Sewall@UConnVM.BITNET (Murph Sewall) (02/25/91)
VAPORWARE Murphy Sewall From the March 1991 APPLE PULP H.U.G.E. Apple Club (E. Hartford) News Letter $15/year U.S. - $18/year Canadian P.O. Box 18027 East Hartford, CT 06118 Call the "Bit Bucket" (203) 569-8739 Permission granted to redistribute with the above citation These are rumors folks; we reserve the right to be dead wrong! Nutek's Macintosh Motif. Nutek Computers Inc will offer a three chip logic chip set and software that will replicate the Macintosh ROMs and system software. The chip set and software were designed entirely from scratch under 'clean room' conditions without reference to the internal code of the Macintosh operating system or ROMs according to Benjamin Chou, Nutek President. Nutek plans to license the technology to computer makers in much the same way that Phoenix Technologies licenses their IBM clone ROMs. Nutek based computers will have their own "look and feel." Nutek has licensed OSF's Motif interface and removed the Unix and X Window features. Menus and windows sport a three-dimensional look. The menu bar will appear across the top of the active window instead of remaining stationary at the top of the screen. The System 6.x compatible software consists of Nutek versions of System, Finder, and Multifinder. The operating system supports current applications and desk accessories, 32-bit color, and all current third-party peripherals, including large screen displays, according to Chou. The technology should be available in the fourth quarter, and the first computers based on the Nutek's technology could be available in early 1992. - InfoWorld and PC Week 28 January Macintosh OS for Intel Processors? Apple is evaluating a program, known internally as Mac30, to port the Macintosh operating system to Intel's 32-bit microprocessor line (386SX, 386, and 486). Sources indicate the plan calls for Apple to license the operating system and SE/30 ROM BIOS to hardware manufacturers for between $500 and $1,000. The goal would be to increase Apple's share of the operating system market to as much as 30 percent within five years. - InfoWorld 28 January Cross Platform Card Stacks. Oracle Corporation has announced a multiplatform database program that lets card stacks run under both Macintosh and MS-DOS operating systems. Oracle Card for the Mac and for Windows will ship in May for $299 each. Each version of the program will do a "best fit" of fonts and graphics when stacks are passed from one platform to the other. Oracle also plans to build Oracle Card for Open Look, Motif, NeXT Step, and Presentation Manager. - InfoWorld 28 January Cross Platform Compiler. Zortech Inc. plans to offer developers a uniform C++ environment for MS-DOS, Unix, and Macintosh operating systems. An extended DOS version using Phar Lap Software's DOS Extender already is available. A $295 Macintosh version is slated for April release. A $499.95 Unix version is currently in beta test and should be ready for market within the next few months. - PC Week 28 January i486 Compatible RISC Chip. NexGen Microsystems is developing an eight chip set of i486 compatible RISC architecture which is said to offer twice the performance of the Intel original and 50 percent more speed than Sun Microsystems current SPARC CPU. The product is in its final stage of testing and could be released this summer. Computers using the eight chip set and 64-bit NexBus, which has a sustained rate of 150 Mbytes per second, will not be cheap to produce. - PC Week 28 January PM To Go the Way of TopView? Remember TopView, a character based windowing system briefly touted by IBM? It appears that the once similarly promoted Presentation Manager graphical interface will soon be as forgotten (IBM's protests to the contrary not withstanding). Microsoft's latest strategy envisions Windows as the "mainstream operating system." A 32-bit version (Win32) is in the works that also will support preemptive multitasking and threads. OS/2 will be repositioned as the high end operating system for workstations and servers. Because OS/2 version 3.0, also known as "Advanced Windows," will run PM as well as Windows applications, developers are unlikely to see a need for PM specific applications. Industry observers caution that Microsoft's history of operating system development indicates that many more repositioning statements along with clarifications and possibly some retractions (not to mention the passage of considerable time) are likely before a next-generation operating system is available (see next item). - InfoWorld 4 and 11 February and PC Week 4 and 11 February IBM OS/2 Contingency Plan. Apparently Big Blue expects Microsoft's OS/2 3.0 (also referred