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April 16, 1996

New Targa 2000 RTX Real-Time Video System

Truevision today announced the Targa 2000 RTX, a new video engine -- for both Mac OS and
Windows NT -- that lets video professionals process digital video effects, such as wipes, fades, and
dissolves, in real time and can be output to tape at high quality.

The Targa 2000 RTX is capable of drivimg both the RGB screen at up to 21 inches with 24-bit color and the video monitor, it also supports full-motion previewing on both displays for video editing.

The Targa 2000 RTX, an upgrade to the Targa 2000 Pro, is scheduled to ship in June at a price of
$4,995.

Apple, United Minority Contractors Association
Launch Initiative

Apple Computer, Inc. and the United Minority Contractors Association (UMCA), a non-profit organization that represents 250,000 professional minority contractors in the United States, today announced that they have agreed to work together on an initiative designed to increase computer literacy and ownership in the African-American community.

The joint effort, called the Diversity Initiative, comprises a number of programs for families in low-income minority communities, and students and faculty at historically black colleges, universities, and inner-city urban training centers.

"Apple is proud to be working with UMCA in accelerating access to computing products, technologies, and training in low-income minority communities," said Mike Connor, senior director of Tools, Operations and Quality in Apple's Worldwide R&D division, and a principal participant in the company's R&D Diversity Working Group. "Together with UMCA, we are thinking and working differently to overcome the barriers to adoption of computing technology within the African-American community. We believe that working together we can help make a difference."

"The United Minority Contractors Association has a rich tradition of empowering minorities through home ownership, training and employment," said Lorraine Smoot-Stone, UMCA national president. "Working together with Apple, we can aggressively pursue one of today's most pressing priorities for low-income minority communities--technological empowerment."

The Apple-UMCA Diversity Initiative programs include the following: -- The Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Pilot Program Through its relationship with Apple as an authorized Value-Added Reseller, UMCA will provide Apple servers, desktop and mobile computer systems, and printers to a limited number of traditionally black higher education institutions beginning in May 1996. The Apple systems, which will have networking, email and Internet capabilities, will be used by students and faculty in computer labs and in other course work. UMCA plans to present the program to the HBCU board in Washington, D.C this month for approval for implementation in an additional 42 HBCUs in fall 1996. -- HUD 203 (K) Housing Rehabilitation Program UMCA actively encourages home ownership in the African-American community through the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) 203 (K) Housing Rehabilitation Program. Through the Diversity Initiative, UMCA also plans to encourage computer ownership by providing all UMCA 203 (K) rehabilitated properties with Internet-ready Macintosh Performa computers and StyleWriter printers.

UMCA is headquartered in Los Angeles. For inquiries about UMCA programs, initiatives and general information, email to:..

WebSTAR Wins "Best Internet or Web Server

Quaterdecks WebSTAR has won the "Best Internet or Web Server" award from Network
Computing. The award for WebSTAR, which beat Netscape's Commerce Surver, was given out last night during the Best Connected Awards cermony at Networld/Interop.

XTEN -- A New X Server For Power Mac

Tenon is shipping a new, X server for Power Macintosh. XTen, Release 6.0, supports 24-bit color and adheres to the MIT X11R6 standard. It is reportedly the fastest X server on the Macintosh market and the only X server that supports local X Window managers and local X clients. XTen's multi-threaded architecture lets local and remote X applications run alongside Macintosh applications, making the Power Macintosh a serious tool for distributed X Window environments.

XTen is a flexible Macintosh application that can be easily tailored to suit individual requirements. An XTen Manager lets users configure their X environment by using a Web browser. This point-and-click Web interface can also be used by a systems administrator to centrally configure a site's XTen platforms.

Tenon's technique of bypassing QuickDraw and sending the X drawing primitives directly to the hardware screen buffers gives XTen a significant performance advantage. Tenon's President, Steve Holmgren, says, "XTen is a new standard in Macintosh X Window Systems with its unique Web browser configuration. Our X11R6, 24-bit capable X system has features that are not available anywhere else. When you add in our 5 XMark performance, XTen is a real value for the end user".

XTen includes an Open Look Virtual Window Manager (olvwm), a Motif Window Manager (mwm), and hundreds of X clients. XTen supports ICCCM 2.0, scalable fonts, font compilers, and X image extension (XIE). XTen not only supports the X Display Management Control Protocol (xdmcp), but can be configured as an xdm manager. Further, it can be configured to use a remote font server or be a font server itself. In addition, XTen includes a full-featured, high-performance TCP/IP protocol stack that supports multi-homing and IP aliasing features not yet available even with Apple's new Open Transport.

Specular Announces 3D Web Workshop

Specular announced today its development plans for a 3D Web page design and layout package for the Macintosh(r) platform, Specular 3D Web Workshop(tm), to be released May 15, 1996. Targeted at new Web page designers who want to build 3D imagery, animation and colorful graphic elements into their Web sites, 3D Web Workshop provides powerful tools and high-quality, web-oriented artwork for creating high-impact web pages with speed and ease. The package will contain four primary components: Specular TextureScape(tm), Specular LogoMotion(tm), Specular's new WebHands, and Adobe PageMill. Users can drag and drop 3D buttons, bullets, horizontal rules, banners, text, objects and background textures from TextureScape, LogoMotion or the WebHands collection directly into PageMill, the industry's premiere WYSIWYG Web publishing tool.

"The relationship between Adobe and Specular is complimentary because we are both committed to providing mainstream computer users with powerful, easy-to-use solutions for their desktop graphic needs," said Adam Lavine, President and CEO of Specular. "By integrating PageMill into our 3D Web Workshop, we are now able to deliver to the marketplace a completely integrated professional-quality Web page design environment."

Features:

Over one thousand "live" clip graphic elements: customizable 3D buttons, banners, horizontal rules, background textures and animations - each one fully editable, optimized for fast download times, and supplied in files for immediate placement onto a web page
Intuitive web page layout- no HTML knowledge required Drag and drop convenience
Instructive, informative documentation by Specular's knowledgeable Web Masters,covering basic and advanced web page design techniques, such as how to create animated GIF files for easy 3D animation on the web
Macromedia Shockwave support

Included in 3D Web Workshop:

Specular WebHands, designed specifically for the Web Workshop by Specular, are pre-made customizable graphic elements for web page design. Over 1000 WebHands ship on the Web Workshop CD-ROM, and are accessible both as GIF files in an html browser format, for easy drag-and-drop additions to web pages, or as editable files, for unique, custom 3D graphic elements without the need to start from scratch. Among the different classes of WebHands are: 3D buttons, 3D titles, horizontal rules, tileable background images, preset camera styles for dramatic 3D text and object viewing, and animations. All WebHands are organized into style "families" for easy locating and editing, and include: Awards, Commercial/Office Communication, Construction, Glass, Metallic, Renaissance, Tech/Computer, Transportation, Animated WebHands and much more.

