sakw@cvaxa.sussex.ac.uk (Sak Wathanasin) (07/31/86)
Category: 1 MAC Information
Message #: 1168
Submitted: 07/25/86 7:08
Submitted by: KEITH LANDER
Subject: Problem with Watch Cursor
Just a note for the unwary. If you write a program that uses the watch cursor
then don't assume (as I did) that you can get a handle to it during
program initialization, mark it as unpurgeable and carry on. I discovered
that the system occasionally marks it as purgeable (typically when the
"please insert disc..." alert is displayed) so that it pretty soon vanishes
leaving you with a dud handle.(and
Category: 1 MAC Information
Message #: 1171
Submitted: 07/25/86 13:04
Submitted by: STEVE MANSER
Subject: Sculley talks/MS-Word 3.0 for Mac
Hi All,
Just another quick snippette about things. Its seems that Microsoft
will within the next 2-3 months release MS-Word 3.0 for the Mac & Mac+
bringing the Mac MS-Word up to the full spec of the Word for the IBM of
course it will be a lot better that the IBM version. Its quite interesting
on the IBM blurb I saw for MS-Word it said things like 'actually shows
bold and underlined text on screen' wow and gasp I thought. Then I
remembered that to some computer users this sort of thing is the greatest
thing since sliced bread. This is when you realise that there are some
features on the Mac that make up for a slow screen scroll and longer waits
for a printout than you get on an IBM.
It will have an outline processor similar to Thinktank and a
spelling checker built in also it will have an auto-index creation utility.
This sounds to me like it could make a bit more of a dent in MacAuthor
market than the current version has. The only thing that may hold it back
for most of us is the price tag of #395. Oh well everything has its
drawsback however much we wish it hadnt.
Well everyone is still pensively awaiting the new Apple //x and as I
understand it Apple UK are going to be putting together a show for it. One
senior Apple spokesman in the states said that 'Apple are going to be
releasing more new products in the next six months than they have in their
entire 8 year history. So watch out for the market to make a few changes.
It seems that the new Apple centre scheme is going great guns and that
Mr Sculley has been very impressed by the increased market penetration these
stores have given Apple UK and that if the sales kept on going at the same
rate the AppleCentre idea would be taken from the UK and put into practice
all over the world.
The quote of the year for me comes from Roger Foster, chairman of
Apricot UK. He says and I really still can't believe it, and I quote 'In a
period of relative stagnation, Apple did the right thing in concentrating on goo
d
cash flow and profits rather than growth'. Ok that bit uas quite
reasonable I bet he wished he had done the same rather than trying to break into
the US market and oust Apple Ha ha ha. Anyway he then continues 'And a
lot of credit is due to Sculley, who has managed the company extremely well'
high praise indeed eh Mr Sculley. 'I dont see Sculley's entrepreneurial flair
will impact much on Apple in Europe. I dont see it as a threat to Apricot,
for example, though I would expect Apple to do well in the US. Foster then
goes on to cite a number of reasons for this. He says 'there is room for only
one competitor of IBM in the personal computer sector in each local market.
Apple occupies this position in the US elsewhere it has already been filled'.
By Apricot one would imagine. He then goes on to cite the Olivetti company
as being in second place in Italy and Apricot second to IBM in the UK.
This seems to me to be total fantasy and Mister Foster seems totally
unaware of the particular market percentages in the UK. Maybe he should have
a look, I sure if he did he would see that Apricot's market percentage has
made some interesting changes in the last few months as compared to Apple's
generally which seems to be on the rise.
Sculley does go on to say some interesting things on his views on
IBM. "IBM is perhaps the best corporation in the world. It intimidates
and frightens competitors . But I look at the situation with enthusiasm,
because I dont see Apple trying to get into a collision with IBM. Rather,
we'll be creators of new markets and well get more than our fair share of
growth out of those markets".
You hear people in the IBM world say how badly Mac people are
being ripped off in terms of the price of the Mac. Then you see people
with their Ataris and Amigas and you know that compared to the Macs
mature design these machines are mere children. If you have ever used an
Atari or an Amiga you will know the shortcommings of GEM and TOS and the
modified Tripos on the Amiga. As far as Im concerned the Mac really does
have the lead here the machine just has a much more professional and stable
feel specially now the finder 5.3 and system 3.2 are here. Also with the
dropping price of things such as hard disks and other peripherals(Hopefully
modems soon eh!!).
Regards,
Steve Manser
PS Could anyone tell me when the Boston Computerworld show is on as I want
to go but I need to book the tickets quite desparately if you know what I
MEAN!!.
