Newsgroups: bit.listserv.i-amiga
Date:         Sun, 27 Sep 1992 22:22:03 EST
Comments:     Warning -- original Sender: tag was SEWALL@UCONNVM
From:         Murph Sewall <Sewall@UCONNVM.UCONN.EDU>
Subject:      Murph's VAPORWARE Column for October 1992

                              VAPORWARE
                            Murphy Sewall
                   From the October 1992 APPLE PULP
           H.U.G.E. Apple Club (E. Hartford) News Letter
                              $24/year
                           P.O. Box 380027
                    East Hartford, CT 06138-0027
            * * * NOTE! New P.O. Box and Zip Code * * *
                 Call the "Bit Bucket" (203) 257-9588
      Permission granted to redistribute with the above citation

Less Expensive Macintosh Quadras.
Apple plans to follow it's October 19 introduction of new PowerBooks and
the desktop IIxi and IIxv (see last month's column) with three new 68040
CPU Quadra models and a 25 MHz version of its top selling LC in January
(see below).  All three new Quadras will use the IIxv/Performa 600 form
factor.  The 20 MHz model ($3,500) will replace the current IIci, the 25
MHz version ($4,500) will take the place of the current Quadra 700, and
the third ($5,500) will use the 40 MHz 68040 that Motorola will announce
before the end of this year.  Motorola will announce a 50 MHz 68040
early in 1993 that will be used in the "Cyclone" (see July's column) and
an upgrade of the Quadra 950.  System 7.1 also ships on October 19.  In
addition to enhancements such as WorldScript, which supports complex
character sets such as Kanji, beta testers report System 7.1 is more
stable than the current 7.0.1 and faster on high end Macintoshes.
Version 7.1 also uses memory more efficiently and saves about 300K of
active RAM compared to 7.0.1.
- MacWeek 24 August and 14 September and PC Week 7 September

More New Low-End Macs.
The new 25 MHz 68030 LC will use a custom chip to support a full 32-bit
bus, and it will offer twice the VRAM (1 MByte) of the current LC II.
As reported last month, the compact color Mac, variously known as the
Color Classic II and the Color SE, was withdrawn from developers.
Apparently, a redesign is in progress using the same custom 32-bit chip
and 25 MHz CPU as the forthcoming LC.  Engineers are working on the
jigsaw puzzle of how to fit the display tube and the electronics into
the Classic II case.  Either the Color SE is going to be a marvel of
engineering, or the the case will have to be redesigned.  Cross your
fingers, and hope this true successor to the redoubtable SE/30 will be
ready by March.  - found in my electronic mailbox

Looking Ahead to 1994.
The first PowerPC Mac will be built around a 66 MHz version of the
PowerPC 601 CPU and the now familiar three expansion card case (probably
the metal one that the Performa 600-Mac IIxi/v is coming in).  Apple
still hopes to bring this machine to market in January 1994 at
approximately $2,000 retail (keyboard and monitor extra).  Although the
price looks like that of the LC II, the first PowerMac will deliver
about 30 times the performance of the LC II.  A model based on the even
more capable PowerPC 604 along with a laptop using the PowerPC 603 are
scheduled for the fourth quarter of 1994 and the high-end PowerPC 620
model is anticipated during the second half of 1995.  Current plans call
for the standard floppy drive on all the PowerMacs to be 2.88 MBytes.
- MacWeek 14 September

Accelerated Performa.
DayStar Digital is already offering performance enhancing Universal
PowerCache cards that will fit the accelerator slot of the forthcoming
Performa 600 without requiring an adapter.  The DayStar cards range in
price from $649 to a 50 MHz 68030 with matching 68882 math coprocessor
for $1,599.  DayStar officials say their top-of-the-line accelerator
boosts the performance of the Performa 600 by 185 percent.
- MacWeek 14 September

