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Monday, December 29, 1997
Reality News Is Updated Every Monday And Thursday

Allegro Internal Development Seeding Report

Current Development State
As of this moment, Allegro remains on an internal release basis. As far as we can understand, Allegro has not been seeded outside of the 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino headquarters. At least...not formally. A build recently obtained by one of our sources is said to lack such aspects as chooser, TCP, and application support. Given this, it would be unreasonable to start outside seeding as of yet. We have a time estimate in the range of two weeks, maybe more, before the Allegro team puts all the pieces together for a seedable upgrade. Below we have put together a list of currently known features in Allegro.

Speed
Speed is one of the first words which came to mind when we questioned our source. The overall speed is said to be an even bigger leap than ever expected. Our sources trace this to advanced, rewritten, and additional PowerPC code throughout the system. When completed, it's suggested that with such speed combined with the new and improved user experience, it will make for a beautiful, smooth running OS.

Appearance
As we stated in last week's Allegro Update, the theme manager rumors have been confirmed as we showed you that the new Appearance Manager will have support for a wide range of system GUI enhancements to go along with the addition of system-wide "themes". Even icons have been lifted to the next level with animation and transparent text (both at the user's request).

To go along with the many appearance features, many of which are still to be disclosed, it's been hinted that chunks of Finder code responsible for the system interface have also been reworked to provide for a better, smoother, more consistent visual experience.

Presently, much is yet to be discovered in the field of Allegro's user experience, however, it has already proven to be a dramatically elegant upgrade to anyone who appreciates the beauty and ease of the MacOS as much as we do.

V-Twin Find
Also, as previously reported, Allegro will finally contain the long-awaited V-Twin find technology, which, according to developers, has been renamed AIAT or Apple Information Access Toolkit. V-Twin is amazingly fast for the features it offers, with searches of large disks completing in just seconds.

V-Twin contains find options which include...

Find Most Anything
Find Applications
Find Documents
Find Folders

with each search option having further options to fine tune searching.

A "More Terms" option will allow for the specification of...

Text
Name
Size
Date
Label
Kind
Locked
Type
and
Creator

Search results are displayed promptly in a view very similar to that of the Mac OS 8.0 "List" view, with both the item and its location icon being displayed. Below is an example of V-Twin displaying the results of a "Folder" search for the word "Apple".

Note: the above picture is a bottom cut-off and not the entire V-Twin window.

The entire V-Twin search window is a lot larger than that of the current, outdated Find application. But, it will only need that one and only window to function. Very different from the separate search results window we have come to know.

We'll dive into the details of V-Twin in a later edition of Reality.

Comments
We're aiming to stay with the bare facts and not speculate further. There is continued work throughout many of the MacOS components, and possibly even new features yet to be discovered. When information has been received and confirmed, we will surely let you know. Currently, Allegro is slated for a mid-1998 Release. Apple will most likely aim the release towards mid-July, as they did with OS8, however, expect to wait at least a week into August before the product actually hits retail stores in bulk. Look for weekly updates on the Allegro release as time progresses.

If you have any information on Allegro, please let us know.

Artemis No Longer All In One?

Artemis, the code name for the low end, home based, and once, all-in-one G3 machine has reportedly moved into a new enclosure. The Artemis model contains a 233mhz or 266mhz G3 chip (we are unsure which it will ship with yet), a DVD drive, and an Iomega Zip. Earlier reports state that all models will use IDE hard drives; this makes sense, since it's a low end model aimed for home use.

One of the focal points for the Artemis model was to make it a one piece, all-in-one, home computer, very similar to that of the PowerMac 5000 series, but with a newly designed casing to make it as compact as possible. When Apple shipped the first round of machines in the newly designed case to testers, they received horrible feedback. On the casing, not the machine. It looked like a monitor with two round eyes emerging from the top and sticking out the ends (these were the speakers). The base was very narrow, compared to the top half, which made it look all the worse. I personally saw a snap shot of one of these machines and all I can say is that it looked like one of the pink big-eyed bugs you kill in Super Mario Brothers 2.

Apple took in all the feedback and now, according to a fairly new source, has decided to place the Artemis components into a new case with the architecture of a 6400/6500 (Performa/PowerMac). This will counter all plans of an all-in-one machine, that is, unless Apple decides to ship a 15 inch monitor along with the CPU. That is also a possibility.

