MacWorld0506June2005

TIGER ARRIVES! .,.17 Macworld www.macworld.com | June 2005 The Mac Product Experts TIME-SAVING (> Secrets of the Mac Efficiency Experts | Smarter E-mail (@™® Take Back Your Inbox Faster Browsing \%< ‘7 Fewer Clicks, Better Results — Easier Organization |—— Stay on Top of Your Projects New iPod Minis and iPod Photos Reviewed and Rated, p. 26 _ Logic Pro7 = é - . . Half studio. Half instrument. Total creative freedom. my TL More of a suite than an application, Logic Pro 7 sets a new standard in music creation and audio production. New Apple imaginable and Sculpture lets you synthesize anything naturally via component modeling. The 70 effect plug-ins, 34 software Loops let you produce instant sound beds, Ultrabeat delivers endless drum-machine permutations, Guitar Amp Pro models any tone instruments and expandable DSP processing power, thanks to Distributed Audio Processing, will make the $999" price tag music to your ears. June 2005 www.macworld.com REVI EWS ee ia | 26 Portable music players | $66§ 4GB iPod mini (second generation) | $888 6GB iPod mini (second generation) 27 Portable music player OPINION Var Biptosto bites itor’: $86 Eye Candy 5: Nature ? ean Faltor's Desk ities Color Efex Pro 2.0 The crusade to eliminate piracy from the face of the earth has special interests 32 Top Products fighting over consumer rights. In the meantime, enjoy your iPods and TiVos. - 14 Feedback 34__MoreReviews spon 1 MAC BEAT _ 16 Here's all the news from the world of Macs: a new look at Apple's market share, Tiger arrives, iTunes Custom Cards, a digital music update, Oregon Public | Broadcasting uses iBooks, Macs in science, and biometric security devices. Also, Apple's increased PowerBook RAM—is this the start of something good? 36 Game Room PETER COHEN Get a sneak peek at the new Mac version of The Sims 2. Also, we've got reviews of True Crime: Streets of LA, GooBall, Cosmo Bots, Tennis Titans, and Kill Monty. 44 Mac Gems DAN FRAKES Stream any audio with an AirPort Express, fine-tune your monitor's brightness, easily connect to Win- dows SMB volumes, accessorize your Mac mini, and take control of your open apps and windows. | SPECIAL SECTION 4) MAC MINI MAC. MIN! | BUYERS’ GUIDE mint Mant YE Selected newsstand copies of | this issue contain a special 20- | page “Mac Mini Buyers’ | Guide” supplement (it begins comes with some copies of aftespage 72} Whetieniolie aaron To view the contents af a longtime Mac fan or a recent the CD, go to the following URL convert, we'll show you how to outfit your new Mac (broadband Internet recommended): mini with the right gear, the best utilities, and the little Boe extras that really maximize your mini’s powers. If you don't have the supplement, don’t worry: you can. On the Cover download it for free from macworld.com/0468. Photographs by Peter Belanger Macworld TIME-SAVING The Virtual CD All readers now have free access to the contents of the CD-ROM that. 2 MACWORLD June 2005 wwrw.macworld.com COVER STORY _ 'SECRETS 48 Secrets of Mac Superheroes Are you using your Mac and its programs the best way possible? We asked some Mac experts for productivity-enhancing tips on using e-mail, browsing the Web, troubleshooting, and much more. Learn how you can change your computing habits to save time and work more efficiently. wool 2 First Look: Adobe Creative Suite 2 _ Check out this preview of the updated Adobe Creative Suite—and get your first look at CS's revamped applications, tighter integration, and new project-management tools. ” (Ss8 ADOBE CREATIVE, SUITE 2 26 iPOD MINI 32 TOP PRODUCTS wownwmacworld.com |66 = WORKING MAC Monitor Misbehaving Macs TED LANDAU Need something that can fix freezes, open unopen- able apps, and diagnose slowdowns? It's called the Activity Monitor—and you already own it. 68 DIGITAL PHOTO Faking Your Focus JULIE KING Alittle finagling in Photoshop Elements can make images from your point-and-shoot look like shots taken with an | expensive camera. 70 CREATE Start Your Own Podcast CYRUS FARIVAR Join the Podcast revolution! We show you how to record and publish your own audio broadcasts, 74 PLAYLIST Brilliant Playlists CHRISTOPHER BREEN We've got seven inspired smart playlists that will quickly sort through your massive iTunes library __and find d just the the songs you want to listen to, 78 MOBILE MAC How to Use Hotspots GLENN FLEISHMAN Learn how to find and access public wireless hotspots—without sacrificing security. 80 GEEK FACTOR 3 Cool AppleScripts ADAM GOLDSTEIN These simple tricks let you slim down images without leaving the Finder, confine a document to a specific number of pages, and have your screen saver signal to iChat that you're away. 82 HELP DESK Mac OS X Hints ROB GRIFFITHS Clean up text copied from the Web, quickly enter URLs in OmniWeb 5, preview multiple fonts, add the latest Java support to Mozilla browsers, access an encyclopedia from the command line, and more, 86 Mac 911 CHRISTOPHER BREEN Make cross- platform PowerPoint presentations, automate Office 2004 updates, create selective online searches, block annoying mail, create mul- tiple on-the-go playlists, and more. ‘BACK PAGE E 120 Hot Stuff Check out our favorite new stuff. June 2005 MACWORLD 3 “MY LAST PROJECT MADE PEOPLE SWEAT.” ~ Sandra, art director last project: small-space ad for wasabi peas QUARK. wwnw.quark.com 800.676.4575 (US) 302.772.7100 (Canada) “PEOPLE DROOLED OVER MY LAST DESIGN.” There's a reason award shows don't have “painful dental procedure” categories — at least there was, With QuarkXPresse 65, you just might be able to change all that. How? Can you say featurama? Out of nowhere, even a how-can-!-design-a-bang- tail-if1-con't-know-what-one-is becomes a whole new creative opportunity. With QuarkXPress 65, you can fudge, nudge and completely redesign your way to perfection. ~ Kimberly, designer last project: root canal post-operative checklist It all begins with features that were made to give you creative freedom - instead of annoying limitations. Features such as: — Layers (create, reorder, lock, show, hide and assign objects to layers at will) - PSD Import (import and integrate native Photoshope files directly into layout) ~ QuarkVista™ (blur, color-correct and optimize images right in your document) ~ Multiple Undos (correct up to 30 pre-coffee experiments gone wrong, with ease) Workflow that rocks? You betcha. Simple to use? Yepper. The powerful design tool nd love just got better. I's all in QuarkXPress 65, and its all yours if you purchase or upgrade today at store.com QuarkxPress 6.5, What will you use it for? (QUARK,) www.quark.com 8006764575 (US) anada) Charity begins at home. And being that our home is planet Earth, we at Small Dog Electronics believe it benefits us all to act responsibly. To that end, we have recently begun our new eWaste initiative that allows our customers here in Vermont to conveniently drop off their old electronics for safe recycling. In addition, for the past four years we have been offering matching charitable contributions for all of our customers whenever they make a purchase at smalldog.com. Next time you visit smalldog.com, we invite you to browse our huge selection of new and factory-refurbished Apple products and related gear. small Do Together, we can all make a difference. peamanees-com r Apple Specialist 1-800-511-MACS 1673 Main St., Waitsfield, VT 05673 ROW M a= Kelson) a54 BY JASON SNELL All Rights Reserved Back when Apple Computer promised Apple Records that it wouldn’t switch from computers to the music industry, the idea that the two companies would ever be in the same business seemed silly. Yet today there’s no telling where computers stop and music, movies, and televi- sion begin. The result is a potentially cataclysmic clash over your rights as a consumer—and Apple is right in the middle. The Fight for Your Rights The most recent battle is being fought in the U.S. Supreme Court, in the form of MGM v. Grokster: (A ruling is expected not long after this issue comes out.) ‘The movie studio is attempting to hold the creator of file-sharing software responsible for the illegal activity of its users. Under some interpretations, a win by MGM could make devices like the iPod illegal. because they can be filled with illegally downloaded music. Te’ legal to record TV shows on a VCR or a TiVo. You can legally copy CDs to iPods. So far, the courts have ruled that you're free to move your stuff from device to device and enjoy it wherever you like. Unfortunately, the studios and record labels are working hard to roll such freedoms back. The Grokster case is just the latest example: the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of 1998 is another. Under the guise of fighting piracy, it made an end run around your freedom to move your stuff, by making it illegal for anyone to create ways for you to exercise that freedom. Innovation at Risk Like any good company, Apple wants to serve its cus- tomers by creating new technologies. But Apple must also stay on good terms with music companies if it wants the iTunes Music Store to survive (no tunes, no iTunes). And if there's ever going to be a handheld Apple video player or an Apple Movie Store, Apple has to be on good terms with the movie and TV industries. ‘To see how this conflict plays out, just look at iTunes. Load up your iPod at home and bring it into work. Using iTunes, can you drag your music out of your iPod and onto the hard drive of your work com- puter? No, because Apple is worried that the music industry will see the iPod as a piracy-enabling device. Or consider Apple’s iTunes Sharing feature. Ever since Apple introduced it, it has gradually become less useful. You can share MP3s with anyone, but you can’t share files you download from the iTunes Music Store. In previous iterations of the software, you could share your music with anyone on the Internet, but then a software update crippled that feature. Apple isn’t alone. Several companies offer CD- and DVD-burning utilities, for example, but those pro- wewnw.macwarld.com grams can’t copy commercial Hollywood DVDs—that would be illegal under the DMCA. Want to make a backup copy of your Finding Nemo DVD because you're worried that your three-year-old will scratch the original beyond repair? You're out of luck (unless you want to use illegal DVD-copying software). Arr, There Be Pirates Of course, the studios and record companies aren’t really worried about iTunes sharing and DVD copying. ‘They're afraid of piracy. Music, movies, and TV shows are traded illegally at an alarming and accelerating rate. But piracy is nothing new. People have been copying movies, TV shows, CDs, and records since the dawn of recordable media. Worrying about college kids pirat- ing music and movies is like worrying that they'll stay up late and drink beer—these things are givens, But they grow out ofit. And most adults, if given the oppor- tunity, will be honest and buy their music, movies, and computer software. Meanwhile, the crusade against piracy is trampling the rights of everyday users, and useful features are dis- appearing from products. Does this stop the pirates from pirating? No, but it does make life less convenient for the rest of us, and it makes creating compelling products tougher for companies like Apple. Give Peace a Chance In my dreams, the Supreme Court will rule in Grokster’s favor, the DMCA will be ruled unconstitu- tional, and Congress will stop favoring the needs of media corporations over consumers’ rights. Oh, and I also want a pony. In reality, we'll likely continue living with compro- mises. Sometimes consumers’ rights will be reduced, butata level we can live with, as with the iTunes Music Store. Sometimes media companies will win, and new technologies will be crippled. In the meantime, enjoy your iPods and your TiVos. Ler’s just hope that we live in a world where there’s more where they came from. ‘What side of the rights divide do you stand on? Let us know at macworld .comv0504, oF send an e-mail to jason_sneli@macworld.com. June 2005 MACWORLD 9 10 MACWORLD June 2005 We make email