Fourth Quarter, 1993

President's Column

Happy holidays and welcome to the second edition of our electronic user's group newsletter. I'm happy to report that the magic of electronic mail has allowed the user's group to add well over 100 new readers at AlliedSignal locations from Tokyo to Europe. We've gotten behind sending out the new member materials but please be patient -- we'll get it working early next year.

Our first electronic issue had a few growing pains. We intended to publish the newsletter in a format with a self-contained reader so that it could be read without having to use a separate application. Unfortunately, the file became corrupted and no one was able to open the file to read. A revised newsletter in MS Word format was sent as soon as the problem was discovered. If this should ever happen again, please wait a few days before trying to contact us since we'll probably already be working on the problem.

MacWorld Expo

MacWorld is the Macintosh industry's largest trade show and is expect to draw well over 60,000 attendees to San Francisco, January 5-8, 1994. The show is exciting with the latest in Mac technology, the broad spectrum of Macintosh products and even great show specials. There are also a hundred of conference sessions covering everything Mac including beginners sessions, Mac in education, software development, and how to market a Mac product. Apple and other companies often uses MacWorld as a forum for new announcements and releases.

This year, ASACMUG will have at least eight members attending at their own expense. Most of the eight have attended before and will agree that its a worth while event. Two members will represent ASACMUG at the Apple Users Group Connection meeting which will feature Apple's new electronic information service similar to AppleLink, America On-line and CompuServe. Although the members attend on their own, they usually spend significant time researching possible solutions for AlliedSignal problems and issues. I personally urge anyone who can attend plan to attend. See the article on MacWorld for more information. (By the way, if you decide to attend - we'll be staying at the Travelodge at Fishermen's Wharf -- please contact Mike Quan if you want to attend the ASACMUG dinner.)

See you at MacWorld!

Table of Contents

Coming Soon -- PowerPC Macs

The Macintosh will be 10 years old next month. It has not only come a long way, it has also almost come to the end of a part of its life cycle and is about to become reborn. Production of a new series of Macintoshes is about to begin which will not use the Motorola 68000 family of processors (CPU). The new processor is the PowerPC which uses a reduced instruction set and was developed by IBM and Motorola. The chip is already in used by IBM in their own series of computers. The new processor is a serious threat to Intel's line of 80X86 processors and offers the prospects of higher performance, lower costs, and the ability to run Mac, Windows, and other operating systems. The next 12-18 months may drastically alter the personal computer industry.

Although the PowerPC will be featured in next month's newsletter, here's a few "facts". The PowerPC Mac will initially be about three times faster than current Macs at about the same price. It can run most existing Macintosh software and even Microsoft's Window's based software in emulation mode at speeds comparable to a Centris 610 or a 486/33mhz PC compatible. Applications that are ported to the new platform (which will include Word, Excel, Canvas) will have advantage of a 3X speed increase over the fastest Macs and PCs today. The PowerPC processor is comparable to the Intel Pentium at the same clock speed but the chip costs half as much, is half the size, and dissipates half the power. Reports by developer claim that a PowerPC Mac actually run graphics based applications 50%faster than an equal clock speed Pentium indicating that the speed is the same but the architecture is more efficient.

MacWorld Expo 1994

The Expo (mentioned in the previous page) is a chance for Mac enthusiasts to reaffirm the fact that the Macintosh is the premier personal computer in the world, meet with top Apple executives, deal with corporate sales managers from hundreds of companies like Claris, Microsoft, and Adobe, talk shop with programmers, demo and test software, and meet ordinary people who have made Macintosh a part of their lives. Last but not least, it is a fun show to attend.

Between the first 128K and the upcoming PowerPC machines, the Mac has been the source of many innovations -- built-in displays, 3-1/2 inch floppy disks, 24-bit color, a graphical user interface, uniform look-and-feel between applications, built-in networking, plug-and-play, long filenames, desktop publishing, and many other features only now being implemented on other computer platforms.

This upcoming MacWorld Expo is significant because it marks the 10th anniversary of the Macintosh. In that short time, the Mac has evolved from a small toaster-like machine (sans cooling fan!) to the imminent release of PowerPC Macs, which promise performance levels unheard of on the desktop, exceeding even the upcoming Pentium processor. The first decade, coupled with the first year of Newton, promise to make this MacWorld Expo an interesting one.

The Expo will be held in Moscone Center in San Francisco (see map). Show hours are from 10am to 6pm on Jan 5-8. Registration is $40 for exhibits only and $150 for both exhibits and conferences. This is San Francisco's largest convention, so it may be hard to get accommodations unless you reserve a few months in advance. It is a show worth going to at least once, and this author will be attending his sixth Expo.

