Jaques Law Office Jaques Law Bits 9702 © 1996 Kevin Jaques. All rights reserved excepting that this file may be copied for non-commercial purposes, unchanged. No warranties apply. I am just a user volunteering my observations and collecting those of others. Table of Contents Oft-Forgotten Virtue of Extensions Manager Major Interactive Novel On World Wide Web Open Today Car Racing Game Internet Explorer 3 Out Editor's Tip on Shrinking Startup Partition Editor's Broken Heart from Now Utilities Boston Computer Society - User Group Scandal Forgotten Cost of Preemptive Multi-Tasking A Developer's Experience Porting Code to the BeOS Interview with Be Guys MacWorld on QuickKeys 3.5 TurboCad 2D/3D 3.0 Clones Succumb to Vapor War(e) What is EIDE MacWorld on Motorola StarMax (Watch out!) Editor's Comment on Lowest Price Mac What is ASVD? MacWorld on Meeting Specific Needs MacWorld on MultiProcessing 8x CDRoms Disappointing But even so...a 10x CDRom! Speech Recognition Problem Desktop Printer Problem Tips & Reminders on Web Searching Distressing Apple Cyberdog Scripting Failure HyperCard 3.0 News BBEdit Script for Batch Search/Replace Apple Developer News On OS Strategy Rhapsody To Use Mach Kernel Apple won't migrate the Mac OS to other microprocessors. What is CFM AppleScript Reminder - It is itself a scriptable Text E AppleScript Warning - Put Away Your Text Item Delimiters! AppleScript - What is an Osax? A Library? Changes in Anarchie 2.0.1 Mac OS Runtime for Java 1.0 QuickTime VR 2.0 Cyberdog 1.2 Apple Club Software Ratings Online ActiveX for Mac OS Is Now Available Hypercard 2.3.5 $99 Update Bundle Products for Rhapsody Apple Introduces Software-Only MPEG Movie Playback AppleScript Lists Speed Doubler v. System 7.6 Amelio Speech to Shareholders 9702 Star Wars on Macs FileMaker v. OpenTransport 1.1.1 PowerPC Chip Outperforms the Pentium--Even With MMX Proof That the Mac OS Platform Is Alive and Well Internet Explorer 3.0 Cocoa Let's Kids Program SMART Board Pretty Safe Mail Another Internet to AppleTalk No Hands Mouse PowerBook 1400 Update Free Object Placement in Web Drafting A New Delta Storage Application: Rev Eudora Light/Pro Updated Frontier 4.2 Apple Ships Mac OS 7.6 Price Cuts to Apple Models for Feb More On Rhapsody Kernel - The Mach BeBoxes No More Sorting a String Numerically This Jaques Law Bits was delivered by: This Jaques Law Bits was delivered for: Oft-Forgotten Virtue of Extensions Manager * I finished installing System 7.5.5 last night...it has worked perfectly since about 9 a.m. What a treat. And I have been working it hard. Hypercard, Word, and PageMaker, with a lot of cuts, pastes, deletions, spelling checks. I have also sent several faxes, been on ARA to the office twice, downloaded some files, and have been on and off EMail three or four times. * One thing I did when installing was follow directions. It says to open Extensions Manager and pick set System 7.3.3 (or 2), so, with some trepidation, I took Conflict Catcher out of the System folder and did what they said and ran the install. * I am also leaving a lot of trashy stuff I don't want in the System just in case Apple punishes us for not so doing. * >Say, does it now offer a set for each of 7.5.3 and 7.5.5? * Not on mine. Mine now offers set 7.5.5. Also, if you don't normally use extensions manager, but wish to turn it on, do not move it to the top of your startup sequence then turn it on. At least with Conflict Catcher the turn on doesn't work. System 7.5.5. ReadMe tells about it. Major Interactive Novel On World Wide Web Open Today * By Sylvia Dennis. Just when you thought you had your Web surfing addiction licked, Geoff Ryman, the SF author, has opened the Web's first major online interactive novel. NewsPage Direct for Tuesday, January 21, 1997 Car Racing Game * If your turbocharged racing action takes place on a Macintosh, click here to learn what makes Mr. Kaemmer tick: * CNET Digital Dispatch Vol. 3 No. 2 Internet Explorer 3 Out * News flash for Mac users: Microsoft just released the final version of Internet Explorer 3.0 for the PowerPC. Click here to check out the latest salvo in the battle of the browsers: * CNET Digital Dispatch Vol. 3 No. 2 Editor's Tip on Shrinking Startup Partition * I was unexpectedly running out of room on my Startup volume (partition). * First, I got the Netscape Cache out by resetting the preferences in Netscape (see prior). Actually, I set it to a RAM disk for better speed. An alias of the Ram disk is kept in my startup folder. If it isn't mounted when Netscape starts, Netscape will make a new one without asking. * Second, I got the Eudora folder out. It was about 20 mb, due to my refusal to turn off lists I rarely read, and my refusal to delete personal or professional correspondence. Eudora has no preference to relocate this, so I was stumped. It turns out that you can move it anywhere, then make an alias to the folder, which you put in the top level of the system folder. Be sure the alias has exactly the same name! "Eudora Folder alias" will not work. As a bonus, background compression was now available. Typically, background compression is not applied to the system folder. * The Eudora technique was applied with success to the FindIt disk catalogs. Editor's Broken Heart from Now Utilities * Despite monthly updates to version 6.5, the best elements of the package, I was forced to disable the last and best of the package, Boomerang and Menus. Boomerang conflicts with Stuffit Spacesaver, especially when a remote computer accesses compressed files. I have contacted both Now Software and Aladdin about this. Aladdin had the grace to write back. Neither fixed it or publishes the problem. * When using Now Menus, I frequently caused problems. Sometimes Now Menus would quit. Sometimes I would lose the use of any menus. Sometimes it would crash. Deleting the preferences did not help. I suspect naughty system tampering, since even after trashing the prefs, I still retained the extra drop down menus for each partition which I had set up. * My Gawd! I can't live without them! The computer is so much better to use with everything a pulldown or a key stroke away. But they just don't work! Boston Computer Society - User Group Scandal * Boston Computer Society (BCS), once the largest user group in the world...Earlier this year they uncovered serious financial mismanagement leading to their permanently closing their doors." * Eric Gundrum - MacTech Magazine January 1997 Forgotten Cost of Preemptive Multi-Tasking * The CPU must manage the threads. It could be 10% of its time! * Eric Gundrum - MacTech Magazine January 1997 A Developer's Experience Porting Code to the BeOS * The BeOS claims to support Unix software. * The BeBox offers Plug and Play and it seems to work. * The BeOS has a preference folder, and so far, the preference Applications don't have obscure names. * The BeOS used was DR8 (Developers Release 0.8). Expect substantial improvements in v.1.0. * The BeOS is quite familiar to NextStep users and many of Be's personnel were NextStep programmers previously. * MetroWerks Code Warrior 10 CD provides tools to cross-compile Be applications on your Macintosh." * The BeOS has a mini-Unix environment to make porting Unix code easier. He had to tinker with the configuration scripts, header files, some missing standard library routines, and complained of an inability to stop a doomed compile attempt. Ultimately, his conclusion was that porting Unix code is, in fact, much less work than a port to the Mac or