MacWorld9609September1996

Power Computing Zooms Further: New 225MHz Mac, Page 4) Will il Apt meet the challenge? Unlock the power of the Internet with this awesome | browser. Small, fast. and de- [signed for the Mac. internet | Explorer supports a rich multi: | media experience and is easy to | Set, up shop on the Internet or just publish 2. personal web page with tools you already know how to Use. These additions to Microsoft | Excel 5.0 and Word 6.0.4 easily turn your documents into Everything HTML with:just a few clicks. Bet A NOW: You can get the most from your Mac with Apple’s d 6. 2 U tf you — are still running Word 60 you will definitely want to: upgrade your software to Word 6.0.1, introduced last fall, enhances performance and stability, speeds up your boot time and word: icrosoft's Now you can download A Internet Tools and discover th Internet capabilities of your Mac Microsoft’s continued commitrr Mac means you'll be browsing, creating and accomplishing more than ever re. To obtain your Internet Tools, and “Connect time charges may apply © 19 Mac and PowerMac are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. the System 7.5 Update 2.0, plea: //www.microsoft.com/macoffice/. Or to rder a free Microsoft Empowerment Pack for the Mac, which ir 25 a CD ROM with the software liste a special offer on RAM from Kingsto Technology, call 800-469-6520 Dept. MCA Micresoft ~ DO YOU WANT TO GO TODAY 6 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved Microsoft and Where do you want 10 go today? are reg’stered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Macintosh is a registered trademark and FEELING LIKE IT’S TIME TO MOVE ON? STEP UP TO 225 MHZ. Here it is, the mother fire-breather Our most expandable Mac 0S system of them all. Power Computing’s new ever, can be configured to Powerlower Pro. The ONLY machine PowerPC packing 225 MHz of retina-flashing speed, 6 PCI slots, your personal needs, but Mac()S keep in mind, it comes with a wide array of features that can 8 DIMM slots, interleaved memory, hardly be called standard. With dual processor capability and a 300W power supply. But what does it all mean? Well, it means pawn your old system off on some unsuspecting sucker as soon as possible and get a Powerlower Pro. Seriously, this machine is torqued with an upgrade- able CPU and 9 drive bays so it'll be putting most computers to shame for years to come. GS PawerComputing ~ PowerTower Pro” 235 a dizzying 8X CD ROM, dual (fast internal 10 MB/second) SCSI, a1 MB Level 2 cache, and a 7200 RPM hard drive (or optional Ultra SCSI/RAID array), this machine has every super-power you could ever need. To see what you can do at break-neck speeds, call Power Computing and make the move. © PowerComputing SERRE aT *LONGER BARS ARE BETTER fog ISU PIRFORMANCE ——EEET re 180 Pre 180 rowenta 1500/130 | TE | Pemertec 500/150 Lmectench 3.0 CUSTOM CONFIGURE ONE NOW: 800-410-7693 Circle 161 on reader service card Pena 1500/18 | Limectench 3.0 Bench 3.0 104 Features ‘Macworld Presents The Mac Reborn ‘Two new, completel Macintosh systems that could ca apult Apple again to the forefront of computer design. Only Apple didn’t design them—we did. of computing should be. MW 19 27 33 140 Blueprints for a totally new, very bold ‘Mac of the future. September 1996 MACWORLD SEP CE OM BER GWOr 120 132 Pale a look at where the cutting edge Ita 140 4 96: Top 20 Photoshop Plug-ins BY DEKE McCLELLAND The 20 most essential, exciting, and affordable Photoshop add-ons for productivity, spe and color output. Desktop CD Recorders BY PETER M STOLLER Wantto burn your own CDs? Macworld Lab compares 11 CD-R drives. and uncovers several easy-to-use, reliable winners. Huge Hard Drives ey BRETT GLASS Macworld Lab tests 4GB to 9GB hard drives for sp and pri d, performance Opinion a Letters State of the Mac BY ADRIAN MELLO. ‘The Mac community: what makes us tick. 43 The Desktop Critic BY DAVID PoGue ‘The best and—ugh!—worst product-inter- face design. Viewpoint BY DOUGLAS ADAMS Adams. Yes, that 46 ON THE CoveR Photographs ly Rick English Has Hollywood turned its back on the ‘Mac? Page 41, News Macworld Exclusive 225MHz Power Mac Ships Power Computing’s 604e- equipped Power'lower Pro sports the fastest speed of any PC. Big Changes Online The Internet is forcing the Big ‘Three—America Online, Compu- Serve, and Prodigy—to rethink their online strategies. The Monitor's New Course Flat-panel displays are neck and neck with CRT monitors in every respect except price. But how long will that be a barrier to flat panels on the des Special Report Font Upheaval Adobe shakes up the font market with a new version of ATM anda deal with Microsoft to develop a new type standard. 157 165 174 178 Secrets The Art of Juggling Extensions BY JOSEPH SCHORR stay afloat in as extensi How to of System Quick Tips BY LON POOLE and shortcuts. Tips, tricks, NetSmart BY MATTHEW HAWN line and overloaded. Media Animate Your Web by sim HeIo Use GIF animation without hassle. On the to add Publishing Workshop By DAVID BLATNER If you're not using styles in QuarkXPress, you should be. Graphics Workshop sy caTHy Ages A design pro’s tips for mixing type and images. 185 189 14 ‘Macworld Lab tests the latest laser printers in Buyers’ Tools, page 181. Buyers’ Tools Personal Laser Printers BY ROBERT C. ECKHARDT Macworld Lab examines 11 home- and small-office laser printers with an eye toward the best combination of quality, price, and trouble-free performance. Consumer Advocate BY JAMES A. MARTIN Flow to trim unwanted spam. calories from your E-mail diet. Star Ratings Macworld’s ratings for hundreds of hardwar ucts ata glan and software prod- How to Contact Macworld @IDG ‘Senet 1996, Volume 1, Huber Take Photoshop to new heights with 20 of the best add-ons, page 120. 56 58 60 67 70 72 75 76 79 81 83 85 87 89 90 92 96 98 101 Ss Reviews ***/6.9 Cyberdog OpenDoc Internet tool *#*/5,5 OrangePC 440; **/4.3 Power Mac 7200/120 PC Compatible; */4.2 SoftWindows 3.0; */4.3 SoftWindows 95 PC-compatibility solutions compared ****/8.2 Here & Now 2.0; ***/5.9 Mac Drive 95; **%/6.7 MacOpener 2.0; **/6.8 MacTransfer; ***/5.1 TransferPro; x /3,.7 XChange 1.2 Cross-platform file utilities compared ****/7.8 Let's Keep It Simple Spreadsheet Spreadsheet application ek **/8.6 Netopia 440; ***/6.8 Pipeline 25; *x**/7.1 Pipeline 50 ISDN routers compared ***/6.9 Pacesetter; ***/5.9 Pipeline 130 Frame-Relay and ISDN routers compared **/6.0 Masterduggler Pro 2.0; ***/6.1 Suitcase 3.0.1 Font-manager utilities compared ***/8.1 Apple Network Server 700 Unix-based server ee */7.5 Digital Performer 1.71; ****/7.2 Studio Vision Pro 3.0.3 MIDI sequencers with digital audio compared *#*/6.5 Color QuickCam Digital video camera ee K/7.0 Sculpt 3D 4.1 3-D modeling and rendering **#/6.1 Ready,Set,Go 7.0.2 Resurrected desktop publishing program **/4.6 Fujix DS-220 Digital camera *#*/5.6 LaserMerge Electronic Paper 2.0 Collection of printing utilities **/5.2 Jumpstart Your Job Skills 1.5; *#*/6.9 ResumeMaker Deluxe CD Résumé-builders compared #k**#/9.5 DeltaGraph 4.0 Flowchart program e*#/7.0 GeoQuery 5.0 Mapping software *&**/7.7 Toy Story Animated StoryBook Read-along CD-ROM for little kids ‘***#/8.8 Bad Mojo Kafka-esque adventure game ***/6.4 Alps Adjustable Mouse Cross-platform input device ‘**/3.8 Chaos CD-ROM game POWERTOWER PRO - TORQUED FOR TOP SPEED AND EXPANSION. If you seek processor domination, here is your throne - the Powerlower Pro. Choose either 225, 200 or 180 MHz. No other system currently on the market can boast such revolutionary clock speeds. Want more impressive 2 aa aust numbers? 6 PCI slots. A 1 MB Level 2 cache. Interleaved memory. A 2 GB 7200 RPM AV LAGS) capable hard drive. And nine expansion bays. And best of all, Powerlower Pro, like all Seiler aman rene aa Power Computing systems, comes standard — CURRENT APPLE SYSTEM CAN TOUCH THE POWERTOWERS.” , — MucWEEK Macarme 4.29.96 44 With an upgradeable CPU - making future upgrades a snap. POWERTOWER - THE MOST AFFORDABLE HIGH PERFORMANCE SYSTEMS. The PowerTower is a sheer workhorse the pundits are quickly recognizing as the next logical step beyond Apple's Power Macintosh. RAM and VRAM, large L2 cache & o valuable software bundle. And of course, we'll configure == Just compare the overall performance, speed and price and if you haven't fainted, give us a call. Both Powerlower models pack considerable processor speed (180, 166 MHz), plenty of your Powerlower exactly the way you want - delivering it direct from our factory to your door. 406 “POWER COMPUTING HAS FIELDED SOME KILLER MACHINES, im APPLE WILL BE HARD PRESSED TO CATCH-UP.” — Macs Macazoa Joy, 1996 CR BEL POWERCENTER - FINALLY, POWERPC 604 PERFORMANCE FOR THE MASSES. For many, the best place to start is with a PowerCenter. Power Computing’s mid-range systems are hardly basic. In fact, they blow most, competing high-end systems out of the water. PowerCenters ship with either 150, 132 or 120 MHz fo) CPUs. The memory configurations, expansion slots, VRAM and the free software bundle make the Mac OS PowerCenter the obvious choice. Small-office, home-office, enterprise and graphics users will thrive with such an affordable system that offers so much. “PERFORMANCE AND PRICE COMBINE TO MAKE THE POWERCENTER THE MOST SENSIBLE CHOICE FOR BUSINESS AND GRAPHICS.” — Macwons Macanmt, Jour, 1996 AW Apple, Macintosh and Mac oe repaired wedemarks, end the MacOS ogo iso trademesk of Apple Computes, ‘ore the property af thei respective heldes. Pies and speifctions er vl in the US, only an cre subject to COURSE, INSANELY FAST. POWERTOWER PRO: THE FASTEST, MOST EXPANDABLE MAC OS SYSTEMS Powerlower Pro 225 Powerlower Pro 200 T ‘225MM PowerPC 604e Processor 200MHz PowerPC 604e Processor 16 MB RAM (1GB MB Max) 16 MB RAM (1GB MB Max) +2 G8 7200 RPM AY Copable Hard Dive 2.GB 7200 RPM AV Capable Hard Drive I 8x CO-ROM Drive “8x COROM Drive “IMB Level 2 Cache “IMB Level 2 Cache “BNB IMS Twin Turbo 128 bit “OMB IMS Twin Turbo 128 bit I Grophics Accelerator Grophics Acelerotor 6 PC! Expansion Slots 6 PCI Expansion Slots Interleaved Memory Interleaved Memory 9 Drive Boys Dol (Fost 10 MB/Sex) SCSI “Extended Keyboard and Mouse “Connectix Speed Doubler 9 Drive Boys Dual (Fost 10 MB/Sec) SCSI “Extended Keyboard ond Mouse ~Conneclx Speed Doubler POWERTOWER: AFFORDABLE HIGH-PERFORMANCE MAC OS SYSTEMS PowerTower 180 Starter PowerTower 166 Storter 1 B0MHz PowerPC 604 Processor 166 MHz PowerPC 604 Processor ¥ “16 MB RAM (256 MB Max) “16 MB RAM (256 MB Max) 2.68 7200 RPH AV Capable Hord Drive +2 G8 7200 RPM AV Copable Hard Drive ow! -Quad-speed (4x) CO-ROM Drive Quod Speed (4x) CD-ROM Drive 512K Love 2 Coche 512K Level 2 Coche +2. MB VRAM OnBoard (4 MB Max) +2. MB VRAM OnBoard (4 MB Max) +3 PCL Expansion Slots “3 PC Expansion Slots +Connectix Speed Doubler +Connedix Speed Doubler *MiniTower Enclosure *MiniTower Enclosure “Extended Keyboard ond Mouse ____ Extended Keyboord and Mouse = ‘Add 8X CD 200 More =~ Add 8X (D °200 More \ ot) ‘Add Sony 20” Trinitron 20sfll $1795 =, “Add Sony 17" Trinitron V7sfll'795 | _ 4 —— PowerCenter 150 Storter PowerCenter 120 Storter ; 150 MHz PowerPC 604 Processor T20MHz PowerPC 604 Processor f +16 MB RAM (256 MB Max) 8 MB RAM (256 MB Max) oll lite +1 GB Hord Drive +850 MB Hard Drive *Quod-Speed (4x) CD-ROM Drive “Quad-Speed (4x) CD-ROM Drive *512K Level 2 Cache +SI2K Level 2 Cache ilo y +1 MB YRAM On-Board (4 MB Max) +1 MB VRAM On-Board (4 MB Max) +3 PCI Expansion Slots +3 PCI Expansion Slots -Desktop Enclosure Low Profile Enclosure “Extended Keyboard and Mouse Extended Keyboard and Mouse ‘Add Macromedia Bundle ‘795 gE. *Add 28.8 Modem & Internet Kit $195, *Add 6X CD *100 More ‘Add 6X CD ‘100 More Add Sony 15° Tinitron 15sx $425 ae Add Labtec Speakers Starting at $29 ) PowerComputing Circle 151 onreader service card Graphics that were beyond your reach ions, you probably don't have the time. No Start Templates make it easy for you t: Order your copy of Stencil It! today at d you will receive an additional 2 tail value $49.95). Offer ood fort “Gall (800) 938-8900 teehee fF { Point & Click Graphics for the Artistically Challenged Circle 67 on reader service card September 1996 MACWORLD Macworld presipanr/nuBusnien Colin, Crawford ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT Sharon Sanderson wich oPtearing oFricer Stephen Daniels usiness MANAGE Lisa Buckingham FINANCIAL ANALYSE Eos ie Feminis DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES Shelly Ginenthal YEE RUATIONS HANAGER Marisa Chow Wolter J Clee Meta Cockpit created and Wits rendered in Bryce 2 by Artétfect / Desi Los Angeles. Pm —~ on Fiitd.out more! Call us today. fom us out in cyberspace!” 