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Date: Tue, 28 Apr 1998 23:50:52 -0000 From: EvangeList <evangelist@apple.com> Subject: PR - Apple and Microsoft Announce Mac OS 8.1 - Office 98 Rebate
This announcement is from:
Apple PR
Apple Computer, Inc. announced today it is offering a U.S. $30 mail-in rebate to customers who purchase both Mac OS 8.1 and Microsoft Office 98 Macintosh Edition. The rebate offer is available now and will continue through June 30, 1998. Details and eligibility requirements are available on Apple's website <http://www.apple.com/promo/>.
Mac OS 8.1 is the latest version of the Mac OS which builds on the strong success of Mac OS 8, Apple's most successful software product ever. Mac OS 8.1 offers many new features, advanced Internet capabilities, better Java support, and improved performance and stability. The primary new features in Mac OS 8.1 are: Microsoft Internet Explorer provided as the default web browser Greatly improved Java compatibility and performance over Mac OS 8 with the newest version of Apple's Java Virtual Machine (MRJ 2.0) which implements Sun's Java Development Kit (JDK version 1.1.3) More efficient disk storage with HFS+, an improved disk file system and format that literally returns storage space back to customers Built in Digital Video Disk (DVD) Universal Disk Format (UDF) which reads video DVDs and DVD-ROM interactive games Faster application launching from newly optimized virtual memory and disk cache systems Printing across TCP/IP networks with a new LaserWriter printer driver Better PC compatibility with PC Exchange 2.2 which supports Windows 95 long file names and volume formats, including PC-formatted removable media such as Iomega Zip and Jaz cartridges
Mac OS 8.1 runs on all PowerPC and 68040 processor-based Macintosh computers with at least 16MB of RAM. The full install CD-ROM version of Mac OS 8.1 is available now for the estimated retail price of U.S. $99. To qualify for the rebate, the full install retail version of Mac OS 8.1 (Apple part number: 453100U) must be purchased.
Microsoft Office 98 Macintosh Edition Office 98 Macintosh Edition is the most significant upgrade to date of the world's most popular productivity suite for the Macintosh, and is now broadly available from resellers. Office 98 sets a new standard for what a business application for the Mac should be, from its true Macintosh appearance and behavior, to its deep intelligence and integrated web collaboration tools.
Office 98 includes new versions of Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, the PowerPoint presentation graphics program, Outlook Express, an Internet e-mail and newsgroup client, and Internet Explorer 4.0 for Macintosh, the best-of-breed Internet browser for the Macintosh. The estimated retail price for an upgrade from previous Microsoft Office applications is U.S. $299, and a new license is U.S. $499.
The Mac OS 8.1/Microsoft Office 98 Macintosh Edition rebate offer is valid only in the United States while supplies last, and is not valid with any other Apple offer. To qualify, the full install retail version of Mac OS 8.1 and Microsoft Office 98 Macintosh Edition must be purchased by June 30, however, customers have until July 31, 1998 to apply for the offer. The products do not need to be purchased at the same time. Rebate coupons are available at point of purchase from resellers carrying Mac OS 8.1 and Office 98 Macintosh Edition. Coupons are also available from the Apple website <http://www.apple.com/promo/>>, or from Apple's Faxback service by calling 1-800-IMAGE-96 (1-800 462-4396) and referencing document #11694.
Apple Computer, Inc. (Nasdaq:AAPL - news) today announced the availability of HyperCard 2.4, the latest version of the Company's custom software development tool used to create interactive applications primarily for training and education. HyperCard 2.4 leverages QuickTime 3's rich array of video and audio capabilities, making it possible to easily add sophisticated multimedia experiences to existing or new applications. Building on the power of QuickTime 3, HyperCard 2.4 lets users work directly with more than 30 standard media file types.
HyperCard 2.4's new features include a suite of commands and properties, offering users who write HyperTalk scripts the ability to: establish links from HyperCard stacks to QuickTime movies, QuickTime VR scenes, and the World Wide Web; navigate quickly to predefined locations in a QuickTime movie by searching the movie's text track; resize, flip, mirror, rotate or skew a QuickTime movie in real time; loop a movie, providing continuous play for unattended applications like multimedia kiosks.
HyperCard is Apple's custom software development tool for users of every skill level with navigation, hypertext, media integration and scripting features that have greatly influenced the evolution of the World Wide Web. HyperCard organizes information into associated ``stacks'' of cards that can be easily navigated and searched. Users are able to integrate and link text, graphics, sound, speech and QuickTime movies into HyperCard stacks to create dynamic, interactive titles.