Windows. * Another question is porting Mac code. He figures that the set up, event loop, and user interface might as well be trashed. File I/O can be rewritten, but the network aspect will be painful, as the BeOS uses Unix networking calls. The 'back end' (presumably the actual thinking portion) will be fairly well preserved. You can just recompile it for the BeOS without changing the source code too much. o The BeOS set up + A Be Application must have an icon, a signature, and launch information in its launch resource. It must have "one short routine to instantiate and run your App object.". + The said signature must be unique. On the Mac, it ought to be. You can get a signature from Be via email. + The launch information will include a preference on whether to launch each time it is clicked, for each copy of its file, or only once at a time. o Event Loop + The BeOS handles most of it for you. It passes BMessage objects to BLooper objects, which then pass the BMessage object to a BHandler. + The BApplication and BWindow objects are just subclasses of BLooper. + Unlike Mac Apps, your application just looks for an event of a particular type, regardless of how it was created (e.g., via mouse, keyboard, application) o User Interface + Each window is like its own application, containing its own menu bar and execution thread. + The BeOS treats communication between two windows much the same as communication between two applications. + He found no interface builder application, and the samples used too much 'hard coding' (i.e., the message would be built into the code, not read from a resource. Therefore, it would be harder to modify, especially for different international versions.) o File I/O + The acclaimed database is "not a very powerful database". You can't search by contents, but every other entry is 'tagged for querying' [i.e. indexed?], and searches are extremely fast. + The database won't interfere with a port of a Mac App, but you must write for it to take substantial advantage of it. + Watch out for the non-modal save-as dialog! o Back End + Watch out because Mac system calls are not re-entrant (mostly) and Be calls are (mostly). If you rely on that, perhaps make the backend an exclusive launch server communicating with multi-launch front ends. o Ultimately, it is easier than porting code between Windows and the Mac, but, for instance, "if your code is a legacy application written before the invention of C++, then you are in for a world of hurt." * Michael Rutman - MacTech Magazine January 1997 Interview with Be Guys * Be is targeting computer developers and "guide geeks" (those individuals who define new directions and new applications). * Be considered Code Warrior in the development of the system. This meant adopting Apple's propietary executable file format called PEF, which is what Code Warrior generates, and supporting the Apple/IBM runtime environment for the PowerPC. * Erich Ringewald, VP of Engineering for Be says "Developing a BeOS application under CodeWarrior is no different than developing one for the MacOS. The headers and libraries for MacOS are simply replaced with BeOS headers and libraries, and off you go." [note prior article from same issue, summarized above, is not so rosy] * Erich also says the Mac class libraries are built on a basic API which is a flat collection of Pascal/C procedure calls. He calls the Mac OS objects "lipstick on a chicken" * Erich says the BeOS not only provides the capability of running separate threads with protected address spaces, but makes heavy use of that capability. Therefore, developers get the advantage of multi-threading and multi-processing without explicitly having to program for it. * Erich says Windows NT4 has a great OS kernel, but the Win32 API and UI implementation sit on top of that and aren't written to take advantage of multi-processing/multi-threading. So, just like a Mac, holding down the mouse shuts everything else down. * [For those of you who know what this means, I sure don't] Erich says Be rejected the SOM approach to the fragile base class problem but rejected it because its problems (complexity and performance hits.) outweighed its contribution. Be is considering padding classes with extra data and virtual functions to accomodate a transition to a better solution. * The BeBox o Motherboard - two PowerPC CPUs + 3 PCI slots + 5 ISA slots + standard 72 pin DRAM SIMMS + IDE and SCSI drive connectors + no 'custom' components at all. o Ports + SCSI + parallel + keyboard + mouse + 16 bit stereo (RCA and mini jacks) + 4 serial + 2 joystick + 2 sets of Midi (to permit dual channel) + 3 IR control + 'Geek port' - access to D/A and A/D connectors on motherboard and power (protected by fuses) o Drives + all standard IDE, SCSI, and floppy o Graphics - standard PCI graphics cards o Network - standard PCI or ISA cards * Erich - We couldn't wait for the CHRP, so and it wasn't that hard to get it running on current Apple Hardware, so we did. * Erich - the Q1 version will read Mac HFS volumes as an external file system! * Erich - It is TCP/IP native but will soon support AppleTalk. * Erich - considering MacOS emulation. Maybe like MAE (Mac Application Environment) which runs on Unix, or maybe giving each app a 'virtual mac' in protected memory. * Dave Mark - MacTech Magazine January 1997 MacWorld on QuickKeys 3.5 * It's not Power PC native code. * You can now create floating tool bars with tiny icons, and can summon them with a keystroke. * It has a new batch-processing macro, to apply the same macro to every file in a folder. * The interface is cleaned up. * But note that KeyQuencher is half the price, half the ram (170k) and native power PC code. It is hard to use, but seems to be capable of more. Ultimately, Keyquencer got 3 stars, and QuicKeys still have 4. * QuicKeys is from CE Software, and KeyQuencer is from Binary Software (310-449-1481) * MacWorld December 1996 TurboCad 2D/3D 3.0 * MacWorld says it's a bargain. At $149US, you get a 'nearly high end' CAD. High end CADs usually cost about $4,000. * MacWorld December 1996 Clones Succumb to Vapor War(e) * Power Computing announced Power Base systems in August, but hadn't finished the design of the video circuitry six weeks later. It has 12 announced systems, but only 5 are shipping. Umax announced its C500 and C600 in August, but they "won't ship" until late October. Motorola announced 8 systems in September, but didn't even expect to ship until November. APS announced 3 systems but didn't expect to ship any till November. Daystar announced 4, of which 2 were shipping. Surprisingly, Apple was actually shipping all of its announced models. * MacWorld December 1996 What is EIDE * Enhanced IDE is a device protocol like SCSI, but supports only two drives. * Popular on PCs, it is now found in Macs, even from Apple. * MacWorld December 1996 MacWorld on Motorola StarMax (Watch out!) * It is the lowest price. It bundles a modem, which even knocks out Power Computing's lowest price. The performance beats Power Computing's lowest model, because of StarMax's faster drive and Tanzania motherboard. But it has half the VRAM (1 mb), lacks an internal SCSI connector, and its own EIDE is full. * It's DIMM slots are not compatible with other Macs (Motorola uses more efficient 3.3 volt DIMMs). Watch out! * You must add a SCSI PCI card to add a drive! Watch out! * MacWorld December 1996 Editor's Comment on Lowest Price Mac * The lowest price Power PC Mac in the latest Mac Warehouse catalog was a, believe