Specular TextureScape Web-EditionTextureScape's ability to create tileable images makes it perfect for background images. The easy shape manipulation, text tool, layering, and beveling also enable TextureScape to make beautiful buttons, titles, horizontal rules, and other web-oriented graphics. All TextureScape WebHands files can easily be edited for instant customization, and dragged directly into PageMill.

Specular LogoMotion Web-Edition

LogoMotion's simple and intuitive text editor creates instantaneous 3D text from any Type 1 or TrueType font. LogoMotion's WebHands provide an extensive variety of preset camera angles for unlimited possibilities of text presentation, and the Web-edition Hand Tool allows for drag and drop precision placement into PageMill. In addition, LogoMotion's extensive animation capabilities
are now tuned for Macromedia® Shockwave. LogoMotion Web-Edition also includes a selection of non-dithering background colors, full control over the bit-depth of images, a complete array of rendering choices, and full drag and drop interactivity with PageMill.

Daystar in the News Again

DayStar Digital has announced a dual-processor PowerPC 604, further reductions to its four-processor systems, and a new configuration for its top-of-the-line machine.

Scheduled for May availability, the new Genesis MP 300 is a six-slot, 150MHz dual-processor
machine, it can be upgraded to four processors. Priced will startb at $6,999, and includes16MB of RAM and a 1GB hard drive. Like the rest of the Genesis line.

The Genesis MP 600, which formerly came configured as a 2GB machine with 32MB RAM, now
also comes in a standard configuration with 16MB of RAM and a 1GB drive. Available immediately, it includes four 150MHz processors and sells for $11,999.

Additionally the layoffs announced earlier this month (see "Daystar CutsStaff and Prices ") , the Mac clone maker has announced a second round of price cuts on itsGenesis MP four-processor systems.

The Genesis MP 600 4 PowerPC 604 @150MHz 32/2 gig, , which was reduced from $19,999 to $17,499 , has been further reduced by an additional $2,500 to $13,069. The price of the Genesis MP 528 4 PowerPC 604 @132MHz with 16MB RAM and a 1GB was cut from $13,499 to $9,999. (It originally sold for $14,999.)

Last month, DayStar announced new Genesis conversion options: It can convert standard Power
Macintosh 7500/8500s to four-processor MPs for $7,499, and 9500s can be converted for $8,499.

In related news Apple is expected to release faster processors in it's 7600, 8500, and 9500 lines. Apple declined to comment (as usual.)

Apple to Release Quicktime 2.5

Apple announced Quicktime 2.5. QuickTime 2.5, which Apple expects to ship later this Spring, will include a fully interchangeable,standard M-JPEG file format that will allow video professionals to work with M-JPEG files ndependent of the hardware that originally captured the media. Quicktime 2.5 will also include a software-interchangeable M-JPEG codec, allowing editors to view M-JPEG compressed files on any Power Macintosh, with no additional hardware required.

QuickTime 2.5 will be enhanced to use Apple's QuickDraw 3D engine for rendering 3D objects in
real time within a QuickTime movie, and will also support multiprocessing hardware, such as the
Genesis MP from DayStar Digital.

The entire Press Release is available here.

NAB Show in Vegas Brings Mac Product Intros

The National Association of Broadcasters today kicked off its annual trade show here with a bunch of new Mac products. The following are some of the product into'd at the show.

Radius Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif., announced a new version of its video-editing software. Due in the second quarter Radius Edit 2.0 will ship with the PCI configuration of VideoVision, Radius' nonlinear video editing board. The Radius Edit 2.0 software will support unlimited layering of audio and video as well as alpha channels, audio "rubber-band" controls, and faster editing. Other features of the PCI board are, special-effects filters, including chroma and luma keying and Pan Zoom Rotate. It will feature an enhanced version of the 3-D animation filter included in Radius' VideoFusion software.

Apple and The Associated Press announced a joint effort to develop Mac-based systems for organizing broadcast news programs from the desktop. Apple said the first systems are being beta
tested by the British Broadcasting Corp.

Avid Technology Inc. of Tewksbury, Mass., announced Version 2.0 of its Open Media Framework Interchange Toolkit. The free software library, available now, lets developers exchange data between video applications. In addition, OMF 2.0 features a plug-in architecture and supports edited video sequences, Avid said. According to the company, developers that use the software include Electric Image Inc., Studer Editech Corp., Cinebase Software Inc., Eastman Kodak Co. and Matrox Graphics Inc.

Ray Dream Inc. of Mountain View, Calif., shipped two plug-ins for Ray Dream Studio. Both the 3D Fun Pack and the Professional Lens Pack were developed by Paris-based RAYflect Inc. The $79 Professional Lens Pack includes lens-flare and depth-of-field plug-ins as well as a set of filters for optical effects. The $29 3D Fun Pack contains plug-ins for creating stereo 3-D images within Ray Dream Studio. A bundle of both packages will cost $99.

QuickCam Now Comes in Color

Connectix Corp. this week announced it will release a 24-bit-color version of its popular, low-cost spherical video camera. Reportedly the camera will no longer include an on board microphone .

The Color QuickCam uses a single 640-by-480-pixel CCD (charge-coupled device) array and a proprietary compression scheme allowing capture of 160-by-120-pixel video sequences at more than 24 frames per second and 320-by-240-pixel sequences at up to 15 fps.

Like its four-bit gray-scale predecessor, the Color QuickCam **45011** connects to the Mac via the serial port. It now also draws power from the Mac's ADB port. Connectix's VIDEC (video digitally enhanced compression) technology can compress the video data at a 4-1 ratio. The color QuicCam is also able to captures 320 x 240 ppi still images in PICT, TIFF and JPEG formats.

The Color QuickCam will be available for a street price of around $199 including a $30 rebate available through the end of July.

April 15, 1996 (US Readers Today is "Tax Day")

Adobe to Showcase Pagemill 2.0

Adobe Systems is planning to show off the next version of its popular HTML editing tool, PageMill, at next week's Internet World show in San Jose.

On Monday, the company will announce PageMill 2.0, featuring strengthened support for multimedia plug-ins and editing capabilities. Adobe will also announce a Windows 95 version of the previously Macintosh-only product, which will pit PageMill more directly against products from Netscape Communications and Microsoft.

The new version will have many enhancements early adopters have been craving. Amonst the announced enhancements are the ability to embed Netscape Navigator plug-ins, such as Adobe Acrobat files, Macromedia Director movies, and sound files, in a Web page. The product also features table support, search-and-replace capabilities, source code editing, and support for other HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) extensions, including wraparound text.

Adobe plans to ship PageMill 2.0 for Macintosh and Windows this July.

Adobe has targeted novice "HTMLers" as well as those who have interest in learning HTML codes and tags.. Adobe also markets a more advanced called SiteMill which includes the ability to manage hyperlinks and grahics.

Adobe has reportedly sold 100,000 copies of PageMill, and believes that it has a large opportunity to increase its market share by going after the much larger Windows marketplace.