better. a QuickMail New Version Available! SPAMCASTER Outspring has solutions for all of your email needs. Our easy-to-use QuickMail Client is available for Mac OS 9, OS X and Windows. Our powerful QuickMail Server allows you to easily administer accounts, mailing lists and more. To fight the ongoing war against spam, we've created the new Spamcaster line of products. Spamcaster gives you a hassle-free way to stop spam and other unwanted email without training or configuration nightmares. Soutspring Outspring Incorporated 707-523-7711 info@outspring.com www.outspring.com £2008 Outspring inc All-ghts reserved ‘QuickMal isa registered trademark of Outspring nc ‘Spamcaster isa trademark of ine. President Rick LePage Editorial Ditector Jason Srl Executive Editor Dan Miler Managing Editor Chasis Purdy Senior How-to Editor. Kelly unstord Senior News Editor_lonathan Self Senior Reviews Editor Jenifer Beige | Senior Editor Scholle Sawyer McFarland | Lab Director James Gatith | Senior Associate Editor Jacke Dove Assistant Managing Editor Sue Yorke! Senior Writer Dyn Frakes, Production Consultant Jenni Contributing Editors Christopher Breen, Adam C Engst, Bruce Fraser, Reb Grits, Jim Hed, Andy Innatho, Te Landau, David Pogue, Ten Stone ‘Amt Director Rob Schulte Designer Amy Browne Contributing Photographer eter Belanger Online Content Director Philip Michaels, Editor, Macworld.com News. lim Dalrymple Senior Editor, Macworld.com News Peter Cohen! Onine Managing Editor Cun Pott International Editors Matthew JG Powell Austra, Sebastian Mitsch, Germany, Ervico Lot tay; Yoshio Moriya, Japan, KrzysztelPietrasik, Poland; Daniel de Blas, Spain; Valter Bengtsson, Sweden; Engin Gedik, Turkey, David Fanning, United Kingdom Aig Cool. | Pf Human Resources. Kate Coldvell | sinin nonce anger ee fn ss Cot by See | | Publisher Cynthia Ramsey (973/228-3074) National Accounts Manager Paul Bonartigo (508/533-4020) West Coast Regional Sales Manager Stacey Stepherson (415/978-3341) | Showcase Account Managers Carol Johnstone (415/243-3691) Niki Strom ——_(415/243-3664) SalesAssociate Marcforg (415/243-3628) Associate Publisher, Online Doug Detletsen (415/243-3598) Orline Sales Associate Sarah Rose (475/243-3575) Online Sales Fepresentatives. Rachel Desarains (415/267-4562) Scott Wiliams (415/243-3509) Marketing Manager Kasey Galang (415/243-3642) ‘AdministrativeMarketing Asst. Amanda Caster (415/978-3380) Production Director Steve Spingola Prepress Manager Mark Fischman Booking and Billing Manager Ricardo Sandoval ‘Associate Circulation Director David Cob Director, Retention Marketing Lisa Radlee Retention Marketing Coordinator Shavon Burden Senior Subscription Marketing Manager. Linda Trinh | Subscription Marketing Manager Simon Thalet | Newsstand Consultant George Clark | VP, Consumer Marketing Shawne Burke Pecar | | ‘une 2005, volume 22, sue 6 UntedSutrolameca | wewewemacworld.com Let the PC world come to you. Copy and paste. Drag and drop. Switch between Mac and Windows® applications as easily as clicking between documents. Microsoft® Virtual PC for Mac Version 7 lets you run PC programs on your Mac like a pro — sans the suit and tie. See it work at www.microsoft.com/mac icrosoft Corporation. Allrights reserva. Mcrosofl, Windows,and “Your potential. Our passion.” are either registered trademarks oF trademarks Corporation inthe United Statesnd/o other countries. Apple, Mac, and Macntashareregistered ee Microsott Virtua IPC for Mac 12 MACWORLD June 2005 Don't miss out on this special offer! We'll rush you your first issue, and you'll receive 10 FREE downloadable Macworld Power Guides instantly. No need to pay now! We'll send you an invoice for only $19.97, that's 79% off the cover price, Subscribe today and you'll get a Bonus CD-ROM with your paid order. Only Macworld combines objective product testing with 20 years of market experience to give readers the perspective, advice, and inspiration to get the most out of their Mac. Each issue is loaded with authoritative product reviews, expert hints and tips, in-depth feature articles and more! OFFE | Macworld As _— L = re SJ © — = om WHEN. 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Senda check ot money order to Mac- work Back issues 20. Box 37781, Boone, 1A 50037-0781; or phone 800/288-6848 (US. and Canada) or 515/243-3273 (all ther locations) REPRINTS AND PERMISSIONS You must have permission before reproducing any material om ‘Macworld White to Macworld, Reprints and Permisslons, 501 Second Stueet, Sth Floor, San Francisco, CA 94107; include a phone number. To order reprints of your company’ editorial coverage, cal Reprint Management Senices at 717/399-1900; fax 717/399-8900; o e-mail macworld@reprntbuyercom, MAILING LISTS. We pesiogically make lists of our customers available to males of Goods and services that may interest you. I you do not wish to receive Such malings, please write to us at Macwvord, PO. Box 37781, Boone, 1 50037-0781, or e-mail us at subhelp@macword.com. Please include a copy of your malig label or your full name and address, MACWORLD EDITORIAL The editors of Macvord welcome you tps, compliments, or complains. Some stores and reviews from past sues can be located atwwrw | smacword.com, We are unfortunately unable 1 look up stories from past issues; recomend products; or diagnose your Mac problems by phone, e-mail or fax. You can contact Apple toll-free, at 800/538-9696, (rvs the company’s Web ste, at www. apple.com. (ur offices are located at 501 Second Street, Sth Foor, San Francisco, CA 94107; phone 415/243-0505; fax, 415/243-3545. Macworid stall Can be reached by e-mail at festname_astname@macworld.com, LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ‘end comments about any aspect of Macnord to leters@macwotld «com. Due to the tigh volume of mail we receive, we cant respond to ach letter We reserve the right to edt al submissions. Letters published in Macword or Macwarld.com become the property of Mac Publishing MAC S11 Send your questions or ps on using Mac computers, peripheral or software o Mscverid, Mac 911, 501 Second Steet, Sth Foor, San Fan- disco, CA 4107; fax 415/243-3548; or e-mail macQ1 1@macworid com. Include your name address, and phone nub To share tips and discuss ‘Mac problems with other Mac users, vit the Macwordcom forums. MACWORLD CONFERENCE & EXPO As the flagship sponsor of Macworld Conference & Expo, Macworld encourages all subscribers to atten this exciting biannual industry event. For information, please visit war macwolderpo.c wenwmacworld.com The Xerox Phaser* 7750 network printer gives you color so vivid, you’re naturally drawn to it. And at 35 color ppm, it’s sure to make your heart flutter. Xerox Color. It makes business sense. ‘The color is truly stunning, and the speed simply breathtaking. That sums up the Xerox Phaser 7750 tabloid color laser printer. It not only prints 35 ppm in black and white, it prints just as fast in color. And it can deliver up to an incredible 1200 dpi. Its single-pass laser technology prints up to 11x17 full bleed. Color is Pantone-approved, 4) desde r too, for accurate proofing. What’s more, Phaser Match” 3.0 color management software ensures the colors you want are the colors you get. For more about our full line of Xe: x network prin! digital copiers and multi-function s; just call us or visit our website today. We'll be happy to provide you with the stunning details. XEROX. xerox.com/office/1965 1-877-362-6567 ext. 1965 (© 2005 XEW0X CORPOR: ‘Adobe PostSeret is 8 mht veserved. XERO [Technology | Document Management | Consulting Services | IPSTHE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING Cyd The'$499 Mac Is Your Mac Safe? Ask Mac fans why we prefer the Mac to the Windows PC, and you'll likely get long lists of reasons. Most of those lists will have one item in common: we don’t have to worry about viruses, spyware, and other digital pests that plague our PC-using counterparts. But is that sense of security really i -EEDBACK eA warranted? That was the question we set out to answer in March's “Mac "~! ~~ tos HOW SAFEIS YOUR MAC? Security Insecurities JOHN HALE 2 Your article on Mac security (“Mac Secur~ ity: Fact and Fiction,” March 2005) is the kind of thing I subscribe to Macworld for. However, the section on antivirus software missed the mark. Security software should follow the medical dictum “First of all, do no harm.” But that’s exactly what many Mac antivirus utilities do—something the article did not address. As a visit to almost any Mac forum will confirm, the biggest offender appears to be McAfee’s Virex, but Symantec's Norton AntiVirus and Intego’s VirusBarrier can also cause problems. Pro- tecting your Mac without creating even more problems is a real dilemma. ANDY PETERS BS T don’t get it. In “Mac Security: Fact and Fiction,” you say, “No virus outbreaks affected Mac users in 2004.” Bur then, in “Select Your Shield,” you tell your read- ers that “the programs did a good job of finding viruses” on your test drive. If there are no Mac viruses, what exactly did these programs find? Maybe they found a Win- dows virus attached to an e-mail message in your Junk folder—but that virus can’t do anything to your Mac, so who cares? You conclude, “Any of these programs will provide the basic protection every Mac user needs.” Seems to me that not buying any of these programs will do the same thing. What do I get if I spend $60 on a highly rated Mac antivirus program? No software is perfect, but flaws seem particu- larly glaring in antivirus apps that touch all your files. And while it’s true that the average ‘Mac user may never see a single virus, it isn't safe to assume that this will never change. Also, Mac users who work in a multiplatform environment (meaning most of us) are doing 14 MACWORLD june 2005 Windows colleagues a big favor by keeping workspaces free of viruses.—Ed. MAC CARTER S As a longtime user of Virex and Norton AntiVirus, I think both programs are inef- fective at best. So I was elated to see that Intego’s VirusBarrier was your Editors’ Choice for virus protection. But when I bought and installed VirusBarrier, I discov- ered that in addition to the $60 price, Intego charges $30 a year for virus-defini- tion updates after the first 12 months. Your article makes no mention of this extra fee. You're right: the effectiveness of antivirus apps depends on having current virus definitions, And every antivirus vendor charges for those definitions, typically after the first year—Ed. Mini: How Sweet Is It? MANOLIS KROUSSANIOTAKIS ies] Tjust want to add my two cents on the Mac mini and its installed RAM (“Small Mir- acles,” March 2005). Based on my experi- ence with my iBook, 256MB of RAM is enough for most of the applications I use— Adobe Photoshop and Apple’s Mail, Safari, AppleWorks, Preview, iCal, and iPhoto, usually all open at once. Sure, Photoshop and iPhoto sometimes take a few extra sec- onds to complete some actions, but you can't have instant gratification all the time. LINDA WUNNER fe T was at first really excited about the Mac I thought it would be perfect for me—until I read the specs. How can Apple put only 256MB of RAM and one slot into this machine? It’s insane! The price for RAM upgrades, the difficulty of adding AirPort networking and Bluetooth, and the slow 4,200-rpm hard drive add insult to injury. Do you really think you are fool- Security: Fact and Fiction” feature. Judging by the responses to that story, many of you aren't feeling so complacent. © ing anyone, Steve? When we do the math, we can figure out the final cost. No, I don’t think I will be buying a mini. Mellel versus Nisus DR. RON RHODES B You should reconsider your ratings of Mel- lel 1.8 (8%; March 2005) and the sig- nificantly more expensive Nisus Writer Express 2.1 (#64; } 2005). As the author of over 30 books, I’ve tested all the word processors for the Mac, and I've found that while Mellel performs flawlessly, Nisus has so many bugs that it’s impossible to use. For example, if you double-space footnotes in Nisus and then close the doc- ument, those footnotes appear single- spaced when you reopen it, If you try to reorder paragraphs that have endnotes by selecting and dragging those paragraphs, then the endnote numbers and their con- tentat the end of the document vanish into oblivion and won't reappear until you close and restart the program. I could go on. Nisus is not ready for prime time. So Long, AppleWorks? BRIAN SMITH ies] As a longtime AppleWorks user, I was intrigued by the announcement of the new iWork suite (“Sweet Software Suites,” Mac Beat, March 2005). After having a closer look, though, I have to say that Apple may have a winner here—but iWork ain't AppleWorks, that’s for sure. Gone is the spreadsheet, gone is the database, gone are crificed the paint and draw sections—all for the sake of Apple’s compe! Microsoft PowerPoint. Fortuna still use AppleWorks for my accounting and membership-mailing routines—for as long as it will run on whatever new OS Apple foists on us. But how long will that be? wa, macworld.com Picking on Eddy MATTHEW MIGNAULT jes} I recently purchased an iMac G5, and now T understand why Apple users have always been such a proud group: the GS is an ele- gant machine, and I can’t see myself going back to a PC. But I'm disappointed by the amount of fan noise the GS emits. Take a look at the discussion forums on Apple's own Web site, and you'll find plenty of doc- umentation of the problem. So I was sur- prised to read in “The 20th Annual Editors’ Choice Awards” (February 2005) that the iMac G5 system is “whisper-quiet.” Who are you kidding? The GS is not a quiet computer—let alone whisper-quiet—by any stretch of the imagination, The iMac G5s we reviewed had fans that were commendably quiet. But you're right—there have been many reports to the contrary since then. We're looking at those reports now to see whether they merit coverage.