1.800,472.9025 http://www.metatodls.com Mention ‘MMo9 1 Ne fap Jr ths thet de re Circle5 on Hadar peniedeard é AnthroCarts! - Macworld woroRn-cott Adrian Mello . AnthroCarts are so flexible. You have Ms dozens of shapes and sizes to choose, plus over 50 accessories to configure your cart exactly the way you want. And they have a Lifetime Warranty! Made of steel and high density particle board, these AnthroCarts are as tough as nails. See them all in our catalog, then call us direct to order. We'll ship to you the very next business day! Call for your free catalog: 800-325-3841 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM PST, M-F SEE US AT MACWORLD ExPO BOOTH #524 Anthro Corporation® Technology Furniture® 10450 SW Manhasset Dr. £4 Tualatin, OR 97062 Fax: 800-325-0045 ANTHRO http://www.anthro.com Since 1984. Prices from $299. For a lower cost line for the home, ask for our Compacta catalog. GSA contract. Available for OEM applications. Anthro, AnthroCart and Technology Furniture are registered trademarks of Anthro. EDITORIAL extcutive tortons Galen Gruman, Carol Person fbrTORIAL PRODUCER Barbara Assadi bigcTOx OF £01101 Jane Lagas Marjorie Baer Charles Piller Howard Baldwin simon roTOR stwoR ASSOCIATE FDITORINEWS Stephen Beale simon ASSOCIATE D1TOR Anita Epler ASSOCIATE EDITOR/AIVEWS Wendy Sharp ASSOCIATE DITORS Cathy E. Abes, Linda Comer, ‘Cameron Crotty, Elizabeth Dougherty, Katherine L. Ulrich ASSISTANT LOHTORS Suzanne Courteau, Jim Feeley Deborah Weinberger Patricia Catherry-Harris ornice manacen ASSISTANT TO TH KOITORIN-CHIKF contmmurinc torrons Mel Beckmian, Robert C. Eckhardt, Erfere Fenton, Jim H y, Cary Lay, Deke McClelland, Tom Negrino, David Pogue, Lon Poole, Steve Roth, Joseph Schorr, Charles Seiter, Franklin N. Tevsler erwATiONAl forrons Matthew JC. Powell, Australia; Vinicius Souea, Brazil; Marianne Fajstrup, Denmark; Michael Thevenet, France; Andreas Borchert, Germany; Enrico 1 ly: Osamu Honma, Japan; Oscar Kneppers, Netherlands; Toraly Ostvang, Norway; Alvaro Thariez, Sp Lennart Hakansson, Sweden; Cuno Schneeberger, Switzerland; Bahuttin Apak, Turkey; Simon Jary, United Kingdom Lauren L. Black Mark Hurlow, Jef Matthew R. Clark, Chris Uiterwijk tan omucron S108 THEWNICAL ANALYSTS otto THCHOOEAL ANALYSTS wvENTORY CONTROLLER Paul Brown ~~ COPY EDIT AND EDITORIAL PRODUCTION anacinc t01TO8 Ruth Henrich Paul-Michael King Lisa Brazieal Gail E. Nelson, Elissa Rabellino Jackie Goodman 10K COPY KOTOR S0.0R PRODUCTION {OTOR corr korrons ASSISTANT PRODUCTION EOFTOR ‘ART AND DESIGN esicn piateros Leslie Barton ant omtcron Joanne Hoffinan SENIOR OEDCNEVINFORMATIONAL GRAPHICS Ame Hury ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR Sylvia Benvenuti Associate omsicutn Tim Johnson S108 orscn ASSOCIATES elinda Chlouber, Martha Katt pisicw associart Rachel Amold ONLINE ONLINE SALES MANAGER. Jeff Julian onuine ACCOUNT MANAGER Ed Ramirez WEB ADMUNSTRATOR Chip Carman CONuNE ADMINUSTEATOR Steve Costa Content encinttn Paul Devine ‘oun prooucte tortor Karen Liberatore ‘one content PRODUCER Matt McAlister asustant content ewomtens Rosanne Gentile, Chuck Griffith NEW INTRODUCING OMNIPAGE PRO 6.0— IT’S FASTER, EASIER AND MUCH MORE ACCURATE. ‘Tired of re reports, articles, even letters into your Macintosh? With OmniPage® Pro 6.0 and your scanner, you can accurately enter thousands of words per minute with the simple push of a button. OmniPage Pro 6.0's indus- try-leading Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software converts your scanned pages to editable text and graphics in seconds for use in popular Mac applications like Word, Word- Perfect, Quark Xpress, Excel and many others. So you get to spend more time producing instead of manually typing, And OmniPage Pro 6.0's blazing speed, which is even faster on Power Mac systems, is only outdone by its superior accuracy, It recognizes all SCANNER INTO A WORLD-CLASS fonts at virtually any size, It flags suspicious words, then corrects them for you, It accurately interprets hard-to- read fa es and copies using grayscale information. And it “Powertul and faster, Caere’s OCR stalwart scores high on accuracy.” MacUser January 1995 even reads unique characters and special symbols. Without doubt OmniPage Pro 6.0 is the smartest OCR software you can buy. So call and order a copy today or visit your local reseller. Circle 69 on reader service card | SPECIAL UPGRADE | UPGRADE $149 70% OFF RETAIL PRICE Upgrade from OmniPage Limited Edition, OmniPage Lite, WordScan or othor versions of OmniPage (including those bundled in your scanner) and got the best OCR! © 65% more accurate © 35% faster Enhanced, easy-to- use AutoOCR Toolbar™ Retain original page layout with True Page® * 24-bit image editor * Accelerated for Power Macintosh * Interactive Apple Guide assistance 800-736-5735 Call Ext. 80 today! Master Juggler Pro hrowing every font into the System folder slows down you and your Mac. You have to put up with long font menus, slow appli- cation launching, and a bloated System folder, Your Mac can only handle 128 font suitcases so if you have a large font library, you're forced to quit all your open applications and drag fonts in and out of your System folder. Get a grip on your fonts. Restore speed, convenience and control with MasterJuggler Pro. MasterJuggler Pro upgrades your Mac’s font handling capabilities. Itgives you access to your entire font library and you can store your fonts anywhere. You can even share fonts over a network. Font sets allow you to group fonts by client, job, project or any other category. You can open and close fonts, or sets of fonts, on the fly 2s you need them without quitting all your open applications. Drag and drop support lets you open and close fonts from the desktop, Using just the fonts you need makes your font menus shorter and your applications start noticeably faster. Complete Font Management MasterJuggler is the professional's choice and was picked as the pre- ferred font manager by Macworld (5/95), MacUser (8/95) and Adobe Magazine (3/95). In addition to basic font management it also checks your fonts for corruption as they're opened so they'll never crash your Mac again, It checks for missing printer fonts to avoid the *aggies.” Font number conflicts are automatically resolved so the right font is always displayed. “Font gathering” copies the screen and printer fonts you need to send to a service bureau. Advanced font and sound compression saves valuable disk space. And you can print samples of your fonts in their typeface to create a type relerence book. Reliability & Compatibility That's Unmatched MasterJuggler has the reputation for solid performance on all Macs including the PCI Macs, The new MasterJuggler Pro gives you the benefit of Power Mac native tech- nology and is fully compatible with all Macs, all major desktop publishing and graphics software, and all font formats including QuickDraw GX. Grab a copy today and take control of your fonts! y 800-257-6381 Circle 140 on reader service card = = September 1996 MACWORLD Macworld DISPLAY ADVERTISING SALES ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Mart Sweeney (415/978- Steve Plevin (415/978-3138 sAuts oepartment coonoiNAToR Eva Bosch (415/974-7310) SAU pevitopuent ommtcton Suzanne Saluti (415/975-2 SALES oevELonuenT cooRDINATOR Leslie Black (415/978-4160) NATIONAL ACCOUNTS MANAGER Lois Brennan (415/ ACCOUNT ExEcUTIvE Liz Pabyin (415/978-32 Karl Elken (415/978-31 ACCOUNT ExteuTIvE Christine Wong (415/978-3192) Jessica Ross (415/26 NATIONAL ACCOUNTS MANAGER NATIONAL ACCOUNTS MANAGER Sara Culley (310/545-0646) apwunastmative assistant Margaret Level Green ($15/267-45 3-1 marionat accounts manacta Cynthia Ramsey (201/ NATIONAL ACCOUNTS MANAGER Paul Bonarrigo (508/370-0832) Account execurivt Lisa Weisberg (415/978-3164) aTioNAL ACCOUNTS MANAGER Lisa Ladle-Wallace (800/ 2 ACCOUNT extcuTIvE Kathy Poppenhagen (847/827-4477) ADuNusTRATIVE ASSISTANT Kim Giovanni (847/827-4477) MAIL ORDER/CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING SALES MACWORLD SHOPPER ‘BO0/888-8622 [Niki Stranz (415/978-3105), Carol Johnstone (415/978-3152), h (415/974-7419) ACCOUNT MANAGER/MW oIRECTORY ANO WeawarcH Bethany Baller (415/978-3276) “Toni May (415/975-2638) Shannon Si /ADMINOSTRATIVE ASSISTANT MACWORLD GLOBAL PRODUCT SUPPORT CENTER DIRECTOR OF MARKETING Ano suPront sexvicts Kimberlee A. Luedee RESEARCH RESEARCH DIRECTOR Linda Lawrence AISEAREH ANALYST Phillip Hibbert MARKETING MARKETING DIRECTOR Cynthia Koral MARCOM MANAGER Rhona Hamilton MARKETING MANAGER Oliver Chin TRADE SHOW/CVENTS MANAGER Anna Noeteel = CIRCULATION Vice PRESIOEN/OIRECTOR OF CIRCULATION Angelina Beitia SINGLE-COPY SALES DIRECTOR George Clark SEMOR CIRCULATION MANAGER Lori HTiteheock CIRCULATION MANAGER Elizabeth Jensen NEWSSTAND SALES MANAGER Martin Garchar DIRECT-MARKETING MANAGER Kelvin Gee NEWSSTAND COORDINATOR Dalia Schwartz suascRiPtion coonomAtor Peter Hor |New ausiess coorowaron Geoffrey Walls SUBSCRIPTION inQUIANS 800/288-6848 = PRODUCTION VICE PRESIDINT/OIRECTOR OF MANUFACTURING Anne Foley PRODUCTION MANAGER Cynthia Neustade ASSISTANT PRODUCTION MANACIR David W, MeAferty DF COORDINATOR Clayton Haberman UNG INFORMATION MANAGER Sof Yip LING ASSISTANT Lily Cheung swe BEAGLE PAPERPORT Vx™ MEANS YOU'LL NEVER AGAIN HAVE TO WASTE TIME RETYPING PAPERPORT Vx KEEPS TRACK OF YOUR CONTACTS With a mind of its own, | can you really train a beagle to be. your PAPERPORT Vx MAKES SMART ARCHIVES Imagine never having to rummage to find an important slip of paper: PaperPort lets you create archives of critical documents—receipts, invoices, your car registration, even those love notes from the 7th grade. It can scan thousands of words in minutes— from virtually any type of document. Reports. | Memos. letters. Then PaperPort Vx's integrated OmniPage LITE™ OCR software converts these words to digital format so they can be edited or copied, PAPERPORT Vx PUTS POWER BEHIND YOUR E-MAIL You're reading the Sunday paper and come across a hot article about your compeition So you scan it in, annotate it, ‘and email it to your sales team overseas—giving them the data they need to win a big account Monday morning. ee YOUR WINDOWS OR MAC SYSTEM Circle 18 on reader service card N Tired of forgetting people's names and numbers? Just scan business cards into PaperPort, and its CardScan SE™ soft ware automatically creates a file of your business contacts— all on your personal computer. 