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Iomega: the confusion continues

I have to admit, I am getting a bit frustrated with all of the confusing and conflicting messages coming out of Iomega on the use of their driver software and possible problems with other drivers. After yesterday's item appeared to settle the issue of what drivers are safe to use (even if not all questions were answered on this matter), I get an message from reader Dave Kelly who received the following email from Iomega regarding which version of Iomega's own software you should be using:

"You should be using version 5.0.1. We have recently … Read more

Take A Break: revised version posted

Readers continue to report a myriad of alternative methods to quit the Finder, including several we have covered here months before (such as Terminator Strip). Bear in mind that in Mac OS 8, the Finder has undergone a major rewrite. The way memory is allocated into System and Application heaps has also changed. As a result, some methods useful in older systems make not work in Mac OS 8. If they do work, fine. Otherwise, you will need to seek other methods. Take a Break was one such possible method.

As to the problem with Take A Break (reported last time), … Read more

More from the Expo floor...

Continuing from last time, here are more items of interest (mostly utilities) spotted in my wanderings about the Expo floor...

Emblaze Creator 2.5 made an impressive demo - allowing you to have streaming audio or video on a web site without any plug-ins or server software. It works via Java. It also did a great job of compressing the multimedia files.

ProVUE's SurfScout is worthwhile alternative (or even companion) to a utility such as Web Quick for bookmarking your web sites. It does not bookmark on the fly, as Web Quick does - but it does allow you … Read more

Take a Break patch: follow-up

A couple of readers have reported that the Take A Break patch (for freeing up fragmented RAM by quitting the Finder in Mac OS 8, as covered last time) did not work for them. Instead you get a message that says: "Finder (8.0) is older than 8.0." I will look into this more when I get back from Macworld Expo.

Meanwhile, as a couple of readers suggested, you can still Force Quit from the Finder as a even cruder alternative. MacOS Purge utility should still work in Mac OS 8 and may prove useful here as … Read more

Iomega and VST

VST is showing off Zip drive modules for PowerBooks. Quite nice. More relevant to MacFixIt issues, I spoke to Doug Atkinson of Iomega about the issue of using non-Iomega drivers on Jaz drives ( as covered here before). As he is Iomega's Manager for Macintosh Software Development, I figure he is as close to the final word on this matter as I am likely to get. He said that it is fine to use third party drivers, such as HDT Toolkit and Silverlining, with a Jaz drive. It may not have certain features, such as the Password security, available with … Read more

From the Expo floor...

After checking outvarious booths in the Exhibit Halls, here are some personal highlights:

Aladdin Aladdin said to expect a Mac OS 8 compatible update to StuffIt Deluxe within about 60 days. They also said that the problem with CyberFinder is similar to the StuffIt problem. As a result, they are now likely to update CyberFinder at the same time. I also had a preview look at Aladdin's new FlashBack utility for saving previous versions of documents that would otherwise be lost when you hit the "Save" button after revising a document. Could be a life-saver for those … Read more

MacUser/Macworld merger

As previously reported, MacUser and Macworld will be merging into one magaizne to be called Macworld. The MacUser/MacWEEK booth was distributing copies of Macworld magazine (along with MacUser and MacWEEK) - a strange sight. And given that the show issue of MacUser is the last issue the magazine will print, it is not surprising that the booth was a bit on the quiet side.

Apparently, details of how this new Mac Publications merger will work is still very much in flux. How the two staffs will be combined, how the unified web site will look, and more - are … Read more