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October 25, 1997
News
Guest: Kevin Wueste of Microsoft Sidewalk at 10:40
Speaking of Microsoft, the DOJ fine. Explain issues. Impact on Windows 98.
Initial charge
Revelation that Compaq, Micron and Gateway 2000 were forced
Micron backs off a bit
Mac version of IE 4 won’t have Active Desktop; this supposedly "proves"
that IE 4 is an extension of the Windows OS.
BTW, OSR 2.5 will be available toward the end of this year or beginning of next for
brand new machines. The new version will add IE 4.0, as well as updated clients for MSN,
AOL and other online services.
Quicken 98 shipped this week. They have basic and deluxe versions for PCs and Macs and
also offer a Suite Version and a Home and Business version for PCs only. The Suite Version
includes an updated version of their Financial Planner app, as well as a new version of
Quicken Family Lawyer, which lets you create lots of different legal documents, including
wills and living trusts. The Home and Business version adds features designed for people
with small home businesses, including the ability to generate invoices, track unpaid
invoices, etc. It’s essentially like a few features from their QuickBooks product. If
you’re an existing customer and want to upgrade, you still buy the full retail
version, but then fill out a rebate form for either $10 or $20 depending on which version
you get.
Need more storage for your notebook? Iomega is starting to offer an internal Zip for
notebooks. Several vendors have announced they will be shipping machines with the Zip
already installed and apparently Iomega will be making versions available that fit into
the drive bays of some popular notebooks. The new Zip has apparently been upgraded and is
even faster than previous versions. Like its predecessors, it can hold up to 100 MB on a
single disk.
I mentioned a long while back, but now it’s finally here. Intel has introduced 120
MHz MMX processor that is apparently being targeted toward the new mini sub-notebooks,
such as Toshiba’s Libretto and Mitsubishi’s Amity. Talk about other MMX choices
and need for MMX) Other companies planning to offer these sub-sub-notebooks in the next
few weeks includes NEC and Hitachi.
If you’re part of a small business (up to 25 people) and you need some kind of
server solution, Microsoft’s new Small Business Server may be a good option for you.
The package, which is essentially a slightly smaller version of their BackOffice package
of products for larger businesses, is priced at $1,499 for a five-user license, and at
$2,459 for a 25-user license. It includes software for creating a custom database, for
sharing files, printers and other peripherals (including modems), for e-mail, and for
creating a web server.
High-end system price cuts: you can now get a well-stocked Pentium II (including a
monitor) for under $2k. Amazing.
You probably don’t think about much, but you should. I’m talking about tech
support when you buy a new machine. According to a poll released by HomePC magazine (the
poll was actually done last spring), the mail order vendors Micron, Gateway and Dell
topped the list for the best support among major vendors while Packard Bell and Compaq
were at the bottom.
Speaking of tech support, Apple is dropping free customer support and will now be
charging after the first 90 days. Previously they offered unlimited free tech support but
the cost pressures of maintaining that service forced them to make this move.
Here’s a quick consumer protection notice: Dell Computer Corporation has announced
that the power adapters on some of its Latitude LM series of notebooks may be defective.
The company is offering a free replacement for anyone with one of the affected units. The
first eight digits on the faulty adapters are 00097689 or 00099500.
So it looks like the Pentagon’s computers are in trouble. According to a senior
intelligence official at the Pentagon, more than 250 Defense Dept. computers were broken
into last year and more hacker attacks are expected this year. Attempts to break in were
apparently 1,000 times as high, numbering nearly 250,000. Pretty staggering. Importance of
good computer security for certain environments.
If you do non-linear, that is digital video editing on the Mac, you’ve got a new
option in tools. Long-time Mac peripheral vendor Radius has released EditDV 1.0 a
combination software and hardware package that works with new digital camcorders that
include the FireWire digital video connector. The package includes a FireWire board for
your Mac for sending and receiving digital video and the software offers a variety of
digital and a fast preview mode. The package costs $999 and current PhotoDV and MotoDV
customers can upgrade for $499.
New Newton 2100 offers 4MB of DRAM (instead of 1MB as in the MessagePad 2000) and an
Ethernet card. The new version also offers software that make electronic mail and Internet
browsing easier. Current MessagePad customers can upgrade to the MessagePad 2100 for $99,
if they purchase a MessagePad 2000 before November 7. For purchases after November 7, the
upgrade is $199.
Game fans can rejoice because the long-awaited sequel to the classic Myst is now
available. Called Riven the $50 product for Macs and PCs takes up where Myst left off and
continues in the same spirit and tone as the original.
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