HyperCard 2.3.5 customers can immediately upgrade to the new version free of charge from the HyperCard website (www.apple.com/hypercard/). HyperCard 2.4 will be available for U.S. $99 via The Apple Store (www.apple.com/store/), and through volume licensing and maintenance agreements at the end of May. For more information, in the U.S. call 1-800-282-2732.
Mac Merit Badge <http://www.mactimes.com/merit/> recognized Macseek.com <http://www.macseek.com/xchange.shtml> for its excellent banner exchange.
The first significant alternative to the Mac Web Network <http://www.macinsearch.com/banners/> -- a previous Mac Merit Badge recipient -- Macseek has grown to nearly 100 active sites in just four months.
A recent study on Mac Webmasters <http://www.mactimes.com/macweb/exchanges/> shows Macseek as a strong second choice for Mac-related web sites, beating out Link Exchange and other general purpose banner exchanges. Only the established Mac Web Network provided a higher click through rate.
Congratulations, Macseek.
Dan Knight, <dknight@mactimes.com> editor in chief, MacTimes <http://www.mactimes.com/> webmaster, Low End Mac <http://www.mactimes.com/lowend/> A MacHome Top Honors Website
Sig Software is proud to announce the release of Email Effects 1.5.
Email Effects is a program for getting the most out of eMail. With it, you can send pictures, drawings and tables with simple plain text. It is also the world's premier ASCII art creator, receiving numerous awards.
The new version includes a Cursor Tool for easy one-by-one character editing, a totally new 3D look, direct opening and placing of text, tables and pictures (including GIFs and JPEGs with Mac OS Easy Open and QuickTime) and many, many other improvements.
The Email Effects page is at : <http://www.sigsoftware.com/emaileffects/>
Stick Man Games, Inc. today announced the availability of Sentinels of Ceth v1.5 for MacOS.
WHAT IS SENTINELS OF CETH?
Sentinels of Ceth is a fast paced arcade blaster. Use your ship to protect your Gems from being stolen. You will need a bit of planning to purchase the right equipment for the job. Brains and skill are the only requirements to play. Are you up to the challenge?
You are the Sentinel of Ceth. Your enemy, the Doltres race, wants to plunder the Ceth Temple and you are their only obstacle. Your task is to prevent the Doltres from stealing the 12 Gems of Ceth, the lifeblood of the temple.
As you destroy wave after wave of Doltres ships, the Goddess Ceth will bestow blessings upon you. These blessings can be spent at the Temple Gift Shop. The gift shop carries everything that a Sentinel could ask for (guided missiles, energy mines, engine upgrades, etc.).
Sentinels of Ceth is fast-paced and frenetic. If you blink, you die.
FEATURES
* Unlimited levels * Killer 16-bit alpha channeled graphics with over 800 frames of animation * 8 different 3D pre-rendered Doltres ships * Particle-based smoke and explosions * Intense 16-bit sound and music
WHAT HAS CHANGED IN VERSION 1.5
* Tweaked the game play. Reworked everything to give the game a better balance. * Added tons of new graphical special effects. * Threw in a cool sound track to drive the destruction. * Killed a couple of bugs. * Improved performance. * Knocked 5 bucks off the price.
UPGRADING FROM PREVIOUS VERSIONS
The new version of Sentinels of Ceth can be downloaded from our web site at <http://www.smgames.com/>. This upgrade is free for all registered users.
ABOUT STICK MAN GAMES
Stick Man Games, Inc. is a Honolulu, Hawaii-based corporation that was formed in December of 1994. It creates intense games and powerful game development tools for the MacOS and Windows operating systems. It shuns the retail distribution system, preferring to deal directly with its customers through the Internet and exposing its products to a world-wide market. Stick Man Games' main goal is to deliver high-quality products at affordable prices and have fun doing it. Their company motto says it all, "Games that kick you in the head."
The Desktop Factory is pleased to announce the availability of the "Western Vistas" collection of desktop pictures, a set of 20 original photographs of landscapes and vistas from Arizona, Colorado and California, provided in high-quality, 300 dpi jpeg format customized for use on the desktop of your Macintosh or MacOS-compatible computer.
You can download a free sampler with 5 images from the collection, thumbnail previews of the remaining 15 images in the complete set, and information about how to register to get them. The free pictures are available in 640x480, 832x624, and 1024x768 screen resolutions. 1152x870 is also available with registration.
The complete collection may be registered for $10. It is also available bundled in a 2-pack with the "California Dreaming" collection (20 desktop pictures of Northern California scenes), a total of 40 pictures for just $15.
In addition, EvangeList readers can get an extra five bonus Western Vistas desktop pictures, created exclusively for this offer, by typing the word "EvangeList" into the comments line of either the online order form or the Kagi registration application bundled with the free Western Vistas sampler.