it or not, Apple. * The Performa 5260 beat the others due to its included (built in) monitor. Assuming you need one. What is ASVD? * SupraExpress 336 Sp modem has Rockwell ASVD (Analog Simultaneous Voice and Data). So you can talk and connect simulaneously. Is it like a separate line, like ADSL offers, or just another channel on the same call? * MacWorld Advertisement December 1996 MacWorld on Meeting Specific Needs * Electronic Publishing and Design - Primarily benefited by hard drive and CPU speed and media size. * Imaging and 3D Graphics - Benefits from multi-processing and huge amounts of ram. * Multimedia Authoring and Digital Video - Multiprocessing and huge amounts of media * Internet Content Delivery - Multiprocessing is no help. A fast CPU with a modest price. Consider Unix or Windows NT for now. * MacWorld December 1996 MacWorld on MultiProcessing * Daystar "has distinguished itself as the first clone vendor to advance Macintosh computing fundamentally." * This high praise is due to Daystar's work on the Apple MultiProcessor API (which is derived from Daystar's nPower MP architecture. * Daystar modelled it on Windows NT. [editor - wouldn't Microsoft see it as 'ripped it off from Windows NT?] Therefore, ports of MP apps from Windows NT are easy. Adobe did Photoshop in less than two weeks. * However, Windows NT, Unix, and OS/2 all offer symmetric multiprocessing (SMP), in which no CPU is master and none is slave. Even the system can run on any. That would require an overhaul of the whole MacOS [overdue?]. * Asymmetric multiprocessing requires that all operations pass through the master CPU which parcels them out. The parcelling takes more time than it saves, usually, so mostly the slaves are inactive. * Daystar's approach is implemented with just a few system extensions. So symmetric is out of the question. But it does a little better than pure asymmetric. Level 1 is 'multitasking', in which a long task is sent to run on a slave CPU. This is rarely used. Level 2 is 'accelerated single tasking' in which each major task is divided evenly among the available processors. * MacWorld offers an apt analogy, where CPUs are horses pulling a wagon. A single fast horse pulls a light load faster than a group of horses pulling the same load. But even slower horses, grouped in harness, are faster pulling a sufficiently heavy load. * MacWorld's tests show that 4 CPUs approximately double performance for MP aware applications, though some functions go at up to 7 times as fast, and, of course, some show no improvement. * MacWorld December 1996 8x CDRoms Disappointing * Theoretically, data transfer rates would be 1.2 mb/sec. But system and drive overhead hold it down to less than 0.5 mb/sec. * Seek times are more important for searches anyway, and the 8x drives offer no improvement there. * Video playback is optimized by game developers for the 4x drive, typically. * At best, an 8x drive was 63% faster than the benchmark 4x drive. * The driver makes a difference. MacWorld likes FWB's CDRom Toolkit. Also available are Software Architect's CD Mounter Plus, and CharisMac's CDRom Utility. * Ultimately, La Cie was faster and cheaper, but Dynatek came with CDRom Toolkit and an extra power connection, giving it the edge. All the fastest used the Plextor mechanism. Plextor also offers a drive. * Shockingly, the Philips drive was inferior to not only the Micro Design Toshiba mechanism 6.7x drive, but even to the benchmark 4x drive. * Dynatek is Canadian. * MacWorld December 1996 But even so...a 10x CDRom! * ClubMac advertises a 10x CDRom for $199US (1.5 mb/sec data transfer, 140 ms avg access time. Speech Recognition Problem * Performas 5200, 5300, 6200 and 6300 will shut off the sound if you turn on the speakable items in the Speech control panel using a version before 1.5 of the Speech Recognition Extension. * Version 1.5 also fixes the bug which prevented the PPC Powerbooks from working with the builtin microphone. * Don't forget that speech recognition needs 16 bit input (check the Sound Out settings in the Sound control panel). That doesn't apply to speech output. * MacWorld December 1996 Desktop Printer Problem * The current version is 2.0. Even it will do nothing, even though the menu items are undimmed, if you move the default printer icon to a closed folder. Open the folder, deselect the printer icon, and reselect it. Tips & Reminders on Web Searching * AltaVista uses the older 'and' format (which Infoseek supports also). Put a "+" directly in front of any mandatory words. Other services usually use the word "AND". * AltaVista assumes any other words not enclosed by quotation marks are OR criteria. You can explicitly use OR on the others. * Don't forget about "NOT". Use a "-" on AltaVista. * Consider the AltaVista 'advanced search' option. * Consider searching by the URL. For instance, any university is probably on the ".edu" trunk (proper jargon?). You can search for links to your site by searching for your URL. Any ".ca" will bring URLs containing the Canada trunk (?), but not, of course, all Canadian URLs. * No site brings up an exhaustive list. So consider metaSearchers, where you enter the criteria once, and it searches a number of other sites for you. MetaSearchers include: o SavvySearch - searches practically everything o MetaCrawler - searches practically everything. Brisk results. Ongoing academic experiment in metasearch design o all4one - the simplest. Just searches Excite, Lycos, AltaVista, and WebCrawler. Actually, just gives each its own frame on the page. o ProFusion - University of Kansas - searches Infoseek Ultra, AltaVista, HotBot and OpenText. You can click select which ones to search. * MacWorld tried a sample search to roughly measure currency. Infoseek got an A+, Excite a C, HotBot a C-, Lycos a D-, and Magellan a D-. AltaVista, OpenText, WebCrawler and Yahoo got Fs. * Sites have varying 'intelligence'. MacWorld says the current champ is Infoseek Ultra. Intelligence will do things like sort in likely priority, sort down or eliminate languages other than that of the searcher, etc. * Don't forget you can design your own metasearches with JavaScript or AppleScript. This page has a Java based search service you can add to your own page. * RetrieveIt ($40US) not only doubles the speed of web searches [how?], it is far faster at searching your own drives than Apple's Find File. [I think it searches for contents too?]