Recently Microsoft has gotten more aggressive with its FrontPage software, an HTML editing tool that offers link management. The company this month cut the price of FrontPage from $695 to $149, a move that may force Adobe to rethink its pricing plan for SiteMill, according to analysts.

PageMill and SiteMill will compete with Navigator Gold 2.0, which Netscape released for Windows platform PCs last week.

IBM Stock Tumbles 5%

International Business Machines Corp. fell Friday after two analysts downgraded the company's shares prior to IBM 1Q earnings results. IBM stock slid $5.75 to $111.75 on the New York Stock Exchange in afternoon trading.

BM will report its first quarter earnings Wednesday, before**39259** the stock market opens. Analysts' consensus estimates, according to First Call, are for earnings of$2.40 a share, with estimates ranging from $2.16 to $2.60 a share.In Q1 of 1995, IBM earned $1.3 billion, or $2.12 per share, on revenue of $15.7 billion.

New Macs for Education Market Only

Apple Computer announced today several new products for the education market.

The Power Mac 5400

The 5400/120 16/1.3 Gig, includes a 120MHz PowerPC 603e processor, a built-in quad-speed CD ROM drive, advanced 15-inch color display, and built-in audio and video to enable students to use camcorders to create presentations, display them on large-screen TVs, and, by connecting to a VCR, videotape them for future use.

Pricing for K-12 will be $2,299 without setup or $2,395 with setup.

The Power Mac 5260/100

The 5260/100 includes a 100MHz PowerPC 603e processor with optional 256K Level 2 cache; 16MB RAM, expandable to 64MB; an 800MB hard drive; quad-speed CD ROM; and14-inch color display.

Through June, Apple is offering a bonus software bundle, which includes Correct Grammar from SoftKey, Eyewitness Encyclopedia of Science from Dorling Kindersley, and the Incredible Image Pak 2000 from T/Maker, along with four other popular educational applications.

Pricing for K-12 will be $1,699 without setup and $1,759 with setup.

Writing and Publishing Tools

Designed for grades 3 through 12, Apple's Writing and Publishing Tools includes 15 software titles, such as the Author's Toolkit from Sunburst Communications, designed to help students learn to write; Media Weaver from Humanities Software, which uses multimedia effects to encourage students to write; ClarisWorks from Claris Corp.; and Aspects from Group Logic, for collaborative writing.

Sold only with the Power Mac 5400/120 or the LC 580, the Writing and Publishing Tools Kit costs $300.

Elementary Curriculum Connections is a collection of 13 cross-curriculum software titles for grades 3 through 6. It includes 27 classroom projects that enable teachers to integrate computing into the classroom. It also costs $300 with a Power Mac 5400/120 or LC 580.

Major Player at Apple leaves for AT&T

Apple R&D chief David Nagel is leaving the company to become president of AT&T Laboratories, the research division of AT&T Corp. Apple said CEO Gilbert Amelio will take over as acting head of Worldwide Research and Development.

Nagel, left NASA 1988 to head Apple's think tank, the Advanced Technology Group. He become senior vice president of worldwide R&D in April 1995. In his last His current position at Apple was the responsiblility for all hardware and software product development, including the Mac OS.

One source who worked closely with Nagel. said "Apple's obviously looking for a more product-oriented guy [who can] drive a product schedule to completion." Alan Lefkov, president and CEO of Farallon Computing Inc. in Alameda, Calif. said: "I'm really sorry to see him leave Apple. Dave did a terrific job of communicating with third-party developers and encouraging the work between Apple and developers. I hope the spirit continues."

Nagel's new employer, AT&T Labs is the research division of AT&T Corp. Nagel will replace acting president A.G. Sandy Fraser, AT&T Labs vice president of research. Fraser will then report to Nagel, along with about 1,900 people in research centers around the world.

Nagel's departure from Apple is the latest in a long list of departures. Nagel though is the first high level emplyee to depart since Amelio took office.

Yahoo Stock Rides IPO Roller Coaster

Yahoo's (the internet search engine) opening day on Wall Street was a roller coaster ride opening at
$24.50 per share and hit a high of $43 before closing at $33.

Yahoo opened at about 8:45 a.m. PDT Friday and shot up to $43 an hour later, which equals $1 billion for the company. Ten minutes later the stock dropped $10 to around $33, where it largely stayed for the rest of the day as a total of 8.5 million shares were traded.

Yahoo has been the talk on Wall Street and Silicon Valley since it filed for the offering last month, the most closely watch high-tech IPO since Netscape Communications made market history in December.

Yahoo (during its first ten months of operation )reported a loss of $643,000 on sales of $1.4 million. Its public offering is being managed by Goldman, Sachs and is trading on the NASDAQ market under the symbol YHOO.

Here is what some analysts are saying about the IPO "I'm expecting it to shoot up and then die down within at least a week," said Manish Shah, publisher of the IPO Maven, a New York-based newsletter. "My recommendation is to stay away from it as much as possible because the outlook is not very good considering what happened with Lycos and Excite," he said, referring to two of Yahoo's chief competitors.

Excite hit the market last week at $17 per share and rose to $21.25 but ended its first day at $20. Lycos went public two days earlier, opening at $16 and shooting up to $29.25 before closing at $21.94. This morning Excite and Lycos sold at $15 and $18.50, respectively, then closed at $14.50 and $17.

USA Today Interviews Co-founder of Apple

This is an interview that apeared in the 4/15 USA today online version

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, 41, brought the world the first widely marketed personal computer:
the Macintosh. His Pixar Animation Studios brought the world the first 100% computer-generated
film: Toy Story. Now the World Wide Web, the multimedia portion of the Internet, has caught his
eye. He expects it to infiltrate almost every aspect of our lives. The CEO of NeXT Software talks
about the Web, the demise of the PC and the future of Apple Computer with USA TODAY reporter Julie Schmit.

Excerpts:

Q: Most U.S. consumers have yet to interact with the Web on a regular basis, and
life still goes on. Why should they get on the Web?

A: If you take the fundamental issues of life - life, death, love, jealousy, honesty, hope - the Web is
not among them. I don't think you can say you must be on the Web. But I don't think anyone leaves
the Web today believing it's not going to be a fairly big thing in our society.

Q: As big as television?

A: No question about it. The best way to think of what's going to happen to the Web is Web dial
tone. There are going to be appliances in your house that plug into the Web, and you're going to use
them for many things. If I'm going to the movies, the fastest way for me to find out what is playing
is to get on the Web. My suspicion is that by next year, in the Silicon Valley anyway, more pizzas
will be ordered over the Web than over the telephone.

Q: When will the Web be in every home?

A: I don't know if it will ever be in every home. But within 20 years, a lot of people will have two
or three Web browsers just like they have two or three telephones today. It's just going to be the
way you go about things.

Q: Companies seem to agree with you. They all have Web sites or are rushing to
put one up. Why?