3.75" Its sleek and small. It rests right benween your keyboard and monitor Does eve “Except make coffee. PAPERPORT Vx IN THREE EASY STEPS . Feed in a docu- ment. In as quick ‘as 2 seconds, it's scanned. Drag and drop it ‘onto more than 100 popular applications. o Edit, copy, print, email, fax, file, or tweak the material ‘as necessary, PAPERPORT Vx GETS RID OF CLUTTER Then there are all of those tecipes, financial statements, Dear Binky columns, and newspaper articles you just can't bear to part with. You can use PaperPort to scan paper as long as 30 inches, and photos in up to 256 shades of gray. So you can save them forever, and get tid of the originals—with no remorse. * PAPERPORT Vx TURNS YOUR PRINTER INTO A COPIER, AND YOUR COMPUTER INTO A FAX MACHINE Save desk space—not to mention dollars. Scan a docu- ment into PaperPort and print it from your personal computer. Or save your paper and fax it, using your modem, YES, FEED ME MOR! 1-800-787-7007, ext. 608 hitp://www.visioneer.com Or contact an authorized reseller. pared Vlora Papen ord Popes Vs ox vachners ol Vlcrewt The Vacareer Qe 6 Rijewed adel Oh bods and pode nares ow Rodenatt ofa rexpeche Conponas VEAOIO/MAW 8/96 WV visioneer Got Mac? Need Windows? Get Reply! véall, The only answer when yougneed to run DOS and Windows on your Mac PCI Cards Shipping Now Combine the advantages of your Macintosh” computer with the freedom to run any DOS or Windows" application. ‘5x86 and Pentium’ processors to 200MHz ‘Supports DOS, Windows, Windows for Workgroups Windows 95 and Windows NT PC parallel and serial ports Multi-node IP access (access two IP addresses concurrently) PC game port and Sound Blaster 16 support Starting at only $795 When you need the performance of a real PC to run DOS and Windows on your Mac, Reply is the only answer. Call us today or visit our web site. 1-800-801-6898 http://www.reply.com reply Reply Corporation - Tel 408.942.4804 » Fax 408.956.2793 ep ar ety Crpratn are Vater Reply Copration eter pact nes refer erin ar trae f te respecte companies Will You Make Your Mother-In-Law Sound Like A Pig Or A Cow? Introducing YoYo, the most fun way to find out who is calling before you answer the phone. Working with Caller ID and your Mac, YoYo identifies who's calling with sounds from “Danger Will Robinson” to “I'll be back.” YoYo also gives you call blocking, automatic paging, call logging and more. Never be bothered by unwanted cals again! Call 1-800-788-7751, or visit www.big-island.com. Circle 24 on reader service card September 1996 MACWORLD Macworld HOW TO CONTACT MACWORLD Subscription Questions Phone Mainland USA 800/288-6848 ‘Al other locations 303/604-1465 Fax 303/604-7644 US. Mail Subscription Services PO. 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Reader can obtain newsstand premiums by mailing a check for $2.95 (shipping and handing) to Macworld Communications, News stand Promotion, 501 Second St. San Francisco, CA 94107. important Please state CD ble and sue, and include shipping name and address ‘Macworld in Micrefilm /Mzcworld is avalable on microtim aad migrofiche from UNI, 300 N. “Zeeb Ra, Ann Arbor, MA 48106-1346, 313/761-4700, ‘Macworld Editorial Our offices are located at 501 Second St, San Francisco, CA 94107, 415/243-0505, fax 415/442-0766, Intemet: macworld@macworld com; 70370. 702@compusere.com, macworld! applelink apple cam Readers can contact editors directly via the Macwo ‘America Online (keyword Macworld) or Macworld Online's Wel) site (htip:/ ors macworld com) LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. Direct ll comments, questions, and suggestions regarding any aspect of the magazine to Letters tothe Editor etters@macworld cm). All mal is read by our editor. We reserve the right to edit all submasions; letters must include your name, address, and telephone number ‘QUICK TIPS Send your questions or tips on how to use Mac computers, petiphera, o software tothe attention of Quick Ties. Pease Include your name, address and telephone number CONSUMER ADVOCATE Been burned? Ripped olf? Direct your concems (by mail only) to Consumer Advocate. Include your ‘address and phone cumber as well asthe address ofthe verdor We aso encourage you to indude copies of corespondence exchanged with the vendor in question BUGS AND TURKEYS. Send us descriptions of turkeys (lis It conception or design! and bugs (defects or flaws in execution) with your telephone number, mailing address, and T-shirt size STREETWISE SHOPPER Vendors and reseles, fax tequests to fobtain an application for inclusion of special produet promotion’ in Streetwise Shopper WRITING FOR MACWORLO It you're interested in waiting for us, tend a sethaddressed, stamped envelope with a request for our snters guidelines, Do not send unsolated manuscripts David Bunnell FOUNDING tOITOR Andrew Fluegelman 1933-85 FOUNDING Co1tOR tnindependent journal nt aihated wh Aaple Compute. tne Mic the Deshop Cac. Expet Graphs. Qutch Pps, Sa" Ratings, Mayers are Hracemarlt ot IDG. Ine APPLE. the APPLE LOGO. MAC. and ‘United States ef America Copyright © 1996 Mcweld Communications Vera. SIDG For years, creative professionals have relied on award-winning UMAX scanners to capture the high quality images they demand as an essential part of their creative solutions. Now, UMAX has come full circle by offering them the ultimate computers on which to realize their vision... Introducing the SuperMac S900 Designed from the ground up specifically to meet the needs of the design professional. We've kept all the best things you like — the familiarity and ease-of-use of Mac OS and compatibility with all your favorite software — wrapped it all up with the raw power of a 604 150MHz PCI-based design and delivered it at a price that can’t be beat. 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For more information call us at (800) 588-5401 or look for us on the Net http://www. kingston .com/msft.heml rake of Ki When you add more memory to Microsoft® Office, interesting things begin to happen. Suddenly, you're scan- ning powerful images into your presentation. And moving complex graphics around at will. You can download data from the Intemet to support your cogent analysis. Then e-mail the whole thing to your grateful associates in London. Alll before lunch. Since you've already invested in Microsoft software, you should make sure you have the finest memory to match: Kingston memory. Kingston design engineers use pe Capris luther demas the open thor ropes oer *O re Sy aie SEE US AT MacwoRLD Exeo sooTH #5634 exactly the same specifications system manufacturers, like Apples use. So compatibility is assured. And we test every cell on every chip on every module. (On a 16 megabyte module, that’s 128 million cells.) 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Since the PhotoPC is Internet re perfect tool for enh: are stored as JPE so you can put them pier | right into a Web page without wasting time on WAIN compliant | it’s the ing Web sites. Your images conversion. 3 For more details, call 1-800-GO-EPSON. . Ask for operator PhotoPC y, visit our Web site (http://www. 0. Or to experien fe with Wels pages image qual epson, Download a few brilliant ima; from our Digital Photo Gallery, see the difference for yourself. 2 “| YOU’VE GOT TO SEE IT IN SW cotor: oun is. entered remark of Se Kp Cop, Pho aed cate taemschs of Epon America Ic. All oer trademuks are the propcty of thet tespestiveo e814 pmo Ametca, Ine Secrets, Essentials, Details ( secrets also apply to ClarisWorks: « Text-block hopping (using %-option and an arrow key to move to the begin- ning or end of a line or block) works in a text frame in any ClarisWorks document. In ClarisWorks you can also select multiple objects that lie partially within the selection rectangle in database-layout mode, or in a drawing, by using the # key asa modifier, * You can create text frames in Claris- Works with a fixed right margin to force text-wrapping. Just use the option key as a modifier when you click and drag with the text tool. Davin Crowe Calgary, Alberta, Canada N “OFFICE ES AL OL the virtues of Now Utilities’ Key Cap- ture (June 1996), However, users of that enhancement should be aware that when you type a password, to open a document or to log on to an E-mail account, Key Capture saves those keystrokes as well. Anyone with two minutes’ access to your machine can copy Key Capture’s Saved Work file and learn your password If you use passwords, play it safe and turn off Key Capture. If you feel com- pelled to use it, define a user key to tog- gle Key Capture on and off. MARTIN Fisuer Engene, Oregon pee WORDPERFECT G ‘THE praise it deserves (“The Macworld Office,” June 1996), Here’s hoping Corel keeps it aliv STEPHEN TANNE Thorabill, Ontario, Canada Lellers Rage against the Gore AGREE WITH READER MATT SEGUR that game manufacturers have the right to make violent games (Letters, June 1996), However, reviewer Fred DeLisio should be commended for having enough taste to object to the excess of brain! violence in Marathon 2. Other publica tions seem to award ratings directly pro- portional to the amount of gore involved. Raut REGALADO Toronto, Ontario, Canada Tech Support on the House CCORDING TO “SCREEN-LAYOUT 4 \ Secrets” (Media, June 1996), “unless you're using Director 5 . . . layers won't import directly into an authoring pro- gram.” The column doesn’t explain how to import these layers into Director, and Director's manuals make no mention of Photoshop or layers. T my mere 30 days of free Director tech support with a minor question like this, so—how do you do it? Dayton, Ohio Director can't import layers on its own; you'll need a third-party plug-in to get the job done. Hie thee to Media Lab's Web site, heup:// www.medialab,com/software, and check out PhotoCaster, Or give them a call at 303/ 499-S411.—Eud. Fat's Enough | HAVE ‘TROUBLE KEEPING ‘TRACK OF the arrow cursor on the screen of my Performa. I was wondering if there is any way that I can enlarge the cursor. I con- tacted Apple customer service many times, but none of them have a clue what to do. You guys are my last hope, so please tell me what to do. HARRIS SINGER via the Internet We've got just what you're looking for: Fat Cursors 1.2.1, a $10 shareware control panel Jrom Robert Abatecola. It was originally de- signed to fatten up the scrawny cursor on Pow- erBook screens, but it works on desktop Macs too (take it from Macworld associate editor Cathy Abes, a satisfied user). Biggy 2.0.2 from RY Cooper and Associates is an $89 utility that lets you choose among several very big left and right arrows and can double the size of other pointers. Both Fat Cursors and a demo of Biggy are available in Macworld Online's forum on America Online (keyword Macworld) and on the Web (http://www.macworld.com/ software/).—Ed, continues MACWORLD September 1996 19 (@ NEW! Incredibly fun and powerful 3D imaging software. (@ NEW! DXF model import. @NEW! Intuitive interface and editing controls. (@ NEW! Boolean rendering. @ NEW! Exclusive, real-time 3D terrain editor. @NEW! Multiple light sources. @ NEW! Instant nano previews. Find Out More! Call Us Today. 