Text content (OCR)
=| APPLE GETS MUSICAL | REVIEW: 17" POWERBOOK
_,| iTunes Music Store and New iPods Arrive, p.23 | A First-Class Laptop (That Won't Fit in Coach), p. 32
=, Fy = —
| | wwwzmacworld.com The Mac Product Experts June 2003
|
|
Pe
Wireless Hints
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The Best _
Base Stations
Real-World
Range Testing
How to edit a wedding for less than the price of the cake. Edit like a pro for
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| OPINION
From the Editor's Desk 5
RICK LEPAGE &
We welcome the OS X-native QuarkXPress 6.0,
but it won't mean an immediate end to OS 9.
| 14 Feedback
Readers respond.
101 Ihnatko — STORY
ANDY IHNATKO
When it comes to improving interfaces, maybe Extreme Revolution
we should put more stock in evolution rather GLENN FLEISHMAN
than revolution. AirPort Extreme promises wireless networking speeds as high as 54 Mbps.
a ; To see what this means in the real world, we put five new base stations—
136 The Big Picture including Apple's—to the test.
MATT DEATHERAGE
If the OS X revolution is really over, then every-
one has lost.
ne BEAT
Final Cut Pro 4 and DVD Studio Pro 2, Adobe
updates and splits Acrobat, Apple’s musical
announcement, the RollerMouse Station, and an
interview with Bare Bones Software's Rich Siegel.
| SECRETS
FEATURES
62 Quark Enters the Land of OS X
DAVID BLATNER
Quark’s slow migration to OS X has caused grumbling among publishers
who are eager to leave OS 9 behind. But soon QuarkXPress 6.0, the
first XPress version to run in OS X, will be available. Find out what we
discovered when we explored a prerelease version.
Graduate to Final Cut Express
JEFF CARLSON
For a free video-editing program, it's hard to beat iMovie's features and
70
92 Magic Word
HELEN BRADLEY
ease of use. But if you've taken advantage of all iMovie has to offer, it's
time to consider Apple's new Final Cut Express—a full-featured DV editor
Go beyond Microsoft Word's basic automation
ata fraction of Final Cut Pro’s price.
to create sophisticated macros.
Share Well with Others
DAN FRAKES
Use 0S X's built-in Samba server and the file-
sharing utility SharePoints to share your Mac with
Windows users.
|
| Mac 911
| CHRISTOPHER BREEN
| Whether you want to edit PDF files, create virtual
PostScript printers, print in a cross-platform net-
work, merge iPhoto libraries, customize iMovie 3,
or use AirPort, this month's Mac 911 is for you.
On the Cover
Photography by Scott Peterson;
Digital retouching by Stephen Sugg i
Bye-Bye. iMovie
nm
4 | MACWORLD | June 2003 _ _ | wowwmacworld.com |
REVIEWS
32
33
35
36
37
38
40
40
4
wwwmacworld.com
Laptop computer
$ Apple 17-inch PowerBook G4/1GHz
Desktop computer
# Apple Power Mac G4/dual-1.42GHz
ital-audio software
ProTools LE 6
Multimedia-authoring package
$$$% Director MX
Statistics analysis package
b69H5 SPSS11
This Month in Printers
Brother HL 5070N
Hewlett-Packard LaserJet 4300n
} Lexmark T420d
3 Oki Data B4300
Xerox Phaser 4400N
DVD-authoring combination
USB Instant DVD
Video-encoding utility
Cleaner 6.0
- Photoshop plug-in
3 Photoshop Camera Raw
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
3-D-modeling software
¥ SketchUp 2.2
Flight simulator
$$$ X-Plane 6.51
Professional DJ program
Traktor DJ Studio 2.0
Pocket PC synchronization tool
$$} PocketMac Pro 2.0
Spelling checker
} Spell Catcher X
Reviews in Brief
CopyPaste-X 1.5, Page Sender 3.0, QuicKeys X 1.5.4, Timeliner 5.0
Hot Products
The best recently reviewed Mac products
Mac Gems
RICK LEPAGE
In this month’s column, you'll read about a host of products
from Griffin Technology, a cool Photoshop plug-in, and
controlling your Mac with Bluetooth.
The Game Room
PETER COHEN
Our gaming expert reviews a bunch of fun games that require
little brain power and test-drives Logitech's Momo Racing wheel.
| June 2003_| MACWORLD.
5
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| FROM THE EDITOR’ S DESK
BY |RICK LEPAGE
XPress for OS X Arrives, and We've Got the Details
Quark of Fate
| WHEN APPLE ANNOUNCED LAST YEAR THAT ALL MACS
| | ineaduedit in 2003 would start up only in Mac OS X, the loudest cries came
| OS X-native update to their tool of choice, Quark-
XPress. As you'll see in this month’s issue, the wait is
almost over.
We chose two well-respected authors to cover the
QuarkXPress 6.0 announcement (page 62). David
Blatner, who wrote the main piece, has been one of the
leading authorities on QuarkXPress for years, writing
books, teaching at seminars, and speaking at confer-
ences on the topic. In the past year, David has become
a vocal public advocate for Adobe InDesign, but it’s
obvious to us that he still knows XPress inside and out,
and that he cares passionately about the program. We
felt that it was more than appropriate for David to give
you your first look at QuarkXPress 6.0's features. (Our
| review of version 6,0 will be written by another author
and will be published after the product ships, in June.)
Quark is such a pivotal company for the Mac, and
in the past year there has been a lot of chatter (and
sheer speculation) on the Web about the company, its
relationship to its customers, and its ties to Apple. To
help you make sense of this muddle, we asked Pamela
Pfiffner, creativepro.com’s editor in chief, to talk to
Quark about its commitment to the Mac and its plans
for QuarkXPress 6.0. I’ve known Pam a long time,
and it’s wonderful to see her in the pages of Macworld.
Her story is entertaining, enlightening, and well
worth reading for anyone with even a passing interest
in desktop publishing.
If you can believe the hype, QuarkXPress 6.0 will
be the linchpin of the publishing industry's transition
to OS X. The reality is a bit different. Production
departments are notoriously slow to change, a fact
Quark was well aware of as it worked to produce the
latest version of XPress. This is also a major reason
InDesign 2.0 hasn’t taken over the publishing world.
With XPress 6.0, we do seem to be past a big stum-
bling block on the road to OS X—but it’s important
to understand that this release is not going to magi-
cally make OS 9 go away. That will still take time.
A PowerBook a Month
T feel a bit as though I've been on a carousel for the past
few months—I’ve had the chance to put three new
PowerBook G4s through their paces, using each in turn
as my primary Mac: the 1GHz Titanium; the 12-inch
from the professional publishing community, who had been waiting for an
867MHz; and now the 17-inch, 1GHz PowerBook.
(This is one of the things that I /ove about my job.)
As you'll see in my review of the 17-inch model (page
32), I think it’s quite a Mac. It definitely stretches
the concept of portable computing—in good ways,
mostly—and nicely rounds out Apple's notebook line.
Lack of choice is something Mac users occasionally
complain about, but you can’t say too much against
Apple’s current portables, which range from the ultra-
affordable iBook to the no-compromise, desktop-
alternative 17-inch PowerBook. But trying to decide
on a machine can be a major hassle.
Looking at the G4 models, I love the
compact form and low weight of the 12-
inch PowerBook, but I miss the speed
that comes with a faster processor and
Level 3 cache. The 17-inch model, with
its speed, gorgeous screen, and surpris-
ingly slim feel, is great, but it’s too big for someone who
travels as much as I do. And these models’ built-in Blue-
tooth support has made me a fan of this suddenly
approachable technology: I'm hesitant to go back to the
Titanium PowerBook, even if it’s the true sweet spot of
Apple’ lineup. Choice is good; choosing is hard.
Digital Hub
Asa final note, I'd like to plug a Macworld special issue
that is currently on newsstands: Digital Hub.
Apple has done a pretty good job of promoting the
Mac as the center of the “digital lifestyle,” and Digital
Hub is designed to help people explore the wealth of
possibilities a Mac offers—making videos, playing
MP3s on a stereo, working with digital photos, setting
up wireless networks, and more. The issue includes a
DVD with tons of demos and shareware, excerpts from
Jim Heid’s excellent book, The Macintosh iLife, and
more. If you've wanted to dive into iMovie, iDVD, or
a similar application, you should check out Digital Hub.
It will be available through June, and it can also be
ordered through www.macworld.com. ©
Does QuarkXPress 6.0 mean that youl sitc, ors the cost of upgrading too much at this te? What don't
you like about Apple's portable lineup? What do you want from Macworld? Drop me a line about these topics
or anything else related to the Mac. | can be reached by e-mail, at rick_Jepage@macworld.com, or you can
hn te tae Exabyte,
{_womwemacworld.com |
QuarkXPress 6 is not
going to magically
make OS 9 go away.