There is at least one MacWorld Expo being held somewhere in the world every month, although the San Francisco (January) and Boston (August) shows are the largest in terms of attendance and floor space. If you cannot make it in 1994, maybe 1995 will give you a chance. If you are going, you may want to go to the information booth at the show and page Mike Quan or leave a message at the MUGWUMP (a meeting place for user groups); there will be an ASACMUG get-together during show hours and a dinner on one of the nights.

See you at the show!

A Trip Through the System Folder

Almost every Mac user knows what the System Folder is -- it's the folder where all the important files are kept that the Mac needs to perform it's job, whether it's opening a new document, accessing a shared Mac, or playing a sound. On most Macs, it's simply called "System Folder", although it can be any name you want.

Most users don't know or care what is in the System Folder. It can be messy or neat, but what makes it Mac-like is that it works a much better than having to mess around with AUTOEXEC.BAT or WIN.INI files. Click-and-drag is very simple.

With a little bit of knowledge, you can poke around in the System Folder and fine tune your Mac -- speed it up a bit, reset some applications, or customize to your heart's content. We will assume that you have a version of System 7 running. If you have System 6, an upgrade is recommended, even if you have to get more RAM; only those with older Macs (Plus, SE) should think carefully before upgrading.

What's in the System Folder?

A System Folder is created when you install or reinstall system software. The installation process places at least five major folders (six if you have System 7.1) and two files -- System and Finder.

The System File

The System file contains crucial information required by the Mac to operate, such as bug fixes, basic definitions used by all Mac programs (menu bars, windows, icons, sounds, etc), and information on how the software will operate the hardware. Since there are so many Mac models out there, a System file for a IIsi will be very different than one for a Centris 610. Thus, it is recommended to install only from installation disks; never copy a System file from one machine to another.

The Finder

The Finder file is the program that manages files and disk access. It is what Mac users use when they are not using a program like Word or FileMaker. The Finder has many abilities -- it can delete files, find files, classify files, and restart or shutdown the Mac. The Finder is so intuitive that nothing more needs to be said about it, although System 7's Balloon Help has a nice feature that shows all the keyboard shortcuts associated with the Finder.

There may also be additonal files in the System Folder. You can have a Clipboard file, which contains the last item cut or copied; NotePad and Scrapbook files when you use the Notepad or Scrapbook desk accessories (DA).

Folders in the System Folder

The five/six major folders affect the Macs operation on different levels.

The Startup Items folder is only used when the Mac is first started (or restarted); it opens the items in this folder in alphabetical order. It doesn't have to be an application but can be a document, a sound, or even a file server; usually, aliases are placed here since the actual items are better placed outside the System Folder.

The Apple Menu Items folder contains the list of items displayed under the Apple Menu. Before System 7, only DAs could be placed here. With System 7, almost anything can be under the Apple menu for quick access. Like the Startup Items folder, it is better to place aliases in this folder rather than the actual files/folders. Think how huge the System Folder would become if every application were placed under the Apple Menu!!

The Control Panels folder contains small programs that control various aspects of the Mac. You use control panels to set your desktop pattern, define a beep sound, setup your Mac for file sharing, and many other things.

The Extensions folder has files that control your Mac at a lower level than Control Panels. These files usually do not have a user interface and are generally loaded at startup; they are known as device drivers for those familiar with PCs. It lets the Mac know how to talk to printers, scanners, hard disks, and other peripherals. This folder also allows you to extend the capabilities of your Mac --QuickTime and PlainTalk are two examples.

The Preferences folder contains preferences for all the programs you use. Well written applications should not modify anything in the System Folder except for the preference file(s) for that specific application.

For those with System 7.1, the Fonts folder contains various bitmapped and TrueType fonts, either as single documents or grouped in suitcases. If you add or delete a font, an application must quit first and restarted before seeing any changes in the Fonts folder.

System Folder Tips

There are a few ways to speed up your Mac and/or gain more memory. By carefully selecting what goes into the System Folder, you are allocating resources and CPU time to various functions. For example, you may get faster Excel recalcs by disabling that cute Control Panel that belches everytime you eject a disk, or by temporarily turning off File Sharing. The following are some hints to improve performance.

