Do you need the speed offered by today’s G3-powered Macs, but aren’t sure what your options are? Managing editor Jeff Carlson examines G3 systems, third-party upgrades, and forthcoming models just as Apple cuts prices. Also, Matt Neuburg looks at the new Everything Scripting CD-ROM, and we have details on Apple ceasing Newton development; La Cie’s planned purchase of APS; plus new releases of FreePPP, LetterRip, DeBabelizer, and Apple Data Detectors.
Newton Falls from Apple's Tree -- In an effort to focus all of Apple's resources on the Mac OS, interim CEO Steve Jobs announced that the company is discontinuing development of the Newton operating system and Newton products, including the MessagePad 2100 and eMate 300
Apple Data Detectors 1.0.2 -- With Mac OS 8's contextual menu technology and the combination of Apple Data Detectors and Internet Address Detectors (ADD/IAD), you can highlight a block of text in almost any application, then choose actions for any URLs, email addresses, newsgroup names, or other particular items the text contains
La Cie to Purchase APS -- La Cie Ltd. has signed a deal to purchase storage vendor and long-time TidBITS sponsor APS Technologies. Last January, APS filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection following Apple's decision to stop licensing the Mac OS and the dissolution of hard drive manufacturer Micropolis (see "APS Files Chapter 11, Expects to Emerge Soon" in TidBITS-415)
Fog City Releases LetterRip Pro -- Fog City Software has released LetterRip Pro 3.0, a major revision of their easy-to-configure, high performance mailing list software
Apple Drops Prices on Power Mac G3 Systems -- The Power Macintosh G3 desktop computers, described in "Three New Macs and a PowerBook" in TidBITS-404, have proven to be one of Apple's best-selling product lines; last week, Apple reduced their prices, which historically indicates that new, faster units will be introduced in the next several weeks
VST Drives Zip Extension to 1.1 -- VST Technologies made its Zip100 Driver version 1.1 available, which adds Mac OS 8.1 compatibility and fixes annoying performance delays for users of VST's internal PowerBook Zip drives
New Look for DeBabelizer 3 -- If you think interfaces aren't important, consider Equilibrium's graphics utility DeBabelizer. Unquestionably one of the most powerful programs for opening, converting, and manipulating image files, older versions have been hampered by a confusing and intimidating user interface
FreePPP 2.6 Released -- Following a long period of public beta testing, Rockstar Studios, in conjunction with the FreePPP Group, has released a complete version of FreePPP 2.6, the popular free dialup software that lets Macs connect to the Internet
With prices of full-featured Power Macintosh G3s dropping below $2,000 (see the MailBIT in this issue), people have been asking me whether it's time to buy a new Mac
Compilation CD-ROMs face a difficult dilemma: given that resources are available for free over the Internet, what benefits can a compilation of some of those resources offer that are of sufficient value to justify the price?
There are, I think, four such benefits