A: Ultimately, the Web will be the most powerful direct-to-customer distribution channel. So far,
what's powered the Web has been static publishing. People publish Web pages and anyone can look
at them. That's not enough. Consumers want pages created just for them to answer their specific
questions. We call this dynamic services and we think it is going to be very big because it gives
consumers what they want.

Q: Your company, NeXT Software, recently launched its Web Objects software. It
lets companies build Web pages faster than ever, right?

A: Yes. Let me give you an example. Say I'm looking to buy an automobile and I know that I want
it to be silver. I go to a Web site and see a picture of the car, but it is green. I can ask to see it in
silver and have a Web page built for me to show it to me in silver. If I don't know what kind of car I
want to buy, I might specify how much I can afford per month. Then, the Web site could calculate
for me which cars I can afford, search its databases and only show me those cars.

Q: As the Web becomes an easier place to shop, how will that affect the economy?

A: I don't think anybody knows. It's easy to predict the demise of a lot of pieces of the distribution
channel.

Q: Such as?

A: Such as a lot of retailers. Rather than go to the store, you'll go to the Web site of the
manufacturer, who'll be able to offer the products less expensively because they won't have the
middleman costs.

Q: Commerce on the Web today is really very small.

A: It may be small today. But don't miss the subtle but very important difference between demand
creation and demand fulfillment. The most important thing in the world is how a company creates
demand for its products. They spend billions of dollars of advertising (on TV) to do that. Yet you
don't buy your products through the TV set. There is an increasing amount of demand being created
via the Web.

Q: You've been quoted before as saying the desktop PC is dead. Is that true?

A: The PC has been one of the few stunning successes of the century. It has been extraordinary.
When I say it is dead, I don't mean it's not a miraculous tool. What I mean is that the industry has
been stagnating. There has been very little innovation in the past seven years. I'm biased. But I
believe the last big leap of innovation was the Macintosh. All we've seen for the past 10 years is
Microsoft catching up with the Mac, which it has now done.

Q: The rise of the Internet has certainly caused a lot of innovation. How will it change PCs?

A: Computers have been undergoing a change from being devices primarily used for computation
into devices primarily used for communication. The Internet will complete that transformation and
breathe at least another decade of life into the PC. (But) the power of communications is ultimately
much greater than the power of computation. So, some folks are saying, "Why don't we build an
appliance that just focuses on the communication and dumps some of this other dead-weight stuff
that PCs have?"

Q: Numerous companies are talking about such low-cost Internet-surfing appliances. Some people doubt there's a market for them because people prefer PCs. What do you think?

A: I believe the (devices) are possible today and that people will figure out how to build them. It is
the first real threat the PC has ever had. That's good. It will make PCs get better and leaner and
meaner, but we will see a new breed of consumer electronics appliances.

Q: You've said before that you modeled Apple Computer's culture after Hewlett-Packard's. H-P co-founder David Packard recently died. What was his biggest legacy?

A: He really was a Thomas Jefferson kind of guy. At his very core, he believed in the nobility of
people. He formed, with Bill Hewlett, that company on the foundation that people were good and
smart and could figure things out for themselves. And that if you respected them and gave them the
opportunities to achieve, that they would. It was a wonderful set of beliefs and faith in people.

Q: Getting back to Apple, it recently announced it expects a $700 million loss for
the quarter. Its viability is being questioned. Do you worry it may not make it?

A: I love Apple. Its current situation makes me very sad. But I still think it has a chance. I think
Apple can survive as an independent company if it innovates its way out of the problems. That's
how we built the company. That's the only way out. But time is precious. It needs to do something
quickly.

April 14, 1996

La Cie Silver Lining Update for Fireball Data Corruption

La Cie's update of Silverlining corrects the problem of data corruption on an internal boot drive with
drive write cache enabled. The description of the problem is: if you boot from an internal drive with
a write cache, at shutdown, as the final writes are made to the drive, the power to the drive is cut
prematurely by the Mac, before the write cache has chance to clear. This can lead to directory
corruption or lost data.

This problem has been misnamed in the press/usenet as the "Fireball problem" This is not a unique
problem with the Quantum Fireball drive, rather the Fireball is the most popular of the new series of
drives which utilize write cache technology, so the majority of users who discover they are suffering
from this problem own Fireball drives.

Instead of disabling the cache and destroying the drives performance, Silverlining 5.6.4 flushes the
write cache before shutdown according to the published Apple guidelines.

Compatible with all Macintoshes, Silverlining 5.6.4 has been engineered to take advantage of the
unique capabilities of the Power Macintosh, SCSI Manager 4.3 and System 7.5.3

There are 16 different updaters, we suggest you go directly**39259** to the updater page (read them all carefully) and download the proper updater.

New Files Available for Download from Apple

Apple has released a buncgh of new software. Included in the software Widows print drivers, PPP 2.5, and other updated network software. We will follow up on details regarding the software releases as available. You can download all the software here:

SonicPPP Allows AppleTalk Access OT 1.1 Compatible

SonicPPP supports AppleTalk and industry standard TCP/IP network protocols to give Mac users
access to AppleTalk resources, as well as Ethernet based TCP/IP services. Sonic is making
SonicPPP available for free via select online services and Internet resources so users can log onto
Sonic's QuickStream/3 remote access server for a demonstration.

PPP has increased in popularity over other methods for establishing remote access point to point
links because it offers a standard method for transporting network protocols, such as AppleTalk and
TCP/IP, over dial up serial links. In addition, PPP offers powerful security measures such as
CHAP (Challenge Handshake Protocol) and PAP (Password Authentication Protocol). Further,
PPP is expected to be integrated into future operating system releases from Apple Computer and
Microsoft as well as its current integration in UNIX.

SonicPPP, a Control Panel and network driver, allows remote Mac users to easily dial into a PPP
remote access server to access all AppleTalk and TCP/IP network resources in the same
point-and-click manner they would when in the office and connected directly to the network.
AppleTalk file servers and printers can be selected from the Chooser and other AppleTalk services
such as E-mail and databases can be used without learning new access methods. For companies or
individuals with direct connections to the Internet, all Ethernet based TCP/IP services, such as
Internet mail, World Wide Web, FTP, Discussion and News groups are also available to the remote
user via SonicPPP. SonicPPP also supports multiple configurations for users who call into multiple
servers or call from different sites.

You can access the users guide here.

You can download SonicPPP here.

Direct Link to Apple Press Releases, Support, Software

Apple Computer has provided a direct "Gopher" link to its technical support library as well as the following:

Press.Releases, Apple.Software.Updates, Apple_SW_Updates, Ask_Apple_USA_FAQs, Developer_Services, Extras, MacOS, ProductInfo
Product_Information, QuickDraw3D, Support.Professional.Solutions.Series,The.Information.Alley
Top_Til_Articles_3-25, disability-solutions, mac.qif, newton, opendoc

You can access it from here.

