SevenBITS/10-Jun-91

Lots of new utilities will be coming out to take advantage of System 7 and all that can be done with Apple Events and the like. From the sound of it, one of the most useful and powerful will be CE’s QuicKeys 2.1 (besides I should say something nice about them after hassling them about not making QuickMail Server 2.5 System 7-compatible two weeks ago). CE has come up with something called CE/IAC, which allows QuicKeys 2.1 to receive IAC events from other applications. That’s the heart of QuicKeys’s new System 7-studliness, which encompasses the Apple Events Extension, the Finder Events Extension, the UserLand Extension, and the Frontier Extension. The Apple Events Extension lets QuicKeys send Apple Events to other applications, even over a network if desired. The UserLand Extensions works like the Apple Events Extension, but supports UserLand IAC-aware applications. The Finder Events Extension sends Apple Events to the Finder, which can be useful for automating tasks involving the Finder. Included events are Show Clipboard, Show, Print, Open (Document, Application, DA, Control Panel, Alias, etc.), Sleep, and Get Info. The Frontier Extension can send scripts to UserLand’s Frontier program, which is a scripting language for controlling applications via IAC. It strikes me that some of this might be a tad redundant, but the worse that can happen is that you’ll have a choice in how to implement certain IAC actions. QuicKeys 2.1 is a $15 upgrade and should be out soon.

For those of you who use MacX, Apple has an upgrade to version 1.1, appropriately titled 1.1.7, since the only people who will upgrade are those who use MacX and want to use System 7 as well. Do note that if you use MacX in A/UX, you should NOT upgrade since A/UX is not compatible with System 7. The other reason not to upgrade if you use A/UX is that A/UX has come with MacX since A/UX version 2.01, so you’d be wasting your money. The System 7-compatible version of A/UX will incorporate MacX 1.1.7. The main enhancement to MacX in terms of System 7 capabilities is that you can now use virtual memory, which is handy with X applications. You also get 30 days of Technical Answerline support from Apple for your $95 upgrade fee (which Apple claims is 34% less than the cost of the previous upgrade fee). The full price is $295, and MacX will be available from authorized Apple resellers in August.

If you don’t have System 7 yet and really dislike working with floppies, you can get it on CD-ROM from the May 27 issue of Metatec’s NAUTILUS, but the catch is that you have to subscribe to Nautilus’s monthly CD-ROM magazine, which is a tad pricey at $9.95 per issue, although they do say that you can pay $19.95 for a single issue. You will find a second catch in that you will need a CD-ROM player. If neither the cost nor the hardware limit you, you might want to check out NAUTILUS. I haven’t see too many issues, not having a CD-ROM drive regularly, but I do approve of electronic publishing.

Jackie Promes, Apple — 408/974-3609
Mary Vaughn, Metatec — 614/761-2000

Information from:
CE propaganda
Apple propaganda
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