MacEdition Pro News : August 30, 2002: FireWire flexibility, improved for Jaguar, Core programming

by MacEdition Staff (feedback)

Playing with fire ...

For all those service jocks who are always trying to attach different drives to their machine, WiebeTech has announced their FireWire DriveDock now supports DVD and CD mechanisms in addition to standard 3.5" hard drives.

The handy-dandy module snaps on to the 40-pin IDE connector of any drive and allows the user to swap out drives without having to claw open a case.

The list of features and benefits includes:

COMPLETE OXFW911 FIREWIRE BRIDGE. The use of the Oxford OXFW911 FireWire bridge provides users with outstanding performance and highest compatibility with Macs and PCs.

ATTACHES TO ANY 3.5 INCH HARD DRIVE. FireWire DriveDock attaches to drives without requiring the user to open up a case. As a result, drives can be easily changed. Anyone desiring highest performance FireWire storage with total ease of attachment benefits.

ATTACHES TO ANY CD OR DVD DEVICE. As a result, users will be able to easily attach and run these devices, enhancing the general usability and value of FireWire DriveDock.

PROVIDES STORAGE WITHOUT A FAN. DriveDock works great without a fan. This provides a quieter operating environment.

UNIVERSAL AC ADAPTER. Included with DriveDock is a world compatible power supply that will work with 100-240VAC power. As a result, DriveDock may be used everywhere.

DRIVE BASE PLATE IS INCLUDED. The product includes a baseplate that may be attached to any hard drive, providing protection for drive electronics. Additional baseplates are available for $11.95.

PLUG AND PLAY WITHOUT DRIVERS. DriveDock allows user's storage devices to mount on any of the following operating systems without the use of software drivers: Windows 98SE, ME, 2K, XP, Macintosh 9.1, 9.2, and OS X. No drivers are included; none are needed. This makes installation easy.

Our European readers can check out the US$129 dock at WiebeTech’s booth at the upcoming Paris MacExpo, which opens Sept. 10. In North America, the mechanism is available through Dr. Bott or any Canadian dealer who has a buying relationship with Mac-friendly distributor EMJ. Those wishing to check out the dock on line can point their browsers to www.wiebetech.com for a look-see.

Retooled for a better OS...

Following hard on the heels of Apple’s recent release of Jaguar comes news from a handful of developers who've tuned up their wares to take advantage of the UNIX-based goodness that lays within.

• Sonnet Technologies released new driver software for their Crescendo line of upgrade daughter cards which allow older Power Macs and clones to take advantage of Jaguar’s better support for ATI video cards and improved performance for classic applications.

  The Crescendo series cards can be installed in older Power Macs ranging from the 7500 series to the 8600, Power Computing’s PowerCentre and PowerTower machines and UMAX’s S and J series desktops.

  Those who previously bought the PCI X Installer can download the new driver for free, while new users will have to pay a US$29.99 fee or by the CD from Sonnet dealers for US$39.99.

  Oh, and we gotta note these lines from Sonnet’s press release:

  Once installed, these systems will provide functionality and compatibility similar to that experienced on Apple's Beige G3 series, a platform officially supported by OS X.

  When used in combination with a Sonnet Crescendo/PCI processor upgrade card and appropriate supported peripherals, this software solution expands the performance of these machines to move into modern applications including iTunes and iMovie.

• Helios Software announced its re-tuned desktop-publishing server software suite will be shipping in September and take advantage of Jaguar’s improved cross-platform networking and other improvements critical to the publishing industry. According to the company the new release will feature:

  EtherShare 3.1: Highest-Performance server for Mac clients

  PCShare 3.1: Highest-Performance server for Windows clients

  EtherShare OPI 2.5: Server-based OPI, including Image Replacement with Color Separation And Proof Printing support

  PDF Handshake 2.1: PDF Printing - PDF OPI and Imposition -Create PDF Server - PDF Internet Printing

  Print Preview 1.2: Convenient & reliable last minute proofing

  The new versions bring to Mac OS X 10.2:

  • Additional fail-safes for mission-critical reliability and increased scalability
  • Advanced Print Spools and print job management
  • Enhanced printing support over TCP/IP in addition to AppleTalk PAP
  • Cross-platform Mac/Windows file locking
  • All supported client Applications are Mac OS X and Mac OS 9 native
  • HELIOS server-based ColorSync/ICC color management
  • PDF Handshake PDF workflow solution

• And users of Smile Software’s HTMLColorPickerX has released version 1.1 of the utility which allows Web designers to specify HTML colors in hexadecimal and select Web-safe colors for most Carbon and Cocoa applications.

  In addition to picking up some OS 10.2 goodness, the 1.1 update also fixes outstanding issues with French localization and kills a sizing bug the program had with OmniGraffle from the Omni Group.

Journey to the center of the ...

The old hands at the Big Nerd Ranch want to take developers to the core of OS X. From Nov. 11 to 15 the Atlanta, GA based programming school will be conducting classes under the topic heading of Core Mac OS X Programming. The course comes as a follow up to their recent Cocoa training program.

According to their press release the core program will feature instruction by Aaron Hillegass, author of Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X, and Mark Dalrymple, who has 17 years of programming experience on the Macintosh platform in addition to his 12 years of programming experience on various UNIX platforms. The course will focus on topics as:

Multi-threading
Daemons
Distributed objects
Network programming
Rendezvous
Performance tuning
Advanced debugging techniques
The security framework
Exception handling

Those considering attending the five-day session are invited to check out the course syllabus at www.bignerdranch.com/Classes/Core.html

[Ed. Note: Mark Dalrymple can also be found on the pages of MacEdition, as the author of multiple BOLTS articles.]

Looking for old ProNews segments? Check out our index at http://old.macedition.com/news/. Do you have news releases or tidbits of interest to the Macintosh professional? Send them to pronewsnotes@macedition.com.

E-mail this story to a friend