April 13, 1996

Special Deal on InfoDepot 2.5

Chena Software, Inc. announces the release of InfoDepot 2.5, a significant upgrade to the company's award-winning outliner for Apple(r) Macintosh(r) personal computers. Combining powerful outlining capabilities with outline-based tables and timelines, InfoDepot is perfect for planning and managing many types of projects. This new version extends a user's ability to organize and manage a wealth of information in a single document.

Some of the key new features:

Internet support

An Internet Bookmarks document is included, providing instant access to hundreds of useful sites and search engines.
Integrated spell-checking,Includes Spellswell by Working Software, Inc.

Extended drag-and-drop

With InfoDepot's unmatched AppleScript support, the results of a drag-and-drop can be customized.
InfoDepot is accelerated for the PowerMac (fast on 68K too).
Whatever your "business" or "projects", InfoDepot gives you an innovative and flexible way to plan, organize, and manage every detail.

Retail Price: $189.00 single-user/$689 5-pack
Special Offer Price: $89.00 single-user/$375 5-pack
Domestic Shipping: $10.00 UPS 2nd Day ($25 UPS overnight)
International Shipping: $25.00 (US Air Mail)
Offer Expires: April, 10 1996
Email
Toll Free Phone: 800-245-4577

Fortune Magazine: Apple and Tech Companys Move Up Fortune 500

These figures were culled from Fortune Magazines , "Fortune 500" figures. Each entry includes rank, name of company, headquarters, change from last year and the 1995 sales figures.

6. International Business Machines, Armonk, N.Y., up from 7th, $71.940 billion.
20. Hewlett-Packard, Palo Alto, Calif., up from 22nd, $31.519 billion.
24. Motorola, Schaumburg, Ill., up from 28th, $27.037 billion.
60. Intel, Santa Clara, Calif., up from 90th, $16.2020 billion.
72. Compaq Computer, Houston, up from 100th, $14.755 billion.
114. Apple Computer, Cupertino, Calif., up from 123rd, $11.062 billion.
203. Unisys, Blue Bell, Pa., down from 158th, $6.460 billion.
219. Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., up from 250th, $5.937 billion.
222. Sun Microsystems, Mountain View, Calif., up from 244th, $5.902 billion.
250. Dell Computer, Austin, Texas, up from 330th, $5.296 billion.
287. Seagate Technology, Scotts Valley, Calif., up from 328th, $4.540 billion.
339. Gateway 2000, North Sioux City, S.D., up from 421st, $3.676 billion.
492. AST Research, Irvine, Calif., down from 473rd,**39259** $2.468 billion.

Apples QuickTime VR Tools Released

The QuickTime VR team has released tools, sample code, and developer information described in the press release copied in below. The tools have received very good response in the few days they have been available, and developers have taken this release as evidence that the QuickTime VR effort is again moving forward. Also, expect to see stories next week in MacWeek and InfoWorld.

If you use computer graphics programs such as Bryce 2 or Strata Studio Pro -- or if you have always wanted to try QuickTime VR but haven't purchased and used the Authoring Tools Suite yet -- you will probably be interested in trying out these tools. The easiest way to access the tools and developer source code and information is through the Tips and Tools page of the QuickTime VR Web site .

The new QuickTime VR mutual-support mailing list is a free service that is proving very useful and popular. If you haven't already done so, join! Send e-mail with the words "SUBSCRIBE QuickTime-VR Your Name" in the body of the message. Follow that with a message with the words "SET QuickTime-VR MAIL DIGEST" in the body to set the mailings to one-a-day, digest mode. For more information, see the instructions .

New Mac Networking Listserve

A new, free, weekly, email publication that will cover Mac networking called "LCTP Presents: Mac Networking News".

The listserve will begin it's email subscription list on April 23 .To subscribe send email
.
Press releases concerning Mac networking products can be emailed .

Developer Relations Falls Under Scalise

Apple announced greater importance of developer relations today.In its announcement developer relations will be under the direct supervision of Chief Administrative Office George Scalise.

The Apple Developer Relations division, headed by vice president Heidi Roizen, plans to consolidate all developer services and marketing activities into one unit. The division will be organized into five primary units;

Evangelism
Developer marketing
Developer technology services
Developer business development
International developer relations.

"We're going to be marketing to developers but also providing marketing for developers," Roizen said. "In recent months, we've seen visible improvement in the way Apple regards the developer community," said Duane Schulz, president of Portland, Ore.-based Now Software Inc. in a prepared statement. "Apple has actively sought our input, and these organizational changes show the company is serious about integrating developer issues into its business strategy."

April 12, 1996

Macintosh Domain Name Server Available

Men & Mice QuickDNS Pro 1.1 will be eleased Version 1.1 in April., that replaces the expensive UNIX servers which connect mail and web servers to the Internet.

QuickDNS Pro 1.1 is reportedly the First Fully Featured Macintosh DNS available in the marketplace, making it the essential link to a Mac only Internet connection.

QuickDNS Pro reportedly outstrips its UNIX counterparts with a built-in GUI Domain Editor (Graphical User Interface) that greatly eases setup and maintenance of domain information. QuickDNS Pro 1.1 features on-the-fly server query optimization, support for RAIC Website configurations, and fully interrupt-driven operation.

These features, along with many other excellent DNS features characterize QuickDNS Pro 1.1 as the fully featured Macintosh DNS able to make a difference for Mac OS., the developer and marketer of QuickDNS Pro 1.1.
You can download a free14 day evaluation copy is available from Men and Mice download site.

WebTech Conference Sponsoreed by Apple, MacWorld, US West !nteract, and Champion Productions

WebTech.,is a conference designed to showcase the latest in web tools and technologies and to provide attendees with the opportunity to have their Internet related questions answered by some of the people who are making things happen on the web.

The conference is being jointy sponsored by Apple, MacWorld Magazine, US West !nteract, and Champion Productions. It is being held in conjunction with the Strictly Business Computer and Graphics Expo on May 22-23 at the Minneapolis Convention Center.

The single $85 registration fee ($10 off if you register by May 15) gets you into each of the 11 different sessions. To register for WebTech, or to obtain additional information, you can call 1-800-257-0374 or log on to our web site . Onsite registration will also be available. Your admission fee also gets you FREE admission to the Strictly Business Computer and Graphics Expo.... a $20 value!!

Adobe Announces Update of Amber Plug-in

Adobe and the Acrobat Team are pleased to announce the posting of an updated pre-release demo version of the Acrobat "Amber" (codename) Reader for Macintosh that you can use to view, navigate, and print Portable Document Format (PDF) files directly in your Netscape Navigator 2.0 (or greater) window!

The Top 26 Windoze Things Done on a Mac

Contributed by shifty@well.com

Here is an amazing (but unverified list) of Windoze commercials, ads, and magazines etc, that were created using Macintosh computers. Flash this list to your die hard PC friends and watch them change a few shades of color.