Motorola 68060.
Even though the migration to the PowerPC is scheduled to begin in 1994,
new mid-range (less than $5,000) Macintosh models in the 68000 family
based on the forthcoming next generation 68060 chip are on Apple's
drawing boards.  While UNIX, in the form of PowerOpen, will be the
PowerPC's underlying operating system, the 68060 will continue to run a
version of the existing Macintosh OS.  Motorola's manager of M68000
marketing, Jim Reinhart, says the superscalar 68060 will deliver more
than three times to performance of the current 33 MHz 68040 and will be
on a par with the reported capabilities of Intel's forthcoming P5 CPU
- PC Week 7 and 14 September

Big Blue's PDA.
IBM plans to be ready if a demand for Apple's Newton PDA (see the July
and August columns) proves to be strong.  IBM will hold a "technology
demonstration" of their own PDA at November's Comdex.  The two pound
device looks similar to Apple's Newton and accommodates up to 40 MBytes
of flash memory.  Although IBM occasionally demonstrates prototypes that
do not turn into products, officials say there is a "strong likelihood"
that an IBM PDA will ship in the second half of 1993.
- InfoWorld 24 August

Claris Does Windows.
Apple's software subsidiary will introduce ClarisWorks for Windows and a
Windows version of MacDraw Pro (under a new name) at November's Comdex.
A March shipping date is planned for both programs.   FileMaker Pro for
Windows was announced earlier this year and still is expected to ship
before Christmas.  The drawing program is expected to use the Hollywood
graphics engine obtained from IBM (see the May 1991 Vaporware column);
however, the user interface for all three Claris programs for Windows
will be nearly identical to that of their Macintosh counterparts.  More
important the document formats will be compatible between the two
platforms.  - MacWeek 24 August

DEC Alpha Prototype.
Digital Equipment showed a working 150 MHz, 64-bit Alpha CPU system at
the DEC Users Society European Symposium in Cannes, France the first
week of September.  DEC engineers say they'll be ready to ship
production models in 1993 with as much as six times the speed (250 MIPs)
of a 50 MHz i486 system.  - InfoWorld 14 September

Atari Falcon 030.
The video game that grew into a computer is about to offer a new model
built around a 16 MHz Motorola 68030 and a math coprocessor.  Standard
models have 1 MByte ($799 without hard drive) and 4 MBytes ($1,395 with
85 MByte hard drive) of RAM that is expandable to 16 MBytes.  The floppy
drive is the industry standard 1.44 MByte.  Atari's included MultiTOS
supports true preemptive multitasking and the 640 by 480 blitter
graphics in 256 colors is compatible with standard television.  The
eight channel stereo sound support is said to be CD quality.
- found in my electronic mailbox

A Dedicated Consumer Multi-Media Product.
Tandy plans to offer a consumer multimedia product called the Video
Information System, or VIS, for about $700. The software is from
Microsoft in the form of Modular Windows, an operating system optimized
for use with a television as a display device. Microsoft wants certain
developers already working on Windows products to scale them down for
use with Tandy's VIS.  Tandy's VIS includes both MS-DOS and Modular
Windows in ROM.   Supposedly Tandy and Microsoft have over 50 developers
committed to over 100 VIS titles, including a number of children's
reading development and classic literature titles.
- TidBITS 1 September

P5 Power in an i486 Socket.
Intel competitor Cyrix is working on a new i486 pin compatible processor
with integer performance that rivals the forthcoming P5 (see the March,
April, and September columns).  Cyrix hopes to ship in the second half
of 1993, but a number of analysts remain skeptical.  The initial P5 is
expected to clock at 66 MHz and deliver 100 MIPs.  Performance on the
order of four to ten times that of a 33 MHz i486DX is anticipated.
-  PC Week 24 August

What! No Modem?
Some products take longer to reach the market than others.  The technology for a
single peripheral to print, scan, copy, and send and receive faxes was first
described in this column in July of 1990.  Now, Okidata has announced an actual
product which supp
orts PostScript, PCL, and Windows 3.1.  While the soon to ship product
presently supports only MS-DOS computers, versions for Macintosh, Sun, Silicon
Graphics and others are expected soon.  Okidata is targeting the machine as a
personal productivity tool
for individual users and has set the retail price just under $4,000.  -
InfoWorld 7 September