. * Consider Topic oriented searches too. These would include Yahoo, Search.com Distressing Apple Cyberdog Scripting Failure * The container does not contain an AppleScript dictionary. Apple says applications should support applescript and this is part of supporting it. * Tsk Tsk HyperCard 3.0 News * premature" to talk about specific feature sets or ship dates * will be reimplemented upon the QuickTime Media Layer (QTML). o Some benefits include: + 1) integrated support for full color in all bit depths + 2) playability on the multiple platforms supported by QTML and in all applications in which QuickTime movies currently can be played + 3) extensibility via open QuickTime APIs + 4) integration of all media types supported by QTML, including text, video, audio, music, VR, 3D, and MPEG + 5) ease of use in combination with other QuickTime-based tools. o Other effects: + Stacks would be stored differently, using QuickTime-defined formats for their structure and content, but their basic behaviors would remain the same. Stacks would still contain cards and backgrounds, they would continue to update themselves dynamically as changes are made, and users would operate them as they do now. In other words, the scope of what a QuickTime movie can be would be broadened to encompass the behavior of stackware. + They promise it will be possible to translate from the file formats of HyperCard 1.x and 2.x to QuickTime-based formats, retaining the content and behavior of the original stacks * Scripting would include HyperTalk (enhanced) and other languages as well, such as AppleScript, UserTalk, and Java. Of course, stacks that use other languages will require appropriate support for them on each platform on which they're intended to run. * Will continue to support XCMDs and XFCNs on Macintosh only. BBEdit Script for Batch Search/Replace * It appears the following, published by Andres Figueroa, with credit to Andy Bachorski, will search all text files in a selected folder, searching and replacing for several items at once (well, in sequence). set searchList to {"Foo", "foo", "Bar", "bar"} set replaceList to {"Fiz", "fiz", "Bah", "bah"} set searchCount to count of searchList   set searchFolder to choose folder   tell application "Finder" try set fileList to (files in entire contents of searchFolder whose file type is "TEXT") as alias on error from f set fileList to f end try end tell   repeat with aFile in fileList tell application "BBEdit 4.0" activate open aFile repeat with i from 1 to searchCount set searchText to item i of searchList set replaceText to item i of replaceList replace Every Occurrence searching for searchText using replaceText with case sensitive end repeat close window 1 saving yes end tell end repeat Apple Developer News On OS Strategy * Smooth Transition o similar look and feel o compatibility with existing Mac OS applications and hardware o Existing Mac OS software is expected to work within Rhapsody at PowerPC speeds o Rhapsody will support today's currently shipping Mac OS personal computers, as well as future Mac OS hardware. * Advanced Operating System o preemptive multitasking o symmetric multiprocessing o protected memory o modern kernel. o integration of NeXT Software's OPENSTEP development o component software development environment. * Multimedia Leadership o optimize its QuickTime Media Layer (QTML) for both Mac OS and Rhapsody o further develop its value added hardware * Superior Internet Integration o carry forward key technologies + OpenDoc + Meta Content Format (MCF) + TCP/IP connectivity o incorporate Java in both Mac OS and Rhapsody + today announced Mac OS Run Time for Java. (See separate release). o technology such as NeXT Software's Web Objects * two complementary product lines moving forward--Mac OS and Rhapsody. o Customers can migrate at their own speed. o Mac OS + will deliver on a regular, semiannual basis for both 68k and PowerPC customers. + 7.6, announced today + Tempo + improve the overall ease of use of the Mac + Internet integration + include a new PowerPC-native multi-threaded Finder. + new 3D appearance and other user interface enhancements. + integrates Cyberdog 2.0, Mac OS Runtime for Java, and personal web sharing, permitting every Mac or Mac compatible to be an Internet web server. + Allegro - TBA + Sonata - TBA o Rhapsody + incorporating NeXT Software's market- leading OPENSTEP development environment. + include preemptive multitasking, protected memory and a modern kernel. + developer release - mid to late 1997 + customer release - within 12 months. + an evolution of the Mac OS appearance + enable new software applications to run in a fully preemptive and protected environment + limited compatibility with Mac OS applications. + Unified Release - mid 1998 + next generation capabilities introduced in the developer and premier releases + compatibility with existing and future Mac OS applications through a Mac OS compatibility environment which will be a complete native implementation of the Mac OS. This is not a software "emulation" layer; instead, Mac OS will be ported to the advanced Rhapsody base. + Rhapsody is also expected to support all upcoming products including the PowerPC Platform (also known as CHRP). [Does this mean that the MacOS will not support CHRP!?] o Both + optimized for PowerPC hardware. o Other + develop, sell and support NeXT software products for other platforms such as Pentium, Sparc, and Windows NT. * ADN #38 Supp 3--New OS Strategy Rhapsody To Use Mach Kernel * We have chosen to deliver these capabilities using the Mach kernel. Apple completed a thorough evaluation of several options. Each of the options had both technical and business strengths. Mach represents the best balance of technology and business fit and maximizes our ability to deliver on our stated goals for Rhapsody. We believe the Mach-based core provides Apple and developers a compelling technology foundation in which to build innovative and world class products. * Clearly, there are further technical decisions still to be made. We will continue to update you on a continuing basis." * Ellen Hancock Chief Technology Officer * Avie Tevanian Vice President, NeXT Software, Inc. * ADN #42 Supplement--Rhapsody/Mach Apple won't migrate the Mac OS to other microprocessors. *  Apple Directions Express - 11/01/96 - Apple Dev News #32 Supplement What is CFM * [I previously advised that the CFM-68K Runtime Enabler was buggy. Now I know what it is.] * Code Fragment Manager ("CFM") was originally introduced by Apple only for Macintosh and Mac OS-compatible computers based on the PowerPC processor. It allows applications to share their programming code through special files known as shared libraries. In addition to being able to share programming code, applications which are programmed to use shared libraries can reduce their memory requirements. * In response to the success of the PowerPC version of CFM, Apple introduced a version of CFM for Macintosh computers based on the 680x0 processor. This version of CFM for 680x0- based Macintosh computers is the CFM-68K Runtime Enabler extension. * Apple Computer products which rely on CFM-68K Runtime Enabler are: OpenDoc, Cyberdog, LaserWriter (versions 8.4 and 8.4.1 only), and the Apple Media Tool. Only the 68K versions of these software packages are affected. This bug does not affect PowerPC versions of these products. There are currently few applications which rely on the CFM-68K Runtime Enabler and therefore Apple does not believe that this problem is very widespread. * If you have installed OpenDoc or Cyberdog, you should not use these products until Apple releases a solution for this problem. If you have installed LaserWriter version 8.4 or 8.4.1, you should install LaserWriter version 8.3.4, which does not rely on the CFM-68K Runtime Enabler. If you do not have LaserWriter 8.3.4, you can download it from the Apple support site on the World Wide Web, which is located at http://www.info.apple.com/. * This bug exists in all currently shipping versions of CFM-68K Runtime Enabler, but was found during recent testing. * Apple Technote * Apple Dev News #35 Supplement - 12/2/96 AppleScript Reminder - It is itself a scriptable Text Editor * mkearns@bearriver.com (Meredith Kearns) AppleScript Warning - Put Away Your Text Item Delimiters! * AppleScript's text item delimiters. It's important to note that it's your responsibility to save the old value of the delimiters and then to save it back when you're done. Please remember to include this whenever you post a solution involving text item delimiters. * Cal Simone, President