  1. If you are using a PostScript printer and only use the built-in fonts in that printer, drag all TrueType fonts out of the System folder (7.0, 7.0.1) or the Fonts folder (7.1). This will disable TrueType and speed up text displays.
  2. If you are using PostScript/Type 1 fonts and are not getting good printouts, place the fonts in the System Folder itself instead of the Extensions folder (or vice versa). Some older printer drivers are not aware of the Extensions folder, while some newer drivers only look at the Extensions folder. Good drivers will look both ways.
  3. The standard install puts a lot of printer drivers in the Extensions folder. By keeping only those printer extensions you use, you can speed up the Chooser when selecting printers or other network devices.
  4. If you have a CD-ROM drive and are not using it to play audio CD's, remove the Foreign File Access extension. You will have about 350K of RAM.
  5. If you have a PowerBook, installing AppleTalk Remote Access (ARA) will put a lot of modem device drivers in the Extensions Folder. Keep only those drivers which you use.
  6. Trash desk accessories you don't need anymore -- Calculator (if you have a better one), Puzzle, and Notepad come to mind.
  7. Use programs like Apple's Extensions Manager (free) or Baseline's INIT Manager (commercial) to manage your extensions and control panels. These utilities (which are themselves extensions) help you create configuration 'sets'. For example, you can have one set for normal work and another set when you are accessing the network frequently.
  8. Use one of many commercial programs to make the Apple Menu hierarchical. This greatly increases the usefulness of the Apple Menu. For example, by placing an alias of a hard disk or folder under the Apple Menu, you can drag down to that disk/folder and submenus will pop up. For example, I usually keep my application aliases in an Apps folder in the Apple Menu Items Folder. I use a leading space to put it at the top. Thus, my applications are only a short click-and-drag away.
  9. As you acquire and discard applciations, you may find that the number of preference files gets quite large and may take up a lot of disk space. It is a good idea to occassionally 'clean up' this folder by trashing any preference files for applications you no longer use. Also, if an application is behaving badly, one solution may be to delete its preference file, effectively 'resetting' the application.
  10. Note that the Fonts folder can only contain a maximum of 128 files, but multiple files can be combined in suitcases and the operating system will sort them all out in the Font menu of most applications; thus, this folder can hold more than 128 fonts.
  11. If you don't have an extension manager described in 7), create dummy folders called X (disabled), where X are the names of the five/six major subfolders. To disable a file, simply move it from folder X to folder X (disabled) before rebooting the computer.
  12. If you don't know exactly where a file goes, drop it on the System Folder icon (not the System Folder window itself). If it's an Extension, Control Panel, Sound, or Font, it will be put in the proper folder.
  13. There may be other folders within the System Folder or its five/six major subfolders. Usually, large applications put their own folder in the System Folder instead of using the Preferences folder. For example, Claris puts a "Claris" folder in the System Folder while Microsoft puts a "Microsoft" folder in the Extensions folder. This is acceptable since multiple applications may require access to common files such as help systems or dictionaries. As with preferences, these folder should be examined once in a while to see if there are any obsolete or outdated files or folders.
  14. Use the Monitors Control Panel to set the display to fewer colors. Going from 256 to 16 colors speeds up most programs.

Getting a Handle on your Mac

As you work on the Mac, you will get a rough feeling which of your Control Panels or Extensions are eating up your precious CPU cycles or valuable RAM. Using a 'bare-bones' Mac (a Mac that has been rebooted with the Shift key held down) gives a good indication of the fastest speed possible. It gives a good estimate how much your extensions and control panels slow the Mac down. Since each Mac has a different setup according to your tastes, it is important to know how to free up resources if and when you have to.

New Macs from Apple

In recent years, Apple has been introducing products at a dizzying pace. Of all kinds of Macintosh computers ever produced by Apple, over half have come in the last 18 months; this is noteworthy considering that this January will mark the 10th anniversary of the Mac's introduction.

The last product announcement this year was held last October, when Apple introduced 14 new models. It also signified a reduction in the types of computers Apple will be selling in the future; the entire product line has been reduced to four: Performas for home and family use, PowerBooks/Duos for portable computers, LC Macs for the educational market, and Quadras for business and industry. Thus, computers with identical capabilities will be sold under different labels, which can confuse the prospective buyer: Should my son buy an LC 475 from college or is the Performa 476 from Circuit City a better deal?

This article summarizes the October 1993 Macs, since these new products offer something for every budget. Prices are approximate and can vary from store to store. Most standard configurations come with at least 4 megs of RAM and an 80Meg hard drive, although 8 Megs of RAM and a 120 meg hard disk is highly recommended as a minimum if you plan on using more of the advanced features like multimedia and networking. All the new Macs except for the Duos come with at least one expansion slot.

Performa 410 - This is a standard low-end Macintosh. It comes with a 16MHz 68030 processor (the same one as found in the Mac IIcx, Mac IIvi, and Mac SE/30). However, it has a 16-bit data bus and is half the speed of other Macs with a full 32-bit data bus. Unless you are on a tight budget, the 410 is not recommended as better Macs can be bought for only 100-200 dollars more.

