The XPress Way to New Sales

How does Apple expect to grow market share? According to Mr. Anderson more and more Mac OS X software is moving toward commercial release. Recently a developer release of a Mac OS X native QuarkXPress 6 was seeded to major Quark customers and third-party developers. XPress is the only prominent desktop publishing product for the Mac that does not currently have a native Mac OS X version in the market. Will signs of a forthcoming release of QuarkXPress 6 prompt designers and content creators to consider the jump to OS X and the purchase of new Mac hardware? We’ll know more at the next change of seasons when spring gives way to the hot days of summer. Until then most Apple watchers don’t anticipate a big change in Apple’s Power Mac line-up or a big bump in sales.

Old Macs Turned Green

In other news that isn’t about the weather but does impact the environment, Apple has just announced that a Macintosh recycling plan is now available for the company’s customers. The cost per unit is $30, but the company states the program will divert 80% to 90% of a recycled Macintosh from entering already overloaded landfills.

RAIDing the Office

The Macintosh has a nice market niche in education, in homes, and in the content creation and scientific industries. But the Mac has not been considered a mainline office computer for many years. One reason for the lack of interest in Macs by IT professionals and office administrators has been the lack of Macintosh servers. Apple addressed this problem with the release of the Xserve, a competitively priced and powerful rack-mount server product.

Apple has continued to develop its server line and has recently released an Xserve RAID. Sales of Apple’s server products have continued to grow. While sales of Macintosh rack-mount servers are negligible when compared to the company’s much larger competitors, Apple’s foray into the server market gives the company’s business customers a reason to consider Macs not only for the back office, but for the front office as well. Don’t be surprised to see more Macs on office desks in the coming months. The Xserve may be Apple’s least acknowledged product, but is one of the company’s more strategically important ones for 2003.

We invite you back in the rainy days of April for another look at the latest happenings in the world of Macintosh computing.

Our March issue includes:

Apple Cider: A Year Apart

After a year-long hiatus, pent-up Mac musings bring Tom Iovino back to the pages of ATPM.

The Candy Apple: Not Ready for the Leap

In which Ellyn avoids playing leapfrog with OS X.

About This Particular Web Site

This month’s ATPW will show you where to find a pet and where to send a picture of your pet’s favorite toy. It also introduces an unusual online dictionary, a site devoted to the world’s alphabets, and a place to peruse the world’s various religious texts.

Roll Your Own: The Object of Programming—Part 2

Chuck Ross serves up part two of his series on Object Oriented Programming, delving into yet more AppleScript objects and handlers as the example project grows in scope.

What’s Under The Hood: Got Vinyl? Converting LPs to CDs Part 1: Terminology & Hardware

Bob Lewis begins a series on transferring your LP collection to CD, using your Mac as the go-between.

The User Strikes Back: The 2003 “Stuff You Can’t Live Without” Awards

It’s awards time again—the Grammys, Oscars, and now…the Grubies! Ken Gruberman looks at all the products he could not live without, a surprising number of which are now OS X-only, and tells why they deserve the coveted prize.

How To: A Custom Pair of Boots: Building Customized Boot CDs

Things go wrong sometimes, even on a Mac. For those of you who would like a tool to help you out at such times, Sylvester Rogue explains how to make your own boot CD.

Cartoon: Cortland

Dongles, deferred payments, and splash screens. Learn how they all fit into Cortland’s world this month.

Desktop Pictures: California

Jens Grabenstein offers another set of gorgeous desktops, this time from his June 2002 two-week road trip in California. Beginning in San Francisco, Jens’ shots capture the cultural and natural multiplicity of the state.

Review: Black & White: Platinum Pack

Matthew Glidden takes you to Creature Island in his review of Black and White: Platinum Pack. In this take off from the original Black and White, some missionaries introduce you and your creature to an island without gods, but with more creatures for you to learn to control.

Review: ContentBarrier 1.3.3

Intego’s Content Barrier gets put through the paces by Gregory Tetrault. The program offers relatively good security and filtering options, but of course no filtering program is perfect, and Content Barrier does sometimes fail to block access to sites you’d rather keep your children away from.

Review: iView MediaPro 1.5.6

If you have lots of media files to organize and display, iView MediaPro can help. Gregory Tetrault describes the program’s many features, all aimed at making it easier for you to work with images, text, movies, and other digital media.

Review: Mac OS X: The Missing Manual, 2nd Edition (book)

There is now a second edition of Mac OS X: The Missing Manual. Johann Campbell takes a look at what’s changed from the first edition: more than a hundred pages longer than its predecessor, this tome has been completely reorganized to cover OS X version 10.2 in great depth.

Review: Unix Power Tools, 3rd Edition (book)

With Mac OS X being based on Unix, you’re going to have to be something of a Unix geek if you want to be a real OS X power user. Kirk McElhearn reviews Unix Power Tools, an 1,100 page behemoth of a book meant for users who are comfortable with the basics and looking for more.