—Ed, SIMON RINGSMUTH ie The computer held up by the Editors’ Choice figurine (February 2005) appears to bea Mac SE. Why th Macworld doled out the first Eddy Awards in 1985, when the hottest Mac around was the 512K. The SE didn’t debut until 1987. The 512K or the original 128K would be a better choice. The original Eddy was holding up a Mac Plus. Ata later date—around 1990—we revi statue to use the form factor of the Ma Classic. It has remained so ever since —Ed. Stop Your Sobbing SCOTT BROWN What is it with your Feedback column? In every issue, its mostly complaints, For example, in the March issue, 11 of the 12 letters were negative in tone, if not outright complaints. I don’t want propaganda, but I'd like to see some balance in the column. Otherwise, you should call it “Whine Bar.” is) It’s Just a Tool RAY SCHOCH ies) A Harley-Davidson is only a motorcycle, and a computer is only a tool, folks. Sure, I prefer the Apple version to the Microsoft version of this particular tool, but that shouldn’t mean I have to spend a month’s income every year to replace it. It makes neither economic nor ecological sense to toss aside expensive and perfectly service- able tools simply because they’re not the latest and shiniest. no UW) In “Reviewed: iLife ‘05 and iWork 05" (April 2005), we incorrectly state that AppleWorks is free with all new Macs. In fact, the suite is not bundled with Power Macs and PowerBooks. © Post comments on our forums (www smacworld.com); send them by mail to (=) Letters, Macworld, 501 Second Street, 5th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94107; or send them by e-mail to letters@macworld.com. Include a return address and daytime phone number, Due to the high volume of mail we feceive, we can’t respond personally to each letter. We reserve the right to edit all letters and posts. All published letters and forum comments become the property of Macworld, ‘wwrw.macworld.com NEW! Wacom Intuos3 The professional pen tablet for serious photographers, designers, and artists ntuos3 3219 Have fun with your photos! Graphite starts at 999 AVAILABLE AT: Best Buy, CompUSA, and Circuit City www.i3today.com WACOA\ -Patented cordless, battery-free Grip Pen for pressure-sensitive control - ExpressKeys” for convenient keyboard shortcuts and modifier keys = Touch Strips for quick scrolling, zooming, brush size control, and more - Five-button mouse that is cordless, battery-free, ball-free, and optics-free - Valuable software included ‘) 1.800.922.2589 Cintiqr Work directly on screen! Cintiq21Ux - 52499 AVAILABLE AT: i RH, ColGraphieStuffcom, and WacomDirect.com } Tune 2003 MACWORLD 15 Apple’s Uphill Clim When Apple released its sales numbers for the last three months of 2004, it gave market research firm IDC the chance to compare Apple’s place in the computer market with the big PC vendors’ shares. So is Apple gaining ground or falling behind? Turns out it’s doing a little bit of both. BY JIM DALRYMPLE According to IDC, Apple’s share of the desktop market continued to rise at the end of 2004, while its laptop position slipped. Over the course of the year, Apple gained nearly 1 percent in the U.S. desk- top market and about 0.5 percent in the world market (the numbers don’t include the Mac mini). After a rise during the year, Apple’s U.S. laptop market share dropped back to roughly what it was one year before, and its world market share fell a bit. Why are laptop sales down when desktop sales are up? Apple declared 2003 the “Year of the Notebook,” but it hasn’t pushed laptops as hard since then. Also, rumors of a G5-based PowerBook debut- ing at Macworld Expo in January 2005 may have kept many customers from pur- chasing a new PowerBook. The Mac Mini—Will It Help? While the desktop numbers are positive for Apple, they don’t take into account what could be one of the most significant moves Apple has made with its desktop computers in recent years—the release of the $499 Mac mini. ‘The Mac mini could potentially be one of the best-selling Macs that Apple has in its arsenal. By giving the mini a price tag that even the most price-conscious con- sumers find affordable, Apple has set up the new desktop as a wonderful first Mac for switchers or students, or as a second Mac for the home. Not many consumers would consider adding a $1,299 iMac to their $99 iPod shuffle purchase, but a $499 computer is a much easier sell. And Windows users 16 MACWORLD June 2005 wwwmacworld.com The wait is over—Tiger is here! Beginning April 29, Mac OS X 10.4 will be available worldwide. The latest version of Apple's advanced operating system has more than 150 new features, including Spotlight—a sophisticated desktop search tool for find- ing anything on your Mac—and Dash- board, a semitransparent desktop layer for accessing frequently used widgets such as calculators, Address Book contacts, and weather information. For our comprehensive coverage, visit macworld.com/tiger, and be sure to check out the accustomed to purchasing relatively inex- pensive hardware can now replace a PC with the Mac mini and not suffer the sticker shock that’s normally associated with buying a Mac. Analysts also see the mini’s potential. “The luster that the brand currently has because of sales of the iPod, combined with what is perceived as a very afford- able product carrying the prestige of the Apple brand, is definitely going to help them,” says Jupiter Research analyst Michael Gartenberg. Apple is known for having a strong, identifiable brand that people are willing to pay more money for. So does that pres- tige wear off when you pay only $499— instead of $1,000 or more—for the computer? Not with a desktop computer that you can sling under your arm and walk away with. “The fact that Apple is priced within reach of the rest of the market is psycho- logically very important. And, of course, it’s a beautiful design—people look at that computer and they break out into a smile,” says Gartenberg. “They are not saying that about Dell’s machines.” Does Market Share Matter? As much as any company would like to boast having the highest market share in the industry (as Apple can do easily with the iPod), does market share really mat- ter? After all, Apple reported its highest quarterly revenue and net income in the company’s history with a $295 million profit for its first fiscal quarter of 2005. Apple has been fighting market-share numbers for many years. Of course, the company can’t ignore the numbers alto- gether, but it’s more important for Apple U.S. Desktop Market Share 4 2004 Q4 2003 Dell 31.6: IBM 3.5% Gateway 8.0% wowrwmacworld.com next issue of Macworld. to have a strong overall strategy—keeping the iPod and Mac names on the tips of people’s tongues—than to chase numbers that mean little to regular consumers. According to Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis for NPD ‘Techworld, which provides sales and marketing information to technology companies, “market share is kind of a moot point in the evolution of the Mac.” iPod: Apple’s (Still) Rising Star ‘There is no question that the iPod has lifted Apple’s profile from that of a niche computer company to that of a market- leading powerhouse in the music realm. Apple has used the popularity of the iPod to market other products in its lineup— including the Mac. Once people take a look at Apple as the maker of the iPod, they start to see the bigger picture of what the company has to offer. Apple's naysayers have been waiting for the competition to drop the hammer on Apple and wrench away both music- store and MP3-player market share. But even with names such as Sony, Napster, and Microsoft targeting Apple, the iPod’s success has only increased. “What's interesting is that people have been saying from day one that the iPod is great, but just wait until the competitors come up with equivalent models and Apple can’t compete. Well, it’s been three and a half years, and it hasn’t happened yet,” says Gartenberg. In fact, there are other flash-based MP3 players on the market that boast more fea- tures than Apple’ recently introduced iPod shuffle, but evidence suggests that they aren’t as popular as the shuffle. Jupiter’s Gartenberg concludes that “we are past the discussion point of ‘Will Apple be in business next year? Will the Mac be around next year?’ Only the foolish among us are still debating that question.” Although Apple will never catch up in the computer game, the popularity of the iPod and the iTunes Music Store make for a pretty large target on the company’s back. To continue its popu- larity, Apple must continue to innovate, and to force the competition to follow in its footsteps. [) Macworld.com News Editor JIM DALRYMPLE covers, among other things, Apple financial reports U.S. Portable Market Share 4 2003 Q4 2004 Dell 26.6% June 2005 MACWORLD 17 MAC BEAT APPLE EXPANDS iTUNES CUSTOM CARDS Take My Single, Please aimee mann Drie free song on ines At 2005's Grammy Awards, artists including Bono, Norah Jones, Brian Wilson, and Stevie Wonder came together to perform a version of the Beat- les’ song “Across the Universe.” The next day, the recording went on sale at the iTunes Music Store, with all proceeds going to tsunami-relief efforts in Southeast Asia, Apple also created 500 iTunes Custom Cards for the charity recording and sent them to major radio outlets to generate buzz for the single. Each instantly collectable card fea- tured a picture of the song's star performers on the front and a special download code on the back, which let the card's owner download the song from the iTunes Music Store for free, The cards were so successful that Apple expanded the program: bands participating in March's South By Southwest music conference (www.sxsw.com) in Austin, Texas, could promote a single by passing out as many as 200 numbered copies of their own cards. The cards featured origi- nal artwork and a code for a specific song. Bands such as Calexico, Aimee Mann, Fat Boy Slim, and Elvis Costello handed them out. Chris Bell, Apple's director of iTunes product marketing, says the program will continue: "We have some other promo-only programs similar to SXSW coming up. Stay tuned.” Custom Cards are designed to replace tradi- tional promotional CDs—they’re a lot easier to lug around than stacks of CDs and can be more cost- effective—and, of course, they drive people to the iTunes Music Store—cHRISTOPHER BREEN WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE DIGITAL MUSIC WORLD? Listen to the Music It's time once again to bring you up-to-date on some of the recent news in the digital music realm.