Winds of Change

written by Charles DeVore

from Mouse Tracks April 2000

One of the things I've just noticed about ViaVoice is the fact that if you have two monitors you can only use the main monitor to place the document you're working on. Which means if you want to run something in addition to ViaVoice, the other program's window has to be on the second monitor. This may not sound all that painful to you, but for those of us who run our 17 inch monitor as the startup and main workspace, it's a pain to have to move Netscape to a 14 inch monitor and have a word processing program (ViaVoice) take up a 17 inch screen. IBM should fix this to allow users to place the text screen where we want it. Also I would like to comment that even though I created the original version of this month's column using ViaVoice, at least half of the text needed to be corrected. Using the program more may improve the accuracy.

APPLE UPDATES DUE
Apple is working on releasing an update of System 9.0. Expected updates to the USB drivers and many other fixes and patches will help OS 9 be more stable and software friendly. There will be a patch to correct problems with certain iBook hard drives creating corruption that destroys the customer's data. This also affects FireWire PowerBooks. Apple announced that it should be out by the end of March. People who are interested in what the article says can go to the Macintosh Technical Information Library (TIL) article number 2513 Apple Technical Training Rumor on the Internet has it that the Apple Tech training product is on hold. This is the product that is supposed train technicians to be Apple qualified to do repairs and troubleshoot computer problems. Those who have tried to purchase the Tech training CD-ROM package have been told that it has been recalled and will be reissued at the end of April. Rumor also has it that the product may actually come out in a cheaper version than its current $299 level.

CHEAP RAM WARNING
If you have a beige G3 watch out for the cheap generic PC 100 RAM. Lots of this RAM is coming out at remarkably low prices and it's quite tempting to buy it because of the price. Unfortu-nately this really cheap PC style RAM does not meet the tolerances that the Macintosh computer actually needs. So make sure to ask what the company's return policy is before you order. If you send the RAM back because it doesn't work for you, they may test it on return. If it passes their test you can be charged a restocking fee of up to 25% of the order cost.

Hard Drive prices An article in PC World reports that lower profits for hard drive manufacturers may affect the cost of your hard drive in the future. I was expecting this to happen with the new ATA (IDE) hard drives coming out; some 40 GB hard drives have been selling for $270. At this price there is no doubt that the drive manufacturers aren't making very much money for the capacity of hard drive they are producing. What tends to happen is that hard drive prices go back up in the short term, until they can discover a way to bring the manufacturing cost down. So some of these sales may be this year's best deals.

REWRITABLE CD-ROMS
Many clients have recently asked about CD-RW (re-writable CD) drives. These drives have become increasingly more affordable on almost a monthly basis. Current costs of these devices range from $350 to $500 depending on what features, and speeds that you are offered with the drive. The "feature" choice for CD drives normally refers to the type of case and what connectors the case has. If you choose a case with a certain style of connectors, such as SCSI 2 connectors that come on a Yamaha case, it could cost you extra money in buying the cables that fit those connectors. SCSI 2 cables cost two or three times the amount normal SCSI cables cost. So if you're going to buy an external CD-RW, ask what type of connectors are on the back of it. Another choice is the software that comes with the drive. There are three or four different types of software that typically are included with Macintosh CD-RW drives. One of the main software packages that comes with these drives is Adaptec's Toast. This is by far the easiest to use software that I have found for the CD-ROM recorders. However the new G4s seem to have problems with Toast 4.0; so you want to keep that in mind when purchasing your product. Adaptec knows of the problem with Toast and promises a fix shortly. Another product that may be included with your CD-ROM burner is Discribe (CharisMac). I know very little about this particular product but many people who have problems with Toast seem to be looking at it as their solution. Another one that is used, but not very well known, is DirectCD. This is usually found on CD software packages from LaCie. I have only used the Toast product but I have been very happy with it on my machines. The second part of purchasing your CD-ROM burner is how fast it really creates a CD-ROM (8X, 12X, 4X). You need to understand that the burning speed is not the same as the playback speed, but it does affect playback. The basic problem here being, if you buy the very latest model, the software it comes with may not even work. So you'll be stuck with a CD-ROM burner with no software for two or three months. My best advice to you is not to worry about having the latest and greatest. What you really want is something that is very stable and will work well over a long period of time. Caveat PowerBook owners, if you have the older slower PowerBooks and I'm talking about anything under the speed of a 3400, you may have alot of trouble getting a CD-ROM to burn even at 2X. G3 PowerBook owners should have no problem providing you have a SCSI port out the back. USB CD-ROM burners seemed to have the most problems of all. Many people report that they cannot get a CD-ROM to reliably burn unless they're burning at 2X. Music CDs burned by USB CD-ROM burners have even more problems than data has. So, if you're considering a CD-ROM USB burner, you may want to wait for the next generation before making that purchase.

NEW ADAPTERS
Belkin, which has produced a lot of USB products for the Macintosh and used to be primarily a PC supplier, is again expanding their line over the next twelve months. Some of the new things to look for around April 1st are a PS/2 adapter and ADB adapter. Later this year they're hoping to release a SCSI adapter, and IrDA adapter and a video/audio capture adapter. And rumor has it that a 56K modem is soon to follow shortly after that. If you'd like to know more you can check out their web site at http://www.belkin.com/.

LOCAL AND PROUD OF IT!
Sometimes it is really surprising to find out that a web site you use is located right here in Portland Oregon. VersionTracker, which is a site that I use every day to check software upgrades and new releases, is indeed one of those sites. So if you're wondering if the software that you have is the current version you may want to go to VersionTracker and do a search on the name of the product. It always amazes me when some of these upgrades happened unannounced. No one from the company that issued the upgrade has bothered to inform the users of their product. Another interesting fact about this web site is that a PMUG member is helping rewrite their web site. So not only is the site a local one, but we have a PMUG member helping make it look spiffy.

PLUG AND PLAY
Let's talk a little bit about USB that is supposed to be plug and play. I have noticed that trying to get a USB Imation Super Drive, MicroTech flash card reader, USB Zip drive, USB game pad, and a USB Wacom tablet to work together is enough to drive one crazy. Many times in order to get my flash card reader to actually work I have to unplug it from the computer and plug it back in. In fact it wouldn't work at all plugged into the USB hub. Almost anything that is USB and does not have its own power supply will want to be plugged directly into the USB port in the back of the computer. Since there are only two of these ports and many peripherals, I suggest you look for peripherals that come with their own power supply. Any-thing that requires power from the USB port will most likely be a problem device. Also until Apple gets a universal USB installer that works with almost everything we're going to be stuck with loading driver after driver after driver into our computers. It's amazing how some devices will work plugged into the side of the USB keyboard and others will tell you there's not enough power to run from that particular port. VST, one of my favorite vendors for many peripheral drives for PowerBooks, makes a USB floppy drive that insists on being plug directly into the computer. Again, this device does not have a external power source and takes its power directly from the USB socket. This means that one of the two ports in the back of your computer is taken up with this drive. On the other hand, the Imation Super Drive and Zip drive (which are both powered) hum right along plugged into the USB hub.

You can reach me at charles@pmug.org.

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