Macworld, A Third Party Superstar

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The most exciting innovations

Main Article Text

Thirty-five new products compatible with HyperCard, almost a hundred innovative software programs, and about fifty hardware announcements filled the stands at MacWorld Expo 88, held last month in San Francisco. Apple Computer showed with highly energetic contributions, but equally present were third parties that have competed to entice the more than 30,000visitors. The participation of edp personnel increased by twenty-five percent, giving the event an increased corporate tone. As witnessed by the announcement of the new printers LasrWriter II (of which PCWeek wrote in issue, n. 1 of 21 January 1988) and Musical instruments digital interface, in addition to new connectivity products , (listed in the Section of the same name of this issue), Apple has pointed out what will be its main objectives for the year 1988: to provide Macintosh with advanced peripherals and to reach a high degree of integration with IBM and Digital. This year, probably, will also see a significant increase of Apple activities in Europe. At the precise time of this writing, the majority of Apple Computer staff of Italy and its distributors are located in Saint Vincent for a continental summit; furthermore starting from next May 9 to May 11 there will be held in Rotterdam, the first European edition of MacWorld Expo, which will include the participation of over 200 exhibitors. In these three pages, we will see the most significant American MacWorld ads. Limiting the list to the most prominent objects, we have the new AppleShare software, Lotus Modern Jazz, Page Maker 3.0 for LaserWriter II, Omnis 3 Plus with SQL functions, Double Helix II, WriteNow 2.0, Microsoft Mail, and PowerPoint, Illustrator 88, the cards and color video monitor for Mac II, the Claris package, Acknowledge and Radius Accelerator 25 a card accelerator. AppleShare is an Apple product that transforms the Macintosh Plus Se or Mac II in a dedicated file server for AppleTalk networks. The package also exists in a version for MS-DOS, allowing AppleTalk networking capabilities of the hybrid type, where the IBM machines coexist with Apple systems. Lotus Jazz Modern Jazz enhances the functionality of the original Jazz and offers a connection to HyperCard. Microsoft Mail and PowerPoint are, respectively, mail packages for AppleTalk and software for the production of slides on personal computers. Radius Accelerator 25 is a card accelerator for Macintosh equipped with a 68020 MHz microprocessor, which will be available in March for the cost of $ 1,220. There are four products that are familiar to Mac users and do not need to be further introduced, PageMaker 3.0 (desktop publishing), Omnis 3 Plus and Double Helis II (database), WriteNow (word processing), while, for Illustrator, Claris, Acknowledge and the video cards for Pac II, we have dedicated more detailed descriptions in this and the next two pages.

Roberto Mazzoni