to as "portable" OS/2 or OS/2 New Technology - see last November's column) to be delayed and has been at work on their own version for more than a year. IBM's portable OS/2 is being developed specifically for the RS/6000 PowerStation line and other high-end architectures. IBM has full license to the Microsoft product and is not committed to shipping its own version which is being developed as a backup. IBM has a license to develop NeXT Step for the RS/6000 platform, but it appears implementation of that idea has vaporized. - PC Week 11 February Commodore AmigaDos 2.0. The last update of the OS found in the A3000, AmigaDos 2.0, has been sent to developers. It looks like 2.0 will be burnt into ROM soon. - found in my electronic mailbox Compaq Selects a RISC CPU. Compaq has decided to build its next generation of servers (see last December's column) around the MIPS R4000 RISC processor chip. Although a formal announcement is not expected until June, the 64-bit R4000 is described as a 50 MHz, 15 MIP CPU with a "super pipelined design." The MIPS RISC chip set also will have a 64K instruction cache and another 64K data cache. The operating system for the Compaq RISC systems is expected to be OS/2 3.0. - PC Week 4 February and InfoWorld 11 February Shirt Pocket PC. Hewlett-Packard and Lotus Development are expected to introduce a featherweight $600 "palmtop" computer next month. Code named "Jaguar," the shirt pocket sized 8088 CPU machine offers a display about the size of a Rolodex card and weighs less than 12 ounces with battery and 1 Mbyte RAM card installed. The machine features 512K of internal memory, Lotus 1-2-3 2.2 and Metro memo pad, appointment book, and calender software loaded into ROM. A serial port and infrared technology will permit users to transfer data to and from desktop machines in addition to using the tiny QWERTY keyboard. - PC Week 4 February Pen-based Macintosh? Apple is said to have laboratory versions of at least six pen-based computer systems. A final design selection is expected in early summer, but it will be 1992 at the earliest before Apple will have a marketable version. - PC Week 4 February IBM Delays 386SX Laptop. Shortages of 60 Mbyte disk drives have forced IBM to put off the introduction of the 7.5 pound Laptop 40SX until late March. The shortage of the same hard drives has limited the availability of Compaq's LTE 386/20. When it is launched, the 20 MHz L40SX will include an internal 2400 baud modem with 9600 bps FAX and an AT-type bus. At the beginning of the year, IBM hoped to offer its system for close to $5,000, but a recent reevaluation of its strategy has raised the expected price to close to $6,000. - PC Week 4 February and InfoWorld 11 February Mac Portable Delayed Too. A RAM addressing problem has forced Apple to delay the planned introduction of a new Macintosh laptop (see January's column). One knowledgeable source inside Apple says there's a 25 percent chance that the $4,200 backlit LCD product (with 2 Mbytes or RAM and a 40 Mbyte hard disk) will be cancelled completely. The 4 pound, $3,000 Mac Companion being developed by Toshiba is still in prospect for September. - PC Week 21 January and MacWorld March Alternative LapMacs. Dynamac, a company that converts Macintosh products to portables, will be producing a $1,299 9.5 inch, backlit flat-panel display for the Mac LC. The product should be ready by the middle of this month. Dynamac also will provide 13.5 pound Mac laptops for $4,995 (68020) and $6,995 (68030). - InfoWorld 21 January Wireless AppleTalk. Apple has petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to set aside specific frequencies for a proposed radio-based LAN. Unlike the similar Motorola wireless network system, Apple's proposal will not require users to obtain an FCC license. - InfoWorld 4 February Remember the IIgs? Although it sometimes seems that Apple has forgotten that it makes the Apple IIgs, the response to the complaint that the new Apple II board for the Macintosh LC doesn't support IIgs programs is "not yet!" On the other hand, in recent years Apple has given beta testers numerous items, including whole systems (the ROM 04 IIgs comes to mind), that the company has subsequently elected not to market. - found in my electronic mailbox New Apple Printers (with Lower Prices). Apple plans to introduce two new, low-end printers on March 11. The four pound, bubble-jet technology StyleWriter will have a small "footprint" and a list price under $600. The Personal LaserWriter LS will list for under $1,300. The LaserWriter LS will not be upgradeable to PostScript, but will use a custom chip to compress and decompress page images in order to speed printing and will accept