Artemis is presently an unannounced model and will stay that way till the spring.
If you are testing the Artemis or have any information, again, please let us know.

Rhapsody CR1 and Rhapsody Title Bar Advancements?

Rhapsody CR1
Thanks to another relatively new source, it's been said that Apple has finally made a decision, more or less, as to how they will name and market the first public release of Rhapsody. It seems that Apple will stick with the code name "Rhapsody", giving the first release of Rhapsody the name "Rhapsody CR1". CR1 standing for the First (1) Commercial (C) Release (R).

It has also been noted that Rhapsody CR1 will only be available from the Apple Store. Rhapsody CR1 is slated to appear some time mid-late 1998.

Rhapsody Document Titlebar Features
Thanks to a source who will remain anonymous, we have a few tips on features of Rhapsody Document windows that will greatly increase productivity by saving time.

The final release of Rhapsody will include a feature which places an icon in the title bar located next to the file name of all Rhapsody document windows that have an icon in the Finder. This icon will be draggable and will act as a proxy to the real icon. The same drag & drop rules will apply to the proxy, including drag modification.

Another feature associated with Rhapsody document windows will be a path in the title bar. It's rumored that in the final release of Rhapsody, all document windows will have the pop-up path. The pop-up menu will be accessed by command clicking on the title bar. A pop up menu of the documents file path will appear. Selecting a location in the path would open that folder.

Zips In All Models? Enter "RainLine"

Thanks to an industry source who would prefer to remain anonymous, we have some late-breaking news on Apple's future with zip drives. We were informed early last week that starting very soon, Apple will carry Iomega Zip drives in every model they offer.

Due to the architecture of certain models such as the PowerMac 5000 series, where the casing will not allow the extension of such components, Apple will be developing a new internal/external casing, code named "RainLine".

This is an intelligent move by Apple to lead the way of a new standard - the Zip disk standard. With the rise in high-end multimedia, graphic arts, and web design, the 1.4MB floppy has become obsolete for storage and transfer of such material. This is a plus for Apple's education markets for the same reasons stated above. After all, we need some way to transfer that creative content.

Let's just pray Iomega fixes the problem with zip disks ejecting improperly when placed inside Apple enclosures.

MacOS 8.1 Ready For Prime Time, Amazing Visions For The Future

Bride Of Buster
Reports stated that a very prompt update was released just days after MacOS 8.1 beta 6, entitled MacOS 8.1b7. It seems that the finishing touches to this amazing upgrade are being carefully placed. A few minor document adjustments may need to be made before the release; otherwise, this is the most powerful bug fix upgrade Apple has ever handed us free of charge.

This is a must-upgrade situation for every Mac user. Developers and testers cannot stress enough the fact that MacOS 8.1 is extremely stable. Virtually un-crashable. And noticeably faster. I'd like to give the Bride team and all the MacOS management staff a well deserved round of applause on another great update to the MacOS.

Stay tuned, as we should have some information as to the actual release very soon.

MacOS 8.1 Release Date
Update: A reliable source lets us know that MacOS 8.1 (Bride of Buster) is slated for a January 6th release. Just in time for MacWorld, as 8.0 was.

Reader MacOS X Markups
Here at Reality we have become quite a fan of some of our readers' work. Mike Hunigan, recently sent us some of his concept shots which he created from scratch, depicting possibilities and visions of future MacOS or Rhapsody interfaces. Please check out his markup of a futuristic MacOS desktop which we are calling MacOS X, complete with a description of features. Some of Mike's ideas range from transparent menus to a draw-on desktop feature. A similar image, which I liked the most, displays a white tray rather than a transparent one and an awesome background.

Mike has also created a markup called 80's Copland which contains some amazing ideas such as tabs for slide out windows and a sliding title bar.

We are very impressed with Mike's work and hope his ideas may contribute to Apple's human interface team. He is welcoming feedback at hunigan@misslink.net. We are also interested in what you have to say on his ideas or to view any ideas of your own. We are very open-minded so if you have something of a similar nature, don't hesitate to drop us a line.

The Apple TeleMac?

With many thanks to an insider who forwarded Reality a set of images portraying possible future Apple technologies, we are able to display images of both the "TeleMac" and "Palmtop". We'd like to thank the User Group Network, the original source of these images.