| dune 2003 | MACWORLD | 7 |
TWOTOGRAFH BY SVEN WIEDERHOUT
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8 | MACWORLD | June 2003
President and Editor in Chief Rick LePage |
Editor Jason Snell
‘Managing Editor Jennifer Werner
Deputy Managing Editor Charles Purdy
Senior Features Editor Teri Stone
Senior News Editor Philip Michaels
Senior Reviews Editor Jennifer Berger
Test Manager, Macworld Lab James Galbraith
Senior Associate Editors Kelly Lunsford,
Lisa Schmeiser,
Jonathan Seff
Associate Editor il Roter
Copy Editor Sue Voelkel
Contributing Features Editor Scholle Sawyer McFarland
Contributing Editors David Blane, Henry Bortman, Christopher |
Breen, Mat Deatherage, Adam C. Engst, Bruce Fase Jim Heid, Andy |
thnatko, Ted Landau, Deke McClelland, Tom Negrino, David Pogue,
Stephan Somogyi, Franklin N,Tessler
Art Director Jennifer Steele
Design Associate Alissa Mach |
Contributing Designer Jean Zabel
Prepress Consultant Stephen Sugg
Editor, Online sim Dalrymple
Senior Editor, Macworld.com David Leishman,
Senior Editors, MacCentral.com Peter Cohen, Dennis Sellers
International Editors Matthew JC. Powel, Australia; Bemard Le Du,
France; Sebastian Hirsch, Germany, Eric Lot, tly; Yoshio Moria,
Japan; Tomasz Bitner, Poland; Daniel de Blas, Spain; Nils Holm,
‘Sweden; Engin Gedlik, Turkey; Simon Jary, United Kingdom
VPIChief Operating Officer Stephen Daniels
Director of Finance os de Feminis
Accounting Coordinator Ronda Bittner
Senior VP, Human Resources Richard Willoughby
Human Resources Director Kate Coldwell
Human Resources Representative Julie McKie
IT Director Sean Greathouse
VP of Sales/Publisher Steve Plevin (415/243-3509)
Associate Publisher, East Cynthia Ramsey (973/228-3074)
National Accounts Manager Paul Bonartigo (508/533-4020)
Western Advertsing Director Sara Culley (831/438-8408)
Sales Assistant. Franck Zamora (415/243-3628)
Showcase Account Manager NikiStranz (415/243-3664)
Showcase Account Manager Carol Johnstone (415/243-3691)
Online Sales Manager Doug Detlfsen (415/243-3598)
Sales and Marketing Assistant
Senior Marketing Manager
Sales and Matketing Coordinator
Production Director
Prepress Manager
Booking and Billing Manager
Production Coordinator
Rachel Desjardins (415/267-4562)
Sharon L, Cordesse
Kasey MacMullen
Steve Spingola
Alan Anzalone
Ricardo Sandoval
‘Megan Matteoni
Online Production Manager Ron Neal
|
June 203, Volume 20, sue 6 |
trate pian tat sig LC and ema aa Gon, |
fc cata arent pal nt fst wh soe Con
Ceoyigit © 2003 Nx bing LLC A gts ened aca te Macwotd |
(oe laced tenouetsstga ustrnaion ndpecoaie se |
rene ates enor Ba Gone el nee
ac Pubtshing, LLC. Apple the Apple logo, Mac and Mcintosh ae registered |
taderaits of Ale Compute nc Pinted in the United States of Aneta |
=IDG
Fd
_|_wwrw.macworld.com
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ILIVING THE iLIFE
= ——— for March cover model Steve Jobs to address at his next Macworld Expo keynote,
Sweet 17
STEVE RANIER! i=]
Jaguar's Cat Scan
Scan the pages of our March 2003 issue, and you'll find plenty of Macworld Expo
news, which yielded PowerBook plaudits, Keynote critiques, and Safari suggestions
from readers. But the article that generated the strongest reaction was David Weiss's
look at scanners and OS X. Jaguar's arrival may have made it easier for scanner ven-
dors to develop OS X-native drivers, but our readers are still trying to sort their way
through a process that used to occur at the touch of a button. Maybe that's a topic
A Less Animated Safari
WALTER JEFFRIES
Ihave finally found a replacement for my
Pismo, and it’s the 17-inch PowerBook
(“More Sizes Fit All,” Mac Beat, March
2003). I believe this is Apple's best Power-
Book since the Pismo line. The fiber-optic
keyboard was totally unexpected. Apple
will sell a ton of these things.
GARY BRAND <=]
How terrific is a 17-inch display on a lap-
top? But it’s a shame that with all of that
real estate available below the keyboard,
Apple still offers the same old trackpad. It
would have been more innovative to offer
a tablet—especially since the larger screen
will make this laptop a true option for cre-
ative applications.
iDVD? Not for Thee.
TOM BARRETT (E|
“{Photo, iMovie, iDVD, iTunes Evolve into
iLife” (Mac Beat, March 2003) states that
iDVD 3 doesn’t support external DVD
burners. Is Apple trying to increase sales of
its computers by forcing people to buy the
machines that will run the new software? I
just bought a new iBook, with the intention
of using it as my primary computer for edit-
ing slide shows and the like for clients, and
potentially making DVDs should a cus-
tomer so desire. Now I find out that to
use a $49 piece of software, I have to buy
another $2,000 computer. Apple does not
think about its current customer base and
focuses its efforts on getting new business.
iDVD doesn’t support external DVD burners
as a result of MPEG-2 licensing issues. For a
‘more in-depth explanation, see “Apple's Burn-
ing Issue,” Mac Beat, December 2002.—Ed.
Safari is great (“Exploring Apple’s
Safari,” Mac Beat, March 2003), but I
have one strong suggestion: have options
for turning off animation in the front and
back windows. This should allow for
turning on and off animated GIFs, active
HTML, Java, and so forth. These things
are really annoying to have ona page, and
they waste processing power.
Beta-Test Different
DAVID PADFIELD. (es
“Tr’s All in the Presentation” (Mac Beat,
March 2003) said that Steve Jobs was a
beta tester for Apple’s new Keynote.
Apparently, Jobs was the only beta tester.
Keynote was the first piece of software to
bring my Mac to a total system crash in
more than a year. I own several Macs, all
of which run OS X 10.2.3, and Keynote
has crashed every one of them. In effect,
Apple has charged customers $100 to
become beta testers for Keynote.
Scanning for Solutions
WILLIAM BAILEY
I would like to call your attention to a
subtle problem with the Canon LiDE 30
software you reviewed in your OS X
scanner roundup (“Welcome Back,”
March 2003). When I use the CanoScan
Toolbox X to open an image in any Clas-
sic app (Photoshop 6.0, Adobe Photo-
Deluxe 2.0, or PhotoStudio), two scans
work perfectly but the third scan hangs
up, producing the error message “can-
not communicate with scanner.” Force-
quitting the Classic environment solves
the problem for two more scans.
14 | MACWORLD | June 2003 |
PETER SAMUEL es}
I waste 80 percent of my scanning time
doing rescans because of the difficulty of
precisely aligning engineering drawings
and pictures on the glass. I almost always
find that they are off 2 to 8 degrees. Am I
the only person who can’t align the scan-
ning subject on the glass? Why in God's
name hasn’t any scanner manufacturer
incorporated an adjustment option for
rotating images clockwise or counter-
clockwise by half degrees?
You can accomplish this in Adobe Photoshop by
selecting Rotate Canvas from the Image menu
and scrolling to Arbitrary. Then you can enter
the precise number of degrees to rotate your
image.—David Weiss
JOEL SNYDER [es
One of the main remaining barriers that
keeps me from converting to OS X is its
lack of drivers for small scanners such as
the Strobe Pro. I have been using the
Strobe and its predecessor for years to
help automate my business by scanning in
invoices, documents to fax, and all sorts of
other small, simple jobs.
Unfortunately, the Strobe has gone Windows-
only. You might want to take a look at HP's
Scanjet 3500c (after considering the comments
in the next letter). It’s not quite as small as the
Strobe, but because it gets all its power from
USB, you can tuck it away when you're not
using it—David Weiss
SAMUEL J. HUSKEY es}
I was happy to read that scanners are no
longer stuck in limbo in OS X, and I was
especially pleased that you went on to talk
about the Hewlett-Packard Scanjet 3500c,
which I own. Unfortunately, I have not
been able to use my scanner with my com-
| wwnmacworld.com
puter in OS X, even with version 10.2.3. 1
decided to try again after reading your
article, but I had no luck. Are you privy to
some trick unknown to the rest of us HP
users? If so, please divulge your secret.
Thad no luck with the drivers that came on the
disc, so I downloaded the 195MB driver from
HP's Web site. When I ran the installer the
first time, it quit in the middle of the process,
but | immediately tried running it again, and
it worked. Keep in mind that I was running
OS X 10.2.1; you may not have a similar
experience —David Weiss
HANS LOESER Es
My main purpose in scanning is to scan let-
ters, articles, and newspaper pages into a
word processor. An editable FTP might
also do. But almost nothing is written about
this, and I, at least, have great trouble get-
ting such scanning done on a personal scan-
ner such as Microtek’s ScanMaker 3700.
Just about any scanner will do what you want—
scanning text and bringing it into Word—in
either OS 9 or OS X. You'll need OCR software,
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which may come with your scanner. Both Omni-
Page Pro X, from ScanSoft, and Readiris Pro 7,
from IRIS, run in OS 9 and higher, including
OS X.—David Weiss
Account for Yourself
ANNE HILL (Es)
I can't believe Jeffery Battersby gave
MYOB AccountEdge (¢##8; February
2003) such a good rating when its upgrade
function is so abysmal. Every time I
upgrade MYOB software, I have to deal
with the new application folder it creates.
First I must manually move all my cus-
tomized forms (provided I can remember
their arcane names) into the new folder.
Then I have to upgrade every file I've ever
created with earlier versions of the pro-
gram, so the new version can read them.
This is time-consuming, unnecessary, and
highly aggravating. AccountEdge should
update the existing program in its existing
folder. It should recognize the customized
forms and ask whether I want to update
them. It should be able to read files made
in previous versions and update them auto-
SHE’LL LOVE HOW YOU
CAPTURED THE MOMENT.
Choose 85 at wre macworid.comigetinfo
FEEDBACK
matically. If it did all this, then it would
indeed be a $86 product.
SHERRIE MCMAHON. Es}
Jeffery Battersby did not mention the
product's most critical flaw: its continued
omission of the statement of operations,
the fundamental accounting report that |
tells you where your hard cash actually
went last period. Every first-semester
business student can name the three fun- |
damental accounting reports: the balance |
sheet, the income statement, and the |
statement of operations. You simply can- |
not describe a company’s financial health |
accurately or completely without using all |
three reports. In my opinion, omitting
any of them is a serious defect, and we
have decided not to invest any further in
AccountEdge as a result.
An Ill-Advised Reunion?