—JoNATHAN SEFF Creative Drops Prices Claiming that it would “fur- ther drive our momentum” in the digital music-player mar- ket, Creative Tech- nology dropped prices of its Zen Micro MP3 play- ers. Although CEO Sim Wong Hoo i] says Creative is “putting our i} competitors on the defensive,” ‘the new prices came six days after Apple announced its updated iPod mini line—and almost exactly match Apple's new pricing (www.creative.com). 18 MACWORLD June 2005 Billboard Counts Digital Downloads places such as the iTunes Although Billboard, the 111- year-old music-industry publi- cation, has been tracking digital music downloads from, Music Store for the past year, digital sales have been relegated to their own sections. Billboard recently began integrating digital track pur- chases into its “Hot 100” chart and added a new “Pop 100” chart—both track airplay, retail single sales, and digital track sales (www.billboard.com). Sony Goes Flash-Based For the first time in the history of the company's Network Walkman, Sony is releasing seven digital music players that use flash-based memory instead of hard drives. The music players will support MP3 and Sony's ATRAC3 files (www.sonystyle.com). HARDWARE BEAT DVI Booster, from Gefen (www .gefen.com): Unit extends the length of a DVI connection between a Mac and its display by 30 to 50 feet ($249). FastMac G4, from FastMac (www fastmac.com): Processor upgrade for CRT-based iMacs with slot- loading optical drives replaces the existing CPU with a Motorola 7410 processor running at SSOMHz with ‘IMB of Level 2 cache ($200), NuPower replacement batter- ies, from Other World Computing (wwwmacsales.com): Higher capacity batteries for 14-inch iBook G3 and iBook G4 models are rated at 59 watt-hours and 71 watt- hours, 12 percent and 29 percent ‘more than Apple's stock battery, respectively (59-Wh battery, $120; 71-Wh battery, $140), TDP-S25U, from Toshiba (www toshibadirect.com): Portable pro- jector features Digital Light Pro- cessing technology; 2,000:1 con- trast ratio; 1,800 ANSI lumens; and native SVGA 800-by-600 res- olution ($999). Tempo-X eSATA 8, from Sonnet Technologies (vwww.sonnettech .com): PCI-X host controller for Power Macs provides eight exter- nal Serial ATA ports ($300). VX924, from Viewsonic (www -viewsonic.com): 19-inch LCD shipping in May features 1,280- by-1,024 native resolution and delivers 4-millisecond video response time across the entire color scale ($499). NETWORKING BEAT 27dBM Base Station Trans- ceiver, from QuickerTek (www quickertek.com); Transceiver boosts wireless networking out- put of Power Mac Gas and G5s to 500 milliwatts, the maximum out- put allowed by the FCC ($160), Timbuktu Pro 8.0, from Netopia (\www.netopia.com): Update enhances remote-control soft- ‘ware's security by offering an integrated Secure Shell client that encrypts and compresses data streams ($100; contact Netopia for upgrade pricing). ‘wowew.macworld.com tomtom Just plug in, switch on & GO © Preloaded with the entire map of the United States~Canada available on included CD * Simple touch-screen operation + Crystal-clear 3D navigation * Spoken turn-by-turn instructions in the voice and language of your choice « Totally portable—mounts to any car in seconds * Real-time traffic and weather information available ¢ Customize with downloadable voices, millions of points of interest, and interchangeable face plates * More exciting features available (options vary by model) Find your way the easy way. Also available online at TomTom.com. Esa The TomTom GO is available at Circuit City and other major retailers. < ~ MAC BEAT OREGON PUBLIC BROADCASTING TURNS TO MACS FOR PLEDGE DRIVES Members Like You you've ever watched a local public televi- sion station’s pledge drive, you've probably noticed that the fundraiser isn’t a very high-tech operation. Volunteers answer calls and then fill out slips of paper with donor information. The slips are collected and tallied by hand, and the data is entered into a system. So I was pleasantly surprised when, during a recent volunteer session at Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB), each volunteer was greeted by a shiny white iBook, instead of a pen and slips of paper. Each iBook runs a custom OS X app called OPB Pledge, an elegant program that turns the tedium of hand-completing pledge paperwork into a simple and time- efficient task, Completed pledges are held in a queue on the iBook and then trans- mitted wirelessly to the database server, which sits on an Apple Xserve. The data- base server and its administration interface run on open-source software, so there aren't any licensing fees The pledge system has eliminated manual data entry from the OPB fund- raising drives, and it has helped reduce the turnaround time between taking a pledge and collecting the money— a process that used to take six to eight weeks. Like Macs in general, the system just works.—ROB GRIFFITHS APPLE FURTHERS ITS INROADS INTO THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY The Science of Macs As Apple produces faster computers, and as OS X's Unix core makes the operating system an even more viable option for researchers, Macs continue to make strides in the scientific community. Adding another notch to its belt, Apple recently made the shortlist of five companies that are "the best quali- fied to implement new technologies that will advance genomics research,” according to a report pub- lished by market research firm BioInformatics (www.gene2drug.com), The survey asked 600 genomics researchers which technology company they prefer. “We are really pleased about it,” says Liz Kerr, Apple's director of sci- ence and technology markets. “It’s nice when you know that you have a great solution, but then to see it broadly reflected in a piece of research like this is really gratifying.” News of the research hasn’t changed Apple's approach to the sci- ence market, but the company has begun taking its message on the road. At the end of March, it launched a national road show focus- ing on high-performance computing in the sciences. The road show visited San Diego, San Francisco, Boston, New York, and Cincinnati, Kerr says that hardware releases like the Xserve GS and the Xsan storage-area-network file system demonstrate Apple's commitment to the high-performance-computing market. But Apple’s success in the sci- ences isn't just about the hardware. OS X has played a large role in converting sci- entists, and it will continue to do so. Kerr is a featured speaker at the upcoming Bio-IT World Conference + Expo, where she'll talk about the benefits of OS X 10.4 (also known as Tiger). On May 18, Kerr will present “Apple and Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger: Energize Your Workflow,” a session dedicated to an overview of Tiger and its relevance to the “drug discovery process.” Kerr will focus on Automator, a technology that helps streamline repetitive tasks; Xgrid-based distributed computing; and other Apple software relevant to scientists and IT managers. “Clearly, with OS X we stopped being a niche player,” says Kerr. "That's one of the reasons we are seeing so much success—this is the market that gets that more than any other.” —JiM DALRYMPLE 20 MACWORLD June 2005, CREATIVE BEAT Canvas X, from ACD Systems (www.aedsystems,com): Cross platform workflow system for people who create, edit, present, and distribute technical illustra- tions and other graphics files sup- ports more than 100 file formats and features annotation, mark- up, and redlining tools ($400; upgrades, $50-$200, depending on version). Poser 6, from Curious Labs (www.curiouslabs.com): Updated 3-D tool for creating realistic human figures adds revamped User interface, OpenGL hard- ware acceleration, cartoon- outline rendering effects, and better support for Flash ($269; upgrade, $129), Quark Publishing System 3.5, from Quark (wwww.quark.com): Workflow-management software features integration with Quark- XPress 6, edit tracking with redlining capability, QuickConnect for tracking and managing appli- cations, and support for Mac OS X Server and Xserve; at press time, no ship date had been announced (contact Quark for pricing; upgrade, free), STORAGE BEAT © External Hard Drive Silver Series, from lomega (www jomega.com):; External hard drive with 7,200-rpm mechanism and USB 2.0 interface comes in 80GB, 160GB, and 250GB capacities ($119-$199, depending on capacity). Forensic BayDock, from Wiebe- Tech (www.viebetech.com): Exter- nal FireWire desktop storage sys- tem for fle recovery adds Serial ATA support in both Dual BayDock and Quad BayDock configurations (SATA Dual BayDock, $1,100; SATA Quad BayDock, $1,800), Impression 2.7, from Babel Company (\www.babelcompany com): Backup software features redesigned user interface, the ability to disable file segmenta- tion in file-copy mode, and an automatic-burn option for unattended backups to optical media ($50; upgrade, free). BEAT ICONS BY PAUL Wi wn macworld.com Wanted: Control Freaks! DiskStudio™ allows you to create and remove disk partitions on the fly! Want to create a new partition for games or photos? No problem. Want to get rid of that old OS 9 Partition without backing up and reformatting your drive? It's easy. PodLock”™ is a new utility that lets you do cool new stuff with your iPod. Optimize the data on your iPod so it “3 works faster. You can also create a secret drive within your iPod that allows you to keep sensitive data away 8S wee = ei woe from prying eyes. And much more! Aen chor Funes J » 4 « ote hee Glen Neteeiceenneneeenrnce” Micromat is dedicated to bringing you cool and useful utilities for your Macintosh and iPod. Our flagship product, TechTool® Pro, has helped thousands of Macintosh users keep their Macs running at their absolute best. TechTool Pro can even recover lost data and resurrect faulty disk drives. Learn more about Micromat products by visiting our website. Wi Micromat Inc. 800-829-6227 707-566-3831 info@micromat.com www.micromat.com ©2005 Micromat, Inc. All rights reserved. DiskStudio, PodLock and TechTool are trademarks of Micromat, Inc. MAC BEAT BIOMETRIC SECURITY OPTIONS EXPAND FOR MAC USERS Put Your Finger Here Biometric devices—which analyze biological traits—have long been seen in sci-fi movies: voice identification to trigger secret doors or retinal scans to open private vaults, This technology has been somewhat slower to make it into everyday life, and even more so for Mac users than for PC users. Sony was the first company to come out with a consumer-level biometric device that’s com- a i a patible with OS X. The cei OG: 4 $100 Fiusoo/m Cruzer Profile 22 MACWORLD June 2005 Puppy fingerprint- identification device (macworld.com/0457) lets you turn your fingerprint into your OS X login password. The USB device can also work with multiple users, with different fingerprints acting as passwords for different users. At the CeBIT trade show held in Hanover, Germany, in March, SanDisk (www.sandisk .com) unveiled another Mac-compatible biomet- ric device. The company's Cruzer Profile is a USB 2.0 flash drive with embedded fingerprint- identification technology. About the size of a pack of gum, the 512MB ($100) and 1GB ($200) drives began shipping in April. The Cruzer Profile is made up of two teth- ered parts: the drive itself; and the identifica- tion hardware, which stores fingerprint images and activates the drive when the user presents a matching print, As with Sony's Puppy, the Cruzer Profile processes the fingerprints inter- nally without using your Mac—making it more secure, Mac users aren't on an even footing with the Cruzer Profile—the drive includes three Windows-only utilities—but iPod shuffle users will feel right at home: SanDisk's drive also comes with a lanyard.