Mailsmith 1.0.1 More Polished -- With the release of version 1.0.1, Bare Bones Software has applied a bit of polish to Mailsmith, the company's new email client program (see "Mailsmith Emerges from the Forge" in TidBITS-428)

After 3Com announced last month that it had purchased Claris Organizer from Apple to use as the basis of its upcoming Macintosh PalmPilot desktop software (see "Claris Organizer Reincarnated as Palm MacPac" in TidBITS-429), Mac users of Organizer and Palm devices have been wondering what the deal means for the future

Although the Web is rife with images, most act as decoration: buttons, logos, fancy backgrounds, and pet pictures quickly come to mind. However, the Web can also be a rich resource of imagery relating to specific subjects, such as maps and animal photographs for kids' school reports

Recent popular discussions on the TidBITS Talk list have orbited around the issue of backing up data - what's the best media to use, how often should one back up, what software works well, if backup devices should be built into computers, and how iMac users will back up their data

Owners of Metricom's Ricochet wireless modems can get a free Web browsing boost thanks to a recent deal with Connectix Corporation. (See Jeff Carlson's "Tied Down No More: The Ricochet Wireless Modem" in TidBITS 366 for more information.) Metricom is offering a free downloadable copy of Connectix's Surf Express, software that caches Web pages more efficiently than current Web browsers

ZDNN reported today that the pages of history may close on the venerable technology magazine BYTE. The 23-year-old magazine, which was recently sold by owner McGraw-Hill to CMP Media, will either close for good or will reopen in two months as a software development magazine with controlled circulation and a new staff

ClearWay Technologies today shipped the $99 Nitro PowerPlug 1.0, a WebSTAR plug-in that accelerates the execution speed of all other WebSTAR plug-ins up to 200 percent or more in ClearWay's testing

With the release of version 1.0.1, Bare Bones Software has applied a bit of polish to Mailsmith, the company's new email program (see "Mailsmith Emerges from the Forge" in TidBITS 428)

Connectix recently released minor updates to its popular RAM Doubler and Virtual PC products. Virtual PC 2.01 addresses problems with Ethernet networks using 802.3 frame types, includes CDROM.SYS 2.0.1 to address problems with installing some games, and includes a new SYSINI.EXE

Dr Solomon's Software, the current publisher of the Virex anti-virus utility, announced two Virex updates in quick succession last week to find and remove two newly discovered variants of the AutoStart 9805 worm, originally reported in "Autostart Worm Breaks Mac Malware Silence" in TidBITS 428

Minor Connectix Updates -- Connectix has released minor updates to Virtual PC and RAM Doubler. Virtual PC 2.01 addresses problems with Ethernet networks using 802.3 frame types, fixes some game installation problems by including CDROM.SYS 2.0.1, and offers a new SYSINI.EXE file

Dr Solomon's Software, the current publisher of Virex, an anti-virus utility, announced two Virex updates in quick succession last week. These new versions find and remove two newly discovered variants of the AutoStart 9805 worm, originally reported in "AutoStart Worm Breaks Mac Malware Silence" in TidBITS-428. Dr Solomon's says the variants replace previous versions of the worm, if found, and each uses different filenames from those used by the original AutoStart 9805 worm, making them harder to find

Last week, Apple completed a significant pruning of its extensive reseller network by "deauthorizing" about one-third of its 3,600 U.S. dealers, retailers, and value-added resellers

The proverbial picture is reportedly worth a thousand words, and although today's exchange rate may not be that good, sometimes you want to find a specific image on the Web

Although I've been writing about Internet software for years, I've never done a formal review of a Web browser. Why not? The reason are myriad. For one thing, with a piece of software, unlike a book or a movie, an individual impression isn't particularly relevant