DARRYL W. DOCKINS B
I read with horror the flawed review of
Leister Productions’ Reunion 8 ($$#$};
continues
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__| tune 2003. | acworto | 15 |
|FEEDBACK JUNE 2003
March 2003). While it is true that what
Reunion does, it generally does well, I was
stunned by Battersby’s conclusion that it
has no significant cons, Since the very first
version, Reunion has failed to provide
users with the ability to sort their database
records by any date field or, worse, by any
field other than name. If any subject is
time- and organization-sensitive, it has to
be genealogy. For this reason alone, killer
date-handling and -sorting capabilities are
mandatory baseline criteria for a geneal-
ogy database program and a primary
gauge of its practical worth in a research
sense. Any database worth its salt should
allow a sort on any field contained within
it, as well as multiple sorts on multiple
fields. Despite years of revisions and
upgrades, Leister has made absolutely no
improvement to Reunion’s crippled date
or sort capabilities since its first release.
DUNCAN DIXON Es
T have used Reunion for years and agree
that it’s a great product, However, I would
not say it has no significant cons. The
main one is a lack of Unicode support.
‘This is fine if you don’t have any Chinese,
Japanese, Thai, Russian, or Arab relatives.
For those of us who do, lack of Unicode
support is a big minus.
Validating Virex
CATHERINE BURNETT S
Reader Shawn O’Laughlin complained
about Virex 7.1's slowness (Feedback, March
2003). I’m running it on a 450MHz Power
Mac G3 with hard drives similar to his—a
60GB drive with Jaguar, a 20GB drive with
no OS but many programs, and a 9GB
drive with OS 9.1—and it certainly doesn’t
take six to eight hours to scan the OS X
partition. Rather, it takes only about 10
minutes and doesn’t slow down anything
running in the background. I feel that it’s a
worthwhile piece of software.
The Song Remains the Same
PAUL COLVIN ies}
It is obvious in reader Ernie Mansfield’s
response to Ivan Beeckmans’s letter regard-
ing the true cost of a music CD (Feedback,
March 2003) that Mansfield has bought
into the untruths spread by the Recording
Industry Association of America, BMI, and
others. Records at their heyday cost $6.95
[16 | MACWORLD | June 2003
retail, but those of us in the industry knew
that the true cost (including all production,
advertising, and royalties) of delivering a
record to a store’s shelves was about 75
cents per record. When CDs came out and
production equipment was scarce, the cost
of getting one out was indeed much
higher. But today, the industry seems hard
pressed to explain why it costs record com-
panies many dollars more than the con-
sumer pays just for raw goods. Even if you
factor in inflation, the average cost of get-
ting a CD to the shelf is way under $1.75
and has been for more than a decade.
Scrubbed Out
ROBERT H. STAPLETON
Thanks for the timely review of Steinberg’s
Cubase SX 1.051 ($93; March 2003), but
in my mind, the million-dollar question
remains unanswered. The failing of Cubase
VST has always been thatit offers no MIDI
scrubbing, a feature essential to anyone
who does serious studio work. Has Cubase
SX addressed this oversight?
L agree that MIDI serubbing is a convenient
feature. But given that it’s fairly easy to
click at the point in the sequence where you'd
Tike to begin playback and then press the
spacebar, this omission will hardly be a deal-
killer for most people.—Christopher Breen
Beige Goes Aqua
JAY CURTIS ies}
Tam very pleased with the way my newly
upgraded G3 minitower is running
Jaguar, so I was surprised to read that
Kristina De Nike had “serious problems
running OS X on beige Power Mac G3s”
(“Power Mac Power Boost,” March
2003). My old beige beast (which I've
upgraded with a 500MHz Sonnet G4
processor, additional RAM, and a new
IBM 40GB IDE hard drive) runs Jaguar
significantly faster than my 500MHz G3
PowerBook, which has a faster system
bus and video display. The speed differ-
ence is no doubt due principally to the
G4s AltiVec engine and to better hard-
drive performance in the beige system.
The problems of using OS X with SCSI
drives on beige systems have been well
documented online.
However, it shouldn’t matter. Most,
if not all, beige G3 systems came with
an ATA bus and an IDE hard drive
installed. There is a vacant internal con-
nector for the minitower’s vestigial SCSI
bus, but apparently few of these com-
puters were manufactured with a drive
that used that connector, Although
Apple issued firmware patches to fix
Jaguar’s incompatibility with SCSI,
most knowledgeable beige upgraders
will avoid the temptation to improve
storage by adding a drive to the SCST
bus. Instead, they will simply replace
the original 4GB or 6GB drive on the
ATA bus.
|
Another caveat is the fact that Jaguar |
does not recognize the RS-232 serial
ports and the devices connected to them.
Upgraders must migrate to USB and
FireWire peripherals. There really are
no other options for people who want
to use external dial-up modems, stand-
alone printers, external CD-RW drives,
scanners, and Jaguar. Upgrading a beige
box does require a little research, but
it pays off. While upgraders certainly
won't get state-of-the-art OS X perfor-
mance in upgrading a computer with a
66MHz system bus, they will definitely
get acceptable performance if they
upgrade properly.
HyperCard Lives
PAUL KERVIN. iE]
I was disappointed with Andy Ihnatko’s
comments in “Stages of Grief” (March
2003). Just as people were talking about
the demise of Apple a few years ago, now
Andy is talking about the demise of
HyperCard. When does Andy write these
articles? OS X-compatible SuperCard 4
was released back in October 2002. In
addition, AppleScript serves a very differ-
ent purpose. The power coder will want
both AppleScript and SuperCard.
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/
( WHaT's
| NEXT
San Jose in May?
Ty San Francisco
| in June. That's the
new place and time
| for Apple's resched-
uled Worldwide
Developers Confer-
ence, kicking off
(June 23.
|
|
|
=
.20.| MACWORLD | June 2003
October 1991 Apple
and IBM form a joint June 1994
WHAT'S NEW
WHAT'S IN THE PIPELINE
WHAT'S HOT
AFTER MANY YEARS, IT'S THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF THE OS X TRANSITION
Evolution Endgame
A little more than two years ago,
Steve Jobs stood before a group of
reporters at Apple’s Cupertino head-
quarters to show off the finalized
version of Mac OS X, predicting it
would be the Mac’ operating sys-
tem for the next 15 years. Two days
later, OS X hit retail shelves, mark-
ing the release of a next-generation
operating system that had been in
the works, in one form or another,
for more than a decade,
But while the March 2001 release
of OS X may have been the long-
awaited end of Apple’s effort to
find and develop a successor to its
original Mac OS, the transition to
the new OS was only beginning.
‘Two major OS updates, hun-
dreds of software releases, and a
little less than two years later, Jobs
found himself standing before a
different group—a crowd of ador-
ing Mac fans at January’s Mac-
world Expo in San Francisco.
Missing key functionality includ-
ing DVD playback and CD burn-
ing when it first shipped, OS X
to ship in 1995; it will be fol-
lowed by Gershwin in 1996.
had evolved into a stable and fea-
ture-rich operating system, thanks
in large part to the 10.1 and 10.2
updates. OS X was not only the
default operating system on newly
released Macs; the new machines
wouldn’t even boot into anything
but the new OS. So on this occa-
sion, Jobs had the completion of
a different milestone to announce.
“The OS X migration,” Jobs
declared, “is basically over.”
X by the Numbers
Jobs's statement was typically bold,
but Apple believes that it has the
numbers to back its CEO up. In
January, the company reported it
had 5 million active OS X users, up
from 1.2 million in January 2002.
It hopes to see the number of users
double to 10 million by year’s end.
‘The number of native applica-
tions has climbed dramatically, too.
At the time Steve Jobs was walk-
ing reporters through the finer
points of OS X in March 2001,
Apple claimed that 356 programs
‘May 1998 Apple
unveils a revised OS
strategy, changing
the name to OS X;
the 0S will ship in
the fall of 1999,
ran natively on the new OS; these
days, the figure tops 5,000. Quark’s
long-awaited OS X-native version
of XPress is expected to join the
party soon (see “Quark Enters the
Land of OS X,” page 62).
User-adoption rates for OS X
came under fire last summer from
some developers—most notably
Microsoft, which criticized Apple’s
promotional efforts for the new OS.
Tim McDonough, director of mar-
keting and business development
for Microsoft's Mac Business Unit,
says that these days the software
giant is pleased with adoption rates
for OS X. “As more and more Mac
users upgrade to OS X, the number
of requests for OS 9 products has
decreased,” McDonough says.
Other developers see the OS
X business picking up as well. File-
Maker, an Apple subsidiary that
released an OS X-native version
of its flagship database program
shortly after OS X’s initial release,
reports that between 35 and 40
percent of its Mac users were
X Times Apple's search for a modern OS stretches back for more than a decade—from Pink to Copland to Rhapsody and
January 2000 Steve
Jobs delivers a public
preview of 0S X, unveil-
ing the Aqua interface;
launch is delayed until
the summer.
‘Octaber 199905 9
ships; OS X's debut is
delayed to early 2000.
www.macworld.com
using the OS X version of File-
Maker as of last summer. “It’s
probably increased significantly
since then,” says Dominic Goupil,
FileMaker’s president.
“We're really happy with where
[the OS X transition] is at today,”
adds Dave Burkett, Adobe’s direc-
tor of product management for col-
lections and illustration products.
“The last couple of quarters after
Jaguar’s [August 2002] release,
things have picked up.”
Why Switch?
st year’s Jaguar update to OS X
reche spurred some users to give the
new operating system a try. User Andy
Highberger had fought off any impuls
he had to switch before early 2003. “I wa
one of those saying that OS X was a dis-
aster until I tried it and found out what I
can do with it,” says Highberger, who
now works exclusively on OS X, with the
exception of a monthly checkup using
Alsoft’s DiskWarrior in OS 9.
Still, for some segments of the Mac
market, the transition to OS X hasn’t even
begun. Educators with tight budgets are
loath to spend the money on the hard-
ware and software upgrades an OS X
switch would require (hence Apple's deci-
sion to continue offering OS 9-booting
Macs for its educ: Print
als are largely tak-
a titude as w
least until QuarkXPress 6.0 arrives. “As
a designer who uses Quark for major
print designing, there is no reason to use
OS X,” Mac user Steve Sand says
But even some Mac users who initially
balked at OS X have found the new OS
Ss
Glenn Blaylock installed OS X on his
blue-and-white Power Mac G3. Sluggish
performance and a lack of native applica-
tions forced him to go back to using
OS 9. The 2001 release of OS X 10.1
changed things considerably. “The speed
boost in this version was sufficient to
allow me to start using OS X full-time,”
Blaylock says.
