H&R Block has agreed to sell its 80 percent share in CompuServe to telecommunications giant WorldCom in a stock swap worth roughly $1.2 billion. In a separate deal, WorldCom will trade CompuServe's consumer customers and $175 million to America Online for AOL's ANS Communications network services division
According to a rumor from a generally reliable source, Apple plans to reabsorb Newton, Inc., possibly to satisfy Steve Jobs's (and Larry Ellison's?) desire for Apple to sell an inexpensive network computer (NC)
PowerTools CEO Victor Wong today confirmed that clone manufacturer PowerTools has been "offered the license to ship Mac OS 8 with its machines," and is doing so as of 08-Sep-97 with its infiniti T2 Mac clones
According to Henry Norr's MacWEEK column, Motorola has put its CHRP-based StarMax Pro 6000 on hold pending resolution of the licensing dispute with Apple over Mac OS licensing for CHRP
Rumors have been flying fast and furious today, but there's little confirmation for most. The preponderance of rumors would seem to indicate that Apple is taking everything a day at a time, rather than proceeding along a carefully thought-out path
Yesterday, Power Computing spokesman Mike Rosenfelt confirmed that sales have been up since the buyout announcement this week. Although we've heard tales of Macintosh fans giving up on the platform in response to Apple's withdrawal of clone support, a strong contingent continues to purchase Power Computing Macs
Two sources of information, a press conference yesterday and a purported memo from Steve Jobs to Apple employees, add details to the clone licensing situation
Apple said yesterday that it plans to honor existing contracts held by other clone manufacturers. Unfortunately, Apple offered little hope for clone manufacturers to create up-to-date machines, stating that it would not license a version of Mac OS for CHRP machines or portables, such as those CHRP machines already shown by Motorola and UMAX, without significantly higher licensing fees
Early today, Apple Computer and Power Computing announced plans for Apple to purchase important Macintosh-related assets from Power Computing in exchange for $100 million in Apple common stock
The deadlines for our TidBITS Search Engine Shootout contest announced in TidBITS-368 have come and gone, and it's time to share the results. To begin, we want to thank each and every entrant personally
In an unexpected move, Apple announced last week that Tempo, the next incremental release of the Mac OS due this July, will ship under the moniker Mac OS 8 instead of Mac OS 7.7
Macworld Expo brings out not just the best and the worst in the Macintosh industry, but also the strangest. Besides, after four days of walking around the cavernous Moscone Center, surrounded by 70,000 Macintosh fans, it's hard to keep a firm grip on reality
Welcome to our 1996 gift issue! This is a special issue of TidBITS, so it falls outside of our normal distribution schedule and has no sponsors. We've long made a habit of publishing an article in mid-December with holiday gift suggestions from TidBITS readers
RAM, Wonderful RAM -- Perhaps the most commonly suggested item this year was more RAM, which is still quite affordable. Kate Norem said it best when she wrote, "You know, one can never have too much RAM."
Scott agrees, or at least he thinks he does:
As I get older I find that my memory isn't what it used to be
3M Precision Mousing Surface
I helped a neighbor with his Mac a couple of weeks ago and in an effort to thank me he gave me a "3M Precise Mousing Surface" (that's really what they call it)