1.800.472.9025 Ask for Dept. BMO9 The Visual Computing Software Company http://www.metatools.com ‘Ask about our hands-on Web training! SEE US AT MACWORLD ExPO BOOTH BAY SIDE #3100 Circle 4 on reader service card fle LETTERS © The correct URL for Okra is http:// okra.ucr.edu/okra/ (News, June 1996). © The Hewlett-Packard LaserJet 4MV can print to within Yo inch on letter- size paper (“Heavy Duty Printers June 1996). Cool, Hip. Wrong nf OUR REVIEW OF BBEDIT 3.5.2 SEEMED very narrowly focused (June 1996). While the review correctly acknowledged BBEdit’s powerful HTML extensions, it completely neglected the features that BBEdit a powerful text editor. Inte- gration with Metrowerks’ CodeWarrior and Symantec C++ went unnoticed, as did BBEdit's ability to create and edit very large files. BBEdit’s multiple-file search- and-replace functions and its ability to translate between Unix, Mac, and DOS text files weren't mentioned either. I realize that the Web seems cool and hip to your reviewers, but BBEdit provides a slew of unique features that make it useful, even essential, to Mac: intosh programmers and high-end users. A good review would have acknowledged BBEdit as more than a Web-page- design tool. BBEdit’s features and ex- tension architecture make it an indispens- able program. RoGer Kumar Rolla, Missouri L absolutely agree that BBEdit is a poxerfiul pro- gram, but since BareBones is selling it as an alternative ta WYSIWYG programs such as Adobe PageMill, I chose to focus on its HTML tools. Unfortunately, space limitations prevent- ed me from listing all of its features, Ido stand by my assessment of BBEdit's steep learning curve. It is a complex and powerful program. Most Macworld readers aren't programmers, and the complexity of the application makes it difficult for beginners to master quickly. But as I said in the review, if you need that power and ibility, BBEdit is well worth the effort Marthe Hawn Freeware versus Shareware TUZAND s FANAC’S “COPYRIGHT )) Ain't Dead . . . Yet” (NetSmart, June 1996) seems to suggest public domain— 20 September 1996 MACWORLD ware includes freeware: “Some materi- als—freeware, for instance—can be used or passed on without attribution or fee because the author voluntarily relinquish- es the copyright.” I know many authors, including myself, who would hotly con- test the suggestion that they have relin- quished copyright even though they choose not to charge for their product. Freeware is I right, but the author retains all copyrights. Public domain— ware is not only free, butall rights of own- ership have been released. Ms. Stefanac’s statement that public domain-ware can be passed on without attribution is atk as objectionable. I am stunned that a publication as presti- gious as Macworld would encourage d tribution of material without attribution! Unless there are specific arrangements to the contrary, as with ghostwritir employer ownership of employ duction, one should at least acknow! a work's source. DovGtas Chicago, Ulinois FOUND YOUR COLUMN ON COPYRIGHT, doctrine as applied to the Net parti larly helpful as I prepared for a law school final examination on that subject. Contrary to your article, however, not all government publications are public domain. Section 105 of the Copyright Act exempts only “any work of the Unit- ed States Government.” Thus, publica- tions of state governments that meet cert so receive in specifications can copyright protection, A\kON E. K Madison, Wisconsin RNBLUM Doctors Dissed Vin S$ FOR YOUR COLUMN “FIND- ing a Computer-Savvy Doctor” (Con- Advocate, June 1996). As a general internist, I see my share of patients with repetitive strain injuries. Although I sometimes need to refer them for special- ist care, most of the simple injuries can be treated easily, often with the help of an occupational or physical therapist. ‘Thanks for making it clear that not every ache and pain requires a high-tech solu- tion ora hig! CATHERINE sum -priced specialist. Henry, M.D., F.ALG.P, Cleveland, Ohio continues Take Your computer and DRAM, SRAM, and VRAM from Viking Components--the most economical way to add speed, power and efficiency to your computer system. For maximum performance with word processing, graphics, and surfing the world wide web, simply "RAM it,” with memory upgrades from Viking Components. Call 1-888-4-VIKING toll-free for the Viking dealer nearest you. 11 Columbia, Laguna Hills, CA 92656 © Tel: 714-643-7255 * www.vikingmem.com Circle 233 on reader service card SEE US AT MACWORLD ExPo BOOTH #1806 Don't get sacked by typos.and isspollings Get Spelling Coach Professional Ih works inferactively ond in batch mode wit your fayorite e-mail {ors; word processors and oll leading Software programs.t9 sig — rol fumbles spalling, punctuation and capitation. 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Use the orf WORKS 8,000 Clip Art Image Collection and 500 Fonts to get started on your next work of ort — included FREE on CD-ROM. And for just ‘49°, this masterpiece won't break your bank. DENEBA SOFTWARE (305) 596-5604 bit//snen denba.com/ &SEConnection ff 800-998-0014 SKU T1055 LETTERS | yox SELLERS SHOWED A LACK OF respect for, a lack of knowledge of, ora prejudice against chiropractors when he stated that “sometimes the computer- savvy practitioner is not a physician atall, but a physical therapist or chiropractor, for example.” Please allow me to update your infor- mation. A physician/doctor is the only health-care provider who can legally diag- nose and treat individuals. There are only three providers that can legally function in this manner: M.D.s, or med. doc- tors; D.O.s, doctors of osteopathy; and D.C.s, doctors of chiropractic. A chiro- practor is a physician/doctor and is licensed in all states. James M Chark, D.C. via the Internet The mistaken distinction in the article was Mac- world’s fiault—an error in editing—not Mr. Sellers’. Neither Mr. Sellers nor Macworld meant any disrespect to the pr One Man's Heaven. . . | WAS FIRST STARTLED TO READ SOME- thing as literate as Ian Brown's “Death and Mourning on the Internet” (Wi point, June 1996). And then I was both- ered by my surprise: Why shouldn't a computer magazine publish well-crafted, thought-provoking essays such as this one? Do your faithful readers a favor and publish more pieces that inspire us to pause, however momentarily, and reflect on a technology that is taking over our lives without giving us a chance to just sit and think about what it might mean. Paut ELDRENKAMP ton, Massachusetts WAS DISGUSTED READING IAN Brown’s piece in the June issue. Such New Age trash is repulsive to those of us who have firm beliefs in life beyond E-mails, Web pages, and the digital icons of today’s technoworld. Technology is not tied to the afterlife or to getting in touch with one’s self, or affiliated with phan- toms, ghosts, and other such drivel. Ian Brown says, “The Internet . . . [is] the est thing to an afterlife that many of y know. Maybe the Internet can become our heaven.” What a sad com- My advice to Mr. Brown is to drop the electronic tarot cards and pick cle us ma 22 September 1996 MACWORLD y number of fine transla- ailable on CD-ROM. Kevin L. Hooper North Olmsted, Obio up a Bible tions are ¢ Communication via the Internet is wonderful, don’t get me wrong. But to replace the personal interaction between two people is not heaven. Although I have heard people describe it as hell, Prerer Atpricn Wallingford, Connecticut The Rebels Write Back you MAGAZINE IS, ON THE WHOLE, well written and inforn tive. However, there is a mistake in the extremel Star Wars games review, which states that the rebels’ signature craft is a TIE fight- er (June 1996), Tam sorry to report that the TIE fighter is nor the rebels’ signa- ture craft, but the signature craft of the evil Empire. The X-Wing fighter is the most popular craft and Luke Skywalker’s fighter of choic The TIE fighter is the symbol of all tha is evil and malicious in the galaxy. Please do not mislead your readers who might not know this fact. The Star Wars galaxy forgives you. mong the rebels, DAVE Nicro Freebold, New Jersey ‘ho pointed out that ingine) fighter is an Im perial signature craft, and that the rebels nature craft is also known as the Incom T-65 Space Superiority Fighter—X-Wing to us laypeople. What can we say? We've been spend- ing entirely too much time on this backwater planet.— m Letters should be sent to Letters, Macworld, 501 Se 94107; via fax, 415/442 ond St., San Francisco, C. 0766; or electronically to CompuServe MCI Mail (294-8078), America Online (keyword orld), AppleLink ( net (letter@macworld.com). Include return address and orld), or via the Inter daytime phone number, Due to the high volume of mail received, we can’t respond personally to each letter, We reserve the right to edit all letters. All pub- orld, lished letters become the property of Mac COMPETITIVE UPGRADE “Canvas § adds @ host of new capabilities that make it far more than the solid illustration player itis today. For about S600, you get many of the functions that would cost almost $2,000 if you stock-piled Adobe System Inc.'s Photoshop, IMlustrator and Pagemaker.” Mark Hall Editor in Chiel Macweek uly 24, 1995 “Canvas 5, what a product! Image editing, page fayout, aresenta tion and tech illustration wrapped into one easy to use inter face. This is the true Swiss Army Knife ol any oraphics applica: tions out there. Oeneba has done everything the oraphics community has asked for.” Keith Boncek Director of Computing Cornell University August, 1995 1996 Deneba WHICH PICTURE’S PRETTIER? WPAGK . AAW WI Ww . WAV HOA, ' ASA, ADU , AO WO Good news for people with brains: now there's Canvas’ 5, the only fully integrated graphics program that delivers all the goodies you want at the price you need. I Canvas wrote the book on precision illustration. Now we've added incredible photo design and image editing capabilities—from feathered selections to 24 alpha channels. While Illustrator and FreeHand claim to “support” images, only Canvas 5 lets you create them and apply filters to selected areas, Canvas even supports all Photoshop compatible third-party plug-ins. | For publishing, you get the works: auto margins, multi-column guides, left and right master pages (you can even fill text with gradients or textures and still edit it). Our advanced typographic and document control features let you create the next wave in design, or just make day-to-day projects easier. | Once done, create process separations, slide presentations or share your creations with the world by saving them in GIF, JPEG or PDF, and hurling them onto the web. | Canvas s is fast, easy, flexible and versatile (at a price that's got the competition crying). | As a great philosopher once said, “What's not to like?” If you own a graphics program, trade up to Canvas 5 for just $149.95 (so little to spend, so much to gain). See your favorite reseller, or order securely online by surfing to http://www.deneba.com/orders/ For a Canvas dealer near you or to order by phone, call 1-800-622-6827 or dial (305) 596-5644. natsde the U COMPLETE ILLUSTRATION, PHOTO EDITING AND PAGE DESIGN MACWORLD BOSTON BOOTH ‘S234 SELECTING GRAPHICS PROGRAM BECAME NO-BRAINER. e00.6.cANVAS Yd) @ i ce rc woes Circle 57 on reader service card The world’s best color ink jet printer. Right here. In black and white. oe THE EPSON STYLUS PRO. What makes it the world’s best? Advantages like true 720 x 720 dpi and Microdot technology for dazzling Photo Quality color print- ing on any media. Superior ink jet technology for a cleaner, more con- Se So atom, And exclusive : features like optional internal ‘Ethernet and Adobe: PostScript* “Level 2 with PavTone’ CatioRareo™ approved colors. For about $459. nue So now it's easy for all your Hees” f I ‘to be seen in their est light. Not to mention color. PLATFORM COMPATIBILITY: PC, Mac & UNIX. 