Schedule 6.01 produces colorful timelines without requiring knowledge of resource loading or PERT charts. Version 6.01 further simplifies scheduling by automatically linking tasks; exchanging schedules with Microsoft Project; and supporting Mac OS 8.5 fea- tures, such as folder actions. To build a schedule, you simply posi- tion an activity bar in the timeline graph; start and finish times automatically regis- ter in the corresponding data columns, After you enter more tasks, the built-in outliner lets you arrange them in unlim- ited outline levels. Fast Track Schedule doesn’t recognize resources, such as people and material, but its core scheduling is quite good, and it is far easier to use than full-fledged project managers. Macworld's Buying Advice JobOrder is more involved and costs more per client than docs Job Manager, but the former accommodates a wider range of businesses and includes account- ing functions. Still, design firms and other creative businesses will find few draw- backs in Job Manager, so you should con- sider it first. If you simply need to keep more-accurate timetables, we recom- mend FastTrack Schedule —mixe Heck Fastirack Schedule 6.01 RATING: §$$§ PROS: Automatic task linking, scripting, filtering, and activity outlining; fine pre- sentation tools. CONS: No resource manage- ment. COMPANY: AEC Software (800/346- 9413, www.aecsoft.com), LIST PRICE: $199. Job Manager 1.5 RATING: 989% PROS: Extensive job tracking and costing; straightforward navigation. CONS: Requires Windows NT server; no basic accounting. COMPANY: MetaCommunications (800/771- 6382, wwwjobmanager.com). LIST PRICE: Five users, $3,699. JobOrder 7.02 RATING: $$$: PROS: Customizable quotes and bids; timelines; double-entry accounting. CONS: Takes time to set up and learn; costly. COMPANY: Management Software (607/756- 4150, www.joborder.com). LIST PRICE: Five users, $7,840; setup and training, $250. www.macworld.com June 1999 39 [ Reviews Epson Expression 800 MIDRANGE SCANNING AT A LOW-END PRICE