data via the serial port (also in the interest of faster throughput). Both the StyleWriter and LaserWriter LS will use True Type technology (expected to ship at the same time). Apple is said to be planning to release True Type fonts ahead of System 7.0 via an INIT for the current operating system. - PC Week 4 February and InfoWorld 11 February Solid-Ink Color Printer Dataproducts Corporation plans to introduce two solid-ink color printers this summer. The major advantage of these printers over current thermal transfer printers is that they can print on any kind of paper. The Dataproducts Jolt printer line is expected to start at about $5,000 (approximately $1,000 less than similar color thermal printers - see last month's column). - PC Week 11 February 17 Page Per Minute LaserJet. Hewlett-Packard plans to be one page faster than the competition with a $5,200 17 page per minute printer targeted for network users. The 300 dot per inch LaserJet IIIsi will offer users a choice of Token Ring or Ethernet connectivity. - PC Week 21 January Plug and Play Hard Drive. Jasmine Technologies should already be out with a 20 Mbyte portable 2.5 inch hard drive about the size of a portable cassette player which draws its power from a micro's SCSI connector. The company hopes to have 40 and 80 MByte versions available by the third quarter. - MacWorld March 100 MHz i486. Intel intends to compete with RISC chip makers by introducing a 100 MHz version of its i486 chip by the end of this year or early next year. System designers may have some difficulty taking advantage of the CPU's capabilities. At that clock speed, RAM would need to be in the 10 nanosecond range and caches would have to be about twice that fast. Today's 32-bit bus designs represent another potential bottleneck. - PC Week 21 January Low Cost i486. Intel plans to market two, lower cost 20 MHz versions of the i486 processor (see January's column). The P23 will be an i486 without at math coprocessor at a price of about $250. The $350 P23N will have the internal math coprocessor. Systems based on the chips are expected to run faster than 33 MHz 80386 PCs for about the same price. Computers using these CPUs could be available by this summer. - PC Week 11 February Even Smaller Footprint Hard Drives. The Small Form Factor Committee, which includes the major CPU and hard disk drive manufacturers, has agreed that the next generation of drives should use a 48 mm (1.8 inch) disk and fit into a case with external dimensions smaller than 54 mm (2.16 inches). The drives, which will cost approximately $30 per megabyte, should support up to 200 Mbyte capacity by the middle of the 1990's. - PC Week 28 January IBM Puts Its Signature on Word Processing. IBM and Xyquest are preparing to release a word processor named Signature (see last January's column) which will be file compatible with both DisplayWrite 5 and XyWrite III Plus. The DOS-based version should ship during the second quarter with a Windows version due later this year followed by an eventual OS/2 PM version. - PC Week and InfoWorld 4 February PostScript II. Adobe has licensed Storm PicturePress JPEG image compression software. Adobe is expected to incorporate a custom version of PicturePress's technology into PostScript II. - MacWorld March Hayes LAN. Modem maker Hayes Microproducts has announced a network operating system designed for small work groups. The primary selling point for the DOS-based LAN with a character and icon driven user interface (also includes mouse support) is ease of setup and use. The basic five user package will become available this month with an expander packages for up to 128 users and 255 workstations shipping in April. - PC Week 11 February WordPerfect for Windows Delayed. WordPerfect won't fulfill its previously announced plan to ship WordPerfect for Windows during the first quarter of this year. Some analysts are skeptical that the company can meet its second quarter deadline. Amy Wohl, of Wohl Associates, a consulting firm, is of the opinion that "WordPerfect can get WP for Windows shipped in the second quarter if there are 48 days in June." - PC Week 4 February Wordstar for Windows. Wordstar International has acquired the source code to Legacy, a Windows-based word processor, from NBI Inc. Wordstar intends to merge Legacy's code with its own technology and create Wordstar for Windows 1.0 by the end of this year. - InfoWorld 28 January Quattro Pro 3.0. Even though version 2.0 shipped only last fall, Borland has sent its answer to Lotus 1-2-3 version 3.1 and Excel version 3.0 to beta testers. Quattro Pro 3.0 boasts enhanced WSYWIG capabilities and will run both with and without Windows 3.0. - InfoWorld 4 February