Transition Tales
How smoothly did the transition from
OS 9 to OS X go? The answer depends
on which us ou talk to. For some,
it was a practically seamless migration.
For others, it took time and effort to
figure out the new OS's way of doing
things. But if there’s one thing that
has commonly bedeviled Mac users
moving to OS X, it’s getting old hard-
ware to work with the new OS.
For printing in OS X, users and dev-
elopers had to get past the concept of
the classic Mac OS's Chooser, says Mark
Radogna, senior product manager at
Epson America. Printer drivers in OS 9
rs
TAVIS COBURN.
had been around for so long, and people
loved it,” he adds. “It gave printer
manufacturers license to [do] what they
wanted.” OS X, on the other hand, is
optimized for PostScript printers, I's
a “superior operating system,” Radogna
says, with “a lot more power for printer
manufacturers to use for creating driv-
ers.” But the guidelines are also stricter.
“With OS X 10.2.4, we can develop a
driver that’s high quality, that our users
are used to seeing,” he adds
Even after producing OS
ers, hardware makers faced another chal-
lenge, notes Rick Spillers, Hewlett-
Packard Mac-Connect product manager:
getting their product cycles to match up
with Apple's release of OS updates.
For software developers, creating pro-
grams that ran natively in a new OS pre-
sented a new set of challenges—some
were easy to tackle; others, less so. For
example, programmers working on
QuarkXPress 6.0 found that it was easy
to use the new help viewer and to take
advantage of window-management
ative driv-
to their liking. When it first came out, had been based on QuickDraw, “which continues
on to OSX. Here are some key dates in the evolution of Apple's OS. z / x
7
‘May 2000 Apple ‘May 2001 Apple |
plans to release an announces that OS X Mare 2002 Apple Jaritsary 2003 |
OS X public beta in January 2001 will be preinstalled on announces that OS Apple introduces |
the summer; the final | Apple sets a all new Macs; OS X / Xwill add Bluetooth August 2002 | a beta of the X11 |
version will ship in | March shipping | 10.0.2 update adds CD- 200 OSX wireless connectiv- | Jaguar is windowing inter-
early 2001, date for 0S X. burning capabilities. 10,1 ships. ity support. face for 0S X.
is released.
|_wwrw.macworld.com
July 2001 Apple pre- | iaquary 2002 ‘May 2002 September 2902 June 2003 Apple
views OSX 10.1, the |OSXbecomes | Apple publicly Apple announces _plans to unveil
first major update to | the default previews OSX that all Macs ship- _ the next update
the new OS. operating sys- 10.2, code- ping in 2003 will | to. OS X, code-
tem for allnew | named Jaguar. | boot only into 0S X. | named Panther.
Macs. |
June 2003 | MACWORLD | 21
j- CAC BEAT [JUNE
eens
| MULTIMEDIA
“BEAT
| Hardware
| input Devices
| Amultimedia controller from Contour Design (800/462-
| 6678, www.contourdesign.com): The ShuttleXPress
($60) is built for audio and video editors. t offers one-
hand access to five programmable buttons and a jog-
shuttle knob.
Video
A video-capture and -playback card from Digital Voodoo
| (wwnndigitalvoodoo.net):The HD Fury ($11,995) is an
| uncompressed 10-bit HD SDI capture and playback card
with one HD SDI input, one HD SDI output, eight channels
of AES/EBU, and simultaneous SD SD! down-conversion,
| An updated hardware-software postproduction system
from Pinnacle Systems (650/526-1600, www.pinnaclesys
.com); CinéWave 4 works with Apple's Final Cut Pro 4. It
adds support for real-time capture from both SD and HD
sources at multiple frame rates, It also supports real-time
effects for DV, PhotoJPEG, and 8-, 10-, and 16-bit uncom-
pressed sources in the same timeline while still providing
for video output ($3,995; upgrade, $299),
| Software
Audio
| Digital Performer 4, from Mark of the Unicorn (617)
576-2760, www.:notu.com): The digital-audio and MIDI-
sequencing production system adds OS X compatibility.
Other additions include CoreAudio, CoreMIDI, and
ReWire 2,0 support ($795; upgrade, $149).
Updated stereo-waveform-editing application will run only
‘on OS X. It adds support for Audio Unit plug-ins, Apple's OS
X audio plug-in standard ($499; upgrade, $149).
Video
Boris Red 3GL, from Boris FX (888/772-6747, www
-borisfx.com): The latest version of the integrated 3-D-
compositing, ~titling, and effects application adds sup-
port for OpenGL-based-hardware acceleration. The update
will ship by the end of June ($1,595; upgrade, $295).
HipFlics 1.2 for Mac OS X, from Totally Hip (604/
685-6525, www.toallyhip.com): Updates to the video-
enhancement and -compression tool include the ability to
create MPEG-4 movies in ether MOV or MP4 formats, a
faster compression engine, an expanded codec view, and
support for QuickTime 6 effects and transitions ($50),
|. Shake 3, from Apple (800/692-7753, wwnw.apple.com):
The updated compositing software remains compatible
with Ir and Linux, but the new version will sport features
compatible solely with OS X, including unlimited network-
| rendering and broadcast-monitor support. The OS X ver-
sion also costs half as much as the Irix and Linux versions
(0S X: $4,950; rx and Linux, $9,900 plus $1,485 annual
|. maintenance) —cowpeo ey PHU miciaeis
22 | MACWORLD | June 2003
Peak 4, from BIAS (707/782-1866, wwwbias-inc.com):The |
What's next for OS X?
Apple should
features, says Hannes
Scheidler, Quark direc-
tor of research and
development. But “one
of the most time-
consuming changes
was in print manage-
ment, because the OS
improvements were sig-
nificant and the feature
is crucial to our cus-
tomers,” Scheidler adds.
For Tom Nash, direc-
tor of product manage-
ment at accounting-software maker
MYOB, one of the biggest challenges
was regression testing—making sure
that changes introduced by Apple in OS
X updates didn’t disable existing features
in MYOB’ software. Changes intro-
duced with Jaguar, for instance, created
a scaling-windows problem in MYOB's
AccountEdge; the company was able to
fix the problem with a subsequent update.
But Nash is quick to praise the sup-
port and tools Apple provided to help
MYOB add OS X compatibility. Other
developers share this attitude. “The
process went especially smooth because
Apple worked closely with us to address
key development issues,” Microsoft's
McDonough says. “The responsive-
ness they showed helped us deliver high-
NEW PHOTO, DVD PROGRAMS ARE WINDOWS ONI
pretty definitive answer
at June's Worldwide
Developers C
provide a
quality products for
OS X.”
Panther on the Prowl
If, as Steve Jobs con-
tends, the initial migra-
tion to OS X is over,
then what's next for the
Mac platform? Apple
should provide a pretty
definitive answer to
that question at its
Worldwide Developers
Conference, where it
will preview the next major update to OS
X, code-named Panther. Apple pushed
the conference back a month to June so
it could provide developers with a more
complete preview release.
“We saw how much of a huge differ-
ence Jaguar made,” FileMaker’s Goupil
says. “We're looking forward to seeing
what's in Panther and how we can take
advantage of it.”
As for those who are still using OS 9,
it’s likely that Apple’s hardware strategy
will ultimately do what the growth and
development of OS X software could
not: with all of Apple’s new hardware
requiring OS X, every OS 9 user who
wants to buy a new Mac will be simulta-
neously making the transition to OS
X.—PHILIP MICHAELS
onference.
Ly, BUT MAC USERS SHOULDN'T WORRY
No Adobe, No Problem?
A few years ago, the news that Adobe was byp:
dows-only programs would have been met by
assing the Mac platform with two Win-
howls of outrage. But the releases of
Adobe Photoshop Album and Adobe Encore DVD for Windows have met with very
little fretting about the state of Adobe-Apple relations—largely because neither program
offers anything that’s not already available on
the Mac,
The $50 Photoshop Album makes basic corrections to digital photos and lets you store
and share them—the same functionality Mac w
DVD is a DVD-authoring application aimed ai
sers get from Apple's free iPhoto. Encore
tt video-production pros, but with Apple's
$499 DVD Studio Pro and free iDVD, Mac users probably won't need Adobe’s new app.
Adobe acknowledged as much with its Encore DVD release. Product Manager Giles
Baker says that the new program is aimed at Adobe Premiere users, who—thanks to
multiple video-editing offerings from Apple and Avid—are primarily Windows users.
“Apple has a really strong solution on the Mac with iDVD and DVD Studio Pro,”
Baker adds. “It didn’t make sense [to release a Mac version] with the first version.”
Mac users without a SuperDrive-equipped
authoring program that supports third-party
Mac are still looking for a low-cost DVD-
burners (although LaCie recently began
offering the $149 CaptyDVD as a stand-alone offering). But Adobe's reluctance to pro-
duce Mac versions of Photoshop Album and Encore DVD suggest that it’s not always
a sign of trouble when a developer eschews a
platform is doing just fine —PHILIP MICHAELS
platform—sometimes it’s a sign that the
__swewmacworld.com
NEW MUSIC SERVICE OFFERS 99-CENT DOWNLOADS FOR MAC USERS
Apple Carries
Apple hopes to hit a high note where
several online services have fallen flat—
selling music to computer users who have
gotten used to downloading songs for
free. But Apple believes that its iTunes
Music Store will thrive, thanks to an
extensive library of music, superior tech-
nology, and the ease of use traditionally
associated with Mac products.
Through the iTunes Music Store service,
consumers will be able to search an online
music library, listen to song previews, and
buy music. Users can download individual
songs (99 cents each) or entire CDs with-
out having to pay a subscription fee.
Apple’s efforts are backed by the five
major commercial music publishers. That
gives the company immediate access to
more than 200,000 songs, with more to be
added regularly. Designed to work with
iTunes 4, Apple’s music service will initially
be available only to Mac users; a Windows
version will follow later in 2003.