Category: 1 MAC Information
Message #: 1172
Submitted: 07/25/86 15:53
Submitted by: JOHN HILL
Subject: MacDraw Again!!
I have just noticed something in MacDraw1.7 that I did not know about (it may
be in the documentation, I have not checked).
If you select an object - such as a box, or a line - and then type, the text
forms a Paragraph in a column the width of the object - this is well known.
What I did not know is that if you select SEVERAL objects, either by
shift-click or by marquee, and type, the text column width is defined by the
outer limits of the outermost object(s). This works when the objects are
seperate as well as when they have been grouped.
The only use I can think of for this is to enter text between a pair of
vertical lines with open tops and bottoms. But someone may find it useful in
other ways.
Readers may remember that I was fretting (eg News item 1050) about the font and
style ticked in the MacDraw font menus, and their apparent inconsistency with
multiple selected text entities. I think I've got it sussed out now.
There seem to be three levels of font selection in MacDraw:
a) The "Current Font (and Style)" can be selected from the menu when no text
object is selected. This is the font/style which is ticked UNLESS a single
text object is selected, OR the text (T) tool is selected AND the cursor is
within a text object.
b) The "Text Object Font (and Style)" is that ticked on the menus when a single
text object is selected OR the text tool is selected AND the cursor is
within a text object. When the font or style of a single object is changed,
the ticked font and style remain as just selected if the menu is re-examined
immediately afterwards (and as long as the same text object remains
selected), but the current font and style of (a) are not changed.
c) "Multiple Text Object Font/Style Selection". If more than one text object
has been selected, they will all change to a font or style selected from the
menus - but the menus will show the font and style of (a) both before and
after the new selection is made.
It was the last of these three that had me baffled, especially as it is rather
different from the equivalent in MacWrite - the menus there only show ticks
against the font or style of the selected text if it is all the same; no
tick appears where the selected text includes more than one font or style (or
size).
All this may be common knowledge, of course, and I apologise to readers who
knew it all already. I have not gone into the niceties of left, middle or right
alignment, etc., but have left that as an exercise for the reader; I expect the
same rules will apply.
John Hill.
(A couple of blank lines have crept into this - but I can't edit them out, since
they only appear as single lines (nos. 24 and 31) in the editor. Perhaps Sysop
could oblige??
J.
Category: 1 MAC Information
Message #: 1200
Submitted: 07/28/86 12:12
Submitted by: SYSOP
Subject: Plessey and "Macs Well"!
PLESSEY CHOOSE APPLE MACINTOSH.
Although it had been a rumour for a long time, it is now confirmed
- Plessey have become Apple Dealers. The new dealership will concentrate
on winning Macintosh sales from Government, Institutional and Corporate
customers.
The dealership will be fully operational by the autumn. Peter Falconer
the Marketing executive for the dealership said that,
RWe see the Macintosh as an excellent system for corporate users.
We believe it is an outstanding addition to our portfolio.S
In addition Plessey are to buy hundreds of Macintoshes for its
own internal desktop computing needs. Prof. William Gosling of Plessey
said that "Our engineers, designers, accountants, marketing and
sales functions will all be encouraged to use the Macintosh. We have
evaluated most maojor microcomputing systems available in the
market place and have determined that the unique features of
the Macintosh make it an ideal system for our varied requirements."
Much of the software for the Mac is proven and is suitable for
many of Plesseys requirements. Ease of use and cost saving in
training are significant.
APPLE SUPPORTS EDINBURGH COMMONWEALTH GAMES
Despite the gigantic presence of Mirror publisher Mr Maxwell (Macs Well?)
at the games, Desktop publishing has flourished. A "Village View"
newspaper is produced daily by students and lecturers of the Print Media
department of Edinburgh's Napier College. They use Macintoshes and
Pagemaker of course, helped by McQueens who distribute Pagemaker.
Students collect material during the day, pipe them from their
Macs in the Games Village to McQueens (using modems and BT lines)
where they are Pagemakered and sent to the printers for distribution
with the athletes corn flakes, the following morning.
McQueens have opened up another full scale Apple Centre, focussing of
course on Desktop publishing. McQueens were founded in 1890 (yes, not
1980!!) and have changed completely in the last ten years under their
present management, from a small family printing
company to the present computer based, desktop
publishing concern.
--
Sak Wathanasin, U of Sussex, Cognitive Studies, Falmer, Sussex BN1 9QN, UK
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