The Win95 logo was created with FreeHand on a Macintosh.
IBM's Aptiva point-of-purchase materials and the boxes they ship in.
IBM office building in Victoria, BC, Canada was designed an a Mac.
Intel's Flying Pentium Ads (rendered with Electric Image) Electric
The graphics for Sun Microsystems web site.
The graphics for Microsoft Network.
IBM's print advertising.
Gateway 2000's print advertising.
Dell Computer's print advertising.
Midwest Micro's print advertising.
Outdoor advertising for Microsoft Magazine.
Print advertising and materials for Microsoft.
Windows95 packaging.
Advertising for Microsoft in Sweden.
Italian advertising campaign for Win95
PC Magazine.
PC World magazine.
Windows Magazine.
Windows Sources magazine.
Computer Shopper magazine.
Next Magazine.
Visual Basic Magazine.
The weekly Microsoft internal newsletter MicroNews.
Many televsion spots are edited with Avid (a Mac based digital video system), including the IBM and Microsoft spots.
Avid's WWW Site

OK it is Finally Official System 7.5.3 FREE
Here is the Apple official Press Release

In response to increased customer demand for the recently announced System 7.5 Update 2.0 Mac OS system software, Apple Computer, Inc. today announced it will waive shipping and handling
charges and make the software free of charge through May 31, 1996.

"There has been an enormous demand for System 7.5 Update 2.0," said Jim Gable, senior director of system software product marketing at Apple. "As a result of this demand, Apple's servers are badly overloaded and similar problems are occurring at other sites and online services who are
offering the Upgrade. In waiving the shipping and handling charges, Apple can reach more people with System 7.5 Update 2.0 during this introductory period with the least possible inconvenience."

What is System 7.5 Update 2.0

System 7.5 Update 2.0 is a new Mac OS system software update designed to significantly enhance overall system stability while delivering some performance improvements for Apple Macintosh and Mac OS-compatible computers. System 7.5 Update 2.0 also gives customers a one-step easy solution to update all of their Macintosh computers running versions 7.5, 7.5.1 or 7.5.2 of
System 7.5, including the PCI-based Power Macintosh computers, and bring them up to the latest version of the Mac OS--System 7.5.3. The Update also includes the latest version of Apple's new networking infrastructure, Open Transport 1.1. This version of Open Transport improves performance in many situations, particularly when using Internet standards.

Obtaining and Installing System 7.5 Update 2.0

Customers can order the update on CD-ROM or floppies in the U.S. The number to call in the United States to order the update is 1-800-293-6617, ext. 984. The number to call in Canada to order the update is 1-800-361-6075. Customers who have ordered this software from the Apple Order Center will not be charged.

System 7.5 Update 2.0 is a comprehensive update that will overwrite a large portion of your existing System Folder. As a result, it is highly recommended that all users follow the instructions in the

"Installing This Update" read-me file. This is especially important for those who have been experiencing system problems prior to the update or previously running beta versions of any system software (e.g. Open Transport).

Localized versions of the system update will be available to international customers in many countries by the end of the second calendar quarter of 1996. Apple also plans to update the Macintosh System 7.5 retail upgrade package toincorporate the improvements in System 7.5 Update 2.0 this summer.

PlainTalk Software Now Available Retail

In response to customer demand, Apple Computer, Inc. today announced that virtually any Apple Macintosh computer can now have the power of speech. The company has begun selling its renowned PlainTalk text-to-speech and speech recognition software through retail channels. Previously, the PlainTalk software and microphone were only available as part of select Power Macintosh systems and Mac OS upgrades. The new software product will be distributed by Claris Corporation.

PlainTalk is a collection of software from Apple that enables Macintosh computers to speak written text and respond to spoken commands. There are three components to PlainTalk 1.4.1: English Speech Recognition, English Text-to-Speech, and Mexican Spanish Text-to-Speech.

PlainTalk software includes three separate components, each with its own installer, allowing users to customize their PlainTalk experience: English Speech Recognition, English Text-to-Speech, and Mexican Spanish Text-to-Speech.

English Speech Recognition

Using system 7.5 or later, the Mac will have the ability to respond to spoken commands. With the speakable items utility, spoken commands can be used to execute common desktop tasks such as
opening files and folders, starting applications, switching applications, and closing windows.

English Text-to-Speech

Installing the English Text-to-Speech software expands the capabilities of a Macintosh computer and provides the user with the ability to hear the computer read text out loud. With the latest version of PlainTalk, the user will be able to utilize the text-to-speech technology on any Macintosh or
Power Macintosh model running system software version 6.0.7 or later of the Mac OS. Also, PlainTalk text-to-speech includes its own speech control panel that allows the user to select a system wide default voice and speech rate.

Mexican Spanish Text-to-Speech

PlainTalk also allows the bilingual user to key in Spanish text, and with many Macintosh programs, hear the text read aloud with a Mexican accent. The Mexican Spanish Text-to-Speech component also comes with its own installer and runs on system software version 7.0 or later of the Mac OS.

The estimated retail price for Apple PlainTalk 1.4.1 (M2844LL/B) is US$49.00. It may be purchased through any Apple authorized reseller, or by calling 1-800-950-5382.

Yahoo IPO Opens This Morning at $13

Yahoo's much anticipated IPO is here, the company late Thursday announced it will offer up 2.6 million shares at $13 per share when the market opens today.

Yahoo will become the third Net search engine to go public in two weeks in an hotly anticipated Wall Street debut that analysts say could open as high as $30 per share.

Yahoo was founded in April 1994 by Jerry **39259** Yang and David Filo, who were students at Stanford University's Electrical Engineering program. In April of last year Yang and Filo left Stanford and to work full-time on Yahoo. Almost a year later both can hope to add their names to the list of Silicon Valley millionaires.

Internet Banking & Online Services Go Hand in Hand

A n upswing is being seen in online banking both on the World Wide Weband and the online services. Prodigy's plans, she said the service plans to keep its services simple. "They don't want the 400-page (users manual)," she said. Bells and whistles are not nearly as important as simple, easy- to-use interfaces, she added. Price does seem to be a barrier in the way of customer acceptance of remote banking, Burkat said, and eliminating fees should pay off with not only more customers, but loyal customers.

Prodigy's new banking strategy involves providing a Web-based (see related story) solution for both the consumer and the banks, she said. Providing an efficient, secure, community-based environment is also important, along with what she called the "three e's:" enabling, educating, and empowering the consumer.

Time Kemp, manager of First Chicago NBD Corp.'s online services unit, said he supports Prodigy's move to the Web, because he believes in a Web-based strategy. First Chicago NBD has a presence on Prodigy, he said.

First Chicago NBD also has sites on the Web and America Online. He said the challenge is how to bring customers online, and to bring the endless possibilities of computer-based banking into line. Access needs to be given from a range of common devices, Kemp said, and that access must provide a wide array of real-time functionality. He also said there must be one infrastructure within the bank.

Prodigy Eliminates Jobs Prepares for Move to WWW

Prodigy has laid off 115 of its 680 employees to cut costs in its effort to move to the WWW.