Inside the Store
The name of Apple's service includes the
word iTunes for a reason—you access the
entire Music Store from within Apple’s
OS X-only music-player application. A
The iPod Puts Its Best
‘As Apple attempts to put a new face on online
music delivery, the company has also altered the
look of its top-selling MP3 player: The redesigned,
slimmer iPod sports a new solid-state navigation
wheel on its front and can store even more music.
Apple added four buttons just above the
iPod's scroll wheel: rewind, menu, play/pause,
and fast-forward, As with the iPod models intro-
duced last summer, the scroll wheel and new
buttons are touch-sensitive and have no moving
parts—for durability and ease of use.
Playing a Different Tune
a Tune
new item, Music Store,
resides with your Library
and Playlists in the left
pane of iTunes 4. When
you click on it, the right
side of the iTunes window
turns into a Web-browser—
style interface, full of links
to artists and albums.
To search for music, you
type the name of a song in the iTunes
Search box. The Music Store will return a
list of available tracks in a standard iTunes
track list. Click on the Browse button, and
you'll be able to browse for tracks by artist,
album, and genre, through an interface
only slightly different from the standard
iTunes browser, Double-click on any track
ina Music Store list, and you'll hear a 30-
second preview streamed over the Internet.
You buy music via the same Apple ID sys-
tem used for Apple’s online store: once a
purchase is completed, iTunes 4 downloads
your tracks, placing them in a Purchased
Music playlist within ‘Tunes.
While the name MP3 has become syn-
onymous with digital music, the iTunes
Music Store doesn’t use the MP3 file for-
mat. Rather, it uses AAC (Advanced Audio
Face Forward Pal
Apple has boosted the iPod's
storage size, making the music
player available in 10GB, 15GB,
and 30GB capacities (see “Play-
ing a Different Tune”), While the) pron
new models are taller than the previous iPod, they're
also thinner and lighter. These new iPods don't use
a standard six-pin FireWire port; instead, they have
a special thin connector. Each model comes with an
adapter cable; the 15GB and 30GB models also
come with a connection dock,—PHiuP MICHAELS
Apple has revised its iPod offerings, with new devices featuring larger capacities.
CAPACITY SIZE ___ ACCESSORIES PRICE
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___ACadapter, 4-to-6-pin FireWire adapter
What's in Store The Music Store item in the left pane of iTunes 4
links users to Apple's new online music service,
Codec), a compression format developed
by Dolby Labs that creates smaller, better-
sounding files than MP3 does.
Apple isn’t just using AAC as a way to
improve audio quality. The AAC files
you buy from the iTunes Music Store
are marked as belonging to you, and they
come with some limitations on distribu-
tion, as a means of fighting piracy. While
you can burn purchased tracks to audio
CD, those tracks can reside on only three
Macs ata time and, among external music
players, are currently compatible only with
the iPod. You can use purchased tracks as
soundtracks for other iLife programs, such
as iPhoto and iMovie.
Joining the Chorus
Unlike the iTunes Music Store, most
online music services use a subscription
model—you pay a monthly fee that lets
you own songs only as long as you are
a member. But the meaning of “owner-
ship” varies by company.
The service closest to Apple’s offerings
comes from EMusic, which charges a
$9.95-per-month fee with a one-year com-
mitment. EMusic has no restrictions on
downloading or burning tracks. Listen
.com’s Rhapsody costs $9.95 per month;
burnable versions of many tracks are avail-
able for an additional fee.
Although Apple’s isn’t the only service
to offer tracks from the five major record
labels—BMG Entertainment, EMI
Recorded Music, Sony Music Entertain-
ment, Universal Music Group, and
Warner Music Group—it has exclusive
bonus content from artists such as U2,
Eminem, Sting, Bob Dylan, and Sheryl
Crow. Apple is also the only company to
offer AAC audio; other services use MP3
or Windows Media—JONATHAN SEFF
AND JASON SNELL
| tune 203 |
MACWORLD | 23 |
(MAC BEAT [JUNE 2003 )—
APPLE ADDS NEW CAPABILITIES IN FINAL CUT, DVD STUDIO PRO UPDATES |
PRO FILE | Q&A WITH RICH SIEGEL
Video Double Features
The professional video-editing market has become a vital part
of Apple’s business, as important to its future as desktop publish-
ing was to the Mac’s early days. So it wasn’t surprising that Apple
chose the biggest event for video pros—the annual National
Association of Broadcasters trade show in Las Vegas—to show-
case the latest versions of its two most important pro video tools,
Final Cut Pro and DVD Studio Pro.
Real Time Goes Extreme
Final Cut Pro 4 ($999; upgrade, $399) includes more than 300 new
features—with a major addition in the form of RT Extreme. The |
highly requested feature replaces Final Cut Pro 3's real-time architec-
ture. Final Cut Pro no longer puts limits on the number of real-time
effects users can preview at one time; the new version includes hun-
dreds of real-time effects—a significant jump from the number intro-
duced in version 3—and can display as many as your Mac's processor
| can handle. For better editing precision, you can now output to a
| broadcast monitor over FireWire with the same real-time effects—
and it’s all done by software, without additional previewing hardware.
‘To give editors more flexibility, Final Cut Pro 4 sports a completely
customizable interface, with access to more than 600 tools and com-
mands. Final Cut Pro’ keyboard-layout controller lets you remap
your keyboard by creating custom buttons and window layouts.
Available in June, Final Cut Pro 4 also includes several new
applications: Live Type, Soundtrack, and Compressor. Live Type is
an enhanced titling tool with more than 150 effects and templates.
Soundtrack allows you to create royalty-free music to accompany
your projects. The loop-based program with real-time arranging
and mixing matches tempo and keys on-the-fly. Compressor is a
video transcoder that supports batch processing and all QuickTime
codecs. It compresses from your source material, so there’s no need
to save a copy to disk first and then encode. |
New Price, New Look
The change many users will first notice about DVD Studio Pro 2
is the DVD-authoring software's new price—it’s now $499, half
the previous price. Existing users can upgrade for $199. Anyone
who purchases DVD Studio Pro 1.5 before version 2’s August
release can upgrade for $30 through Apple’s up-to-date program.
More important than a new price is DVD Studio Pro 2’s com-
pletely new interface, which combines some of iDVD’s cleverness
with DVD Studio Pro’s high-end authoring capabilities. Version
2 includes timesaving, customizable templates and content-aware
drop zones that anticipate what you want to do with media. You
now create buttons and menus from within the application rather
than using a graphics program such as Adobe Photoshop. Final
Cut users will feel at home with new NLE-inspired timelines for
working with clips, video, and additional assets. And new timeline-
editing tools let you trim clips and control chapter markers from
within DVD Studio Pro.
DVD Studio Pro includes the same compressor application ag |
Final Cut Pro, and it comes with a new MPEG-2 encoder. And
DVD Studio Pro now accepts all QuickTime files (instead of just |
MPEG-2) and can encode with 1- and 2-pass variable bit rate |
(VBR) in the background.—JONATHAN SEFF |
[2A MACWORLD Sue 2003 J
TEXT SUPPORT
Try telling Rich Siegel that TextWrangler—the general-purpose and
programming text editor recently released by Bare Bones Software—
is just a repackaged version of BBEdit Lite with a new name and a $49
price, The founder, president, and CEO of Bare Bones will be happy to
tell you that you're wrong—there are a few stark differences between
TextWrangler and the freeware text editor. Siegel recently spoke with
Macworld to spell out those differences and explain his company's
| decision to drop BBEdit Lite from its product line—PHILIP MICHAELS
ATA GLANCE
RICH SIEGEL Founder, President, and
| CEO, Bare Bones Software
MAC: Dual-1GHz Power Mac G4
SOFTWARE: NetNewsWire Lite 1.0,
SpamSieve
Who is the target audience for TextWrangler?
‘TextWrangler was specifically designed for anyone who is no
longer a novice Mac user, who routinely works with plain text.
| Of course, TextWrangler also appeals to power users, by virtue
of including several features that take advantage of the power-
ful foundation underneath OS X. However, the interface and
core capabilities are intended for any non-novice user.
Would it be correct to call this a BBEdit Lite replacement?
Td have to definitely say “incorrect.” BBEdit Lite is replaced
by the free programs available for OS X, either included with
the OS installation or available from third parties. Regardless
of whether or not you think those offerings are of high qual-
ity, it is such software that replaces BBEdit Lite.
So there’s more to TextWrangler than there was to BBEdit?
Absolutely. TextWrangler is a considerably more modern,
refined, and capable product, and there is a lot more to Text-
Wrangler than would ever have been in BBEdit Lite. There
are too many discrete improvements to list them all here, but
they include PCRE pattern-matching for grep searches, inte-
gration with OS X Services, Unicode support, syntax color-
ing for supported languages, and authenticated saves.
Why did you discontinue BBEdit Lite?
With the increasing age of BBEdit Lite, and the fact that no
further updates were planned, we believe that it was not rep-
resentative of the state of the art of our product line. The
BBEdit Lite code base hasn’t been touched in more than two
years, while the rest of our technology has continued to evolve
in the meantime. Second, with the release of OS X, the OS
itself comes with a text editor. Consequently, we believe that
the need for a freeware text editor for Mac OS is pets
|| More Info:
| wwwmacworld.com/2003/06/macbeat/siegel
Rich Siegel talks about Bare Bones Software's other offerings, including
| BBEdit and Mailsmith.
wwwmacworld.com
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CAC BEAT [JUNE 2003
BEAT
Software
Fax
Page Sender 3.0, from Smile Software (www.smile
software.com): The new version of the OS X fax software
adds a folder hierarchy including user-defined archive
folders, a printable fax history, and a Sent Faxes tracking
feature ($30; upgrade, $10 voluntary fee).
Writing
Final Draft AV v2, from Final Draft (800/231-4055, www
finaldraft.com): The updated script processor is designed
specifically for dual-column scriptwriting. It also incorpo-
rates new column-alignment features and supports cus-
tomized headers and footers ($199; upgrade, free).