—Brao Cook AND JONATHAN SEFF IS INCREASED RAM THE START OF SOMETHING GOOD? Thanks for the Memory Apple’s last round of PowerBooks introduced a lot of features worth getting excited about—faster processor speeds, 8x SuperDrives, a new trackpad, and Bluetooth 2.0. But one addition to the PowerBook line is particularly important in my book, and it could have a far-reaching effect on Mac users: more RAM. Apple finally made 512MB of RAM standard on every PowerBook model. Previ- ously, only the high-end PowerBooks—the faster 15-inch model and the 17-inch model—shipped with that much memory. The other three configurations came with a paltry 256MB (unless, of course, you ordered more as part of a build-to-order option). Anyone who has added additional RAM to a Mac has surely noticed the benefit of such an investment. As Macworld has noted on multiple occasions—most recently in our reviews of the Mac mini (macworld.com/0508) and the iMac G5 (macworld.com/0509)— 512MB of RAM is necessary to enjoy the smooth, peppy performance of OS X. Apple’s move seems to indicate that the company recognizes this fact, at least when it comes to computers aimed at pro users. In addition to the PowerBook line, Power Mac desktops also ship with 512MB of RAM. The consumer products—the iMac, iBook, eMac, and Mac mini—ship with only 256MB. Although users of those prod- ucts can add more memory, Apple’s memory prices are noticeably higher than what other RAM merchants charge, and buyers of consumer machines are not always inclined to install upgrades themselves (especially in harder-to-upgrade models such as the iBook and the Mac mini). As Apple tries to attract more switchers, it needs to make sure that the out-of-box experience is a good one—instead of mak- ing things unnecessarily difficult for people the company is trying to win over with appeals about ease of use. The costs of boosting installed RAM (without raising prices for consumers) would be outweighed by a better user expe- rience and the amount of goodwill that Apple would generate.—PHILIP MICHAELS INTERNET BEAT GoodPage, from Tari (wwww.good page.info): HTML- and CSS- authoring tool offers WYSIWYG selection and navigation of docu- ments viewed at the code, struc- ture, or browser level ($149). PocketMac Safari Scrapbook, from Information Appliance Asso- ciates (www. pocketmac.net): Tool automatically collects and archives the history links that Safari produces, saving text and content for later retrieval ($18). Speed Download 3, from Yaz- soft (wwwya2soft.com); Down- load manager has been rewritten for performance as much as 50 percent faster than its predeces- sor's ($20; upgrade from version 2X, free). Transaction 1.0, from Maxprog (wwevemaxprog,com): Online sales manager for software devel- opers features data analysis and reporting mechanisms specific to online sales ($59). WebDesign 2.6, from Rage Soft- ware (wviw.ragesw.com): HTML source-code editor adds support for JavaScript, XML, ASP, and ‘VBScript while enhancing syntax coloring with customizable options ($30; upgrade, free). MULTIMEDIA BEAT © Black Box, from M-Audio (vww.m-audio.com); Device for guitarists combines amp model- ing, beat-synced effects, guitar and mike preamps, and drum tracks with an audio interface designed for recording on a Mac ‘or a PC ($330). DMC 8280, from Digital Mind (wwwe.digmind.com): USB 2.0-based digital music player features a 30GB hard drive, a built-in FM transmitter, and Mac and Windows compatibil- ity ($299). Flix Exporter, from Wildform (www.wildform.com): Utility for creating FLV and SWF video files from Adobe After Effects, Final Cut Pro, and other applica- tions that support QuickTime plug-ins debuts on the Mac plat- form ($99), ‘wewwemacworld.com is BY PAUL HOWALT; RAM PHOTOGRAPH BY PETER BELANGER + eased on 283 6D RIVE and Bx DVD RAY speeds. flomega reserves the righ to Cancel this progam at ary tine. Program is subject 10 availabilty of evaluation units. Evaluation units provided to potential customers during ths program may have been previscsly sed. © lomega Corperation 2005, all ghts reserves. lomega, the Stylized "I" loa, REV and Save Everything ae registers ‘Uacemarks or taceraris of loreps Coraration i tre WS, anc other countries. THE IOMEGA REV™ SYSTEM. IT’S HEAD AND SHOULDERS ABOVE EVERYTHING ELSE. With transfe of DVD? the | try one out free for 30-4 bout a RE www.iomega.com/30day a MAC BEAT 24 NEW SOUNDS KEEP APPLE’S MUSIC APPS FRESH Thrown for a Loop Apple’s GarageBand has made it fun and easy to create songs made entirely out of loops—snippets of instrument recordings that you can layer and repeat for as long as you want, Start with a drum loop, bring ina bass line, add some punctuating percussion, and drop in a hom sec- tion, and you've got yourself a homemade, royalty-free song to post on the Web or use as a soundtrack in your latest iMovie. Although Apple includes a lot of loops, it’s easy to get bored with the same content after a while—and all the people out there with the same music apps are overusing the same sounds, To spice up your songs, here are some companies that offer Apple Loops— formatted sounds ready for use in GarageBand, Logic, Final Cut Pro, or Soundtrack.—JONATHAN SEFF NORLD June 2005 PRICE PER COMPANY CONTACT PACKAGE AMG usampled.com £30-£60 (about $58-$116) Apple Computer wwwwapple.com $99 Bandmateloops.com = www.bandmate $10-$20 loops.com Beta Monkey wwbetamonkey $30 music.com Drums On Demand wwwudrumson $50-$80 demand.com M-Audio vwawem-audio.com $100 PowerFX wwewpowert.com $10 SessionLoops wwnw.session $50 loops.com Ultimate Sound Bank wevrweplugsound.com €99 (about $133) Ze10-G wwewzero-g.couk $170 SAMPLE LOOPS iSci-Fi: melodic beds, effect beds, effect shots, and music effects for use in sci-fi films Jam Pack 4: Symphony Orchestra: more than 2,000 strings brass, woodwind, keyboard, and percussion loops Bandmates D!—Scribbles & Scratches: a collection of 75 edited table effects that can serve as the basis for more-sophisticated scratch phrasing and rhythms Alt and Modern Rock I: 1,000 grooves—everything from slower ballads to frantic power pop Volume 3: Upbeat & Aggressive: Song Sets, plus 1,700 kick, snare, rim, hat, and ride patterns Best of ProSessions—Volume 2: Liquid Cinema: highlights from Hollywood composer Jeff Rona Cool School: 19 horn loops inspired by late-1950s Miles Davis Drum Foundations Volume One Multi-Track: hundreds of rock loops from drummer Simon Phillips SonicBoomBox: 4,000 loops including hip-hop sounds, acoustic-guitar riffs, brass phrases, and more Pro Pack For GarageBand: 11,000 loops with collections including Cuckooland Unhinged, Nu House, Pure Mayhem, and Voices of Africa raph.org’s2006 bring your brain wow.macworld.com Mick, meet Keith. Say hello to iFi” your iPod's sonic soulmate - power, detail and emotion unapproached by any other iPod” speaker system, Perfect in your bedroom, as your primary home audio system, or even foF pre/post-production monitoring. Controlied by a long-range RF remote, the IFi docking station fits all dockable IPod Mini Second-Generation iPod Offers improved Battery but Lacks Extras BY CHRISTOPHER BREEN In the computer world, when a new version of an existing computer offers modest improvements in processor speed, more hard-drive space, more built-in RAM, and per- haps a better graphics card, the update is sometimes referred to as a “speed bump. The machine is enhanced in ways that make it more desirable, but there's nothing earth- shakingly different under the hood. Although we don’t refer to the iPod's speed, “speed bump” could fairly describe the new iPod minis, the latest generation of Apple’s wildly popular midsize music player. Like speed-bumped computers, these iPods include no new features, However, the new minis—available in capacities of 4GB ($199) and 6GB ($249)—do offer vastly improved battery life. The new 6GB model holds more music than the original 4GB iPod mini (68%93; May 2004) but has the same price. In addition, the pink, green, and blue models sport more-vivid hues than the original mini, thanks to a metal-flake coating on the case. (The silver model looks the same as the original. The gold model found in the first generation of minis has been discontinued.) All Charged Up and Ready to Go While the new colors and greater storage capacity of the 6GB model are the new minis’ marquee features, the most impres- sive thing about these iPods is their play time. The original mini’s play time is rated at eight hours, and that’s pretty close to the mark. In my tests of a first-generation iPod mini, I found that when you shuffled songs on a fully charged unit and didn’t touch it after pressing play, the iPod would play for a little more than nine hours. ‘The current minis are rated at 18 hours of play time. Under the same “press play and walk away” conditions, my green 6GB iPod 26 MACWORLD June 2005 mini played for an astounding 26 hours and 16 minutes. This hints that Apple's specifi- cation of 18 hours of play time is a real- world figure—that you can expect the battery charge to last for a good 18 hours (and possibly longer), even when you per- form such actions as switching on backlight- ing for short periods of time, searching through contacts and calendars, adjusting the iPod's volume, and jumping from one song, album, or playlist to another. If you need an iPod that plays for long stretches of time between recharges, this longer battery life alone makes the second-generation minis worth your serious consideration. Missing in Action ‘These new minis are also notable for what Apple leaves out of the box. Although you'll find a cable for transferring music via USB 2.0, the Apple iPod Dock Connector to FireWire Cable that was once bundled with every iPod is now an optional $19 accessory. Likewise, the power adapter that accompa- nied the original iPod mini must be pur- chased separately for $29. In the past, when fewer new Macs shipped with USB 2.0 ports, the absence of a FireWire cable would have been more than a minor inconvenience. With earlier iPod models and versions of iTunes, trans- fer via USB 2.0 was noticeably slower. Apple appears to have made improvements that bring USB 2.0 transfers into line with FireWire. In my tests, a dual-2GHz Power Mac G5 filled a 6GB mini in 15 minutes OUTSTANDING: VERY GOOD: GOOD: FLAWED: UNACCEPTABLE: and 17 seconds over a USB 2.0 connection. Using a FireWire cable shaved a scant 18 seconds off that time. Apple might argue that by omitting these items, it has been able to deliver a 4GB mini for $50 less than the original and a 6GB model for the same price as the first mini. Add the value of the minis’ enhanced play time, the fact that USB 2.0 is found on all current Macs, and the reality that for some people it’s no more of a chore to plug an iPod into a computer to charge it than it is to hook it up to a power adapter, and Apple’s decision makes sense. But as a veteran iPod user, I am disap- pointed. I often charge my iPod at night so it’s fresh in the morning, and, like me, my computers sleep at night. An iPod won't charge from a sleeping computer, so if you lack a power adapter and want to charge your iPod overnight, your computer must remain awake. Also, while most of my computers have a FireWire port, few of them include a USB 2.0 port. People with similarly middle- aged computers who are considering buying one of the new iPod minis must figure in the cost of the FireWire cable (or a USB 2.0 PCI card or PC Card). Macworld’s Buying Advice Speed bump or no, the iPod mini, with its more vibrant sheen and impressively improved play time, is a winner. While ’'m sorry that Apple chose to cut corners by dis- pensing with the bundled FireWire cable and power adapter, many people will find the lack of these items no sacrifice at all when they can get a 6GB mini for the same price as the previous 4GB model or save $50 on the latest 4GB iPod. [1 OD MINI (SECOND GENERATION) RATING: $699 PROS: Cool colors; outstanding battery if; price dropped by $50. CONS: Does not include FireWire cable and power adapter. PRICE: $199 COMPANY: Apple Computer, wanwapple.com 