"This morning we eliminated close to 100 positions. This company was built in the '80s under a very different corporate structure, a structure that made sense at the time. The competitive environment has changed, and as we're moving from a proprietary online service to an Internet-based platform, we realize certain tasks have become duplicative, and others are no longer part of our future business plan," CEO Ed Bennett said in a statement to Prodigy employees yesterday.

Prodigy xpects to convert its service to the WWW soon, but company officials declined to comment on particulars. "I can't say when we are moving to the Web, but we are launching four or five new sites next month," a spokeswoman said.

Some analysts feel that Converting to the Web is the logical next step for Prodigy Nate Zelnick, an analyst with Mecklermedia said "This has been a very difficult transition for them, and it has definitely taken a very long time to get there in an industry that changes by the second." "They [Prodigy] will survive, but the question is, 'What will they survive as'?"

Beyond Press Quark HTML Plug-in Turns 2

Astrobyte is shipping an upgrade to their HTML conversion extension for QuarkXPress, BeyondPress 2.0. Version 2.0 adds support for the latest HTML features, such as conversion of tabular data into HTML tables, background tiles, colored links, and styled text.

BeyondPress also provides advanced image controls, including the ability to crop and scale images in the Image Setting dialog box and the ability to choose a custom color palette for images. Automated conversion using Apple Events scripts lets users automate the conversion of word processing and other documents to HTML.

BeyondPress costs $595 for the single-user version, with site licenses available. Through May 31,
registered users of 1.0 can upgrade for $59. Users who purchased 1.0 after February 1 receive a free
upgrade.

April 11, 1996

Macromedia Authorware Graduates to 3.5, Web Savy

Macromedia Inc. this week will revise Authorware with a major upgrade that puts the multimedia
authoring software on Power Macs and the Web.

Authorware 3.5 is now PowerMac native the new version running on a Power Mac is as much as three times faster than Version 3.0 on a 680x0-based model. New features include support for Shockwave, Macromedia's Netscape Navigator plug-in technology for playing animations over the Web. It is slated to ship at the Las Vegas National Association of Broadcasters show .

With Authorwares 3.5 Shockwave capabilities, files can be compressed and elements ssembled in Authorware. Shockwave runs in the background, so presentations can be played back immediately and seamlessly from a Web page. Authorware applications can be compressed by more than 50 percent by the Shockwave for Authorware Afterburner utility.

A pre-release version of the Shockwave for Authorware Navigator 2.0 plug-in is available for download from Macromedia

Mosiac Release 3

Version 3.0 of the free Web browser from The National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign adds support for a variety of HTML tags and introduces a few new capabilities.

Available in a pre-release version, NCSA Mosaic 3.0 supports link tags, which let Web page designers embed site-navigation controls into HTML documents. A Web page that uses link tags can include a collection of icons that take the client to the home page; to the first, next or last document in a series; or to an index. Version 3.0 supports HTML tags for tables; Netscape Communications Corp.'s frames; adding borders and captions to images and setting the width, height and alignment of page elements.

Performance enhancements include multithreading and native support for Open Transport. The new version supports Hypertext Transport Protocol Keep Alive, a server function that maintains a connection to the server while retrieving multiple files. Version 3.0 reads client-side image maps and interprets Portable Network Graphics, a new image format optimized for delivery over networks.

NCSA Mosaic 3.0 can be downloaded here.

Apple to Release New Dos PCI Cards

According to sources; Apple Computer this month will release a version of its PCI-based DOS cards, one with a 100-MHz Cyrix 5x86 processor from Cyrix Corp. and one with a 100-MHz Pentium chip from Intel Corp..

Processing power is similar to those from Reply Corp. of San Jose, Calif., (see see 4/6/96 related story), the cards will reportedly cost about $800 and $1,100, respectively. The 5x86 card will be a 7-inch card with a 128-Kbyte Level 2 cache, and the Pentium card will be 12 inches with a 256-Kbyte Level 2 cache .Due to a dispute with Microsoft Corp.Apples cards will not ship Windows 95, but will include MS-DOS. Those wishing to run Windows 95, Windows 3.11, or OS2, must purchase the software separately.

In related news Apple is expected to soon release the Power Mac 7600, a new CPU that uses a 120-Mhz PowerPC 604 processor; as well as the speed bumped 120-Mhz 601-based Power Mac 7200, 132- and 150-Mhz 604-based Power Mac 8500 models, and a 150-Mhz 604-based Power Mac 9500.

Analysts have shown concern regarding Apples moderate speed increase due to the competitions 200 Mhz chips that will be shipping soon.

Motorola Reports Strong 1st Q

Motorola's first-quarter earnings, announced Tuesday, may muffle some of the critics for a while. The company handily beat Wall Street estimates, generating net income of $384 million, or 63 cents a share, up 3% from year-before levels. Indeed, Motorola shares jumped $3.75, or 7.1%, to close at $56.25 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading Wednesday.

April 10, 1996

Semiconducter Stocks Rise Despite Industry Decline

Prices in semiconductor company stocks rose modestly Wednesday morning despite a third consecutive decline in the industry's key performance indicator. The Semiconductor Industry Association reports its book-to-bill ratio was 0.80 in March, meaning chipmakers received $80 in new orders last month for every $100 worth of chips they shipped last month.

After the first hour of trading Wednesday, shares in Intel Corp., the largest chipmaker were up 50
cents to $62.371/2; Cypress Semiconductor was up 371/2 cents to $12.50; Cyrix Corp. was up
371/2 to $24.50; Texas Instruments Inc. was up $1 to $54.121/2 and Micron Technology Inc. was
up 871/2 cents to $33.75.

Shares in Motorola Inc. rose $2.621/2 to $55.121/2, partly driven by a better than expected first
quarter profit reported late Tuesday. The value of Advanced Micro Devices Inc. was also 25 cents
higher to $17.871/2 despite a disappointing profit report and a pessimistic forecast.

Bell Atlantic to offer Internet Service

Bell Atlantic Corp. will offer Internet access services for its local phone customers this summer, the company said Wednesday. "Bell Atlantic will provide a full suite of Internet offerings backed by the high level of service and value for which we are known," said Stuart Johnson, Bell Atlantic group president-Large Business and Information Services.

Bell Atlantic said it would provide Internet access to businesses in Washington in May, Baltimore in June, Philadelphia in August and New Jersey in September. Consumer service will start in July in the Washington, Baltimore and Roanoke areas. Philadelphia and New Jersey residents will be able to sign up by late summer. The company will charge consumers about $20 a month for unlimited access.

PowerBooks Now can Utilize ISDN speed

A new PCMCIA card designed to replace V.34 modems allows laptop users to get online and connect to the Internet or to corporate networks at up to 128Kbps, or ISDN speed is scheduled for a May release by Eicon Technology .

The card, called the Diva Terminal Adapter (T/A) is designed to replace the standard V.34 modem in laptops or standalone remote-access servers. The Diva T/A looks to the host system like a fully compliant 16550 communications port, making **39259** it compatible with software that uses the comm port.

