Winds of Change

written by Charles DeVore

from Mouse Tracks January 2000

Before you start reading my column this month I want to remind folks that I have always been an Apple fan. I run a Macintosh consulting business and own over ten Macs. I love the fact that Apple stock is selling for over $100 per share; and the fact that we have one of the most powerful computers you can buy. When all is said and done I feel that the Mac is still the most user-friendly computer on the market today. What I'm afraid of is that the user/buyer needs are being overlooked in what Apple is producing in System software and hardware options. I want Apple to be the best, not the biggest, not the smallest, just the best.

QUARK 4.1 COMING
Quark has just informed owners of QuarkXPress 4.0 that an updater will be arriving on CD ROM in the next month to update Quark 4.0 to 4.1. So if you are a Quark owner and have not registered your copy this may be a good time to do that. New features that Quark 4.1 should offer are QuarkLinkÅ, which lets you communicate with QuarkÅ from within QuarkXPress via a Web-based customer service link, improved support for PDF and scripting, as well as an enhanced HTML filter to convert text from QuarkXPress text boxes into HTML, and import HTML text into QuarkXPress documents. They say it should also have improved stability and performance to help increase your productivity.

CHANGES TO G4
Apple has issued a press release about the Power Mac G4 changes, including a new graphics card and conversion of all models to the "Sawtooth" architecture, as it terminates the "Yikes" hybrid model. Neither prices nor processor speeds have changed, but Apple introduced a new "AGP" video card with a digital connector for its new flat-panel display, the 15-inch digital $1,299 Apple Studio Display. A $99 video card upgrade kit is promised "next year" for customers who bought the previous "Sawtooth" (a.k.a. "AGP Graphics") G4 models. So what does this mean after you take out all the advertising junk? What it really means is that Apple has finally used up all the Yikes motherboards, and that the assembly line producing the Sawtooth is running at full tilt. Apple knew full well when it announced the G4s that there was no way they could bring a new motherboard online very fast. So what to do with all those leftover motherboards? Why, stick G4 processors on them and tell customers they were the low end version of the G4. Of course all those folks who bought the low end G4s are now going to wish they had waited for the real thing but Apple got its money and that's what really counts, right?

MAC OS 9.0 ALERT
For all you folks thinking about upgrading to Mac OS 9.0, this is from the Apple tech site: "The following Mac OS technologies are no longer supported in Mac OS 9.0: LaserWriter 8f driver for fax cards only (LaserWriter 16/600, LaserWriter Selection 360, LaserWriter Pro 810), Apple Telecom for GeoPort modems (includes GeoPort Telecom Adapters and Apple Express Modem software) and QuickDraw GX is no longer installed or available."

MAC OS 9.0 PROBLEMATIC
One of the things I am most upset about with Apple is the quality of the products they are currently shipping. But mostly with Mac OS 9.0 problems. This System appears to have been shipped way before it was ready for the general consumer market. The number of bugs in the product is way too high and the number of third-party software and hardware problems way outnumber the feature list. Yes, I know that some of the features sound really good and Sherlock 2 really does help on web searches, but how can Apple produce a product that brings the page layout industry to a standstill? Many of the folks out there believe the advertising hype and rush out to buy the product. Suddenly to discover that their printer is not supported, most of their software needs to be upgraded and their old computer now runs slower than before. In the end this will tend to come back and bite Apple in the ***. My advice to the vast majority of users is, if you need to upgrade, go as far as Mac OS 8.6, then wait for the bugs to get fixed in Mac OS 9.0 and don't expect them to get it right in the first bug fix they release. Because of all the problems in Mac OS 9.0, I expect a rushed bug fix in the next two months followed by another final fix around February or March.

XLR8 G4 CARD
For owners of the XLR8 G4 card, here is the best reason in the world to keep your old processor card around. When you hold down the Command-Option-P-R keys before you hear the Mac's boot tone, the NVRAM is zapped. It doesn't matter if it's at a cold boot or a warm restart. You can render your machine with the XLR8 G4 card completely unbootable. It will not boot even starting up with a CD-ROM or floppy. The only way to boot the machine after that is with a processor card that does not use the NVRAM approach (the original processor card you got with the machine). For the firmware fix, let the XLR8 extension load (which is what apparently installs the fix in NVRAM), shut down, reinstall the XLR8 G4 card, and boot again. Are we having fun yet?

iBOOK KEYBOARD
The iBook keyboard is appearing to be a weak link in the day-to-day use of the iBook. Keys are falling off for no apparent reason and cannot be reattached by the end user. Apple has stated that this appears to be a problem with the early iBooks. The only solution Apple recommends is to send the iBook back to them and have Apple replace the keyboard under warranty. This is not a good thing. How long will they have the machines before they send them back? Why is this problem even happening?