6GB iPOD MINI (SECOND GENERATION) RATING: $89 PROS: Coo! colors; outstanding battery life; new, larger capacity. CONS: Does not include FireWire cable and power adapter, PRICE: $249 COMPANY: Apple Computer, www.apple.com wwnw.macworld.com PHOTOGRAPHS BY PETER BELANGER 26 iPod Mini |27 30GB iPod Photo | 27 Photoshop Plug-ins |32 Top Products | 34 More Reviews REVIEWS YOU CAN TRUST Macworld rates only final shipping products, not prototypes. What we review is what you can actually buy. 30GB iPod Photo Fewer Accessories, Lower Prices Distinguish Smaller Model BY CHRISTOPHER BREEN When Apple released the second-generation iPod mini, it also tweaked the iPod photo line, It did so not by updating the interface or adding new capabilities to the colorful music and picture player, but rather by slash- ing $150 off of the price of the 60GB model and replacing the 40GB version with a 30GB iPod photo. This new, smaller-capacity iPod photo costs $349 and holds approximately 7,300 songs or 25,000 photos. Same “Old” iPod Photo Apple replaced the 40GB iPod photo with a 30GB version, reviewed here, but the 60GB model remains nearly the same (it even has the same Apple model number). A few of the trap- pings have changed, though, such as the price: the 60GB iPod photo now costs $449, down by $150 from $599. And a FireWire cable, AV able, and dock are no longer included. Apple removed some previously bundled accessories: the FireWire and AV cables, the iPod photo dock, and the carrying case. In my tests, the 30GB iPod photo had the same battery life as the 60GB model, exceed- ing Apple’s promised 15 hours of play by 93 minutes (backlighting, EQ, and Sound Check were turned off for these tests). When con- nected toa TV by the now-optional AV cable, the new 30GB iPod photo projected a slide show for about two hours. This iPod charged as quickly via USB 2.0 as it did via FireWire. And its colorful interface still looks great. ‘The 30GB iPod photo is thinner than the 60GB iPod photo but just slightly thicker than the fourth-generation 20GB iPod, so it fits nicely into cases, docks, and speakers designed for earlier iPods, Macworld’s Buying Advice This new iPod photo is slimmer and more affordable than the previous 40GB model. ‘This, in addition to the iPod photo’s bright, colorful display, may take the sting out of losing necessary extras. [") Photoshop Plug-ins Helper Applications Expand the Photoshop Platform BY JAY J. NELSON In the world of image editing, Adobe Photoshop has become a platform unto itself—it’s certainly much more than a single application. A thriving cottage industry of plug-ins, filters, and actions has emerged around Photoshop's architecture, and today there are supplemental plug-ins or actions for nearly every need, interest, and user level. In this review, I look at a variety of Photo- shop plug-ins: Akvis’s Enhancer 2.0, which reclaims detail in shadows and highlights; Alien Skin Software's Eye Candy 5: Nature, a plug-in that lets you add naturalistic special effects to objects; and nik multimedia’s Color Efex Pro 2.0, a set of tools that mimic—and in some cases surpass—traditional photo- graphic lens filters. These products are designed to work within Photoshop, but they also work www.macworld.com with a variety of other imaging pro- grams that adhere to Photoshop's plug-in standard, such as Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0 and Macro- media Fireworks MX 2004. Enhancer 2.0 You can’t always be in the perfect position to shoot a photo, and some- times you also don’t have enough time to choose the proper camera settings for the available light. ‘Too often, the dis- appointing result is that either the important part of your photo is ina shadow or the whole pic- ture looks hazy. Akvis’s Enhancer 2.0 fixes continues PROS: Good play time; beautiful, bright screen; ‘more attractive price than previous model; fits in older iPod accessories. CONS: No bundled FireWire cable, AV cable, or dock. PRICE: $349 COMPANY: Apple Computer, ywww.apple.com CHRISTOPHER BREEN is the editor in chief of Playlistmag .com and the author of Secrets of the iPod and iTunes, fifth edition (Peachpit Press, 2005), Bad Positioning It was impossible to avoid stand- ing in a shadow when taking this photo, and the shadow obscures much of the beautiful detail on the front of the building, With minor tweaks to Enhancer's default settings, the shadow areas were lightened and much of the detail was restored— without blowing out the sky or the it courtyard. June 2005 MACWORLD 27 REVIEWS PRODUCT Enhancer 2.0, Color Efex Pro 20 fi home version, $69; ‘business version, $78 “Rick Sammon Edition (12 $80; Standard WHATIT DOES Corrects exposure; reclaims detail in shadows and high- lights; minimizes hhaze; sharpens. ‘Adds naturalistic special effects. Provides digital ens and lighting effect. Edition (19 filters), $100; Select Edition (85 filters), $160; Complete Edition (75 filters), $230 problems by revealing detail in both shadow and highlight areas without blowing out highlights or plugging up shadows. y, it works. ys that Enhancer inte! transitions, thus strengthening the differ- ence between ixels in color tions. ‘That means you can dramatically improve most photos, ly those in which strong light falls behind your subject, casting a shado Besides enhancing shadow and highlight ancer can also impro\ a photo's midtone areas color exposed photo. In my tests, it provided an added punch that was especially beneficial for photos of industrial objects such as build- ings, bridges, and vehicles. Because of the algorithms Enhancer uses, also extremely effective at removing the haze that sometimes shows up in a photo (haze is usually the result of nonoptimal camera settings). Enhancer’s preview window prov’ three slider bars in an eas you can quickly improve a photo through simple trial and error, Unfortunat you can’t type values directly into the nd you can’t save settings for , you'll wind up doing extra work if you cancel out of the dialog box or www.I|nsideMacRadio.com 28 MACWORLD lune 2005 n't numerical values; ae is not resiz~ able; no zoom; questionable value for Photoshop CS and Photoshop Ele- Some effects don’t look realistic. — Unclear how to choose one of the four differently priced sets. if you wane to use the same settings on mul- tiple pictures. While the program’s Before and After buttons are handy for quickly viewing the effect of your changes, the preview window is not resizable, nor can you zoom in. Some: times this forces you into a few rounds of applying and reapplying Enhancer's effects. In my tests, Enhancer seemed to produce shadow and highlight adjustments similar to what an experienced user could achieve with the Shadow/Highlight command in Photoshop CS, CS2, and Elements 3 (see “First Look: Adobe Creative Suite 2,” page 58, for more on Photoshop C: Enhancer’ ability to also sharpen midtoi is unique, making it useful for sharpening details in well-lit photos. For users of earl- er versions of Photoshop, Photoshop Ele- ments, Macromedia Fireworks, or any other application that doesn't have Pho- toshop CS’s Shadow/Highlight feature, Enhancer is a valuable tool. For Photoshop CS or Elements 3 users, its greatest value is in sharpening midtones. Be sure to check out Enhancer’ manual; it’s helpful for understanding which settings to use for common problems, I had some trouble installing the upgrade from version 1.3 to 2.0; however, Akvis is working on the problem and it will likely be solved by the time you read this. ‘Tech support was somewhat slow to respond and not too helpful. Color Efex Pro 2.0 Fully equipped professional photographers carry a carefully chosen array of lens filters and light reflectors to make the most of the lighting conditions in any situation and to add artistic flair to images. This is a viable approach in digital photography, though software can often produce similar effec The plug-ins in nik multimedia’s Color Efex Pro 2.0 provide up to 75 professional- quality filters that let you reproduce or go way beyond traditional lens effects. For example, the red filter enhances skin tones, the blue filter improves blue colors and brightens skies, and the green filter makes foliage much greener—all without affect- ing the rest of the photograph. wnwwmacworld.com Color Efex Pro divides the filte categories: Traditional and Si Traditional filters include effects such as B/W Conversion, Classical Soft Focus, Vignette, Darken/Lighten Center, Fog, Remove Color Cast, Graduated Blue (and other colors), Polarize, Silver and Gold Reflectors, and White Neutralizer. The Stylizing filters include artistic effects such as Indian Summer, Midnight, Mon Morning, Old Photo (both color and bla and white), Pastel, and Solarization, Sunshine is one of the most amazing fil- ters in this set—it transforms the dull colors in a picture taken on a cloudy day into the colors you'd see ona bright summer day. In ct, it frees you to take photos under cloudy conditions, because you can adjust the lighting later if you want to. an be applied to 8- or 16- . in RGB, CMYK, Lab, or G scale color modes. If you have a Wacom graphics tablet, you can even paint the filters onto your image using various pressure- sensitivity settings. The filters are ferent collections ilable in several dif- The $80 Rick Sammon Edition includes 12 filters chosen by pho- tographer Rick Sammon, as well as four interactive lessons showing how he uses them. The $100 Standard Edition includes 19 filters; the $160 Select Edition adds 26 more filters for a total of 45; and the $230 Complete Edition includes all 75 filters. nik multimedia could do a better job of indicating who would benefit most from each collection, rather than just listing the included filters. Color Efex has been evolving for more than five years, with constant input from professional photographers. In the Pro 2.0 version, the brilliance of its programmers, Sunshine and their attention to the needs of pro photographers, is obvious. I recommend it highly Eye Candy 5: Nature Sometimes the subject matter of an image screams for a special effect, such as smoke, rust, water ripples, paint drips, or icicles. When you want to reinforce a marketing ¢ in an image, these tricks can be very y difficult to produ ‘andy 5: Nature et of ten filters that add natural effects to objects or text. My favorites are Drip, which either melts things Salvador Dali-style or adds paint drips to text and other objects; Icicles, which makes any object look as though it had been hit by an ice storm; Rust, which can add realistic corrosion or moss, mold, or mildew; Smoke, which cre- ates smoky effects ranging from volcanic eruptions to steaming coffee; and Ripples, which makes your object appear to be under- water, with many options for surface ripples. Other effects include Fire, Corona, Squint, Water Drops, and Snow Drift. Nature is the second of three upgrades to Eye Candy 4000—Textures was released in 2004 ($%%%; March 2005), and Impact will ship sometime this year. Nature's filters work on any nonwhite or nontransparent area of a layer, such as an object you've copied, a drawing you've pasted from Adobe Illustrator, or some big text. Each filter’s interface is slightly different, but they all have one pane for Settings (pre- sets) and one or more panes for controlling the filter's variables. Each filter includes dozens of presets you can use for instant effects; this is necessary because these filters have more controls than most people could master. Fortunately, when you discover a continues messi Saturation tion Coe! Cobe Reduction 20 ee | Light intensty = agus Select Prete | Prefer Sbength Here Comes the Sun The Sunshine filter in nik Color Efex Pro 2.0 adds realis- tic daylight to photos taken at dawn or dusk or under cloudy conditions. ‘wwew.macworld.com FREEVERSE.COM SUPPORT | ORIGINAL MAC GAMES | « Burning Monkey Solitaire 2005 Edition “More fun than a barrel of monkeys" - Macworld FMVLITOS Big Bang Board Games Apple Design Award Winner!