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These Specialized modules are powerful, complete and already in MiniCad 6, giving you both design flexibility and targeted industry solutions. CompuTER AmpED DrsiGN JINTERNATIONALLY |REGOGNIZED Now in its 11th year, MiniCad is the best-selling CAD program on the Macintosh. And now there's a Windows™ version! Available in 13 languages, MiniCad 6 is used by design professionals in more than 80 countries. A Deeg Gra hsoft JERY ED RISK BREEFOR SU by: ON e Bue When you buy MiniCad 6 from a participating dealer, you'll get our no- amar hassle, 30-day money-back guarantee. Plus 18 months of free technical Support, a 24-page quarterly newsletter and a CD-ROM with QuickTime demonstrations of each Tool and Command as well as samples of MiniCad files from around the world. For more information, please call 13:00 E(PEneL)) or 410-290-5114 Fax ida, call ESE800 For Academic pricing, call 1-441, Circle 46 on reader service card State of the Mac by Adrian Mello Being Part of the Family of Mac YOU KNOW YOU BELONG—DO YOU KNOW WHY THAT MATTERS? PEND MUCH TIME around the Mac communi- ty and you come to recog- nize something about us. Hard to put your finger on it, but you know it’s theree— acertain ineffable character you can see in Macintosh users and Mac product de- velopers, and in the Macintosh itself. We differ in many respects from one another, but we also share something very basic. More than simply an affinity for a partic- ular personal computer, we share a com- munity of values—an independent, in- quiring turn of mind; appreciation for creativity and innovation; a taste for e: ploration; a regard for excellence in design and execution; and enthusiasm for technology, to name just a few. Like mem- bers of a select society, Mac people rec- ognize each other when we meet, almost as if there were a secret handshake. Yet we rarely stop to consider how important the persistence of the Mac community, the Macintosh spirit, is—not simply to the survival of Apple Comput- er but to the state of personal computing and the Internet. If that sounds like an overstatement to you, consider this. The very qualities that have made the Mac’s technology superior (and that make Mac- intosh users a breed apart) are those the computer industry requires to meet the needs of the future. Passionate, Original, Demanding Our readers are fiercely passionate about the Mac and unlikely to show any quarter when it comes to alternatives—like most Mac customers. According to a study by Computer Intelligence InfoCorp, seven out of eight Macintosh users who pur- chased a new computer in 1995 chose another Mac. In both 1994 and 1995, Apple came in first in repurchase loyalty with an 87 percent repurchase rate— ahead of Dell Computer at 74 percent, Hewlett-Packard at 72 percent, Acer at 68 percent, and Gateway 2000 at 66 percent. Our readers are well aware of the threat Windows 95 poses, and yet un- daunted. In response to “The New Win- dows Threat” (February 1995), which argued that Windows had pushed ahead while “the Mac interface of today bears a very strong resemblance to that of a de- cade ago,” one reader wrote back, “May- be the Mac OS was just done correctly from the beginning.” “Who cares if the Mac only has a 10 percent market share as longas it’s the best 10 percent? er asked recently. Per so much for the rest of us as it is for the best of us. No one wants to be labeled an elitist, but let’s be honest; don’t you think twice about people when you find out that they prefer using a PC? I do. Our individualistic compatriots in the Mac community enthusiastically embrace new approaches as long as they offer improvement—even small ones. A letter we published in May 1995 illustrates that freethinking nature. “Almost every piece of software now on the market can draw round-cornered rectangles, But gee, that’s a mouthful. We can do better. I suggest obloid for the following reasons: (1) it’s a portmanteau word suggestive of oblong d ovoid; (2) it has the same number of letters as square and circle; (3) it isn’t being used for anything else; and (4) as far as I can tell, nobody owns it.” It’s no surprise that the Mac is still the best place to find exciting new tech- nology. Mac customers try and buy more new products than PC users—30 percent more, according to a September 1995 International Data Corporation report. And developers often tell me how they appreciate the willingness of Mac cus tomers to consider innovative products. Our readers are a hard bunch to please. Not only do they require us to get the big picture right, they let us know about our every slip. OK, so once ina blue moon we blow it big. For first- hand proof, check out this issue’s Letters column to see how one of our readers right ly slaps our wrist for confus- ing a Star Wars THE fighter with an X-Wing. Another reader says we're too critical: “You guys at Mac- world are a lot better than a certain other magazine when it comes to reviews. But what bothers me is your unwill- ingness to shell out that fifth star.” Yes, we are stingy with that fifth star, but our readers hold Mac products to a high standard and they expect Mac- world to do the same. Passion, plus the desire for innovation, plus attention to detail, com- bined mean that nothing less than bold- ness will satisfy a Macintosh person. Our readers don’t just admire innovation, they demand it. Shortly after the Power Macs were introduced, a reader wrote to com- plain about the packaging of the Power Macs. “We have a new level of comput- ing power placed inside the same old, bor- ing, and unfashionable case. The Power- continues MACWORLD September 1996 27 STATE OF THE MAC Book didn’t become one of the most pop- ular portables because it looked like its competitors. Can Apple put a little more effort into the external design of its com- puters? ‘The benefits we could gain may be well worth the effort.” We at Macworld also want Apple to delight us once more with bold praduct designs. That's the origin of our own de- sign for what a Mac should bea year from now. “The Mac Reborn” offers our vision of next year’s Mac, combining the most t ol to dosign? Fd ty Order your call 1.800.387.9193 fax 1.403.261.7013 interesting, yet practical, features and technologies we could think of. Our col- laboration with Frogdesign yielded bold new designs for a Power Mac and Power- Book that are not only visually provoca- tive, but offer functional advantages. The Macintosh Community Macworld serves the Mac community each month by uncovering new product direc- tions, pointing to the best buys, and dis- closing new techniques for mastering SHAKESPEARE catalog: 7 http://www.adobe.com/imageclub/ Circle 50 on reader service card 28 September 1996 MACWORLD your Mac, But we wanted to do more, so we've added new ways to provide even better service for our readers. Macworld Online provides an electronic lifeline for the Mac community. We post news daily so you can follow late-breaking develop- ments and keep pace with the technolog ical innovations in the Mac market. M: world Online is also a terrific source for great Mac shareware, useful tips, Internet information, and a virtual library of back issues. After years of communicating to readers through our print magazine, I can now experience an immediacy and dia- logue with readers that never ceases to amaze me. Stay tuned for more ¢ developments at macworld.com. ‘To even further reinforce the Macin- tosh community, this month we are intro- ducing the Macworld Club to provide a new forum for people passionate about the Mac. The Macworld Club will help loyal Macintosh users share information, exchange ideas, receive buying advic and learn how to get the most out of their lacs. To make it that much easier to own and use a Mac, a range of new services is available to Macworld Club members, including discounts on Macworld maga- zine and Macworld Books, access to spe~ cial forums on Maeworld Online, free admission to local Macworld Club events, and other benefits made possible by Mac- orld’s far-reaching connections with M sh product developers, industry experts, and Macintosh user groups. cinte Stand Up and Speak Your Mind I can’t imagine computing without the Mac, and that's why it’s important to me that Macworld find new ways to strength en the Mac at its very foundation—its loyal users. Every so often I’ve asked our readers for help in learning where they stand on various issues. I’ve been over- whelmed by the response I've received, with a range of viewpoints as varied as our readers themselves, This wealth of ideas and viewpoints has contributed to making Macworld a better product. I ask for your help once again. Macworld Club s the logical extension of Macworld’s long relationship with the Mac community. I hope you will read the letter enclosed with this issue, join the club, and write to me at amello@macworld.com with your ideas on how we can serve you even bet- ter. Together we can build a stronger Mac community that will help us all continue to stand as a breed apart. m The Color Scanner For Making Your Home Introducing the Microtek ScanMaker” Internet Edition™ color flatbed scanner for Macintosh" Ifyou want to include eye: catching images in your Internet or Intranet home pages, Microtek announces the ScanMaker? Internet ¥ Edition color flatbed scanner with Adobe PageMill. Images captured with this scanner will make any home page spring to life! The ScanMaker Intemet Edition captures photos, drawings, and company logos with amazing high- light and shadow detail in stunning lifelike color. Includes Adobe PageMill,” and MicroFrontier’s Color It! To quickly and easily create home pages, Microtek includes Adobe's popular PageMill™ software. You don't have to bea software programmer. There's no HTML code to lear. Just point click, drag and place the images scanned with the ScanMaker Intemet Edition scanner. Ina few minutes you've gota home Page sure to catch any surfer's eye. ‘The Microtk ScanMaker rtemet Edens wailale fo EshancerScanMokerol Microtek Lab Inc: Macintosh ot bundles ae subject to change without noice. SMINTEDESEM iT Atri) ‘eat ed aig. My 30 et ye athe cartes tecncts Soae tease le Compute, Ine; Colorit of MieroFrontier, Pag Forcapturing images for flicrs, brochures and newsletters this amazing scanner also includes MicroFrontier’s Color It! image editing and paint A) soltware. The ScanMaker Intemet Edition also includes Microtek’s award-winning ScanWizard™ scanner controller software. ScanWizard features the Advanced Image Enhancer™ which lets you sharpen, blur, darken, lighten, saturate, emboss images and even remove dot pattems from printed photos oradd other special effects to images even before scanning them! For the location of your nearest authorized Microtek reseller call 1-800-654-4160, use our convenient Auto Tech fax back system at 310- 297-5101 orcheck out Microtek’s home page at httpy/vww.microtekusa.com. Circle 105 on reader service card Pa | Pa Pop + 600x1200dpi optical resolution «400 t80 dp enhanced resolution © Extremely life-like color © 24-bit color depth / Single-pass speed NOW AVAILABLE FROM: MacWarehouse | MacMall MacConnection cDw Club Mac MacZone MICROTEK Better Images Through Innovation. Mace nan ice mead Unted Sues ngs sete. Teflon a adem psa dears clr respate congue Mail, Scan bane nage eMilot Adobe Syste, nc. Alcther trademarks oregistered rademarts arethe property ofthe respectveholders Price, specifications and software Tort PReee listed are estimated street prices. Actual prices may vary. lemarks of Kommea# Corporat Removable one-gig disks, unlimited space, fast as a hard drive. The Unlimited Personal Hard Drive. Endless storage space. Load and edit projects instantly, Goes anywhere you go BECAUSE IT’S YOUR STUFF. } Circle 760on reader service card THE INTERNET’S Most POWERFUL E-MAIL SOFTWARE STRIKES AGAIN. hegre ee ee ee ON RN OF NN. INTRODUCING EUDORA PRO™ 3.0. With 10 million users, Eudora® products have made a huge impact on the Internet. And now there's something even more powerful: Eudora Pro 3.0, written to official Internet standards. SS phone and fax numbers. You can even stylize text to make messages look like word-processed documents. And since Eudora Pro 3.0 is so easy to use, switching your company's e-mail software is a breeze. To find out more, just call 1-800-2-EUDORA, ext. 86098. Or send us e-mail at eudora-sales27 volumes of e-mail in seconds. Advanced drag-and-drop capabilities @qualcomm.com. Or visit our Web site at www.eudora.com/460 let you easily attach files and manipulate text. Live hot links auto- to download Eudora Pro 3.0 and use it matically open your Web browser and other Internet applications. FREE for 30 days. Why should Mother (\ And an expanded Address Book lets you store addresses and Nature be the one with all the power? FREE 30-Day TRIAL! Eudora Pro 3.0 has improved message filtering and mail management tools that help you sort large ‘Devaus Ar Ous Wen Bre WWW.EUDORA.COM/460 Gow 7 S Internet Demographic Survey, Dé [Mactser] i335" ¥ logies, 6455 Lusk Bivd., San DI ti -2779, COMI tered tradematk of the University Board of Trustees licensed to QUALCOMM Incorporated. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners. 4 emren vesste The Desktop Critic 1996 Desktop Critic Interface Awards THE BEST AND WORST PUSHES ON THE HUMAN-INTERFACE ENVELOPE, PLEASE IN 1984, REAMS WERE WRIT- ten about the superiority of the Mae’ interface. Connoisseurs raved about the drop-down menus, the overlapping win- dows, the Trash Can. And because most software compa- nies respected Apple's conven- tions, a great consistency reigned throughout the land. But since then, small cracks have appeared in the dike of standardization: here and there, software companies have dreamed up interface elements that were never part of Apple’s original design. Some elements, like hierarchical menus, were such hits that today we take them for granted. In the coming months, Apple will be designing the first major System overhaul in years—Mac OS 8 (Copland). Human interface will become a hot topic once gain. In anticipation of this event, allow me to present the first annual Desktop Critic Interface Awards, to encourage software designers to push efficiency, intelligence, and fun to the forefront, and to shelve interface elements that are frus- trating, wasteful, and dumb. Print One Copy ‘The dialog box that appears when you choose the typical Print command is an utter waste of time. It how many copies you want, and which pages you want to print, Well, it so happens that 99 percent of us, 99 percent of the time, want one copy of all pages. Every time we print, we slap the return key and ignore the box, which is confusing to beginners and a bore to everyone el: ‘That's why the Print One Copy com- mand, as found in Simple Text, is pure ele- gance. You choose it, you get a printout— no dialog box necessary. C'mon, programmers. How long would it take you to implement this in your soft- ware... four minutes? The Print One Copy command shines because it correct- ly anticipates what we'll want to do most of the time, instead of making us slog through a redundant interface designed to handle the occasional exception. Tip of the Day Today's Microsoft programs are bloated, slow, and encumbered by features we'll never use. That's bad interface design. However, the designers have taken a baby step in the right direction by invent- ing the Tip of the Day. This window explains one single feature of the pro- gram. Frankly, one Microsoft feature day is about all the average person can take, and this gizmo presents them in a controlled, digestible format. Now and then, believe it or not, the tips even dis- play a teeny, tiny hint of humor (“I's never too late to learn to play the piano”). Fortunately, the tip-a-day phenomenon is spreading to other programs, including the Extensis plug-ins series. Phone Number in About Box It seems like a no-brainer: put the soft- ware company’s phone number in the About box (under the Apple menu). Yet BBEdit (Bare Bones Software), Finale by David Pogue (Coda), and America Online are among the few whose programmers had the guts. Sounds for Positive Feedback Why is it that computers m only when we're doing something wrong? Click in the wrong place, and the Mac beeps. Pity the poor Mac user in a crowd- ed office—the Mac may as well blurt out rong, stupid!” over the PA system. However, programs that play sounds when things are going right are addictive, pleasurable, and incredibly satisfying. Pressing $8-shift-3 to capture your screen image makes a crunchy camera-shutter sound. The Launcher makes. satisfying click when you click on it. WindowShade plays a brisk little whit! sound when you collapse or expand a win- dow, Show me someone who isn’t positively captivated by any of these programs, and T'll show you someone who needs a hearing aid. Dialog Box Tabs Dialog boxes aren't by them- selves a terrific interface. A feature that requires you to type numbers into a dialog box is always worse than accom- plishing the same task by direct manipulation. If we must endure dialog boxes, at least the new tab interface is a great step forward, Each time you click on a tab, the dialog box presents another pane of options, with- out your having to open a different dia- log box. You'll find these clever items in Claris Emailer, recent Microsoft pro- grams, and elsewhere. The tabbed dialog box succeeds because it hides clutter from you—but makes the other options imme- diately accessible. Making panes right requires taking pains, however. The OK and Cancel but- continues MACWORLD September 1996 33 THE DESKTOP CRITIC log Box Tabs tons should go outside the changing are of the box, not within the pane; otherwise, iv’s not clear whether we're OKing the ris did it whole box, or just one pane. (C right in “Dialog Box Tabs”; Microsoft does it wrong.) Second, stacked tabs, as in Word 6's Options dialog box (12 tabs in one box!), don’t work; you click on a tab, and it jumps away from the cursor to a dif- ferent position—hardly what the hapless user expects. aioe) Stretchy Calendar Banners TH October 1996 Some people donate money to keep the air clean. Jeff Angus § wrote 2000 of code. 34 September 1996 MACWORLD Stretchy Calendar Banners Now Up-to-Date has always been a model of direct-manipulation excellence Wanna reschedule lunch? Point to it and drag it to a new calendar square. Wanna put a little party-hat graphic on your birthday? Drag it from the palette of pix onto the appropriate square The real genius, though, is the latest development in banners (strips that lie across an entire week, saying, for example, “Vacation in Buffalo”). Beginning in ver- sion 3.5, you can drag diagonally to make a banner stretch into a different week The endearing little ripped-apart ends immediately communicate what's hap- pening, It's a rare first-time Up-to-Date user who doesn't go banner crazy, draw- ing them all over the screen, just for the fun of it. Talk about having a banner year, Automatic Unstuffing When you download a file from America Online or CompuServe, what you actual- ly get is a compressed Stuffit file. But in- stead of making you unstuf loaded goodies manually, the America Online and MacCIM programs do the job for you, automatically, when you sign off. your down- As with the Print One Copy command, the software accurately anticipates what almost everybody will want to do. Not artificial intelligence—real intelligence. Macintosh Drag and Drop If a good interface is defined by direct manipulation, fun, and efficiency, the Interface Improvement of the Year is Sys- tem 7.55 Macintosh Drag and Drop. If you're not using D&D, you're missing a great thing. It works only in ce ain pro- ms, but the number is growing. (Cur- iiss taiitied PT BALES CONTRACT me Macintosh Drag and Drop rent examples: ClarisWorks, FileMaker, WordPerfect, E , Sim- ple'Text, and the System 7.5 desk acces- nailer, InfoGeni sories.) Ina D&D-savvy program, you continues valuable way ines Jeff Angus has regularly donated money to the Natural Resources Defense Council. Now he also supports them in a different and maybe By donating his skills to modify a dBASE pro- gram that generates customized reports about toxic substances. If you'd like to put your own special sk all 1-800-659-3579. en more Is to good nd we'll match you with a local non-profit organization whose needs are compatible with your area of expertise. Call us now, and we'll show you a great way to make a real difference in the world. By doing what you do best. 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Order your Technitron color monitor today from one of these Authorized Ultimate Resellers: ee 800-827-3998 Ext. 190 http://www.maginnovision.com wrote TECHMNITRO NY = = MAG Innovision Co., Inc. © 2601 South Yale St., Santa Ana, CA 92704 « TEL 800-827-3996 or 714-751-2008 « FAX 714-751-5522 « MAGIe FAX-On-Demand 714-751-0166, Circle 25 on reader service card THE DESKTOP CRITIC can drag highlighted text or graphics directly from one document into another document, or into another program's doc- ument, or even onto the desktop, where it becomes a clipping file. Later, you can drag that clipping file right back into a in effect, your tem-wide, Page- desktop serves as a Maker-like pasteboard! Furthermore, option-dragging makes a duplicate of the highlighted text or aphics; double-clicking on a clipping file opens it instantly in the Fi just too much happiness, and it makes cut and paste look positively antique. The Worst of the Year I figured it'd be too much of a downer to dwell on some of the bad interface ideas, but they shouldn't go unmentioned. Chief among these Worst Interface Develop- ments of the Year is Word 6’s New com- mand—instead of producing a blank, untitled window, it makes a dialog box of The Best N Your Business Can Do. Powerful Fax 5 Rather than just handing out business cards, you and your staff Network Edition Could be faxing brochures, special announcements, even order forms to all your top connections. Instantly. With FAXstf™ 3.3 Network Edition, networking means business. 