OmniGraffle 3.0, from The Omni Group (800/315-6664,
‘www.omnigroup.com); The updated diagramming and
drawing software features redesigned info panels. The
program also features speed improvements, thanks to a
new caching architecture ($70; upgrade, $25). The Omni
Group also plans a professional version, OmniGraffle
3.0 Professional, which features new page-layout fea~
tures, multipage-document support, advanced editing
capabilities, and new export options including multipage-
HTML export ($120; upgrades, $50 from version 3.0, $60-
$75 from version 2.0)—comPieD By PHILP MICHAELS
=
| CREATIVE _
BEAT
Software
3-D Animation
.electricimage.com): The 3-D-modeling and -animation
software now features subdivision-surface modeling tools
| and support for OS X ($139; upgrade, $89).
| Maya 5, from Alias|Wavefront (877/405-6645, wwwalias
| wavefront.com): The latest version of the 3-D-animation
and rendering software has new rendering options,
| enhanced animation features, and expanded suppor for
| other applications ($1,999; upgrade, $899).
| AssetManagement
| iView Media, from iView (www.iview-multimedia.com):
| This slimmer version of the popular iView MediaPro helps
| you organize digital images, videos, and MP3 files ($30).
Illustration
| Corel Painter 8, from Corel (800/772-6735, woww.corel
com): The program adds Sketch Effect and Digital Water
| Colo tools, as well a other enhancements ($299;
| upgrade, $149)—cowpien sy KEUY LUNSFORD AND TERA STONE |
—
|
Amorphium 3, from Electric Image (800/736-3371, www
ADOBE TURNS PDF PROGRAM INTO FOUR DISTINCT PRODUCTS
Acrobat Does the Splits
‘There may be no other product in the Mac
universe with a more appropriate name
than Acrobat. After all, since Adobe (888/
724-4507, www.adobe.com) introduced
the program a decade ago, Acrobat's pur-
pose has flipped around so many times, it's
enough to make your head spin. First, it
was the road to the paperless office . . . then
it was an HTML substitute . . . then it was
a corporate document container . . . and
wait—now it’s a print-
publishing format.
Acrobat’s ever chang-
ing raison d’étre is the
result of more than just
marketing whims. Acro-
bat’s user base does turn
to the product for a dizzy-
ingly diverse array of
needs. So in what Adobe
calls an effort to respond
to differing demands, the
company is splitting
Acrobat into four distinct
products—Adobe Reader
6.0, Acrobat Elements,
Acrobat 6.0 Standard,
and Acrobat 6.0 Profes-
sional. Of the four products, only Acro-
bat Elements is shipping now; the rest
should arrive in mid-May. But Elements
is the least interesting product from
a Mac standpoint—it’s a Windows-only
application that creates PDF files from
within Microsoft Office. Mac OS X
already sports built-in PDF-creation
tools, so Mac users aren’t likely to feel
left out.
Adobe Reader 6.0, however, should
interest most Mac users: it’s a new name
for a familiar application—Adobe's Acro-
bat Reader. Once Reader 6.0 is available
(as a free download from Adobe’s Web
site), you'll be able to use it to view and
print files and fill out PDF forms.
The Standard Package
As for the other new versions of Acrobat,
Adobe plans to gear Acrobat 6.0 Stan-
dard ($299; upgrade, $99) toward users
who exchange business documents. You
can use Standard, which runs on OS X
10.2.2 and later, to create, mark up, and
share PDF files.
update, it’s easy to time- and date-
stamp files and add notes.
While some features will be familiar
to Acrobat 5.0 users, others are new.
Take Review Tracker, which, when you
e-mail a PDF file, notes who received
the file and who replied. Those respon-
ders can use Standard to format and
check the spelling of their comments.
To make sure you don't overlook any-
‘one’s feedback, you can view all com-
ments in one PDF. Also new is an OS
X version of Distiller,
which was the lone
holdout in the other-
wise OS X-native
Acrobat 5.0.
Acrobat Goes Pro
Acrobat 6.0 Profes-
sional ($449; upgrade,
$149) includes every-
thing in Standard, along
with tools specifically
for print designers,
service-bureau profes-
sionals, and engineers.
A new split view lets
users compare two
areas of a file at once.
A pan-and-zoom window offers quick
navigation. And the loupe tool lets users
zoom in on one area of a page without
changing the rest of the file’s magnifica-
tion level.
The Professional version lets users
preview a job’s color separations and
flattened transparency effects. People
who send PDF/X files to print shops for
more-reliable output may benefit from
Professional’s PDF/X validator. The
program, which runs on OS X 10.2.2
and later, can also embed preflight infor-
mation, so vital details about your work
aren't relegated to an easily misplaced
sheet of paper.
While Acrobat 6.0 Standard costs just
$50 more than the $249 version 5.X, Acro-
bat 6.0 Professional costs $200 more. But
Adobe points out that Professional includes
new capabilities previously available only
in specialized applications from other com-
panies. The company is counting on these
features making Acrobat users flip over
the newly created program, not over the
price increase. TERRI STONE
26 | MACWORLD | June 2003
wnwwmacworld.com
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(MAC BEAT|! JUNE \
(| WHAT'S none
or
H OT \ | araranard ie agi Creates morphing transitions beneen
Master Tracks Pro 6.8.2
MIDI sequencing program
= Mac OS X Updates _
| versiontracker ("2s or movies
A Quick Look at "€oM MP3 Sushi 1.4.1
the World of Macs Rendezvous network radio broadcast
Apple QuickTime 6.1.1 station and jukebox server .
1 The next major version | Enhancements to multimedia player and Net Monitor 3.0 Displays
of OS Xis codenamed | uthoring solution = Tool to graph network-interface throughput | 20-inch LCD monitor from Formac Electronic (877/436-
Panther. Apple chose that Apple Remote Desktop 1.2 NikonView6.0 r 7622, www.formac.com): The Gallery 2010 Oxygen
code name over the other Remote control for managing Macs Digital photo software for most CoolPix (61,149) has a native resolution of 1,600 by 1,200 pixels
finalist, Sleepy Kitty Basilisk 12 and D1 cameras and a 600:1 contrast ratio. It features the same industrial
| © Apple unveils Final {G80X0'Mac emulator Panopticum Di design as Formac’s Platinum series of displays, but it
| Cut Pro 4, Confident Apple Blizzard Starcraft Brood War 1.1.0 Digital effects for Photoshop |_comes with a one-year warranty instead of the three-year
executives proclaim, "This ‘Add-on for the strategy-action game Panopticum Engraver 1.0 | warranty standard for more-expensive Formac models,
| isthe bes fourth version Complete MySQL 4.0.12 Photoshop plug-in simulates engraving | A flat-panel display from Planar Systems (866/752-6271,
ofsomething since Police | MySQL. with full graphical install and setup pgPFreeware 8.0.2 \wwwplanatcom): The PX191 ($849) is a 19-inch LCD
| Aetert | Data Recycler X 1.0.4 Noncommercial limited-use version of PGP | monitor with 1,280-by-1,024-pixel resolution and a
». Al Gore is named to Bug fix for deleted: file-recovery utility belch acl 70:1 contrast ratio.
‘Apple's board of directors. | Deneba Canvas 8.0.6 Safari Toolkit 2.1 es
Confused shareholders in Vector, bitmap, text-media illustration Improves site compatibility, enables tabbed Printers
Palm Beach, Florida, dispute | software browsing ‘Two monochrome laser printers from Lexmark (800/539-
| the results, claiming they DockExtender 3.0.4 Screen Query 1.0 6275, www.lexmark.com): Both the Lexmark £321
thought they had cast their | adds menus to Dock and menu bar Utility tests screens for dead pixels | ($299) and the Lexmark £323 ($399) print 20 pages pet
votes for Ralph Nader, FontDoctor X55 Strata 3Dpro 3.8.1 minute, The £323 sports a faster processor (200MHz to
“\. Apple will take part in Font-problem—diagnosis and repair tool Modeling, rendering, animation application | 100MHz) and more memory (16MB to 8MB) than the
GameRanger 3.3 Taco HTML Edit 1.2.1 £321; it also offers PostScript level 3 support.
ic’ ‘Sylva game service Hindleeditor with tag coloring Two new printer series and large-format printers from
|
|
|
| this summer's New York |
|
|
agreeing to participate in the |
| Hubi’s iTunes Scripts 1.5 Toast Titanium 5.2.1 "| Hewlett-Packard (800/752-0900, www.hp.com): The HP
| la ee Script collection fortunes Updated CD/DVD-burning software LaserJet 1300 series ($399 to $599) prints as many as 20
loa eosenee following | \nVisibles 1.4 Ventilloo 1.0 pages per minute at 1,200-dpi resolution. The series fea-
invisible files and folders visible and Software for cooling a Mac's internal tures two models—one intended for direct-connect use
around the Lollapalooza tour. “a rs ye . pene
then imisible again «temperature : and the other with built-in networking capabilities. The HP
wipe 1.3611 VSTi Host
client for Web, FTP, Hotline, OpenNap, and Allows stand-alone use of VST instruments
Gnutella and effects
LaserJet 2300 series ($549 to $1,299) features six models
with speeds of 20 to 25 pages per minute and 1,200-dpi
resolution. Both printer series are compatible with Ren-
dezvous, OS X's zero-configuration networking technology.
For these and other current updates, visit: == The Designjet 120 ($1,295) can do both standard printing
and large-format work. Ithas a standard media tray and
| .
| wwwmacworld.com/subjectupdates 24-inch paper path. Features include closed-loop color cali-
| Macworld,com has the latest from VersionTracker.com, | bration, 2,400-dpi resolution, and 4-picoliter drop size,
Asecond model, the Designjet 120nr ($1,895), provides
built-in Ethernet networking support.
CONTOUR DESIGN OFFERS ERGONOMIC ALTERNATIVE WITH ROLLERMOUSE
Servers
' H Arrack cabinet from Marathon Computer (800/832-6326,
Rollin g Away from Pain pinvtie nel eer ttt
dates equipment 30 inches deep and stands 40U tall.