USB ZIP DRIVE PROBLEMS
USB problems also abound in the new machines that are out now. Iomega's USB Zip drives are having all kinds of problems. Iomega is basically throwing its hands up in the air and saying it is Apple's problem to fix. As an example the new iMac DV in the PMUG office started locking up on shut down. I spent a Thursday afternoon trying to get it to shutdown without having to unplug the Zip drive before going to the shut down menu item. After spending two hours on it and having it shut down successfully several times I left the office. On Tuesday of the next week the iMac was back to locking up on shut down again. Gary Mickels then spent another two hours off and on shutting down extensions one at a time until it shut down without freezing the machine. He ended up turning every Iomega extension off except the one for the click drive. The amazing thing is that the Zip still works even with the drivers off. You may think this is a Iomega problem however many other vendors are having the very same problems.

EJECTION PROBLEMS
Some of the new iMac machines appear to have problems ejecting disks from the new CD ROM slot drive. It appears that the thickness of the disk is one of the problems. This is most likely to happen with DVD disks. The opening that the disk slides though can add to the problem so be careful. If one gets stuck and you need to take it to your dealer don't try and force the disk out.

BLUE & WHITE G3
And now for a update on the Blue and White G3 I purchased at MacWorld last year. Right after MacCamp I added an Orb 2 gigabyte drive to my SCSI Adaptec 2930U chain. Remember I already have a Yamaha CD RW drive. There is also an ATI 2 megabyte videocard driving a second 17-inch monitor. I have added just about everything I can think of to it and it runs like a champ. Last week I added an IDE Zip drive to the internal bay. This is the Apple upgrade with instructions and faceplate. Taking the machine apart was no problem and the drive went into the bracket without a hitch. However even consultants screw up. The power cable that goes to the CD and the Zip is easily pinched between the bracket and the drive case causing the plastic to be stripped off the wires and exposing them. I ended up cutting off the damaged connector and replacing it with one of the many Y splitters I keep on hand. Then only 48 hours after installing the drive, I had to remove it even though it was working perfectly. It seems that Asarte's CD Copy software for copying CD ROMs doesn't like the drive to be on that IDE cable. Since I already have a USB Zip drive it is much more important for me to use the software than to have a IDE Zip drive installed. Due to the fact I have an internal SCSI connector, I have installed a 4 gigabyte SCSI hard drive as an internal drive in the third drive bay. This gives me a total of 20 Gigabytes of hard drive space. Now some of the drive space will be used to arrange data for putting onto CD ROM, the rest will be used to experiment with different Systems and software.

MACWORLD EXPO
We'll be off to Macworld Expo to see what kind of hardware and software the vendors will be releasing for 2000. This year Macworld will start on the Jan. 4 and run through Jan. 7. Already I'm wondering if we'll be able to afford the costs. The Hotel Union Square where we have stayed the last four years decided to raise the cost of the rooms during the convention to $150 from $99 last year. So we have reservations at a different hotel located through City Search. Note: The Internet is a great place to make these kind of changes. We'll only be staying three days this time. If you think you would like to go to Macworld I think you should try to stay at least two days. The first day you will be swamped with the sheer size of the place and only on the second day will you really start focusing attention to the actual products and software. It really can be overwhelming. We usually bump into at least 15 Portlanders at every MacWorld so you won't be alone.

SAN FRANCISCO TAXES
We are hoping that the city got enough grief last year over charging the vendors an additional tax of 10 percent if they were not licensed to sell in SF the rest of the year. If not our purchases will be very few this year. SF has California state tax and an 8 percent city tax, so you really have to get a good deal in order to buy products. Many vendors have taken to bringing in phone lines so you can order from their warehouses and avoid the extra taxes. When I ordered my B&W G3 from ClubMac I did not pay any sales taxes due to the fact it was a phone order and I live in Oregon.

BIG DOWNLOADS
It seems like Apple of all people should understand that not everyone wants to download 13 to 30 megabyte updates from the Internet. However, since that's what Apple and a bunch of other vendors are trying to push they really don't seem to care what you want. Apple has informed User Groups that they want to be sure what System owners get so User Groups can no longer offer updaters for the System to their members. This means the next time you want to update your computer to the latest revision of the System you must log onto the Internet and spend the afternoon downloading the update from Apple. If you don't have a modem and are not on the Internet, I'm sure Apple will be more than happy to provide you with a update on CD for a fee. Have you ever noticed when we ship a CD ROM through the Post Office the cost is about $3 for the package and the shipping but when Apple or Symantec ship it's always $10 to $15? Just how much do they pay the guys in shipping anyhow? Oh, and have you noticed that the shipping date is always two weeks away. Just why do they think we need this update? Is it really fixing something or is Apple tweaking your computer so that a new G4 chip won't boot? Many of the B&W G3 owners will be asking themselves that question for many months to come. Get a life Apple, or you'll find out that Microsoft isn''t the only company spending lots of time in court.

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