* 3D Bridge Deluxe Play solo or with Mac users from around the globe! FREE SHIPPING Enter Coupon Code “macworldS" when ordering online. GA \& | June 2005 MACWORLD 29 DILOTRANSPOD The Only iPod Accessory Your Car Will Ever Need iPod = Music > | Settings > Shuffle Songs Backlight ABLE IN BLACK , SILVER & WHI DLO | TRANSPOD > You live in your car. Your music lives in your iPod. Connect the two with the DLO TransPod. It broadcasts iPod's music through FM radio in crystal clear stereo sound. It also charges your iPod's battery while holding it securely near your dashboard for super easy access. There are no cables, batteries or separate pieces to get in the way - just attach the all-in-one DLO TransPod to your cigarette lighter and your iPod and car will be in perfect harmony. DIGITAL LIFESTYLE OUTFITTERS » EVERYTHING FOR YOUR iPOD AND MORE = VISIT US NOW AT WWW.OLODIRECT.COM + CALLUS AT 864-800-IPOD MON-FRI 9AM-SPM + ©2005 NETALOG INC combination of settings that creates an effect you like, you can save it as your own preset and even share it with other users. Two fea- tures in the interface help you understand the controls: pressing your keyboard’s help key launches filter-specific help, and mous- ing over an item in the dialog box brings up a brief description of that item in the lower left corner of the box. More Photo- shop Plug-ins See our reviews of Akvis Chameleon 2.1, a tool that helps you match the edges and lighting of an object to a new background; Digital Gem Professional 1.0.3, a noise-reduction plug-in and Photoshop action set; and Mister Retro’s Machine Wash Image Filters and Machine Wash II Image Filters, two packages of Photo- shop actions that reproduce distress effects Such as rust, paint peel, splinter, and other tex- ture effects (macworld.com/0433), These plug-ins are just a few examples of the broad range of creative enhancements available for Photoshop users. To further ‘explore the wide world of plug-ins, check out ‘Adobe's plug-in page (www.adobe.com! products/plugins/photoshop/) and ThePowerX- Change (www.thepowerxchange.com). www.macworld.com Ripples Eye Candy 5: Nature offers 43 preset ripple effects and lets you create and save your own. All of the filte: 8-bit and 16-bit RGB, CMYK, and Gray modes, The 16-bit support is valuable because effects ren- dered in 16 bits per red, green, and blue channel can have finer gradations, and therefore greater realism, than effects rendered in 8 bits per channel, (You won' see the diferenc on your display, superior.) Some of ig ters ca als ercanea new layer and save their effects to it, resulting if you want to be really effic Photoshop actions to automate the process of applying Nature effects to a batch of images. Most of the that Nature produces are photo-realistic, though some seem to be more inspired by nature than truly natural, For example, Snow Drift looks like a painted illustration, and the drops in Water Drops are abit too uniform. Macworld’s Buying Advice For photographers, nik Color Efex Pro sional lens-filter factory, with ____REVIEWS dozens of filters that are useful right out of the box. The biggest challenge is decid- ing which version of this product you want to buy. If your work involves commercial art or marketing, Eye Candy 5: Nature's creative possibilities and ease of use make it a bargain. Enhancer 2.0's sharpen midtones is good, but beca Shadow/Highlight feature in Photoshop C$ and CS2 and Photoshop Elements 3 can do much of what Enhancer does, that plug-in is most valuable for users of other image-editing applications. You might consider buying Photoshop El which costs just a bit more, ins JAY J, NELSON is the editor and publisher of Design Tools Monthly (vawdesign-tools.com), the executive summary of graphic design news Kerio MailServer A groupware alternative to Exchange that syncs calendars, contacts and email with Entourage and Outlook. Integrated anti-spam and McAfee virus filtering provide secure, junk-free email for users on any platform. Mac OS X - Linux - Windows \fee WMcAfee ~~ KERIO www.kerio.com June 2005 MACWORLD. 31 SEE MORE HARDWARE REVIEWS! YOUR GUIDE TO THE BEST HARDWARE WE'VE TESTED [RS eaEeNenterens MINIDV CAMCORDERS $999) Optura 40 ($999), from Canon (wwewscanon.com): The Optura 40 pro- duces excellent video —— and respectable still photos, supports a true 16:9 mode, smooths the effects of a shaky grip, and is. ‘easy to use (November 2004; macworid.com/0130). $888 DCR-PC109 ($899), from Sony (www sony.com): This camcorder requires a docking station but has excellent image stabilization. It also has a spot-focus feature, headphone and mike jacks, and a hot-shoe (November 2004; macworld.com/0130).. MACS FIREWIRE HARD DRIVES Company Product Rating Price PORTABLE HARD DRIVES, LaCie Mobile Hard «888 $319 Drive by FA. Porsche Gc GDrivemini 8998 $279 Technology DESKTOP HARD DRIVES OWC — Mercury Bite $988! $450 800 Pro LaCie Harddrive $488 $219 Extreme with Triple Interface '4 for more hard-drive reviews and specifications. Contact Capacity Comments wowwulacie.com —100GB -—_ Low cost per gigabyte; not very fast. vavyeugstechnology 60GB Complements Power Mac G5 com design; great performance; very fast; a bit expensive. veww.macsales 40GB Great performance; not com great design details. vowulaciecom — 200GB Attractive; competitive price; supports FireWire 800 and 400, as well as USB; slow FireWire 800 transfers, DUAL-LAYER BYR EMBMER Product Processor Display —_—Rating iMac G5n Winches 4808 a G5N.8GHz —ITinches $48 aa “G51. 20 inches eMac “GAM25GH2 17 inches RB iGakoniaS Gan.25GHe 17 inches 5 (SuperDrive) “i Macmini not incuded $688 = ~notincluded $988 PowerMac _G5/I.8GHz —_notincluded #48 rh GSidual-1.8GH2 not induded $999 dual not included $e s G5idual-25GH2 not included $#88! PORTABLE iBook “GANIGH2 inches $9083 wa G4N.33GHz —T4inches not ans ae) pe —~ GaN33GHz —14inches 888 pasos = PowerBook — G4/1.5GHz i2inches $498 : Soria ae Gan sche Winches 886 Drive) fo Cr = 1.67GHz 17 inches oot ‘From a PrkeGrabber survey talers as of 2 32 MACWORLD June 2005 Goto $868 d2DVD+ macworld.com/ _Best Price* Bete a “a = 16x FireWire, ore e120 2 with Double Layer ug See LS ($189), from LaCie 0174 163 (www lacie.com): ” 0167 129 This DVD burner can burn 8.5GB of data to dual- =e ss 2 layer DVDs. Although it has a relatively slow read 0168 $989 129 speed, its performance is vety good overall ts . : excellent Mac compatibility includes OS X and iife 0316 nz support, and it comes with the full version of 0321 13 Roxio’s Toast Titanium (macworld.com/0313). 0177 165 0158 _194 0157 cs 22 COLOR LASER PRINTER 0178 106 leader aie “ $969 Laserdet oe 2550Ln ($600), ; from Hewlett- 4 "e Packard (ven = p.com): 0398 This inexpen- J 0399 “136 sive, network- able color laser printer offers crisp text and very 0400 36 good color fidelity, and it supports Apple's Ren- a ie dezvous. But its paper capacity is only 125 a - sheets, so you might consider paying the extra $100 for the optional 150-sheet paper tray (macworld.com/0083). www.macworld.com DIGITAL CAMERAS 7.1-MEGAPIXEL DIGITAL CAMERA $894) PowerShot G6 ($699), from Canon (ww This digital camera takes photos with excellent color quality and larity, It also has easy-to-use menus, Raw-format support, 2 live histogram, and the fastest lens (2,0) of cameras in its class (macwor'd corn/0206),, canon.com); ALSO RECOMMENDED: Mega- Company Product Rating Price Contact pixels Go to macworld.com/ Epson L-SOOV. = 89H! $350 wwwwepson.com 5.0 0282 Epson PhotoPC 9966 = $200 = wwwepson.com = 4,0 0249 L410 COLOR INK-JET FLATBED PRINTERS SCANNERS MIDRANGE SCANNER (= — Fn | 989) CanoScan 9950F ($400), from Canon (ww, canon.com); This CanoScan raises the bar for midrange scannets by offering high optical resolution, improved scan quality, and 9968) Photosmart 8450 (5250), from Hewlett- more-intultive software controls (macworld Packard (www.hp.com): com/0188), This network-capable ink-jet printer uses eight inks to paint excellent-looking photos (macwerld.con/0280) LOW-END SCANNER $499 CanoScan 8400F ALSO RECOMMENDED: (5150), from Canon 9998) Stylus Photo R800 ($399), from Epson (veeewscanon.com) (vewnepson.com); January 2005; macworld The 8400F has limited film and transparency com/0246 support but is a great all-around scanner with $444 Pixma iP8500 ($350), from Canon (www some high-end features and a low-end price canon.com); February 2005; orld,com/0275 (macworld.com/0187). NEW: DISPLAYS 21-INCH DISPLAY $896) 321 LCD Monitor ($1,599), from LaCie (www.lacie.com): It's pricey, but this 21.3-inch LCD, with its 10-bit color support and antiglare hood, delivers accurate color (macworld.com/0384). 19-INCH DISPLAY 17-INCH DISPLAY $846) Multisync LCD $896 SyncMaster 172X 1960NXi ($729), from NEC ($539), from Samsung ct (wvnvsamsun October 2004; mac Top Products are those we've recently reviewed in a comparison of like products. As new products become available, we will update the list. For longer reviews of these products and for other product recommendations, go to www.inacworld.com/reviews. wnw.macworld.com IN THE MACWORLD LAB Hardware Products We Tested This Month DIGITAL SLR CAMERA 8988 Olympus Evolt E-300 ($1,000), from Olympus wolyin This digital SLR is well built and yields very good picture quality. But except for its 8-megapixel sensor, it doesn’t have any fea- tures or improvements that its competition hasn't had for well over a year (macworld.com/0422), PORTABLE FIREWIRE HARD DRIVE 999% GOGB On-The-Go 7200rpm 8MB Cache ($236), from OWC w,macsales.com): This fst little drive doesn’t have many connection options, but it has an eye-catching clear case design and comes loaded with lots of useful utilities. t's also reasonably priced (macworld.com/0314), PORTABLE FIREWIRE HARD DRIVE $96 FireFly 20GB USB 2.0 ($170), from Smart- Disk (wwvw.smartdisk.co This supersmall drive will fit easly in a shirt pocket, The downsides are its relatively slow performance and high price per gigabyte. You also can't boot from it into OS X (macworld.com/03 14), DESKTOP FIREWIRE HARD DRIVE $999 G-Drive FW 400GB (5529), from G-Technology (wwwg-technology.com): This fast drive complements the design of a Power Mac G5, offers great performance, and has tons of storage capacity, but itis a bit expensive DESKTOP FIREWIRE HARD. DRIVE $8 ToughTech 800 250GB (TT8-250) ($300), from WiebeTech The ToughTech may cost a bit more than most drives, but it has «great FireWire 800 performance, a USB 2.0 connec- tor, and a very sturdy case (macworld.conv0314), June 2005 MACWORLO. 33, www.doctormacdirect.com THE DOCTOR WON'T SEE YOU NOW Doctor Mac Direct Makes House Calls Via the Net. Training, troubleshooting, tech- support and pre-purchase advice for Mac users. Our Mac Doctors do not have to physically see you because we diagnose your Mac issue via email, iChat, telephone and/or our customerinitiated remote control software. Call us at 1.877.376.2248 (11AM to 11PM CST) to speak with a DMD agent immediately, or visit www.doctormacdirect.com to fill out the "Get Help Now Form" describing your Mac issue. We willfespond to you within an hour of your web submission with a proposed solution. Common Doctor Mac Direct 15-30 minute fixes Mac OS troubles Slow booting Mail.accounts. Office for:Mac Airport networks iPhoto iTunes iDVD iMovie GarageBand Printing problems Palm syncing *snoi6e}U0D ShdD1AJas Ano pue Woo, Hulyem ou S,a184L www.doctormacdirect.com 1-877-DrMac4U [376-2248] DoctorMac ae We Make Mouse Calls 34 MACWORLD June 2005 REVIEWS _ More Reviews For complete reviews of the products listed here, visit www.macworld.com/reviews. cation that’s packed with features, that can grow as your business grows, and that's continuously updated and enhanced to make managing your business finances easier, AccountEdge is clearly the better choice (mac world.com/0408). $986! Popcorn a (550) from Rox $441 DVDzoneK 14.1 650 labout $68 at press a from DYD2one ( com): Copying DVDs, even just to back them up, isa ea landmine, but these two pro- {grams will do the job. DVD 2oneX 1.4.1 has very fast encod ing and additional options, tut i's rather pricey. Popcom, though slower to compress content, is easier to use and includes disc-buring capabilities (m: ccom/0406). $988 Cubase SX 3.01 ($799), from Steinberg yeewssteinberg.net); #889) Logic Pro 7.01 ($999), from Apple Computer apple.com); $988) Digital Performer 4.52 ¥ ($799), from Mark of the Unicorn iotu.com): These applications give you tons of audio-editing power for less than $1,000 each. MOTU's Digital Performer is the best choice if you have Digide- sign or external DSP hardware, is perfect for film scoring, and is the easiest to use. Steinbera’s Cubase has fallen behind somewhat on the Mac; its plug-ins are limited, and it doesn’t support AU, but it remains powerful for MIDI editing and external hardware. Logic wins out with its sheer volume of instruments, effects, and tools. t cov- ets all bases, from guitar amps to drum machines to physical modeling, as well as CD mastering and burning (mac com/0407). 