If you're trying to pinpoint one of the major culprits for repetitive strain injuries, look | Equipped with anttip plates forall four sides, the M-
no further than the awkward way computer users reach for and grip their mice. Those Rack was designed specifically for Apple's Xserve,
movements can contribute to wrist, forearm, or shoulder pain, so input-device makers
are scrambling to come up with pointing-device alternatives. Among the more inventive
approaches is the $190 RollerMouse Station, from
Contour Design (800/462-6678, www.contourdesign
.com). The RollerMouse Station, which looks like a key-
board tray, sits just in front of your keyboard and doubles
as a wrist rest—a horizontal roller bar just under your
thumbs replaces a mouse. You roll the bar in different A FireWire 400 card from Sonnet Technologies (949/587
directions to move the cursor; applying pressure to the 3500, wawviconnetteth. cam): The aNagro, NAD Fics
. Wire PCI adapter card ($40) features three six-pin
roller bar acts asa mouse click. Four buttons below the | Fre\ive 400 ports is aimed at older Macs needing a Fie
System
A.USB 2.0-FireWire combo card from Orange Micro (714/
779-2772, www.orangemicro.com): The OrangeCombo
Notebook Card ($119) includes two USB 2.0 ports, one
six-pin FireWire port, and one four-pin FireWire port. The
laptop expansion card is compatible with PowerBook PC
Card slots and comes with 05 X drivers.
{
roller bar are customizable via a dial and DIP switches. Wire interface or reWire-equipped Power Macs in need
The RollerMouse Station does have limitations: it’s designed for keyboards with a straight of more FireWire ports. The card is compatible with OS 9
ten-key pad and without a built-in wrist-rest area, so curved or special ergonomic key- | and later—comien ay PHIUP MICHAELS
boards may not be the best companions for it. An ergonomic specialist can help determine
whether a device such as the RollerMouse Station is right for you.—JENNIFER BERGER
| 28 | MacwortD | June 2003 = : ; | wowmmacworld.com |
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[30 | MACWORLD | June 2003
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Apple iBook®
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» 800MHz PowerPC G3 processor
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890 2003 | MACWORLD | 31 |
PHOTOS COURTESY OF APPLE COMPUTER
BY RICK LEPAGE
Apple's Year of the Notebook
started quite impressively, with
the release of the 12-inch Pow-
erBook (#$%; April 2003), a
compact laptop that combined
extreme portability with the per-
formance of the G4 processor.
Following quickly on that
model's heels is the 17-inch
PowerBook, the new flagship of
Apple’s laptop line. Sporting a
huge 17-inch screen, a 1GHz
processor with ample Level 3
(L3) cache, extensive connectiv-
ity options, and several innova-
tive new features, this $3,299
machine represents the state of
the art for anyone who wants the
best portable money can buy—
especially if size and weight
aren’t primary concerns.
Desktop Masquerade
Reading a list of the 17-inch
PowerBook’s technical specs and
capabilities, you could easily mis-
take this laptop for a desktop
Power Mac. In addition to the
1GHz G4 processor and IMB
of speed-boosting L3 cache,
this PowerBook offers built-in
GHZ 17-INCH
‘POWERBOOK G4
Big Screen and Big Performance Add Up to
Professional-Level Portability
Reviews you can trust: Macworld rates only final shipping products, not prototypes. What we review is what you can actually buy.
Gigabit Ethernet and
AirPort Extreme, two
USB ports, FireWire
400 and 800 ports, a
DVI video-out connec-
tor, a 56K modem,
512MB of RAM, and a ‘Type IL
PC Card slot. It’s also a storage
powerhouse, offering a 60GB
hard drive and a slot-loading
SuperDrive that burns DVD-R
discs at 1x, CD-R discs at 16x,
and CD-RW discs at 4x.
You might also mistake this
PowerBook’s central feature for
something you'd find on a desk-
top: its 17-inch TFT display, a
bright and beautiful flat panel
with a native resolution of 1,440
by 900 pixels. Even former Tita-
nium PowerBook users will be
blown away by this remarkable
screen. Whether you're reading
spreadsheets, surfing the Web, or
watching DVD movies, the 17-
inch PowerBook’s screen is noth-
ing short of phenomenal. If you
use window- or palette-heavy
applications such as Apple’ Final
Cut, Adobe Photoshop, or
Macromedia Dreamweaver, this
expansive screen lets you work
Speedmark 3.2
OVERALL SCORE SUITE
Adobe
Photoshop 7.0.1 iMovie 21.2
Leal
without feeling crowded. And if
you need even more space, you
can use the DVI connector (and,
optionally, the included DVI-to-
VGA adapter) to drive a second
digital or analog display at a res-
olution as high as 2,048 by 1,536
pixels in 24-bit color.
Solid Construction
When it comes to fit and finish,
this PowerBook is top-notch. It
has the same anodized aluminum
shell as the 12-inch model, an
excellent improvement over the
Titanium PowerBook. The lid,
which houses the display, glides
back effortlessly on counterbal-
anced hinges. Two small speakers
on either side of the keyboard
provide the best sound we've
heard from an Apple laptop.
Audiophiles will still wince at the
sound, but it’s more than ade-
quate for watching a movie or lis-
tening to music on the road.
iTunes 3
__MP3 ENCODE _
Unlike with most
previous Apple
notebooks, you install
extra RAM in the 17-
inch PowerBook from a
door on the underside of
the computer, not by
removing the keyboard.
As a result, the keyboard
is very solid, and the keys
have an excellent range
of motion. In an Apple
first, the keyboard is also
backlit, letting you find
the right key even in a
pitch-dark hotel room.
In true Apple tradition, the
keyboard light doesn’t simply
flicker on and off: it dims and
brightens gradually. This feature
is more than eye candy—it’s quite
helpful and much more useful
than some of the USB-based key-
board lights we've tried. An ambi-
ent-light sensor on the Power-
Book automatically triggers the
backlighting, although you can
turn this feature off if you don’t
like the effect and prefer to adjust
the backlighting manually via
function keys.
Desktop Performance
Like last fall’s 1GHz Titanium
PowerBook, the 17-inch Pow-
erBook is a well-balanced com-
puter in terms of speed. The
1GHz processor, coupled with
the IMB of L3 cache, a
167MHz system bus (the fastest
yet in any PowerBook), fast
Cinema 4D
Quake Il v1.30b5 XL 7303
FRAMERATE
_3-D RENDER
Ponmemack CURE Mite: —
pixels with Graphics set to High Quality For more
BEST RESULTS IN BOLD, REFERENCE SYSTEMS IN ITALICS.
Speedmark 3.2 scores are relative to those of a ZO0MHz eMac, which is assigned a score of 100. Adobe Photoshop, iMovie, and iTunes scores are in minutes:seconds. Quake scores ate in frames per second. We
tested each system with Mac OS X 10.2.4. The 15-inch and 17-inch madels had 512MB of memory installed. The12-inch PowerBook has 128MB on its motherboard and was upgraded to 640MB of RAM for this
testing, We set displays to native resolutions and 24-bit color. The Photoshop Suite isa set often scripted tasks using a SOMB file. Photoshop's memory was set to 100 percent and History was set to Minimum, We
tested MP3 encoding with an audio-CD track that was 9 minutes and 25 seconds long, converting it from the hard drive using iTunes’ Better Quality setting. We tested Quake IN at a resolution of 1,024 by 768
>Better
| 32 | MACWORLD | June 2003
| wewmacworld.com |
32 Laptop computer 40 Video-encoding utility A
Apple 17-Inch PowerBook G4/IGH2 Cleaner 6.0 Traktor D) Studio 2.0 The best recently reviewed Mac 38 This Month
33 Desktop computer 40 DVD-authoring combination 45 Pocket PC synchronization tool products in Printers
Apple Power Mac 4/Dual-142GH2 USB Instant DVD PocketMac Pro 2.0 49. Mac Gems
35 Digital-audio software 41 Photoshop plug-in 46 Spelling checker Acr0s5 Lite, ICurve, Photokit, Brother HL 5070N,
Pro Tools LE 6 Photoshop Camera Raw Spell Catcher X PowerMate, PowerWave, Sony | Hewlett-Packard LaserJet
36 Multimedia-authoring package
Director MX
37 Statistics analysis package
SPSS 11
a
43
OUTSTANDING: $889 VERY GOOD: $#%$ GOOD: $§ FLAWE
SketchUp 2.2
3+D-modeling software
Flight simulator
X-Plane 6.51
Plug It In. Ports on the left side (pictured,
from left to right); security slot, power,
modem connector, USB, PC Card slot, audio in, audio out. Ports on the right side (not
pictured): DVI connector, S-Video out, Gigabit Ethemet, FireWire 800, FireWire 400, USB.
333MHz Double Data Rate
(DDR) RAM, and the Nvidia
GeForce4 440 graphics chip,
provides the best level of per-
formance yet found in a Mac
notebook (see the benchmark
chart). In general, it was com-
parable in many tasks with a
single-processor 1GHz desktop
and significantly faster than the
1GH flat-panel iMac. Despite
the high-powered silicon inside,
this PowerBook never got hot,
and even when its fan came on
it was remarkably quiet.
The 17-inch PowerBook’s
AirPort performance was simi-
lar to the 12-inch Power-
Book’s—much better than the
‘Titanium models’ and generally
as strong as the current iBooks’.
The native Bluetooth support
is easy to use, robust, and
quite addictive once you've col-
lected a few Bluetooth-compat-
ible gadgets to play with. We
also found that attaching a
LaCie FireWire 800 drive
offered a 10 to 20 percent speed
improvement over an external
FireWire 400 drive when we
backed up with Retrospect or
copied files between drives,
although we didn’t use the drive
enough to make concrete per-
formance judgments on Fire-
Wire 800 in general.
Apple claims that the 17-inch
PowerBook has a battery life of
approximately 4.5 hours, but
Apple's battery-life claims are
based on ideal conditions. How-
ever, we regularly got more than
three hours of battery life with
average usage, and we were able
to watch feature-length movies
on a single charge without hav-
ing to resort to extreme power-
management tasks.