Thumbnail images of both the full collection and the 5 exclusive EvangeList bonus pictures, along with links to download the free sampler, are available at:
Remember, you must write "Evangelist" in the comments field of your registration form to receive the extra pictures (otherwise we won't know). This offer can be used in combination with other special offers on the Western Vistas collection from the Desktop Factory.
Thanks for your consideration. Viva Macintosh! :-)
I hollered for help from the EvangeListas when our School Superintendent mandated that all new computer purchases would be Windoz boxes because they were the "only machines that could support Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) down to the desktop."
The EvangeList response was fast, useful and voluminous. More on specifics in a moment.
CURRENT SITUATION:
Recently I attended a district technology meeting fully primed and loaded with the ammo provided by my fellow EvangeListas. Before I could get started on ATM, the Superintendent fielded a question from someone that arose from one of the policy papers that we had in front of us. "This item says that the district will only purchase computers that are 'industry standard.' How exactly is industry standard defined?"
Seeing my window of opportunity, I started digging out my ATM info, but stopped when the Superintendent replied, "My latest information is that all machines that we purchase must be capable of using TCP/IP."
"That's all?"
"Yes."
"Virtually all computers made today have that capability."
"OK."
Ain't life strange??? Anyway, I had a small celebration that evening. ;-)
MACS & ATM - THE FACTS: There ARE vendors who make it possible to bring ATM to Mac desktops. My sources say that not all vendors support all versions of the MacOS. Most suspect that the main reason for this is that some time ago Apple reputedly dropped an ATM initiative that they had going. From what I can see at these sites, it looks like any support that one would need for a PCI Mac and any versions of the MacOS would be available from at least one of these companies. FORE Systems <http://www.fore.com/> First Virtual Multimedia. <http://www.fvc.com> Interphase Corporation, <www.iphase.com> 1-800-FAST-NET IXMICRO <http://www.ixmicro.com/> Richard Pilgrim, 408-369-8282 x314
IBM was also mentioned as a Mac ATM resource but I have not had time to follow up on this lead.
The majority of responses expressed shock that anyone would think of following such an expensive path (ATM to the desktop) when many much cheaper fast ethernet solutions were available. The following site encapsulates this perspective very well: <http://www.asante.com/Products/fast_ethernet_primer/page7.html> Basically, it points out the extreme cost of implementing ATM to the desktop, its losing battle with fast ethernet (100BaseT), and the lack of industry standards.
The consensus of these responses was that ATM to the desktop has fallen out of favor and Ethernet rules. However, ATM in the WAN is hot! Typically, ATM is brought to the enterprise and *immediately* bridged into Enet 100. The bottom line for these folks was that ATM isn't necessary for workstations and is still relatively expensive.
John Campbell reported on an example of this. It seems that the Texas Educational Network (Tenet) uses ATM as a data feed over ethernet to connect the PowerMac 9600/200s in the science labs.
Dave SolkoI offered another example. The University of Cincinnati is in the process of switching over to ATM (Bay Networks hubs, but may be Cisco). The campus WAN is ATM and each building gets an ATM feed that is converted to 10Mb or 100Mb ethernet for delivery to the desktop machines. With that setup, you can still run full motion video to the machines, and the extra bandwidth of the ATM is taken advantage of when carrying data to multiple machines. It is also a far cheaper solution (than ATM to the desktop).
That all said, there are folks using ATM feeds to desktop Macs.
Dennis J Templeton, M.D., Ph.D. reported that Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) has made an almost complete conversion to ATM (all new connects are ATM, all switches are ATM, and there are a dozen or more ATM-ethernet gateways. (10 Mbps ethernet *or* ATM is available for new installs. The ethernet population is a distinct underclass.) It has been an incredibly expensive investment. The ATM NIC has a list price of $2000 each. CWRU gets them for maybe $650(?). The 32(?) port Switches cost $50,000 each. The net install cost without wiring is over $1500. That should be coming down soon. Fibre was installed to the desktop here years ago. That was incredibly expensive too, but it is all in now.
What does CWRU get out of this investment? As Dennis reports, "S-p-e-e-d. That's all that is advertised. I am gradually noticing the differences here; I can share my secretary's machine via appleshare almost as fast as my own harddrive. I can get TCPIP downloads from campus servers at 25-50 kbps routinely."
He ends with, "Our MIS chief is one of 7 campus leaders planning Internet II. He is convinced that it will be ATM based, and that we will be positioned for this perfectly."
Ernie Benoit reports, "It is not true that Macintosh cannot use ATM. Here at Avid, we use ATM to send, recive and play broadcast quality video on both NuBus and PCI based Macs."