Main Event Software, Inc. Voice: (202) 298-9595 *   * I have done a lot of text parsing with Applescript and I really like the tokenize command from the ACME Script Widgets Addition. It saves the effort of saving the delimiter, changing the delimiter, doing your task and then changing the delimiter back. Tokenize is a one stop solution: * Larry White, P.Eng. *   * I've had problems where my script would die in the middle of my delim loop, and then the delims would stay set to ":" or whatever, and then if you did a "set delims to savedDelims" kind of thing, they would be set to ":". Setting them to {""} seems to have applescript restore it's default delims. * Erich G Bratton AppleScript - What is an Osax? A Library? * Scripting additions are compiled *Macintosh* code so they are written in C or Pascal generally and cannot be written unless you know how to program the Mac. However if you have a handy function you can save it as a compiled script.... in a file,(say called mylibrary) and then in any of your scripts you can load it into the script using the load script OSAX (Use the open dictionary command on OSAX to see how to use them).... * This is a handy way to circumvent the limit on the length of any one script (30k) and to write organized code. It does slow down your script a little * One problem is if you want to load a script library from within a script library. Like say you have 5 libraries, all of which need to in turn load the same library. If you put code in each to load the library (load script...) then the same library gets loaded lots of time and I think this wastes time and memory. * One workaround is to load all the libraries in your main script, place them in an array, and pass this array to all your sub-functions contained in libraries, and have your subfunctions operate on the array. i.e. set myfunction to load script alias("disk:Desktop Folder:mylibrary") set lib to {myfunction:myfunction,this:this,that:that} on dobeep(lib,x) beep x times tell this of lib to dowhatever(lib,parameters) end dobeep * Elliot Smith Changes in Anarchie 2.0.1 * Changes since v1.6 are: + PowerPC native. + Upload and Download folders. + Mac Search file search engine. + Tips window. + Lots of User Interface enhancements. * Changes since 2.0 + Fixed a problem with international (high bit set) characters. * Anarchie requires System 7, MacTCP 1.1 or Open Transport 1.1, and is US$10 shareware. Version 2.0.1 is a free upgrade to registered users who registered after 1 Jan 1996. Users who registered prior to 1996 can upgrade and receive a 50% discount. *   * Hope you like it, Peter. <> *   * Anarchie v2.0.1 Copyright 1993-96 Peter N Lewis (Stairways.com) Mac OS Runtime for Java 1.0 * Mac OS Runtime for Java 1.0 can be used on any Mac OS-based computer that runs Macintosh System 7.1 or later and uses a 68030 or faster processor; memory requirements depend on usage. * Apple Dev News #39--MACWORLD Expo - 970109 QuickTime VR 2.0 * At MACWORLD Expo, Apple introduced QuickTime VR 2.0 for Mac OS, a major update that offers new features to both developers and users and integrates QuickTime VR's image-based virtual reality with QuickTime (used for movies, sound, and music) and QuickDraw 3D (for 3D objects). * This integration is possible because of the inclusion in QuickTime VR 2.0 of a full API (application programming interface) that can be called from the C programming language. * Apple Dev News #39--MACWORLD Expo - 970109 Cyberdog 1.2 * Cyberdog 1.2, a full-featured suite of Internet components with a common look and feel. Cyberdog 1.2 includes user interface improvements, enhanced performance, and new mail functionality; it also offers a complete solution for mail, news, web access, FTP, Telnet, and more. Cyberdog 1.2 features many built-in data-type viewers (for file formats such as GIF and JPEG) and provides Internet capability to applications that support OpenDoc. * The tight integration of the Mac OS and Cyberdog allows users to easily drag and drop items between the two environments; for example, files from the Mac OS Finder, Uniform Resource Locater (URL) links, and e-mail addresses can be dragged into the Cyberdog 1.2 Notebook. * Apple Dev News #39--MACWORLD Expo - 970109 Apple Club * Apple Club ... is Apple's new web-based subscription service...will provide members with high-speed access to Apple software updates, newsletters, and services-- all for a yearly fee of $19.95. Initially, Apple Club is available to customers in the United States. * Benefits of Apple Club include faster and more reliable access to all standard Apple system software upgrades and enhancements, through dedicated servers and high-speed routers. Upon signing up, members receive a one-time choice of a CD-ROM valued at U.S. $34.95. Choices include Grolier's Encyclopedia of Science Fiction; Arome Publishing's Vegetarian Delights: Art de la Table; or the Apple Club CD-ROM, which includes the most recent versions of all available Apple software updates, some literature on Apple products, and links to the most popular Apple web sites and part of the Technical Information Library. * Additional benefits include a one-stop shop for free subscriptions to popular electronic newsletters, including exclusive messages from Apple Chairman and CEO Dr. Gil Amelio, and optional weekly e-mail messages that notify members of the latest versions of current software. Apple Club members enjoy special discount offers on select products and services, starting at 20 percent on the AppleCare program, which offers an extended warranty on Apple products. Members also are automatically enrolled in quarterly drawings for valuable Apple hardware and gifts. In the first drawing--to be held April 1, 1997--members can win a MessagePad 2000 or an Apple T-shirt. * Apple Dev News #39--MACWORLD Expo - 970109 Software Ratings Online * The National Multimedia Association of America maintains a Web site, RATINGS.ORG, that features a database listing of software applications that have been rated by computer users. Potential software purchasers use this resource to make product buying decisions. You can turn this database resource into a free selling opportunity in this way: Simply ask your most loyal users to fill out a review form for your product at the RATINGS.ORG Web site. Tell users that it takes just a couple of minutes, and that users who submit reviews are typically entered in a drawing for a nice giveaway. * RATINGS.ORG also has an icon that you can add to your site as a live link to the RATINGS.ORG homepage. Developer Web sites that display this logo receive discounts on browser demographical information. * Apple Developer News #33 961107 ActiveX for Mac OS Is Now Available * Microsoft has just released the ActiveX SDK for the Macintosh, which allows web users to automatically download ActiveX controls when viewing a web page. * Apple Developer News #35 2/2 961121 Hypercard 2.3.5 $99 Update Bundle * Apple just announced the availability of HyperCard version 2.3.5, which includes a high-value bundle of Internet and entertainment software, all for a retail price of U.S. $99. This new bundle includes Broderbund's Myst, the best-selling computer game; Terran Interactive's Movie Cleaner LE, a QuickTime authoring solution; and LiveCard from Royal/Heizer Software, a web motion plug-in that enables real-time streaming of HyperCard stacks into Internet browser windows. * HyperCard 2.3.5 builds upon the new features introduced in HyperCard 2.3, which included native PowerPC