The Diva T/A supports the Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP), Serial Line Interface Protocol (SLIP), and, with rate adaptation, can also handle any asynchronous protocol.

Now its Netscape & GE "in Bed"

Netscape Communications Corp. and General Electric's information services subsidiary said Tuesday they would create a joint venture to develop products that let businesses conduct transactions over the Internet. The new company will be called Actra Business Systems. Neither GE nor Netscape would say how much they were investing in the new firm.

Analysts See Possible Lowering of Monitor Prices

During the last year or so an extremely low supply of 15- and 17-inch CRT displays that have kept cost of monitors high, the supply seems to be loosening up, possibly clearing the way for prices to drop.

The high demand and a shortage of critical components such as glass have kept CRT monitors at high price levels throughout the last year. The situation is reversing itself higher supplies of both 15-
and 17-inch displays, should begin to result in lower pricing later this year. Don't expect any drastic price cuts, but rather an increase in supply, and a gentle lowering of prices and/or special deals by individual manufacturers.

In related news demand for CD-ROM drives, particularly quad-speed models has also declined. Four manufacturers have reported that they will be shipping 8X drives later this month.

EasyServe, Free World Wide Web Server Software

SUMMARY.NET has begun delivering its EasyServe FREE Macintosh Web Server software through its WWW site.

According to the company EasyServe is "very easy to use." There´s no logging, no CGI, no administration of any kind. Simply run EasyServe.

Security issues are reportedly minimal due to the MacOS and since EasyServe will only serve documents that are in folder called docs which is in the same folder as EasyServe. It will NOT follow aliases and won't t serve anything else on your machine.

When a client requests a folder, EasyServe looks for a file named index.html in that folder. EasyServe always uses port 80. You can only run one copy per machine. EasyServe is amazingly only a 103k download.

April 9, 1996

The Sunshine State Erupts in Flurry of Protests
Net Tax Due by July 1

Floridians have eruoted in protest, due to a Florida tax on the internet.. The tax could be enacted as soon as July 1, and is aimed at Internet service providers and businesses using the Net. The tax may be as high as 17.5 %. According to the Florida Chamber of Commerce some 4,500 protest messages from ISPs, businesses, and individuals have been faxed and emailed to them, the Chamber then taped them together, forming a banner which was unfurled in front of the capitol in Tallahassee.

"The Department of Revenue claims it has the authority to levy this tax, but the law they are depending on dates from 1974 and applies to teletype machines," said Fran Conaway, vice president of communications for the chamber. "The Internet didn't even exist then. This new tax is sending the
message that hi tech isn't welcome in Florida."

The legislation is being closely by other states considering similar Internet access taxes, including New York and Ohio. Additionally access is not the only potential target for taxation, as state, federal and even European officials are investigating how electronic commerce can be levied as well.

Florida is basing its proposal on a provision in its laws that applies to "computer exchange services (which allow) communication between computers or other stations." The state plans to levy a 2.5 % gross receipts tax on ISPs and a 7 % telecommunications services sales tax on business users of the Internet.

Although the tax is aimed at businesses, residential Internet customers could be effected if ISPs raise their rates to compensate for the new taxes.

"I think this is an expected but stupid action on the part of the (Florida) government," said J. Neil Weintraut, managing director of Internet research at brokerage house Hambrecht and Quist. "Maybe at some point in the future (the Internet should be)used as a source of revenue for municipal and state governments, but now is too early. Now is the time to keep barriers as low as possible."

It remains unclear how other forms of taxation beyond Internet access might be imposed on commerce over the Net. The question to be resolved is how a business that sells it wares online in one country without physically residing there can be held subject to taxes from the local government.

Apple and IBM in Bed Together?

Apple Computer and IBM are close to reaching a deal in which IBM would license the operating system of Apple's famed Macintosh computer. IBM then would sublicense it to personal computer makers to make low-price Mac clones.

By nabbing IBM as a licensee, Apple would get yet another company to evangelize the Mac
operating system, which controls the PC's main functions. Through licensing, Apple hopes to boost the Mac's share of the global PC business, which **39259** has reportedly slipped to from 11.6% a year ago to 9 .7%.

IBM, for its part, would use its muscle to spur sales of the PowerPC chip, which it makes and is
used in Macs. Neither company would comment on the talks. But if a deal is reached, IBM would be Apple's second major licensee. In February, Apple and Motorola signed a deal, and Apple has other deals with a handful of small PC makers. Apple, Motorola, and IBM are partners in producing the PowerPC chip. The licensing deal would certainly cement the PowerPC partnership. Some analysts have stated in the past, that the partnership was reportedly on "shaky ground."

By expanding the Mac's reach, Apple hopes to persuade software developers to write programs for
the Macintosh - not just for the majority of PCs, which run Microsoft's Windows operating system. IBM would not make Mac clones. It would become a one-stop shop for PC makers to get their chips and operating systems. Clone makers now have to license the operating system from Apple and get PowerPC chips from IBM or Motorola, which also makes them.

Apple analyst Peter Hartsook says the deal with IBM might not be as significant as the one with
Motorola. Unlike Motorola, IBM won't make motherboards, the main board on which a PC's
microprocessor and other chips reside. IBM's microelectronics division is negotiating the license.
Companies that do business with it would have to design and build their own motherboards, a costly process.

Netscape Introduces New Service

Netscape Personal Workspace allows you to gather all of your most-used links onto one page. You can use it to jot down notes, access leading news, and place your own personal links. After building your page you can access your Pre-built Workspace at any time, just by going to the Netscape home page and click on the My Page button. The Personal Workspace uses advanced Java Scripting to build your Workspac. The setting are saved to your machines Netscape preferences, thereby restricting its use to you on the machine you created it on.

Be sure to enter "The online MacinStuff Times" to your "Personal Links" section our URL is, http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/webstuff/mactimes.html

DRAM Memory Prices Continue Slide

According to a report in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Japan's largest economic daily paper, another sign of the impact of falling memory chip prices, IBM Japan will stop manufacturing Dynamic RAM (DRAM) memory chips for PCs.

DRAMs are used for the main memory in all Macs and other PCs. Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported that IBM is scheduled to halt production of 4MB DRAMs at its Yasu plant in Shiga Prefecture by this summer.

IBM has been making DRAMs in Japan since 1983. The Yasu plant will shift production to higher-priced chips such as digital signal processors and graphics processors.

Memory chip prices have plummeted 30-35 percent since the beginning of the year. Early last year a fire at a glue manufacturing plant in Okenawa caused a 30-40 percent increase in DRAM prices.

Award Winning, The online MacinStuff Times		The online MacinStuff Times
Currently ranks is 138 out of 158,067 sites		rated in the top 1% of all Web Counter sites
		Averaging 1,000 readers a day
Up 129 places since March 11, On Web Counters		Selected as Aprils Hot Site of the month by
Nominated as "Coolest Site" by IndustryNet		The online MacinStuff Times has had readers.