An interesting problem recently arose on Usenet. It seems that an Excel 1.0 user in Holland wanted to upgrade to system 6.0.4, but when he did so, Excel stopped working

A recent discussion on the net regarding alternate pointing devices inspired me to try running my mouse with my feet. It works well, though I need a longer mouse cord to maintain the necessary position for any length of time (the cord is not long enough for the mouse to rest on the floor)

We'd hoped not to have to address this topic again, but it refuses to die on Usenet or in the trade press. Essentially, the argument is whether or not the introduction of Windows 3.0 will make a PC-clone just as good as a Mac, thus putting Apple out of business because the Mac would no longer be worth the money. There are two separate issues here, first, if Windows 3.0 is as good as the Mac interface, and second, if Apple can and should compete with PC-clones on price

John Norstad just released version 2.0 of Disinfectant, his excellent virus checking and removal program. Disinfectant is completely free and is available from most online sources

Apple spun off Claris in April of 1987 because Apple felt it was a hardware company, and the only software it wanted to develop was new system software

Mitchell D. Kapor and John Perry Barlow have established a foundation, called the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), to address social and legal issues arising from an increasing use of electronic forms of communication

It often seems that some of the magic has gone out of Apple in the last few years, what with the new machines offering few innovative features and the managerial musical chairs

Apple's new SCSI terminators for the Mac IIfx have bewildered a number of new owners who have attempted to daisy chain SCSI devices from their machines

The Mac has always been considered a relatively good multimedia machine, although it couldn't quite stand up to the Atari ST's built-in MIDI and the Amiga's excellent video interface

Symantec's SUM disk utilities for the Mac has become pre-eminent, and Symantec recently solidified its hold on the Mac utility market by purchasing Peter Norton Computing

Although the Macintosh portable market has only begun to offer a few costly alternatives, the IBM portable market offers many choices with features rapidly increasing as prices rapidly decrease

Lotus won its three-year old suit against Paperback Software for copying the look and feel of 123. The decision said that Paperback Software had violated Lotus's copyright, although another suit Lotus has brought against Mosaic Software for their 123 clone, Twin, was not mentioned

Someone on Usenet recently asked what people thought about charging for technical support via a 900 number. The principle is that the call would not be free but the user would be guaranteed of getting through and getting an answer

Macworld devoted much of its July, 1990 issue to the health hazards of computers. Most of the articles actually focussed on the side-effects of working at video display terminals (i.e

After what seemed like forever to those of us who use HyperCard, Apple released version 2.0. We'll assume that if you are reading TidBITS, you understand more or less what HyperCard can do and how hard it is to pin down its abilities