performance, 24-bit color painting, new button task enhancements for launching applications such as Netscape Navigator, automation through AppleScript, and enhanced HyperTalk scripting. Now for the first time, users can launch, control, exchange data, and integrate with scriptable applications using AppleScript. * Press release or web site * Apple Developer News #38 1/2 961220 Products for Rhapsody * Continuing its two-year relationship of working with Apple on a variety of initiatives, Netscape Communications announced plans to make its new Netscape Communicator client software available on Apple's next- generation operating system, Rhapsody. Netscape Communicator is Netscape's new integrated suite of client software for open e-mail, "groupware," editing, calendar capabilities, and web browsing. You can read more about the announcement on the web * Apple Developer News #40 970116 *   * Apple and Metrowerks have signed a development agreement to provide full CodeWarrior tools support for both the Mac OS and Rhapsody. Under the terms of the agreement, Metrowerks will create and market a full CodeWarrior solution made up of compilers, programming tools, and debuggers. Apple Introduces Software-Only MPEG Movie Playback * Apple recently announced immediate availability of its QuickTime MPEG (Motion Picture Experts Group) extension, which allows you to perform full-screen, software-only playback of MPEG-1 and VideoCD audio/video files on PowerPC processor-based Mac OS computers. MPEG is a worldwide industry standard for compressing synchronized audio and video for post-production and entertainment. The QuickTime MPEG extension is available immediately for use with QuickTime 2.5; * Through the QuickTime MPEG extension, VHS-quality, full-screen video and CD-quality audio are now available as a single synchronized data type in the QuickTime architecture. Apple has supported hardware MPEG-1 playback on Macintosh computers since 1994; with the announcement of this QuickTime Media Layer (QTML) software extension, Power Macintosh users no longer need special hardware to view a variety of MPEG files and formats. * Through the capabilities of QuickTime track synchronization, MPEG files can also be fully integrated with other QuickTime media types, including sprites, MIDI, text, and 3D files. * All applications updated to be compliant with QuickTime for Macintosh 2.5 can immediately take advantage of these new features. Apple is providing a new version of MoviePlayer--version 2.5.1--to allow immediate use of these features. Apple is committed to giving Microsoft Windows customers an equally compelling MPEG experience in 1997. * Because of the extensibility of QTML and the open plug-in architecture of QuickTime, the QuickTime MPEG extension can upgrade systems that currently have QuickTime for Macintosh 2.5 installed. * The QuickTime MPEG extension will also work seamlessly with the QuickTime plug-in for Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer, enabling real-time, live MPEG playback inside these browsers. QuickTime's "fast start" feature enables users to view MPEG content as it downloads, eliminating the delay associated with large multimedia files across low-bandwidth connections. * To coincide with the release of Apple's QuickTime MPEG extension, Astarte USA has announced the release of Astarte MPEG Exporter, a free Macintosh QuickTime extension that allows users to easily convert any QuickTime movie to MPEG format. MPEG Exporter will allow Power Macintosh users to begin working with MPEG material immediately without having to buy MPEG hardware. * See the press release on the web: * Apple Developer News #42 970130 AppleScript Lists * We maintain a list of scriptable Application on our web site, which contains a * link to Apple's AppleScript site which maintains a similar list. * Mark Alldritt Late Night Software Ltd. * Phone: 604-929-5578 1571 Deep Cove Road * FAX: 604-929-4961 N. Vancouver, B.C. * WEB: http://www.latenightsw.com/ CANADA V7G-1S4 *   * The Apple Event Registry is in parts: Part I and Part II * The AppleScript Language Guide *   Speed Doubler v. System 7.6 * 970130 - Connectix recommends you install the latest version (2.0.1 or 1.3.2) or disable SpeedDoubler if you run System 7.6. Amelio Speech to Shareholders 9702 * Development for Rhapsody will also run on WinTel boxes. * Jobs and Wozniak are both back, in advisory roles. * Apple has or will cut 3,565 jobs. * Apple intends to narrow its focus and concentrate on being a "Systems Company" * The MacOS is up 9% in sales, counting clones. He didn't say how fast systems were growing over all. * R&D is being further reduced * At MacWorld Tokyo, the World's fastest laptop will be unveiled: a Mac. An Apple Mac! Star Wars on Macs * page 55 of Time's Canadian edition, February 10, 1997, reports that the new footage in Star Wars was done on Macs. FileMaker v. OpenTransport 1.1.1 * Claris says you are in trouble running Filemaker and OpenTransport 1.1.1 unless you use MacIPX 1.3v1 (assuming you are using IPX networking) and ObjectSupport Lib 1.1.6 (both available from the Claris site. PowerPC Chip Outperforms the Pentium--Even With MMX * BYTE magazine has just documented a win for the PowerPC microprocessor over Pentium chips, even with Intel's Pro and MMX enhancements. In this benchmark study, a 200 MHz 604e PowerPC-based Macintosh computer is compared with 200 MHz Pentium, Pentium Pro, and Pentium with MMX systems, plus one Cyrix 166+ system. BYTE tested five basic functions in Adobe PhotoShop: Arbitrary Rotate, Unsharp Mask (default), Unsharp Mask (custom), Gaussian Blur, and RGB to CMYK. * In three of the tests--Arbitrary Rotate, Unsharp Mark (custom), and RGB to CMYK--the Power Macintosh blew away the Pentium-with-MMX system by about a factor of two. Power Macintosh was within a few percentage points of Pentium-with-MMX performance in the other two tests. It also soundly beat the Pentium products (non-MMX) on all five tests, often by factors of three, four, and even more. For a great graphical representation of this data, see the BYTE web site. * Apple Developer News 45 970213 Proof That the Mac OS Platform Is Alive and Well * * There are more than 14,000 Mac OS-compatible products listed within Apple's Mac OS Software & Hardware Guide. (Source: Apple Computer, January 1997.) The list is available at this web site: * * There are 1,899 software titles available exclusively on the Mac OS platform. (Source: Apple Computer, January 1997.) The list is available at this web site: * * There are 2,449 available titles that were first shipped on the Mac OS platform. (Source: Apple Computer, January 1997.) The list is available at this web site: * * There are 2,749 Power Macintosh native software products currently being shipped. (Source: Apple Computer, January 1997.) The list is available at this web site: * * Among PC Data's list of the 100 best-selling software titles of 1996, 48 percent can run on a Macintosh computer or have a Mac OS version available. (Source: PC Data unit sales data, November 1996.) * * Forty percent of the titles on PC Data's top 10 games list also sell a Mac OS version. (Source: PC Data, November 1996.) * * Seven of PC Data's listed "Top 10 Creativity Titles" run on the Mac OS platform. (Source: PC Data, December 1996, YTD units sold.) * * Five out of ten best-selling titles in the desktop publishing category are Mac OS-compatible. (Source: PC Data, December 1996, YTD units sold.) * * The number-one best-selling title