Wednesday, April 12, 2000
Top Stories
For Apple, Print Is Dead
It's not about paranoia, it's not about arrogance, it's simply that Apple's moved on. Words are strictly 20th century. The future is video.
News
The Sea Warrior - A Sabbatical On The Ocean With A PowerBook 5300
Many people dream of taking a year's sabbatical to go cruising on the ocean. John Steele has actually done it, and in exceptional style — in a 106 year old "proper yacht," assisted in no small way by his trusty PowerBook 5300.
Will Bryce Move Forward?
The VP of Corel's graphics software group admitted that Bryce—a program for generating realistic 3-D landscapes—represents the company's biggest development challenge, but he said Corel will issue an update with new features by the end of the year.
AOL Instant Messenger 4.0 For The Mac: What's The Deal?
For now, however, AIM 4.0 seems to be Windows only. Which is somewhat ironic, considering that AOL lists Apple among its AIM "partners" and they specifically listed 4.0 as being available for the Mac.
Apple Posts WWDC Schedule
Apple Computer has posted the conference schedule for the Worldwide Developers Conference, which runs May 15-19 at the San Jose Convention Center.
Opinion
Apple Could Still Make Money On OS X For Intel
What Apple needs to do is find a way to make a profit on every machine running MacOS, regardless of who made it. They need to sell hardware.
PC World: Mac IE 5 Better Than Windows IE 5.5?
It is somewhat amusing that the company that makes some of the best Mac apps in the world is Microsoft.
The Computer Industry Is So Predictable
Sometimes I wonder if I am alone to wish that the computer industry would get the point. How hard is it to innovate and to act responsibly? How hard is it to avoid stomping on other peopleís feet without a good reason?
Review
Tomb Raider 3
Lara may be getting a bit older, but she's clearly still fairly spry, and her adventures here are a reminder that she's got it where it counts. Tomb Raider III may not radically redefine the franchise, but there's definitely plenty for fans to enjoy and for newcomers to discover until Aspyr brings us her next episode.
Earthmate
No matter how much trouble folding maps is, it's still easier than keeping the Earthmate working. Its Street Atlas USA 6.0 software shines, but the Earthmate's reliability problems make this a hard package to recommend. If you really need to find yourself, invest in a good road atlas.
Watch And Smile
Considering its price, Watch & Smile offers an impressive array of photo-retouching and multimedia features. However, the poorly conceived interface will frustrate many users as they try to take advantage of those features. The most glaring omission is the inability to switch to other applications while using the programñit literally takes over your Mac until you quit. We also found performance sluggish, even on a 333MHz G3 system.
Might And Magic, Dragon Pass Bring Fantasy Fun To Mac Users
While the Mac has lagged behind in other areas of gaming, for some reason there has always been a host of good Mac fantasy games around. Is there some connection between fantasy games and the creative side of Mac users? Do we feel a stronger need to get away than our PC-using brethren? Maybe it's even a mixture of both — after all, there's nothing like monkeying around with images in Photoshop all day long to make you feel the need to get away.
ArtMatic
ArtMatic may currently be the best example of the fusion between art and mathetmatics. ArtMatic is a small focused application that plays an integral part in UI Software's master plan of giving the average graphics and audio artist some of the tools available to the ILM's and MTV's of the world at a cost that's less than a pair of custom cowboy boots.
MacDraft
Despite the limitations, MacDraft is a solid CAD program.
King Of Dragon Pass
Once in a blue moon, however, a computer RPG comes along that allows the player to live vicariously through the eyes of another persona — it allows the gamer to role play.
Sidetrack
As The Apple Turns: Apparently Mr. Zeldman's living in a perfect world... The real-world translation follows: "If Microsoft does not fully implement [web] standards, webmasters will re-code their pages to work with IE, because after Microsoft's illegal bundling of IE with Windows, the number of people using it is too big to be ignored."
PioneerPlanet : A guide to Mac basics. For those who really don't know their Apple products.
The iMac NewsPage: The parallels between Netscape and Apple. Is there also a parallel between the UI of Sherlock II and Netscape 6?
Microsoft created Internet Explorer, which looked mostly like a normal Mac application. Netscape created Netscape 6 Preview, which looked mostly like... well, nothing. I bought a Mac because I want my applications to behave like Mac applications. Please delight me.
Wintel
Intel Faces Another 820 Chip Set Snafu
Intel's problem-plagued 820 chip set is coming under attack again, this time by frustrated users reporting its failure to work with SDRAM.
Some Glitches With Office 2000 Update
Users are reporting few problems with Office 2000 Service Release 1 — other than the fact that you can't uninstall it.
Microsoft Stock Knocked By Analyst's Warning
Microsoft shares, already battered by a judge's ruling that the software giant is an abusive monopoly, were hit by more bad news Wednesday when a WallStreet analyst trimmed his revenue forecast for the company, citing a sluggish PC market.
Klein Says Breakup Still Possible In Microsoft Case
A top Justice Department official today declined to rule out seeking a breakup as a remedy in the Microsoft antitrust case, saying he was keeping all options open.
Trial E-book Waylays The Joys Of Treasure Island
It is not enough for the richest man in the world to control the stuff you put inside your computer. He also wants to control what you put into your head and the heads of your children.
Bush Adviser Apologizes Over Lobbying For Microsoft
Ralph Reed, a senior consultant to Gov. George W. Bush's presidential campaign, apologized today for lobbying the governor on behalf of the Microsoft Corporation and promised not to lobby him again on behalf of Microsoft or anyone else.
The Ralph Reed-Redmond Connection
Microsoft's attempt to play presidential politics lands it in hot water.
Microsoft At 25: A Tale Of Brilliance And Luck
''Comparing, say, MS-DOS 1.0 to the things we're working on now is like comparing Kitty Hawk to a 747,'' said Myhrvold, the chief technology officer who will return to the company in July. ''There are certainly similarities, but the differences are overwhelming.''
The Web Inside Outlook 2000
Microsoft Outlook 2000 users can now keep up with breaking news, sports, and weather without switching to their browsers.
Microsoft Ships BizTalk Preview
Microsoft on Tuesday released a "technology preview" of its XML-embracing BizTalk Server 2000, a key piece of its Internet business-to-business strategy.
Bush Strategist Calls Microsoft Lobby "An Error"
A company headed by former Christian Coalition chief Ralph Reed said today it made "an error we regret" when it asked influential Republicans to lobby presidential candidate George W. Bush on behalf of Microsoft.
Microsoft's Down But Not Out
Will Microsoft continue to provide enhancements that work only on Windows-based servers? Undoubtedlyójust as I'd expect Apple to produce Macintosh OS-related enhancements that take advantage of that platform's strengths, or Palm, or Sun, or Red Hat. But the tide has turned, and so has Microsoft.