Performa 460/Performa 466/Performa 467 - These are entry-level Macs with a 33Mhz 68030 processor with a full 32-bit data bus. It is most useful for tasks like word processing and light graphics, and is an ideal general use machine. One good feature is its ability to display up to 32,000 colors on a 14" monitor. The only difference between the 460, 466, and 467 is the type of software bundled with each machine. Otherwise, they are identical and cost well under $1000 for a complete system.

Performa 475/Performa 476 - These are Macs based on a 25MHz 68LC040 processor and is roughly 2 1/2 times faster than the Performa 460. Like the 460, it can display up to 32,000 colors on a 14" monitor. These machines are useful for doing number crunching (although a math coprocessor is absent), QuickTime, programming, and handling more than two applications open simultaneously. The only difference between the 475 and 476 is the availability of bundled software. If you have "TBD" as one of the things you want your computer to do, these are good machines to buy.

Performa 550 - In terms of speed, this is equivalent to a Performa 460. The main difference is the different case design, which has a built-in 14" color monitor and can hold an internal CD-ROM drive.

LC475 - Identical to the Performa 475.

Quadra 605 - Identical to the Performa 475.

Quadra 610 - This low-end Quadra comes in a low-slung case design that can accommodate an internal CD-ROM drive and one NuBus expansion card. It replaces the short-lived Centris 610. The only difference is that the processor has been upgraded from a 20MHz 68LC040 (no math coprocessor) to a full 25MHz 68040 with a built-in math coprocessor. This is an ideal machine for most business and engineering users, and offers good number crunching and multimedia capabilities. It also contains one NuBus slot for future expandability and is eligible for a PowerPC upgrade in 1994.

Quadra 650 - This Quadra is the mid-range business computer, with a metal case, room for an internal CD-ROM drive, three NuBus expansion slots, one PDS expansion slot, and a power supply to match. It replaces the short-lived Centris 650. The only difference is that the processor speed has been upgraded from 25MHz to 33Mhz. It is 33% faster than the Quadra 610 and offers more room for expansion. Like the 610, it is also eligible for a PowerPC upgrade in 1994.

Quadra 660AV - These is identical to the Quadra 610 in terms of performance, but it offers additional audiovisual capabilities, hence the moniker AV. It contains a second processor to handle voice recognition, video input and output (to a TV or VCR), and a communications adapter that can function as a telephone, answering machine, fax machine, or cellular phone (though not all at once). This machine is ideal for those who involved in video or multimedia production.

The abovementioned AV capabilities will be available in future Macs based on the PowerPC processor; if you need the AV capabilities now, buy a 660AV or the faster 840AV. Otherwise, wait for the new Macs to be introduced next year.

Duo 250 - This PowerBook Duo contains a 33MHz 68030. Note that this is not a "all-in-one" PowerBook - it doesn't have a floppy disk drive nor the same number of output ports in the back of the computer; you would need either a Duo Dock to turn it into a full desktop system or a Mini Dock to enable it to have capabilities of larger and heavier PowerBooks. However, it comes with a 16 greyscale active matrix screen (those who have seen active matrix screens usually don't go back to passive displays).

Duo 270c - Like the Duo 250, the 270c has a 33MHz 68030 with an additional math coprocessor. However, it comes with a 32,000 color active matrix screen; this is the first portable with that many colors. Previous Mac and PC portables were limited to either 16 grey or 256 color screens. However, anyone who is thinking of getting the 270c should first ask himself whether he needs that much color. An engineer probably doesn't, but an outdoor artist/photographer might.

Expect more product announcements from Apple in 1994, including the highly anticipated PowerPC-based Macs and the "BlackBird" PowerBook. Additional products include system software updates, the Houdini PC-compatible board, and more Newton machines.

Given the constraints of this article, I hope to have given you an overview of the lastest from Apple. I have not included important items such as maximum RAM and have left out much of the details regarding expansion slots. For more information and details, please ask your local Mac guru.

For those with access to the ASACMUG BBS, there is a folder called "MacHistory.sea" (by Harry Phillipo) which gives a comprehensive list of all Macs ever produced. It is located under the following folder hierarchy:

ASACMUG BBS:Software Library:Public Domain/Shareware:Data

It includes details such as CPU speed, motherboard data path width, whether a math coprocessor is available, expansion slots, maximum RAM, SCSI transfer rate, number of colors, power supply, and date of introduction. Please read the READ ME file in that folder for information and printing instructions.

Christmas Present from Apple to MUG Members

If you purchase an Apple Newton between November 22, 1993 to January 2, 1994, then Apple has a gift for you. A Newton connection kit is what you need to attach connect the Newton to your Macintosh or Windows computer. ASACMUG has a number coupons allowing you to receive this $80 item for FREE. If you've been thinking of getting a Newton, decide before January and request a coupon. This offers is valid only in the United States to any AlliedSignal Aerospace employee so spread the word.