SHAREWARE NEWS
July 1997
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This month's Free Sample Shareware is no longer available.
Chipmunk Basic 3.5.2
Chipmunk Basic is a freeware old-fashioned Basic Interpreter,
accelerated for the PowerMac, yet still compatible with old 68k Macs
running System 6. Features include support for a simple sprite
graphics engine, sound, MacinTalk speech, MacTCP, AppleScript,
Drag&Drop and OOP programming.
Delete Web Caches 2.0
This AppleScript program will get rid of your Netscape and
Internet Explorer cache folders and replace them with folders of the
same name. It will then delete the log files for these two programs
as well as Anarchie, Fetch and Eudora and other programs. If you
study the code, you'll discover ways to delete other caches as well.
Desktop_Picture.jpg
This JPEG picture makes a lovely desktop pattern for your Mac.
Light blue in color, with the smiling Mac theme, it reminds you why
Macintosh is so much more pleasant to work with than fragmenting
windows falling out of the clouds. Free
ErrorFinder 1.0b1
ErrorFinder for Macintosh Version 1.0 is a simple program
designed to give a brief description of the meaning of all those
error codes that pop up from time to time. Free beta.
Excalibur 2.4
Excalibur is a Macintosh spelling checker for LaTeX documents.
You can optionally turn off LaTeX parsing, so Excalibur is a good
plain text spelling checker too. Free
OTSwitcher 1.0 (Demo Version)
OTSwitcher is a Control Strip module that allows you to quickly
switch Open Transport's TCP/IP and OT/PPP configurations. It will
work with either Apple's Control Strip or Ammon Skidmore's Extension
Strip. The Control Strip can also be used to select different OT/PPP
configurations. If you connect to more than one ISP, or use alternate
numbers with an ISP, you can create a configuration for each and
quickly change which is selected from the Control Strip. $1
PPP Menu 2.0
The new name for FreePPP Menu, it provides
Program Switcher v4.3.1
Program Switcher is a convenient timesaving control panel that
allows you to switch between the applications running on your System
7 or greater Macintosh via a simple two-key keystroke. It was
inspired by the same function found in "Windows," but has been
improved and transformed into a unique and fully configurable control
panel that makes switching applications on the Macintosh as simple as
pressing a couple of keys. $10
QPict 2.2
QPict is a graphics browser/viewer. It helps you organize and
find graphics on your harddisk, CD-rom etc. The viewer part can
currently display PICT, JPEG, GIF and Startupscreen file formats. All
other filetypes are supported by using helper applications. You use
QPict to organize your graphics the same way you organize files in
the Finder by using drag and drop. $30
Squishy Pack
Squishy Pack is a set of four Kaleidoscope color schemes, and
three Desktop Pattern clippings to enhance your Mac OS windows and
desktop. The four color schemes are variations of the original
Squishy, and were created in response to requests from some people
who found the original's yellow text and highlights a bit too bright.
Free
Synk 2.2.2
Synk is a backup/synchronization program that can resolve aliases
and archive old files. It runs on all Macintoshes except Mac Plus,
Classic and PowerBook 100. You can backup a folder full of aliases,
making it simple to modify your backup or synchronization strategy by
dropping file or folder aliases into the defined folder. It is just
as easy to distribute synchronized files throughout a PowerBook's
hard drive by synchronizing two folders containing aliases. Any
number of file types, creators and file endings may be skipped.
Obsolete files and folders can be archived into a folder. $10
TCP CC 1.1.1
This simple control strip module is for use with Open Transport and
allows one to change between TCP/IP configurations without going
through the control panel. If you have more than one way to connect
to the Internet with your Mac (like PPP and Ethernet), you should
make configurations for each method and switch between configurations
instead of changing the setting in the default configuration. $3
Twilight
Twilight is a color scheme for Greg Landweber's Kaleidoscope 1.5
to1.6 control panel, and it was created for everyone who likes
sunsets and pastel colors. It will not work in the older Kaleidoscope
1.0 or 1.0.1 versions. Twilight includes custom-designed system
folders, and a Twilight trash bag written into the scheme. The author
also included an extra loose Twilight folder with desktop textures.
$5
A warning from Michael Lowry:
The Microsoft Internet Configuration Wizard that accompanies MSIE 3.01 changed my OT/PPP configuration without asking or warning me; it overwrote the existing configuration's telephone number, login name and password.
If you install Mac OS 7.6.1 and setup a RAM disk, then try to shut the system down, the screen goes blank, and the system freezes on some Macs. Apple is working on a solution which will be available in Mac OS 8. In the meantime, downgrading to Mac OS 7.6 will resolve this. At the point where the freeze occurs, it is safe to turn off the computer.
My new job means supporting folx on WINDOZ (boo, hiss) as well as Macs. I am amazed at how much insite I get on the Mac by looking at Windoz. And how much common mistakes are NOT peculiar to either platform. Take data entry...
(No, YOU take data entry - this has GOT to be some of the least user-friendly work you can do on a nice desktop computer like a mac. But SOMEBODY has to do it!)
Customer called today and complained that the password entry dialog does not work - keeps telling her that her login is invalid. But I dug a bit: "What did you do, can you do it now?" "Ok, here is the dialog, I am putting my user-ID in the user-ID field. Bingo! there is the warning: Invalid...." "Slow down! You didn't get to enter the password, did you?" "No" "Go back, enter the user-ID and DON'T HIT RETURN!" "OK" "Now, hit tab until you get to the password field" "OK - it didn't warn me yet" "Now type in the password" "OK" "Hit return" "Hooray! It accepted it this time!"
Typical Data Entry programs allow you to tab between fields. Often a RETURN tells the program that data entry is finished. Wouldn't it be nice if these were standard rules? They are not. Sometimes RETURN works, sometimes not. But next time something goes wrong, try TAB instead. Most important, learn the rules which come with the package.
And write down your password in a safe place!
Like I say - I learn a lot about Macs by using Windoz. One advantage of Windoz (or disadvantage) is that when you make the last window go away, the program does, too. On the Mac, if you make the last window go away, everything still is running in background. Just look under the app menu (the icon in the right end of the menu bar). VERY common mistake of Mac users - assuming that it aint running if it aint visible. I call that dinosaur mentality - out of sight, out of mind.
To quit a background application with no open windows, switch to it in the app menu, then quit with command-Q or Quit on the File menu.
My choices, only. These do NOT include beta releases. You might check out Version Tracker for more.
APPLE
5500-6500 L2 Cache Disable
CFM-68K 4.0
MacPPP 2.5.3
QuickDraw 3D 1.5.1
Adobe Illustrator 7.0 - now shipping
Connectix Speed Doubler 1.3.3 - for those still using the 1.x version
Connectix Virtual PC 1.0 - software to turn your mac into a Windoz machine.
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other sources credited where known. Trademark credits, where omitted, remain with their owners - updated 18 Jan 98 |
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