Portability of a Sort
The big screen means that the
17-inch PowerBook is signifi-
cantly wider (15.4 inches) and
longer (10.2 inches) than any
previous PowerBook, but Apple
has been able to keep the
thickness of the PowerBook at
exactly 1 inch, similar to the
Titanium models. The Power-
Book weighs 6.8 pounds, which
is more than a pound heavier
than the Titanium, and in the
range of Apple’s older Power-
Book G3s.
While the 17-inch Power-
Book is big, it isn’t outra-
geously so; its thinness really
helps dispel the notion that the
17-inch PowerBook is a bulky
behemoth, unlike some of the
wide-screen PC notebooks
we've seen. However, its size will
knock it immediately out of con-
sideration by some road war-
riors: while ic will fic on a
standard airline tray table, we
found it nearly impossible to use
when seated in a coach-class seat
on a full airplane (this is a prob-
lem that we ran into with the
Titanium PowerBook, too). It
was usable in an exit-row seat, as
well as in economy plus, busi-
ness class, and—should you be
so lucky—first class.
RATING: 999%
PROS: Desktop-level performance;
beautiful large screen; solidly built,
backlit keyboard; Bluetooth and Fire-
Wire 800 support; good AirPort range.
CONS: Too large for coach travelers;
heavier than any current Apple laptop.
PRICE: $3,299
OS COMPATIBILITY: Mac 05 X
COMPANY: Apple Computer,
800/692-7753, wwww.apple.com
44 Professional DJ program
47 Reviews in Brief
CopyPaste-X 1.5, Page Sender 3.0,
QuieKeys X 1.5.4, TimeLiner 5.0
_DUAL-1.42GHZ
POWER MAC G4
Latest Version of the Fastest Mac Money Can Buy -_
Provides Attractive Extras, Good Value
48 Hot Products
Ericsson Clicker
53 The Game Room
Pocket Tanks
Macworld’'s Buying Advice
For people who do not live
entirely on planes or who have
fairly light travel requirements,
the 17-inch PowerBook will be a
fine, if slightly oversized, travel
companion. It also serves well as a
sleek (if expensive) replacement
fora desktop Mac. Given the size
and quality of the display, many
users won't even feel the need for
an external monitor.
With Apple's current note-
book line stretching from the
BY CHRISTOPHER BREEN.
A little more than a month after
Apple shipped the low-end and
midlevel systems in its lat-
est Power Mac line—the 1GHz
(#488) and dual-1.25GHz
(#999), respectively (May
2003)—the company released its
new top-of-the-line machine: the
dual-1.42GHz Power Mac G4.
Like its siblings, this Power Mac
is a pleasing mix of perform-
ance and economy. The dual-
1.42GHz model is significantly
faster than the previous best-of-
breed desktop machine—the
dual-1.25GHz Power Mac G4
(mirrored drive door)—and at
$2,699, it costs $600 less than last
year’s fastest Power Mac. That
makes it one powerful machine
with a very attractive price.
More Than Speed
Given this Power Mac's specs,
you might be tempted to discount
itas simply a sprightlier version of
last year’s fastest Power Mac. And
at first blush, it is. The old and
new models include 512MB of
DDR RAM (with a maximum
GameRanger, MacMAME, Marbie | Oki Data B4300, Xerox
Blast, Momo Racing, Payback,
: HE UNACCEPTABLE: &
4300n, Lexmark T420d,
| Phaser 4400N
$999 iBook to this $3,299
model, there's a portable for
everyone. While it will stretch
the definition of portability to
some, the 17-inch PowerBook
represents the best combina-
tion of features and _perfor-
mance of any PowerBook. It’s
an excellent workstation for
video professionals, designers,
and other users who refuse to
make sacrifices in performance
but still require a good level
of mobility. ©
capacity of 2GB), a 120GB hard
drive, and 2MB of L3 cache per
processor; they both fill the
4x AGP graphics slot with the
ATT Radeon 9000 Pro graphics
card, which can drive two dis-
plays (a DVI-to-VGA adapter is
included); and both Power Macs
sport two USB ports, Gigabit
Ethernet, a 56K modem, four
PCI slots, a headphone jack on
the front panel, audio-input and
-output ports, and a port for the
optional $59 Apple Pro Speakers.
And like the mirrored-drive-door
models before it, this Power Mac
provides space for a second opti-
cal drive below the SuperDrive.
However, this generation has a
FireWire 800 port and supports
Bluetooth (regrettably, internal
Bluetooth adapters are available
only as a $50 build-to-order
option) and AirPort Extreme,
Apple's version of the proposed
802.11g standard.
The dual-1.42GHz model also
includes a new, faster Super-
Drive—the Pioneer DVR-105,
which Apple claims can write
continues
_wwwmacworld.com |
June 2003 | MACWORLD | 33
REVIEWS
Dual-1.25GHz Power Mac G4 (FW 800)
Dual-142GH2 Power Mac G4 (FW 800) |
Adobe Cinema 4D
Speedmark 3.2 Photoshop 70.1__iMovie 21.2 iTunes 3 Quake i vi.30b5 —_XL7303
OVERALLSCORE SUITE. ~—=RENDER ©=—MP3ENCODE FRAMERATE RENDER
Reese 7 ib =
‘1GHz Power Mac G4 (FW 800)
BEST RESULTS IN BOLD. REFERENCE SYSTEMS IN ITALICS.
Speedmark 3.2 scores ae relative to those ofa 7OOMHZ eMac which i assigned a score of 100. Adabe Photoshop iMovie, and iTunes scores are In minutesseconds. Quake scores ae in frames pe second, We tested
‘each system with Mac OS X 10.2.3 and 512MB of RAM! installed. We set dspays to nave resolutions and 24-bit colo The Photoshop Suite test a sto ten scripted tasks using a OMB fle. Photoshop’s memory was
set to 100 percent and History was set to Minimum. We tested MP3 encoding with an auia-CD tack that was 9 minutes and 25 seconds ong, converting it fram the hard drive using Munes' Better Quality seting, We
| DVD-R discs at 4x, read DVDs
| at 8x, write CD-Rs at 16x, write
CD-RWs at 8x, and read CDs at
32x. (The Pioneer DVR-104,
found in the earlier dual-
1,25GHz Power Mag, is slower—
capable of reading and writing at
half these speeds in most cases.
See “FireWire DVD-R Drives,”
Reviews, May 2003, for more
information.) In addition, the
dual-1.42GHz model is the only
Power Mac that includes a Super-
Drive in its standard configura-
tion. (The 1GHz and current
dual-1.25GHz models can be
equipped with a SuperDrive for
an additional $200.)
Meeting Expectations
We expected the dual-1.42GHz
model to modestly outper-
form the current dual-1.25GHz
model, and we weren’t disap-
pointed. In our Speedmark test
suite, the dual-1.42GHz Power
| Mac was six percent faster
than a dual-1.25GHz model
equipped with
512MB of RAM. (The stock
configuration of the dual-
1.25GHz Power Mac G4
includes 256MB of RAM.)
‘The extra oomph in the dual-
1.42GHz Power Mac also
allowed it to best the new dual-
1.25GHz machine by a few sec-
onds in our iMovie-rendering,
MP3-encoding, and Photoshop
tests. More-dramatic results
came in the Cinema 4D XL ren-
dering test, where the dual-
1.42GHz Power Mac sliced 21
seconds from the time it took
the midlevel Mac to complete
the job. The faster Mac was also
able to churn out nearly five
more frames per second in our
Quake III frame-rate test.
The $1,200 Difference
‘These six percent and couple-of-
seconds performance improve-
ments over the current
dual-1.25GHz Power Mac G4
don’t translate into an astonish-
ingly superior computing experi-
ence. If you sat in front
of the dual-1.25GHz and
dual-1.42GHz Power
Macs placed side by side,
you'd likely find the pric-
ier Power Mac a bit
snappier when tackling
certain tasks—particularly
those that benefit from
the extra megabyte of L3
cache per processor—but
not so snappy that you'd
break into a smile of frank
admiration.
For that kind of reac-
tion, you must com-
pare the dual-1.42GHz
machine with the $1,499
single-processor_ 1GHz
Power Mac G4. In this
case, the dual-1.42GHz
‘Mac's two processors,
faster system bus, and quicker
graphics card pay off in a big way.
In our Speedmark tests, the
dual-1.42GHz Power Mac was
an admirable 27 percent faster
than the 1GHz model. In simi-
lar fashion, it steamrolled the
single-processor machine in our
iMovie, iTunes, Photoshop, and
Cinema 4D XL tests—most
dramatically rendering our Cin-
ema 4D XL test project a full 4
minutes and 14 seconds faster
than the 1GHz Power Mac.
‘The more powerful ATI graph-
ics card also helped the dual-
processor Mac blast out an
additional 57 frames per second
in our Quake III test. Given
these results, we suggest that
graphics and video profession-
als seeking to replace their
fleets of Power Macs aim for at
least the midlevel model.
Trial by FireWire
In our review of Apple’s other
new Power Mac models, we
observed that the FireWire 800
ports on these new Macs, at least
when connected via FireWire
Target Disk Mode, failed to
deliver the goods—moving data
only a few seconds faster than
the slower FireWire 400 ports
also included on these machines.
With the release of FireWire
800-compatible peripherals,
we're better able to gauge the
usefulness of this port.
FireWire 800 offers the very
tangible benefit of allowing you
to run cables as long as 100
meters (versus FireWire 400s
maximum cable length of 4.5
meters) without a decrease in per-
formance, but its speed benefits
remain to be fully realized. We
attached a 200GB LaCie d2 USB
2.0 & FireWire 800 hard drive to
34 | MACWORLD | June 2003
the dual-1.42GHz Power Mac
G4 and found that it took a little
more than 25 seconds to wansfer
a IGB file from the Power Mac’s
internal drive to the FireWire
drive. A similar transfer via Fire-
Wire Target Disk Mode between
a 1GHz and dual-1.25GHz
Power Mac G4 took 1 minute and
27 seconds.
Yet even when attached to a
compatible hard drive, Fire-
Wire 80
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