At a time when it has become fashionable for developers to once again question the viability of the Macintosh platform, DataViz, Inc. is holding steady with its long-standing commitment to Apple and the Macintosh. MACWORLD Boston will mark the commencement of the public beta program for Web Buddy for Macintosh, a new Internet utility which is being developed and released simultaneously with a Windows 95 version. Macworld Expo is also the first public venue for the release of a new version of the MacLinkPlus file translators, the Macintosh standard for file translation.

"We started over 10 years ago on the Mac, and we've seen the Mac's star rise and fall a few times, but we've never wavered," reflects Dick Fontana, President & CEO of DataViz. "Sure, Windows has become a large part of our business, but it hasn't diminished our commitment to Macintosh. We feel it is still the place where we get to do our best work and where our customers know and appreciate good solutions. This is the real reason we've decided to take our newest venture, Web Buddy, to the Mac platform - there is absolutely no truth to the rumor that we've acted solely out of fear of retaliation by Guy Kawasaki and his growing Apple Evangelist militia," jokes Mr. Fontana.

Web Buddy Public Beta Released

Web Buddy is an expandable set of utilities that adds powerful capabilities to web browsers. Web Buddy assists users of Netscape and other web browsers in collecting, converting, organizing and sharing all the information they find on the World Wide Web. It also automates the collection of web pages or entire web sites. This allows users to browse the web later at their convenience, and even while they are not connected to the Internet. Its unique toolbar provides easy access to powerful, new functionality right from within popular browsers. Future releases are planned to support Apple's new CyberDog web browser. Detailed information and press releases on Web Buddy can be found at the DataViz web site . The public beta version for Macintosh can be downloaded at the site starting August 7.

MacLinkPlus hits 8.1

MacLinkPlus, the Macintosh standard for file translation and Mac-PC compatibility, adds support for ClarisWorks 4.0 in its latest version 8.1. New word processing, spreadsheet, and database translators allow ClarisWorks 4.0 users to easily exchange files with Microsoft Office, Corel WordPerfect Suite , Lotus SmartSuite and others. As always, translated files retain formatting like styles, embedded graphics, columns, tables, footnotes and more.

MacLinkPlus has been bundled on all PowerBooks, Performas and System 7.5 upgrade kits for the last year and a half. A recently signed agreement between Apple and DataViz will extend that bundling to ALL new Macintoshes beginning this Fall. This agreement signifies Apple's commitment to providing users with real Windows compatibility in its OS.

A new upgrade subscription program allows MacLinkPlus users to always be up-to-date with latest version of the translators. Yearly subscriptions mean that new versions are shipped out within days of their release. No more worrying whether a new version is available.

A new interactive Version Checker is also available from the DataViz web site. Users can download this utility which checks via the Internet to see if they are using the latest version. Expect to see more interactive customer service utilities on the DataViz web site.

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