3.3 Network lets your whole office fax from any application and receive through one non-dedicated server. Your staff can import phonebooks from their favorite PIMs in seconds. Send a fax to 100 etworking oftware for the. madntosh’ destinations or more with drag- and-drop ease. And FAXstf coordinates everything in the background, so your staff can move on to other tasks. We'll be networking at Macworld | Boston, booth 1612. Drop in and see us. | | It all helps you reach your most profitable clients and prospects quickly and effectively. So get FAXstf 3.3 Network Edition today. And start doing some real The Fax of Better Business [Also Available: Award-Winning, FAXstf 3.2 Single-User Edition | & 19 STE Te 1-800-222-2808 whe 1-800-THE-CITY | na Lraxst | 1800. sso9522 36 September 1996 MACWORLD Circle 80 on reader service card templates appear, violating the screaming logic that 99 percent of the time you're not about to create a Thesis, Weekly Time Sheet, or Brochure 1. Apple isn’t perfect, either: I’ve always felt that dragging a floppy to the Trash to eject it is a terrible interface infraction—it res the bejeezus out of beginners, and doesn’t make any logical sense (although I'm ata loss to propose a better solution). The worst interface idea of the year has got to be America Online’s art-down- loading mechanism. You're happily ex- ploring away, when your screen gets hijacked, for several long, expensive min- utes, by a dialog box with 20 Cancel button! (AOL vows to eliminate this horror in 3.0.) The frustration you feel is akin to Adding artwork. Please wait... Dn Receiving item 2 of 2. The Worst of the Year being in a locked cab hurtling in the wrong direction with a driver who speaks no English. (You can fight back with the shareware masterpiece ArtValve, available through America Online, keyword Mac- world, and through Macworld Online.) Why doesn’t somebody market a monthly CD-ROM that contains the complete America Online art database? Each month, you'd copy this whopping Online Art file into your America Online folder and rid yourself of that “Please wait” screen forever. Now that’s an inter- face idea I'd pay for. The Upshot ‘Lime and again, superior interface design boils down to three principles. (1) Fun is better than no fun, even in business soft- ware (sounds, tabs, daily tips). (2) Let me manipulate on-screen objects myself (drag and drop, banners). (3) Do obvious tasks for me (auto-unstuff, Print One Copy). May all programmers embrace these points and strive for ever-better designs. After all, the better the software interface, the sooner we can get out and do some human interfacing of our own. m Contributing editor DAVID POGUE softwar former n consultant, He wrote the Macintosh -thriller novel, Hard Drive (Ace, 1996). techn ¢ NEw! . uicKeys ether you're a number cruncher or a pixel fixer, you'll be blown away by the automation power of QuicKeys’, the #1 productivity booster for the MacOS user! At Macworld Boston, lightning strikes again! CE Software will unveil QuicKeys MacOS automation. the tool that defines Hot new features: p> Single-click Access: Three kinds of Toolbars and Floating palettes give you one-click access to all of your timesaving shortcuts. p> Hey, Graphics Gurus: Batch Processing supercharges PhotoShop”, Illustrator”, é/ if Pagemaker™ ... and more. No scripting required! p> Make Friends and Influence People: New Import/Export feature lets you share all of your favorite shortcut keysets and toolbars with friends and co-workers! > It’s Painless: Tab-style editing interfaces make creating and tweaking shortcuts easier than ever before! QuicKeys 3.5: The key to speed on your Macintosh! Call your favorite Mac reseller or CE Software today. CE SOFTWARE 1-800-523-7638 (program QK 2150) Circle 170 onreader service card http://www.cesoft.com ks of CE Software, nc. QuicKeys isa registered sdemaris of their respective holders Savas a Key #28623 INTRODUCING THE NEC MULTISPIN® 8X CD-ROM READER. Looking for a quick way to retrieve data? How does 1200kb/sec data transfer rate and 140ms access speed sound? The fact is, there’s no faster way to get applications running than with the NEC MultiSpin 8X CD-ROM reader. Of course, our MultiSpin 8X readers offer more than just speed. You'll also get Easy ROM Update” technology; which adds security to your investment by letting you easily update to new standards. What’s more, our readers are easy to use with a Mac* and they come with a one year limited warranty. So get yourself an NEC MultiSpin 8X CD-ROM reader. After that, you'll have no problem finishing off those hefty portions of data. For more information, call 1-800-NEC-INFO or reach us via FastFacts™ at 1-800-366-0476 and request document #237801. Visit NEC’s new web site at http://www.nec.com Circle 19 on reader service card SEPTEMBER 1996 MACWORLD EXCLUSIVE Power Computing Widens the Gap NEW TOWER BOASTS FIRST POWERPC 604E AT UP TO 225MHZ by Galen Gruman J ang on to your hat. hree months after ing the first Power Mac running at 180MHz, Power Com- puting (512/388-6886, br has introdu upped the first company to offer Macs based on the new PowerPC 604¢ CPU, which is faster, megahertz for megahertz, than the plain 604 (see “The Power- PC’ New Heights,” News, July 1996). The new Power'Tower Pro sports the 604e pro and six PCT slots, at $4195 for the base 180MHz. version, $4495 for the base 200MHz version, and $4995 for the 1 . Yes any than Pentium or Pentium Pro. ster When I looked at the I80MHz Power'Tower a few months back, T could feel the speed difference (see “The New Speed Champs,” July 1996). T can feel it again, and Macworld Lab results confirm that feeling (see the benchmark, “N ‘ew Pow- 40 September 1996 er Tower Pro Redefines Speed”). Power Computing is keep- ing its original PowerTower series, although the prices have dropped to under $4000. And you can expect the speeds of those three-slot systems to increase in the coming months, as will the speeds of Power Computing’ — PowerCenter desktop series. In fact, it likely that Power Computing will have an even faster model of the MACWORLD Power’ Tower Pro later this year. To keep the 604e hum- ming, all PowerTower Pros come with a IMB cache. Before 604e, all most people nee was 256K, and 512K su for almost everyone else (pro- grammers still needed IMB). No more—because the CPU runs so much faster than the Power'Tower Pro’s bus, it needs a larger cache to keep the CPU from idling. The Power Tower Pro’ sys: tem bus is slower than that of the PowerTower: a 225MHz CPU has a system bus running at 45MHz, a 200MHz CPUS bus runs at 50MHz, and a 180MHz CPU’ bus runs at ABMHz. The PowerTower 180s bus ran at 60MHz. The reason is the architec- ture. Like the discontinued PowerWave series, the Power- ‘Tower Pro is based on Apple's ‘Tsunami architecture, used in Apples Power Mac 9500, That system$ bus was designed to run at SOMHz, and there’ little tolerance for more. The Power'Tower Pro, like the PowerCenter series, uses Apple’s Catalyst architecture, which is used in Apples 7200, Also designed for 50MHz, it is more tolerant of being stretched, and Power Comput- ing got it up to 6OMETz. A higher bus speed lets the CPU do more, so a 1830MHz CPU on a 60MHz bus will ran faster than the same CPU on a 31.43MHz bus. But Power continues on page 50 Commercial Services Plan for Future PROPRIETARY CLIENT OR INTERNET-BASED ACCESS? by Cameron Crotty he definition of what it means to be an online service is changing. While proprietary client software used to be standard operating procedure, several companies are looking to base their services on Inter- net technologies as a way to become more competitive. New Dreams for GEnie [t's been many months since any- one talked about GEnie as a major contender in the online wars, and the service has undergone a change in owner- ship. and mission. Yovelle Renaissance, a venture-capital firm, purchased GEnie from General Electric in January. New president Geoffrey Rochwarger is launching a new service, GEnie Interac- tive, in partnership with IDT, an Internet service provider. Whereas the GEnie Informa- tion Service was a text-only service restricted to direct-dial users, GEnie Interactive will be a multimedia service based ‘on the latest in Internet tech- nology. Anyone with an Inter net account will be able to sub- scribe—the latter a strategy that all major online se: S are embracing. The subscrip- tion will cost $10 per month. Prodigy Follows Suit Prodi- gy is undergoing its own trans- formation. As this article was going to press, Prodigy’ agement and a company called International Wireless were expecting federal approval on a deal to purchase the service from IBM and Sears, the part- nership that founded Prodigy with CBS in 1984. “Long-term, the days of the proprietary client are over,” says Prodigy communications manager Mi Darcy. Prodigy will be moving its entire service to Internet standard technologies, and plans to roll out the revamped service by the end of this year. CompuServe Client's Slow Exit CompuServe has announced that future devel- opment on all CompuServe ser- vices—including the main Com- puServe Informa- tion Service (CIS), its novice-oriented service, Wow (cur- rently PC-only), and corporate information _ ser- vices—will be based on non- proprietary technologies. Still, CompuServe subscribers should expect to see a proprietary nt well into 1997. Current technological realities make it nearly impossible to deliver core online services, such as message boards and chat rooms, over Internet proto- cols with the same ease of use and reliability permitted by proprietary systems. AOL Sticks to Its Guns. Amer- ica Online’ vice president of product marketing, David Gang, couldn't agree more. “The Web,” he says, “is not suited to a consumer online experience.” Not surprisingly, America Online, the current leader in terms of subscribers, is sticking to its proprietary guns. “By going to open stan- dards, {other services} are say: ing that technole not a competitive advantage. We believe that technology is a competitive advantage! AOL is striking deals with Internet service providers like AT&T’ to reach the growing number of users accessing the Internet through generic pro- viders, but those subscribers will still need to have the AOL. client to access the service. On the product side, AOL expects to ship version 3.0 of the Mac- intosh client by the end of August, and at press time announced itis rolling support for Macromedia's Shockwave technology into the client. Other online serv not surprised by AOLS adher- ence to the proprietary client. OL has the most to lose rightnow, because they did the best under the old rules,” says Prodigy’s Whether users will tolerate multiple clients in the long run is an open question, but for now the story is a familiar one. The current market ler pushes the status quo, while the rest of the pack scrambles and gam- bles on new technology, hop- ing that breaking new ground will let them claim a larger part of the territory as their own. MACWORLD Macs Lose Starring Role SPECIAL-EFFECTS PRODUCERS PREFER WINDOWS NT by Stephen Beale mong Hollywood's special-effects wi ards, the Macintosh has long played an important supporting role as a low-cost alternative to Silicon Graphics and Sun workstations. It’s a role that could become much larger given the promise of Quick- Draw 3D and Mac OS 8. But like a movie villain’ who appears when you least expect it, Windows NT is making a strong bid to dominate a mar- ket segment Apple could have had to itself. While Macintosh applic tions like Adobe After Effects and Photoshop have been popular tools for many kinds of postproduction work, 3-D