[comp.sys.mac] Tidbits from InfoWorld

chuq@plaid.Sun.COM (Chuq Von Rospach) (05/03/88)

I don't normally read InfoWorld, but since there has been some discussion
of Mac IPC recently, the headline on the 5/2 issue ("Mac OS to Support Links
Between Applications") caught my eye, so I borrowed a copy.

There are some interesting tidbits I thought I'd pass along.

o Apple's developing a set if interprocess communication procedures for
	release about a year from now. Something on the order of a smart
	clipboard.

o With system release 7.0 (6.0 is due to be released any time, 7.0 this 
	winter? maybe?) multifinder will be the default, "replacing the
	finder". 

	[does this mean that finder functionality gets merged into MF
	and the finder process goes away? who knows....]

	Also, the likely minimum memory configuration supported with this
	release will be 2Meg. They better hope SIMM prices drop.... You've
	been warned, start planning that memory upgrade now, folks. you're
	going to want it....

o On other fronts, Think Technologies has taken some ribbing on the net 
	for the early publication of their LightSpeed C ad in MacTutor.
	This was actually done, without authorization, by the Ad Agency.

	Well, Think's fired their ad agency for it. Which gives you an
	idea what Think thinks of vaporware. [Congrats to Think for holding
	to their ethics. Clap, clap, clap, clap.....]

o Microsoft seems to be worried about FullWrite Professional (I wonder
	why...). Microsoft is negotiating to ship a copy of SuperPaint with
	each copy of Word 4.0 (they haven't announce 4.0, but...)

	[Interesting marketing touch. SuperPaint is about to be replaced
	(mid-summer) with SuperPaint2, which looks like it's going to go
	up against Illustrator and FreeHand. If they start shipping
	SuperPaint with Word, Silicon Beach continues to get a revenue
	stream from the older program, and if they allow a reduced price
	upgrade to the more powerful program....

	Word wins by getting a good graphic program to fight FWP's graphic
	capabilities. Silicon Beach gets new life for an old program, and
	a chance to convince folks to upgrade to their newer one. End-users
	win,because they get SuperPaint as part of the package.

	And if you thought Microsoft had the word processing market
	sewed up, you can think again... Microsoft doesn't seem to be taking
	any chances....]

Now, go start putting money away for that memory upgrade....



Chuq Von Rospach			chuq@sun.COM		Delphi: CHUQ

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jwhitnel@csi.UUCP (Jerry Whitnell) (05/04/88)

In article <51612@sun.uucp> chuq@plaid.Sun.COM (Chuq Von Rospach) writes:
>There are some interesting tidbits I thought I'd pass along.
>
>o With system release 7.0 (6.0 is due to be released any time, 7.0 this 
>	winter? maybe?) multifinder will be the default, "replacing the
>	finder". 
>
>	[does this mean that finder functionality gets merged into MF
>	and the finder process goes away? who knows....]

The other possiblity is that MultiFinder will be murged with System
and eventually move into the ROMs.  I hope the Finder process still
exists as a seperate process so I can delete the damn thing like I do
now.

>	Also, the likely minimum memory configuration supported with this
>	release will be 2Meg. They better hope SIMM prices drop.... You've
>	been warned, start planning that memory upgrade now, folks. you're
>	going to want it....

Possibly, although they may listen to the screams of the users and make
Finder Quit-able (Apple listen to users? Naaah, never happen :-).

>o On other fronts, Think Technologies has taken some ribbing on the net 
>	for the early publication of their LightSpeed C ad in MacTutor.
>	This was actually done, without authorization, by the Ad Agency.
>
>	Well, Think's fired their ad agency for it. Which gives you an
>	idea what Think thinks of vaporware. [Congrats to Think for holding
>	to their ethics. Clap, clap, clap, clap.....]

Heard this from Think employees so it must be true.  Think is one of the
few companies that I'm will to give my money to, since they have good
products and honestly care about their users.  As opposed to most companies
that just care about their user's money.

>
>o Microsoft seems to be worried about FullWrite Professional (I wonder
>	why...). Microsoft is negotiating to ship a copy of SuperPaint with
>	each copy of Word 4.0 (they haven't announce 4.0, but...)

Microsoft, on the other hand, is one of the many companies I hate giving
money to.

>
>Now, go start putting money away for that memory upgrade....

The nice thing about having 5 mbs in my Mac II is that I don't have
to add more memory for at least another year :-).

>
>Chuq Von Rospach			chuq@sun.COM		Delphi: CHUQ


Jerry Whitnell				Been through Hell?
Communication Solutions, Inc.		What did you bring back for me?
						- A. Brilliant

rce229@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (05/04/88)

> Also, the likely minimum memory configuration supported with this
> release will be 2Meg. They better hope SIMM prices drop.... You've
> been warned, start planning that memory upgrade now, folks. you're
> going to want it....

Forgetting prices, are SIMMs even available yet?  When I bought my
Mac SE I wanted 2.5Mb but the chips were available nowhere.  Has
the shortage ended yet?

Rob Elliott
 

jmunkki@santra.UUCP (Juri Munkki) (05/08/88)

In article <51612@sun.uucp> chuq@plaid.Sun.COM (Chuq Von Rospach) writes:
>	Also, the likely minimum memory configuration supported with this
>	release will be 2Meg. They better hope SIMM prices drop.... You've
>	been warned, start planning that memory upgrade now, folks. you're
>	going to want it....
>Now, go start putting money away for that memory upgrade....

I have a Mac II with 2MB RAM and I'm not planning to upgrade the RAM, when
I run out of memory. The 68851 exists at least on the local apple pricelist
and the student/developer price is not too high. I have about 16 MB of free
space on my HD and I'd be willing to put aside about 4 to 8MB as a swap space.

I don't think writing a simple virtual memory system would be too hard. I
am not familiar with the 68851, so I might be wrong... If the MMU supports
running in the virtual memory space while the processor is in supervisor
mode, installing a simple page swapper as an INIT doesn't seem too hard. If
the processor has to be in the user mode, some extra stuff would have to be
patched. Of course if I did this myself (or someone else outside apple did it),
I wouldn't be able to do any protection.

So, when is Apple going to use the 68851? It shouldn't be too hard to do.

Juri Munkki
jmunkki@santra.hut.fi
jmunkki@fingate.bitnet

P.S.	Is there a way to send mail to Delphi? (the digestible one :-)

fleishman-glenn@CS.YALE.EDU (Glenn Fleishman) (05/10/88)

In article <111900024@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu> rce229@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu writes:
>> (Quoting someone else -- Chuq von Rospach?)
>> Also, the likely minimum memory configuration supported with this
>> release will be 2Meg. They better hope SIMM prices drop.... You've
>> been warned, start planning that memory upgrade now, folks. you're
>> going to want it....
>
>Forgetting prices, are SIMMs even available yet?  When I bought my
>Mac SE I wanted 2.5Mb but the chips were available nowhere.  Has
>the shortage ended yet?
>
>Rob Elliott
> 
And along similar lines, how much can one expect to pay for an upgrade?
I have a 1Meg MacPlus and would like to expand to 2Meg or 2.5Meg. Any
thoughts on prices, best people to deal with, things to avoid?

Glenn I. Fleishman, graphic designer & Mac apologist
FLEGLEI@YALEVM.BITNET or through r/Reply  
"Andy Warhol lives. I think. Maybe not."