in the painting and drawing category (Adobe Illustrator) is Mac OS-compatible. (Source: PC Data, December 1996, YTD units sold.) * * The number-one best-selling e-mail software application (Claris Emailer) is Mac OS-compatible. (Source: PC Data, December 1996, YTD units sold.) * * Apple recently shipped its 26-millionth Macintosh computer, which will be used by one of the 60 million Macintosh users worldwide. (Source: Apple Computer, January 1997.) Internet Explorer 3.0 * Microsoft released the final version of Internet Explorer 3.0 for Power Macs at Macworld Expo last week. In addition to support for HTML style sheets and the (debatable) RSAC Internet Ratings system, Explorer 3.0 includes support for ActiveX and Java. Users can choose between Apple's Java VM or Microsoft/Metrowerks Java favors [sic], including the first Just in Time (JIT) Java compiler for the Mac. Although ActiveX and Java capabilities require extra memory, Explorer will still run fairly comfortably in 4 MB of RAM, in part because Microsoft broke email and Usenet news capabilities into a separate application (see TidBITS-355_). Various Internet Explorer 3.0 packages can be downloaded from Microsoft, with the full, Java-enabled version coming in over 7 MB in size. Internet Explorer 3.0 is not currently available for 68K Macs due to troubles with Apple's CFM-68K (see TidBITS-356_). [GD] * TidBITS#361/13-Jan-97 Cocoa Let's Kids Program * Apple's Cocoa, a wonderful tool for kids of all ages for creating game and simulation worlds (written with Prograph, no less) has gone into free DR1 release and is available for download. It makes stand-alone applications or can be played on the Internet using a Netscape plug-in. Already some kids calling themselves Tenadar Software have marketed a game written with it; being shown a demo by munchkins is somewhat unnerving, but I guess I will have to have to get used to it. TidBITS#361/13-Jan-97 [MN] SMART Board * My vote for coolest external technology goes to SMART Board, from SMART Technologies Inc. It's a whiteboard which you attach to your computer through the serial port. You can write on it with colored markers, and whatever you write can be captured into the computer as a graphic; or (this part is even cooler) you can project your computer's screen onto the whiteboard, and then touching the whiteboard with your finger is just like mousing there to control the computer. Plus, you can "write" on the picture with virtual colored markers whose traces are actually projected. How I wish I'd had this when I was teaching! [MN] * TidBITS#361/13-Jan-97 [MN] Pretty Safe Mail * Belgian developer Highware showed a beta version of Pretty Safe Mail, which uses PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) to encrypt and decrypt files, folders, email messages, or even parts of email messages, all by choosing a command from a system- wide menu. Pretty Safe Mail also supports digital signatures and is the simple implementation of strong cryptography software that I've been waiting for. [ACE] * TidBITS#361/13-Jan-97 [MN] Another Internet to AppleTalk * Long-time Internet developer InterCon Systems has come up with a product that tons of people have wanted for years - MacVPA (VPA stands for Virtual Private AppleTalk). Basically, MacVPA provides AppleTalk access for people who only have a PPP-based Internet connection. So, if you're travelling, MacVPA enables you to dial any Internet provider and get AppleTalk access to your Internet-connected network back at the office, all without needing to run your own dial-in servers (or make long- distance telephone calls). [ACE] * TidBITS#361/13-Jan-97 [MN] No Hands Mouse * The No Hands Mouse, by Hunter Digital, isn't a mouse, and it doesn't even sit on your desk. It's actually a pair of foot pedals; the right one controls mouse movement with a joystick-like action, while the left pedal controls mouse clicking (rock forward to click, back to double- click). I had trouble moving the cursor around, and found myself unconsciously grabbing for a nonexistent mouse, but others I talked to liked the feel. I assume you'd get used to it fairly quickly. [JLC] * TidBITS#361/13-Jan-97 [MN] PowerBook 1400 Update * Apple has released a simple fix to an odd problem with the PowerBook 1400. Evidently, some 1400 systems shipped without a "reference file" that disk repair programs use. Without the update or the file, they won't look at the disk, because they don't think it is an HFS (Hierarchical File System) disk. * TidBITS#362/20-Jan-97 Free Object Placement in Web Drafting * HTML offers little ability to put objects where you want them on a page. With skill, you can use tables, and with more skill, they might look the same on somebody else's browser. Two new HTML editors automate the table-nudging. They are GoLive Pro 1.1 from GoLive Systems (previous gonet), which will be called GoLive CyberStudio and ship in March for a suggested retail price of $349, and $495 NetObjects Fusion 1.0 by NetObjects * Coda, an HTML editor written entirely in Java by RandomNoise, slated to ship in the first quarter of this year, the $495 Coda creates Web pages consisting primarily of Java code, with free placement of page elements as well a variety of animations and widgets, all of which can be set up without knowing a lick of Java. Pages created in Coda are viewable only in Java-savvy browsers. * TidBITS#362/20-Jan-97 A New Delta Storage Application: Rev * Delta storage is useful for version control, recovering data, and compression. The notion is that the program saves the original file, then saves only the changes for further versions, all in the same file. So, if you keep lots of versions of a document (or ought to), such as accounting files, source code, etc., then consider it. * TidBITS#362/20-Jan-97 reviewed Rev, a new one, and seemed pleased. * Rev costs $49.95 directly from 6prime, and although you can check out their Web site for additional information, you can currently only order via phone or email. Online ordering. * 6prime Corporation -- 408/252-9828 -- email rev@6prime.com Eudora Light/Pro Updated * Qualcomm has released final versions of both Eudora Light and Eudora Pro 3.0.2. According to Qualcomm, these versions fix problems with nickname file corruption, along with problems with attachments, URL handling, and Eudora's editor. You must own Eudora Pro in order to use the Eudora Pro updater (1.6 MB); Eudora Light remains a free product and a 2 MB download. [GD] * TidBITS#365/10-Feb-97 Frontier 4.2 * Frontier, from UserLand Software, has been updated to version 4.2. A powerful, fast Mac scripting environment, Frontier 4.2 features significantly refined Web site management tools (including NewsPage for constantly-updating pages), improved macro processing, live HTML editing in Frontier's built-in outliner, support for making MCF site maps (see TidBITS-355_), a useful suite of Finder scripts for webmasters and authors (delivered via Leonard Rosenthol's OSA Menu), and tight integration with WebSTAR 2.0. Frontier is still free; the curious can get a good sense of it by studying the online documentation. [MN] * TidBITS#363/27-Jan-97 Apple Ships Mac OS 7.6 * Mac OS 7.6 is out. * The good things: o it's on time. o it seems to have a new installer, the Install Mac OS, an umbrella installer for both the core operating system and add-ons like OpenDoc, Cyberdog, and QuickDraw GX. + Install Mac OS has been heralded as a new installer, but it's really a shell program that controls installers