Finally, Tom Vincent at Fifth Street Technologies reports on an ATM initiative that they will roll out in the next six months to support Mac, Sparc and NT workstations, and what they expect to get for their trouble.
"...As far as the desktop our research shows Fore to be about the only one. All they do is ATM. Which is nice. All the major networking companies, 3Com, Bay Networks, and Cisco are just now really starting to push their ATM offerings on the switch and above level. Bay and Cisco are probably the two best, at least according to LAN Times.
"ATM to the desktop is more scalable, and considered easier to manage then Fast Ethernet. ATM cells don't suffer a lot of the traffic problems that Fast Ethernet do. With the Voice/Data convergence fad growing, ATM is having a huge resurgence. Which means more volume, and lower prices. The beauty of ATM is that you can run your phones, PBX's, Video, and Internet connection all over the same links. ATM has been popular in WAN circles for some time. ATM is at this point about twice as expensive as Ethernet to put in. In the long term, your costs are much lower. This is because you are able to converge so much, and make so much more out of your network.
"Corporations generally start with a high performance workgroup connected by OC-3 connections, and then move out from there. To be honest there hasn't been that much of a demand from what I understand for 25 mbps desktops. Though this could all change with the voice/data convergence.
"Right now our existing network is simply 10Base-T hubs, connected by a Fast Ethernet backbone. We are moving to 25Mbps ATM links, to an OC-3 155 Mbps backbone in the office. We are going to connect to a T-1 ATM. We are hoping as we setup more offices, this will make the process of VPN's and IP Phone service much easier, and cheaper. In the future we would like to move to OC-3O/C-12 to the desktop and maybe an OC-48c backbone on our network. Even though we love over kill we are not that wealthy yet.
"ATM is more reliable. ATM is cheaper in the long run. The administrative costs of ATM are lower. We hope to start Video confrencing with customers, and utilizing more high bandwidth applications.
"You should check out a great book, I just found yesterday in the bookstore. ATM for Dummies, it talks about all the advantages and disadvantages of ATM and such."
Nuff said, I've burned enough bandwidth. Thanks for your help EvangeListas! __________________________ Digital Guy Sez:
DATABASE SUPPORT SPECIALIST -- Desktop Assistance, a nonprofit based in Helena, MT, seeks a user-friendly Database Support Specialist to build and maintain an Internet-based technical support system for ebase(tm), an interactive database application for nonprofit groups <http://www.ebase.org>. Applicants must be committed to helping the forces of good use kewl tools for social change, and must demonstrate excellent Internet communications skills. Internet-based computer support experience and/or FileMaker Pro or other database programming skills are a definite plus. This is a full-time position which could be job shared and/or telecommuted by the right applicant(s). Salary is competitive and benefits are generous. For a complete job announcement, send email to <jobs@lists.desktop.org>. Please, no mail or phone inquiries.
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Date: Wed, 29 Apr 1998 02:06:26 -0000 From: EvangeList <evangelist@apple.com> Subject: Tidbit - New Photoshop Association Debuts Magazine
This tidbit is from:
Scott Kelby, <skelby@mindspring.com>
Users of Adobe Photoshop now have their own association <http://www.photoshopuser.com> and a central resource for staying on top of the latest tips, techniques, news and technologies surrounding Photoshop. Its called the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) and it provides its members with a long list of benefits, including NAPPs official publication Photoshop User Magazine which debuted at Seybold New York. This new full-color how-to print magazine brings members the hottest new tips, tricks, news, and reviews of Photoshop-related products to keep them on the cutting edge of this rapidly changing market.
The association is not just for Photoshop experts, its for anyone who realizes that theres more to learn about Photoshop than there is time to learn. Members include: graphic designers, photographers, Web designers, print shops, ad agencies, publications, in-house art departments, and anyone who needs to keep learning to keep earning.
NAPP is working with Adobe Systems as they roll out the association. Were very excited about having a national association support Adobe Photoshop users, commented John Leddy, Adobe Systems Senior Manager of Imaging Products. Were working closely with NAPP to help make it a truly valuable resource for Photoshop Professionals, Leddy said.
Member benefits include: software discounts on hundreds of Photoshop-related products including both hardware and software at BELOW mail order prices; an on-line 24-hour Photoshop help desk, Access to the private areas of the NAPP Website including the tips and techniques areas, photoshop job bank and chat, resource links, and breaking Photoshop news pages; invitation to NAPP's annual conference and expo, and members get Photoshop User magazine for FREE!
Annual dues for an Individual Membership are only $99. Corporate and Educational memberships are also available. Visit their Website at <http://www.photoshopuser.com> for full details.
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End of EvangeList Digest V1 #1169 *********************************