9% QuickBooks Pro 2005 ($200), from intuit (on $849 AccountEdge 2005 (5300), from MYOB (www.myob.com): Intuit’s QuickBooks still has the advantage over MYOB's AccountEdge when it comes to ease of use. But if you're looking for an appli aor GyazMail 1.2 & (S18), from Gyaz Square (vivow.gyazsquare.com): This e-mail program gives you many advantages that Apple's Mail doesn’t. For example, it can queue messages or send them immediately; it can check different accounts on different schedules; and it Jets you control whether mail rules (or filters) are applied to outgoing mail, applied to incoming mail, or applied manually t also has @ powerful custom search feature and much more (macworld.com/04 14), $9891 Acrobat 7 Professional ($449), from Adobe (vavew.adobe.com): This is a very impressive update that ccomes at a fair price. This version of Acrobat Professional eliminates the need for some expensive third-party plug-ins, cives you enhanced preflight functionality, ‘adds commenting support in version 7's free Reader application, and has an improved Review Tracker (mac world.com/04 15). $981 PDF2Office 2.0 Professional ($129), from Recosoft (www: recosoft.com): Converting basic PDFs that include primarily text, images, and some formatting is uncomplicated with PDF2Office, which does the job ‘quickly and effectively. But as the complexity and size of a PDF increases (with many pages and with tables that have hidden borders), you'll need to strategize to get acceptable results (macworld.com/0417). www.macworld.com $844 PDFpen 2.0.1 (550), from SmileOnMyMac (vavn.smileonmymac.com): POF files are a simple and elegant way to distribute forms, instructions, and other information. But manipulating POF files and filling out or creating new forms can be difficult unless you're using a straightforward utility like PDFpen (macworld.conv04 16). $994 NewsFire 1.0 (519), from David Watanabe (vowvznewsfirerss.com): NewsFire is an excellent applica tion, and we highly recommend it. I's a great value com- pared with other RSS news readers in its category, and we expect that it will only continue to improve. It has @ few minor hitches, but none of them are deal breakers (macworld.com/0419). $88 Grammatica 6.1 ($30), from Ultralingua (wern.ultralingua.com): This fast application gives you a consistent interface for checking your spelling and grammar from within many different programs, and it provides more- detailed information about grammar than Microsoft Word's ‘grammar checker, However, Grammatica could stand some improvement, so we don’t recommend shelling out the money for it just yet (macworld.com/0418). om? SAO Kid Pix Deluxe 3X $4983; $40; from Software MacKiew (www .mackiev.com); The latest version of the famed children’s art program goes beyond simple drawing—it also includes a host of background images, stickers, animations, and prerecorded sounds that will help kids get started. Its iife integration allows children to import photos from iPhoto and to use music from an Tunes library as a soundtrack for artistic creations. 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June 2008 MACWORLD Game yt Room BY PETER COHEN IERIE Mayor of Simpleton Keeping your residents happy and healthy isn’t as easy as it looks inthe Sims 2. SIMULATION The Sims 2 7 We all know that if only FRISEMN | the people around us took Look our advice, they'd be hap- pier, healthier, and gener- ally better human beings. But while you won't get any thanks for meddling in the lives of your friends and coworkers, you can have the smug satisfaction of directing the destinies of virtual friends, with Aspyr Media's The Sims 2—the much anticipated successor to what may just be the best-selling computer game of all time. The new version, which is set to be released in June, has all the voyeuristic thrill of the original, improved graphics, and long- term challenge: your decisions—both good and bad—affect entire generations. Like the original game, The Sims 2 puts you in control of people called sims, who live, love, work, and play in a virtual world. You can cre- ate your own sims or choose from premade sims and sim families, Although sims live indepen- dently of your actions, you help direct them to get jobs, develop friendships, pick places to live, decorate their homes—everything people do in the real world. How successfully you help your sims do these things determines how well the game goes. While the general mechanics of playing will be familiar to fans of the original game, this version’s look is a welcome improvement. The Sims 2 fea- tures an entirely new 3-D graphics engine that lets you zoom in on your sims with amazing detail. It also puts a significant load on your M you haven't upgraded since you bought ‘The Sims, you may need a new computer to play. fac—i 36 MACWORLD June 2005, BETA TESTED PROS: New 3-D engine; support for genetics and aspira- tions adds to the challenge. CONS: Higher system demands than the original; old expan- sion packs aren't compatible. PRICE: $50 COMPANY: Aspyr Medi NuW.aspyr.com The preliminary system requirements call for a 1GHz G4 or faster, running OS X 10.3.4. The game's changes are more than skin-deep, though. These sims are also a lot more indepen- dent. For example, you don’t need to fuss over them to make sure they’re fed, entertained, or put to bed. You'll focus instead on bigger goals. You spend entire lifetimes with your sims, from youth all the way to old age and death. And fam- ilies of Sims can pass down DNA to their kids, affecting generations to come. ‘The game also gives more depth to your char- acters’ personalities. For example, they retain memories—both good and bad. They also have aspirations. By helping them achieve their aspi- rations, you'll earn points you can cash in on fur- nishings, appliances, and other niceties. If you really can’t get enough of your virtual friends, you can record the action and play back your sim films whenever you want. ‘The original Sims spawned a multitude of expansion packs. They won't work with the new version, but there’s plenty here to keep you busy. The Bottom Line ‘The Sims 2 keeps what was fan about the original while offering a huge amount of new challenge. continues News Feed SEE MORE GAME NEWS AND REVIEWS! Goto www.mac ld.com/games, Golf Season Aspyr Media is planning to release the 2005 edition of its best-selling golf game, Tiger Woods PGA Tour, in June. The new version fea- tures even snazzier graphics than the impressive 2003 ver- sion, along with Tiger Proof- ing, an editor that lets you alter the course by changing fairways, greens, bunkers, and more. Space Pilot If you are intrigued by Guild Software's Vendetta Online but don't want to pay the monthly online fees, check out Freeverse’s X2—The Threat. This new single-player game puts you in the cockpit of a spaceship as you explore, raid, or trade. It’s a bit like Ambrosia Software's Escape Velocity, but in 3-D. The Force Is with You ¥ June should also ie: see the release SES of Aspyr Media's Star Wars Battlefront. This crossbreed of Battlefield 1942 and Star Wars franchises lets you participate in your favorite Star Wars battles as infantry or from the cockpits of famous vehicles. www.macworld.com You are the First to Fight — a US Marine on the front lines of urban combat in Beirut. Lead a 4-man fire team that executes authentic Marine tactics. Move aggressively, knowing your team gives you 360-degree security, and devastate your enemies with precise air and mortar attacks. Experience a first-person shooter so realistic, the Marines use it as a training tool. Jam fr.) Single-player, co-operative 4-man multiplayer, and team us. team. COMBAT alt Het FIRST T0 FIGHT THE ABAULIFG COMGAT EXPERIENCES OF THE PROUG FEW. BASED ON A TRAINING TOOL DEVELOPED FOR THE UNITED STATES MARINES Available Simultaneously for Mac, PC and Xbox my OmmEay Atomic | @ MacSoft ye DESTINEER THE STORY PORTRAYED HEREIN IS FICTIONAL. NEITHER THE UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS NOR ANY OTHER COMPONENT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE HAS APPROVED, ENDORSED, OR AUTHORIZED THIS PRODUCT. Copyright 2005 Cestineer Sts In. First to gh, Reay-Teea-Fre Rass, and The Real-Life Conbal Experveces ofthe rau Fes ar tradenaris of Bester Pbltng Corp MacSoft and Destiner are registered Lradenarts of Bester, rc. Close Combat sa registered radenari of ome Canes rc. ans used under leene Mactesh verse ped by Cesinee ne Te rags canis a rademsh of Ue Ertertacenent Seftaare Rsacaton Gane experience may change dung oie ply Mac ard Macetesh are epsteredtradenarks of Feple Computer Ic CaneSpy and the Poueredby Canes" design ar ratemarts of EaneSpy estes. re Rlinghts reserved We raise... Announcing the first scalable, three dimensional poker software for Mac OSX. An online poker experience unlike anything else on the planet. Play, learn and have fun... all FREE Come download the public beta release now at: www.live3dpoker.com Help shape the future of online poker, join our beta team. " bs Mac This software is being provided free of charge for your entertainment purposcs only Don't Fence Me In You'll have to block alien bugs to win at Cosmo Bots PUZZLE Cosmo Bots RATING: $6 PROS: Fast pace; easy to pick up. CONS: Repetitive music; no traditional save feature. PRICE: $20 COMPANY: Cornerstone TSP Games, w.ctspgames.com If you were a fan of the or Ambrosia Software's you should consider Cosmo Bots, by Corner- TSP a must-have. The game offers retro arcade action that's stone Games, more addictive than a bag of potato chips. In the game, creepy little alien bugs have infested your space station. The only way to eradicate the menace is to shoot beams that fill the empty space around a framed perimeter. Pressing the spacebar or click- ing on a right mouse button reorients the shooter vertically and horizontally, To win, GAME ROOM you must fill up 85 percent of the frame. If the bugs touch the beams emanating from your shooter, you die. When you fill a portion of the board that contains one of your myriad foes, that buggie is blasted to smithereens. Occasional doing so will also spawn power-ups—such as fast shot, slow motion (which slows your enemies down), score multipliers, and time bombs. You'll also run into power-downs, which may slow your shooter, speed up everyone else, or do other nasty things. You if you finish each level in enough time. Despite its simple rules, Cosmo Bots gets relentlessly difficult fairly quick! will certainly keep you on your toes. The lush graphics and pumping techno sound- track help as well—though you may find the music repetitious after a while and choose to turn it off. With more than 500 levels, ther of game to pla an collect bonus: alot The levels are divided between nine worlds, which also serve as starting points for new games. Although it’s not as convenient as being able to sa ve at each new level, this means that you don’t have to start at the very beginning cach time you play. The best part is that you won't need anything fancy to enjoy the game. Cosmo Bots supports OS 8.6 and late The Bottom Line Cosmo Bots is easy to learn but hard to master. It’s sure to please gamers who are looking for addictive arcade-style fun continues #’ Top Do