imaging has largely been the domain of Unix workstations. With the introduction of the Power Mac and, later, Quick: Draw 3D, Apple had reason- able prospects for moving the Mac further into the 3-D realm. However, Windows NT has proved to be a sub- stantial roadblock, thanks to features that lend themselves. to intensive rendering and ani- mation projects. Windows NT “is a much more mature operating sys- tem,” says Matt Hoffman of Electric Image, developer of high-end Mac-based anim: tion software. “It has real vir- tual memory, protected mem- ory that people are used to see- ing in Unix. It’s a much small- er leap for people to make.” continues September 1996 41 Many of these features are promised in Mac OS 8, which is due for release in mid-1997. A forthcoming upgrade of Apple’s QuickDraw 3D system software could also help close the NT gap. But in the meantime, NT has made its move. Within the past year, two important 3-D applications, Microsoft Soft- image and New'lek Light- Wave 3D, have been ported to the Microsoft operating tem, Special-effects. produc- ers have followed, attracted by the relatively low cost of DEC Alpha and Pentium workstations. “If Apple has anything to worry about in the entertain- ment industry, it’s the DEC Alpha,” Dan DiPaola, former head of Los Ange- les-based Fractal Design’s Entertainment ‘Technology Center, which closed this past jay. “For $15,000 you're get- ting a pretty beefy machine. A lot of episodic and network TV stuff is being done with DEC Alphas.” Macs Relegated to 2-D One example of Apple’s diffi- culties can be seen at Available Light, a special-effects pro- ducer that opened a Mac-only ion in 1994. Today, LightWave 3D on DEC and Pentium work- stations for all its 3-D render- ing. Macintosh hardware is used strictly for less-intensive 2-D graphics work, running fter Effects and Photoshop. “Windows NT is multi- / News tasking and multiprocessing,” says Larry Stanton, who supervises the digital systems at Available Light. “You can literally be rendering and at the same time be touching up frames in Photoshop. My peo- ple are much more productive on the NT platform.” Windows NT has also found home at Digital Domain, one of the largest special-effects producers. In contrast to Available Light, which turned to NT as an alternative to the Mac, Digital Domain sees NT primarily an alternative to Uni considerably cheaper,” sa spokesperson Bob Hoffman. John Alfano, Apple's prod- uct manager for QuickDraw 3D, acknowledges that Win- dows NT has made inroads in the entertainment industry. But he contends that it is largely coming at the expense of Unix, not the Macintosh, Alfano also points to the availability of Softimage for Windows NT as a factor behind NT's success, some- thing that was to be expected given Microsoft's 1994 acqu sition of Softimage. NewTe has announced a Macintosh version of LightWave 3D, but few are holding their breath for a similar announcement from Microsoft. Saved by QuickDraw 3D A ppy ending could be in sight. At Warner Bros. Stu- dios, a team of 3-D artists is using Strata StudioPro on a Power Mac to create 3-D models of Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, and other Looney Tunes cartoon characters—a massive project that once would have been unthinkable on anything but a Unix workstation. ‘That's one of the promises of Apple’s QuickDraw 3D Electric Image’s ys the upgrade will include features requested by developers, particularly an improved memory-manage- ment scheme. It’s ys 42 September 1996 MACWORLD Mac-Clone Development Accelerates RAFT OF NEW CLONES EXPECTED IN 1997 by Charles Piller tlong last, Apple’s oft- repeated intention to broadly license its operating system shows signs of mo- mentum, A spate of recent licensees—most of which will use the forthcoming, industry- standard Common Hardware Reference Platform (CHRP) —should produce a range of Mac-compatibles that reach consumers early next year, as long as Apple completes the Mac OS for CHRP by then. The most significant de- velopments involve IBM. In May, Apple CEO Gilbert Amelio announced that Apple and IBM will jointly produce a new Mac OS-based notebook. And the two companies are rumored to have other joint projects waiting in the wings. Then, in carly June, IBM announced the availability of ed computers, It offered the spec- ification at no charge to other computer makers, to jump- start industry interest in the new platform, In late June, IBM demon- strated a prototype CHRP- based workstation running both the Mac OS and Win- dows NT at the PC Expo trade show, The machine featured 64MB of RAM (with 32MB required) and a 133MHz PowerPC 604 CPU. Scheduled for availability by the end of the year, the system is designed for corpo- rate IS managers in dual-plat- form environments. ‘To underscore IBM‘ com- its design for CHRP-| MACWORLD EXCLUSIVE Umax Hits the Fast Lane Power Computing is not the only Mac-clone manufacturer that will offer a system based on the speedy new PowerPC 604e CPU. Umax (510/226-6886, http:!iwww.supermac.com) has introduced a 200MHz version of its SuperMac $900 system that will sport the same PowerPC processor. The system is expected to ship later this summer (see “New PowerTower Pro Redefines Speed"). mitment to the Mae OS, which the company licensed last spring for bundling with PowerPC CPUs (see “IBM Reveals Its Ambitious Mac Plans,” News, July 1996), IBM recently established a Mac OS support center in “Taiwan. Big Blue also named its first two sublicensees, — system-board maker DTK and computer and consumer-electronics giant Tatung, both based companies. company showed IBM-design CHRP prototypes in June at the Computex trade show in Taiwan. Umax Computer also previewed a CHRP multi-operating-system proto- type at Computex. Motorola in Chinese Market Meanwhile, Motorola Com- puter Group—the other Mac OS licensee with permission to sublicense to other vendors— announced a joint venture with Nanjing Power Comput- ing to make Mac clones in China later this year. Motorola also named its first sublicensee—Taiwanese system-board maker Soyo Computer, Soyo quickly nounced that it intends to ship inexpensive CHRP-based system boards to Mac-clone makers by the fall Comdex trade show, and to manufac- ture 40,000 boards per month by year’s end. Much faster versions of the 603 and 604 CPU fami lies—boasting clock speeds reaching 200MHz and high- er—are already in the hands of manufacturers. ‘This should allow the anticipated burst of inexpensive CHRP Mac clones to compete well against Pentium-based products. Pippin Moves Forward Apple is also busy pushing its other OS, Pippin, as a multi- media player and Internet- access platform, and trying to build consumer awareness of the game-player-size device in the United States. In May, Apple announced that Bandai would release its S600 Pippin device, dubbed @World, in the United States in the fall. Apple also announced a license for the Pippin architecture to Norwegian CD-ROM devel- oper Katz Media AS for the European market. Apple has positioned Pip- pin as its entry into the net- work computer sweepstakes— envisioned as a burgeoning consumer market based on simple, inexpensive devices designed for easy Internet access but with modest on- board computing power. Apple Runs Windows NT Apple is also porting the Win- dows NT operating system to its network servers. Sources say the company has been showing NT running on its AIX server, which is common- ly known as Shiner. You can expect to see more Macintosh system choices in the next few months. Additional reporting by STEPHEN BEALE and TOVA FLIEGEL. display Flat Panels Invade the Desktop LCD TECHNOLOGY GOES BEYOND LAPTOPS by Cary Lu his is turning out to be a watershed year for flat-panel displays. For the first time, a flat panel is available to replace a CRT for nearly any application. LCDs have long been a staple of laptops, of course, but now you can actu- ally buy a color LCD panel that replaces a two-page mon- itor. And for the truly adven- continues on page 46 2% Paw es Plug In. GIF Out A new package of Adobe Photoshop-compatible plug-ins, HVS WebFocus from Digital Frontiers (847/328-0880, hitp://www.digfrontiers com), helps Web publishers reduce traffic jams on the Internet—without sacrificing image quality. The $129 package features HVS PhotoGIF, which reduces GIF files by as much as 70 percent and lets you create basic animations for Web pages using images in progressive GIF format, HVS PhotoGIF downsamples high-resolution 24-bit images to the Inter- net's 8-bit color GIF standard with minimal quality loss. MARTIN Images’ Express Lane the ola syquest/Fed- eral Express route for speeding your graphics files to the Prepress operator is another step closer to oblivion with the release of the DataShuttle, an ISDN adapter card from RNS (805/968-4262, http://www.rns.com) that is avail- able in both PCI and NuBus versions. With the DataShut- tle, you can send large graphics files ‘over an ISDN line using RNS's bundled FileMover Pro software. The DataShut- tle includes its own processor, which frees your Mac to continue working = while the files are being transmitted in the background. The DataShuttle also works with 4-Sight’s ISDN Manager and Luminous's Virtual Network, programs that simplify the transmission of large files over ISDN. You can also connect to BBS services like SoftArc’s. FirstClass and to remote computers using Apple Remote Access 2.1 (which supports ISDN) and Farallon Comput- ing’s Timbuktu 2.0 for Networks. The $995 DataShuttle 128 includes one ISDN port for transfer speeds of up to 128 KBps, while the $1395 DataShuttle 256 includes two ports for a combined speed of up to 256 KBps. Web Video 101 movie cleaner Pro, from Terran interactive (408/278-9025, http://www.terran-int.com), simplifies the sometimes befuddling act of compressing QuickTime files. Now, the program’s first plug-in, Web Motion (also from Terran), walks you through the steps required to optimize QuickTime videos for playback on the Web. WebMotion’s Web Expert interview process helps you make the best choices for frame rates and playback size Along the way, you can preview how those decisions will affect video quality. Due in July, the $130 plug-in also includes filters for optimizing video at low data rates and automatically creates HTML tags for your videos. MACWORLD September 1996 aa Special REPORT | News A Change of Face in the Font World ADOBE AND MICROSOFT MOVE FONT TECHNOLOGY FORWARD After years of languishing in the publishing backwaters, font technology is about to enter the spotlight. Propelled by the rapid convergence of Web and print publishing, a new fone format standard is being developed, while Adobe prepares to shake up the growing font utility One Format For Print and Web Fonts by Erfert Fenton dobe and Microsoft are collaborating on a new font — format called Open'Type. But don’t panic: OpenType won't be a third contender that clashes with current formats— at least that’s the word from Adobe and Microsoft. Instead, it will be a universal font for- mat for printed output and online viewing. It will combine Adobe's ‘Type 1 with Micro- soft’s TrueType Open, an extension to ‘TrueType that adds to fonts in Windoy graphic capabilities similar to those of GX fonts on the Mac. The companies _ have agreed to cross-license their font technologies, and plan to make Open’lype available to other developers. “Mac OS 8'