The Apple TeleMac The TeleMac is suspected to be a collision of telecommunications and Apple technologies to produce an awesome "house hold appliance". The case resembles that of earlier Performa models and contains a floppy and DVD drive along with controls for the handset which are placed above the DVD drive.

Currently, there are no further details available on the TeleMac. However, we will do everything in our power to obtain as much information as possible. We'll keep you posted.

Go Back To Reality's Main Page

Where Is The Newton Headed?

With thanks to the same source who sent us the TeleMac images, we've also acquired a set of images portraying the "Palmtop", again complements of the User Group Network the origin of the image set.

the Apple Palmtop The Palmtop is a futuristic Netwon, most likely containing a revised version of the Newton OS or possibly a brand new Palmtop OS. A first glance at the enclosed palmtop gives you the impression of a device from Star Trek. There seems to be a retracting speaker and a slide off lid (which probably has its place elsewhere on the casing, once removed). The pen resides to the right of the screen in its own holder.

It's important to note that the Palmtop appears significantly larger than it is in reality. As of now, like the TeleMac, there are no further details on the Palmtop design or the product itself. We will keep you updated if and when details become available.

Update : an update to the PalmTop will be made on Thursday

Go Back To Reality's Main Page

Allegro Testing Begins

A source close to the Allegro development team has informed us that the first development version of Allegro (MacOS 8.5 or 9.0) has seen the light of day.

We've also received a number of tips that some of Allegro's features have been cut back or held off as Apple continues to fine tune its focus. Surprisingly, the rumor mills have been utterly dry when it comes to real specifics on Allegro. This may be due to measures inserted by none other than Steve himself. In any event, Apple has begun to treat the MacOS as its baby once again; protecting it to the fullest extent of their ability. The Rhapsody situation has been quite the opposite. In this case Apple has actually fed the press, shipping versions of Rhapsody and the Blue Box to reporters.

We will do our best in the near future to keep you up-to-date on the Allegro situation and inform you of any late breaking news on the subject.

Update : An anonymous Apple Employee forwards us a few images of the first developer release of Allegro. However, due to Apple legal, we will not be able to post the majority of them. For now take a look at Allegro displaying the new Theme Manager addition to the Appearance Manager. Our friends at MacOSRumors seem to be revealing more on Allegro then we can, so check them out.

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As many of you know, we've been addressing the national CompUSA situation for the past two weeks. Well, it seems our work has begun to pay off. I'd like to thank Steve Jobs for personally addressing our situation and claims. We've been place in contact with the the executives whom we have been seeking and are forwarding them all our findings. However, we need your continued help in the form of reports on local CompUSA's, specifically CompUSA's converted with the Apple Store within a Store format.

So if there's a CompUSA close by which contains an Apple Store within a Store, get out there and check out the situation. Let us know if all the machines are on, and set up properly, if the software section is properly stocked and the Apple areas properly staffed(this has been the biggest problem). We've received hundreds of reports so far, keep them coming. Each and every one of them makes a difference.

Please send all CompUSA experiences to jeff@macnn.com and please try to put "CompUSA" somewhere in the subject of your messages, it helps our organization and the process of getting your mails to the proper executives at Apple.

The sooner you Let us know about problems at CompUSA's, the sooner we may be able to fix them.

Thanks,

-Jeff

Go Back To Reality's Main Page

Yes, we have finally posted a formal Contact Page which lists the appropriate e-mail addresses for users to send news, rumors, confidential info, suggestions, and so on.

Here at Reality, we encourage viewers to interact with us. We read each and every e-mail and respond when appropriate and if time permits. We welcome all viewer mail, but from now on, please direct e-mails to the appropriate addresses listed on the contact page.

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MacOS On Windows

-Gemulator 98, from Emulators Inc., runs the Mac OS on PC hardware under Windows 95 or NT.

Mac Expo TV

-Mac Expo TV will be covering the live events at MacWorld SF.

MCI Using Apple Technologies?

-MCI's customer support is run by Web Objects.

Apple Releases ADD 1.0.2

-Apple releases Apple Data Detectors version 1.0.2.

The Microsoft New Year's Eve Bash

-The Microsoft New Year's Eve Bash has been delayed till April due to the illegal incorporation of the Microsoft Internet Explorer into the electronic dinner menus....

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