Dull Normal.
After promulgating all manner of "it can't be done" arguments, Prodigy's
management will bow to market pressure and offer an Internet gateway as
an extra cost option.  In an email notice to subscribers, Prodigy
president Ross Glatzer, said the gateway service will be available to
MS-DOS subscribers by the end of this year and to Windows and Macintosh
users sometime in 1993.  - reported by Robert Winston

So, What Else is New?
Given Microsoft's history, you didn't expect Windows NT to ship on
schedule did you?  End-user beta testing of NT is just getting underway
and Microsoft's top NT marketer, Dwayne Walker, acknowledged that long
awaited 32-bit operating system "could be a first quarter product."
Most industry observers are saying the product is unlikely to be ready
before the second quarter of 1993.  Although Windows is touted as
offering hardware independence, users of other than Intel X86 CPU
systems will discover that existing Windows applications will run
(slowly) in 8086 emulation mode unless they obtain new versions
recompiled for their specific hardware.  - PC Week 24 August

In The Pink.
IBM vice president Richard Guarino is quoted as saying that the first
edition of the Taligent Pink operating system being developed jointly
with Apple probably will not support applications written for other
operating systems (Macintosh, DOS, OS/2, and AIX).  A Taligent
representative pointed out that the first end-user version of Pink isn't
expected until 1995 and expressed the opinion that it is too soon to
know what will or won't be supported.  Friction between the partners may
develop if one company's software engineers are ready with support for
their existing applications far in advance of the other.  Indications
are that Apple is making good progress converting Macintosh Toolbox
calls to native PowerPC code (see last April's column).
- InfoWorld 24 August

New LAN Software.
Less than six months after the release of LAN Server 2.0, IBM is beta
testing the next major upgrade and is expected to ship it by the end of
this year.  Version 3.0 will include peer to peer services, built in
TCP/IP, and an enhanced High Performance OS/2 File System (HPFS) for
both client and server.  Microsoft also plans to include peer to peer
networking services in DOS 6.0 which recently began beta testing.
- InfoWorld 24 August and PC Week 31 August

OS/2 Enhancements.
IBM is now beta testing improvements that will be introduced into OS/2
2.0 later this year.  New features include pen extensions and support
for Windows 3.1 and multiprocessors.  IBM claims that 160 32-bit OS/2
2.0 applications already are shipping and "thousands more" will be
released before 1992 ends.  - PC Week 24 August

Apple Server.
Apple is expected to ship its first model that will not run the
Macintosh OS in the first quarter of 1993.  The as yet unnamed 40 MHz
68040 machine is designed as a dedicated server running Apple's UNIX
product, A/Ux.  Other features will be standard RAM of 16 MBytes and a
SCSI-based redundant disk array supporting up to 16 gigabytes of
storage.  Although a price has not been set, analysts expect it will be
less than $10,000.  - InfoWorld 7 September

Smarter Word Processing.
Microsoft plans to distinguish version 3.0 of Word for Windows by adding
automated editing features.  It will be possible to check spelling and
grammar as you write.  Automated formatting and customizable floating
toolbars also will be included.  Microsoft plans to announce the new
version next March and ship in April.  - PC Week 24 August

New WordPerfect Software.
A new version of WordPerfect Office featuring advanced message filtering
capabilities will be announced at NewWorld '92 in Dallas this month.
The new DOS and forthcoming Windows versions of WordPerfect
Presentations 2.0 are more than an upgrade for WordPerfect Draw.  The
program has an outliner, a variety of presentation masters, and support
for both MIDI and digital sound files.  A thousand clip art images and
one hundred sounds will ship with the program.
- PC Week 31 August and InfoWorld 7 September

The Keyboard is Mightier Than the Pen?
Pen input pioneer GRiD will respond to consumer demand by introducing a
new unit this month that has a pull-out keyboard.  A price cut on
existing models also is in the works.  - PC Week 31 August

Millions of Colors at Once?
Sun is working with an unnamed Japanese partner to develop "megapixel"
monochrome and color monitors which could reach the market as early as
next year.  - InfoWorld 31 August
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