for individual components. + It reminds users to update their hard disk drivers when installing software and runs Disk First Aid before attempting to install any system software. + Install Mac OS also enables users to create a brand new System Folder or to update an existing system, a previously hidden function. + But when it launches the subsidiary old-style installers for components, they again ask what you want to do. + The Mac OS 7.6 custom install now groups components in functional categories (such as Mobility, Multimedia, and Assistance) in addition to categories like Control Panels and Extensions. Unfortunately, this means that individual items (such as PC Exchange) appear in more than one section, and selecting an item in one category doesn't select it the others, creating confusion as to whether something will be installed. o it's a welcome system consolidation. In addition to the core system software, Mac OS 7.6 ships with: + QuickTime 2.5 + OpenDoc 1.1.2 + Cyberdog 1.2.1 + QuickDraw 3D 1.0.6 (even though 1.5 is already out) + QuickDraw GX 1.1.5 + MacLink Plus 8.1 (from DataViz) + Open Transport 1.1.1 (even though 1.1.2 is already out) + Open Transport/PPP 1.0 + Remote Access Client 2.1 + version 1.2 of the Apple Internet Connection Kit. o Mac OS 7.6 includes Extensions Manager 4.0, a significant improvement over earlier versions. + enables users to manage system extensions and extension sets + features an updated interface (with sorting capabilities) + ability to view extensions as a flat set, by folder, or by package. + users now can identify and turn on or off all related parts of a complex set, like Now Utilities or OpenDoc. A surprising number of system components already have this information. + does NOT track down extension conflicts + can export a detailed text file listing your extension configuration. o Desktop Printing 2.0.2 + lets you move desktop printers off the desktop into folders + can switch between desktop printers using a new control strip module and within the Print dialog box (although I'm not sure if the latter requires LaserWriter 8.4) o Talking Alerts (modal only, hidden in Speech Control Panel o Improved ScreenShots + Command- Shift-4 lets you select a portion of your screen to be saved as a file + if Caps Lock is down, the cursor changes to a bull's-eye and you can take a screen shot of just about any window you can click + Command-Shift-3 still causes your Mac to take a picture of your entire screen + pressing Control (with either combination) puts the picture into the clipboard instead of in a file on the top level of your startup drive o Low-level changes in Mac OS 7.6 + PowerPC and 68040 Macs can now support volume sizes up to two terabytes + many earlier updates and system extensions have been rolled into the system file + Apple events can now carry more than 64K of data + improvements throughout the system significantly enhance stability. * The bad things: o 24-bit machines (the Mac II, IIx, SE/30, and IIcx) that previously used Connectix's MODE32 aren't supported under Mac OS 7.6 o machines with a 68000 or 68020 processor are no longer supported, including the Plus, SE, Classic, Portable, LC, and PowerBook 100 o PowerPC-based Macs can only run the Modern Memory Manager under Mac OS 7.6: support for the old 68K Memory Manager is no longer available o does not include Mac OS Runtime for Java (MRJ), something Apple promised when it announced its biannual update plan, but Apple did complete MRJ 1.0 for PowerPC; a version for 68K-based machines is promised shortly. o Classic networking isn't supported o doesn't support MacsBug earlier than 6.5.4, which is not yet publicly availabler o not free o not available for downloading o big - over 120 MB for the CD-ROM version * You call it: o no longer supports PowerTalk o removes even the option of running CFM-68K for risk takers who want to run CFM-68K-dependent software (see above). Fortunately, there are workarounds for developers to test CFM-68K under Mac OS 7.6, and a patch may be available soon (two potential fixes are currently being tested by Apple). * You can purchase Mac OS 7.6 directly from Claris, and it should be available in traditional channels (including mail-order and online vendors) shortly. From Claris, Mac OS 7.6 costs $99 on CD-ROM, and $129 on floppy disks. If you can prove you purchased a version of System 7.5 (either on its own or with a computer), you can upgrade for $69, or $99 on floppy. If you recently bought a Mac that didn't ship with 7.6, you may qualify for a $24 upgrade through Apple's Mac OS Up-To-Date program. None of these prices includes shipping, handling, and tax: a typical $69 CD-ROM upgrade from Claris will total more than $80. * Source - Geoff Duncan Price Cuts to Apple Models for Feb * Last week, Apple announced it had lowered dealer prices as much as 27 percent on a wide range of Macintoshes. The largest cuts appear in the mid-to-high end of Apple's desktop Power Macintosh line, with prices reduced as much as $1,000 on Power Mac 8500 and 9500 models; also, the high end of the Performa 6400-series has been discounted 15 to 18 percent, and Apple's Workgroup Server 7250 and 8550 series are discounted 7 to 13 percent. Apple is no doubt attempting to boost sales volume after an unspectacular holiday season and clear inventory in anticipation of new models to be announced later this month. [GD] * TidBITS#364/03-Feb-97 More On Rhapsody Kernel - The Mach * OpenStep is targeted at the Mach 3 kernel, whereas NeXTstep uses a variant of Mach 2.5. Presumably, Apple chose Mach in order to bring Rhapsody to market more quickly. The Mach kernel was originally developed at Carnegie Mellon University, and is currently used by many environments, including IBM's AIX, Apple's MkLinux project, and Tenon Systems' MachTen Unix environment for the Mac. Though most operating systems using Mach have been based on Unix, that doesn't necessarily mean Rhapsody will have Unix at its heart. [GD] * TidBITS#364/03-Feb-97 BeBoxes No More * BeInc, actually only a 50 person company, plans to focus simply on marketing the BeOS for PowerMacs. * TidBITS#364/03-Feb-97 Sorting a String Numerically * Stuart Cheshire, author of the popular network tank game Bolo, has released a tiny freeware extension called Natural Order (or Mirror site) that overrides how the System sorts numeric parts of strings. * Programs that benefit from Natural Order immediately include the Finder (for "View by Name" windows), Standard File Dialogs (in any application), and the Chooser (for sorting lists of zones, servers, and so on). However, Natural Order works by overriding the System's built-in string comparison routines and only benefits programs that call those routines. A number of programs implement their own sorting mechanisms, so those programs don't benefit from Natural Order. A few recent programs (including Anarchie 2.0 and Fetch 3.0.2 and later) include Natural Order's sorting routines internally so they sort sensibly even without Natural Order installed. * TidBITS#364/03-Feb-97 Sorry, that's all the time I have. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This Jaques Law Bits was delivered by: Kevin Jaques, B.A. LL.B. of the Jaques Law Office #101 - 2515 Victoria Avenue Tel: (306) 359-3041 Regina, Saskatchewan Fax: (306) 525-4173 Canada, S4P 0T2 Home: (306) 586-2234 email: jaques.law@dlcwest.com Remember, like any other form of communication, email may be intercepted. 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