MS Office Update/Y2K Fixes: Microsoft has released another MS Office/OS 9 update that addresses the following issues:

• Creating and editing charts in Microsoft Excel and Graph on Apple's Macintosh OS 9.0
• a Y2K date fix for Excel (2 digit date fix)
• printing from PowerPoint to an Epson 740 printer via the USB port.

Cinema Displays Arriving: A reader reports he's received his Cinema 22" LCD display. He sent a photo of the display next to his G4 and I have to admit I'm green with envy.
[Update for a review of the Cinema Display with photos, comments, etc. see the Video articles page, Displays section.]

"not sure if others have reported that the Apple 22" Cinema Display has started shipping...

attached is a photo of ours here at wieck photo database in dallas, received via fedex 23Dec. next to it is our top of the line 450mhz sawtooth with DVD-RAM drive...

how does the cinema look? in a word: awesome!

we think nothing apple has shipped in the past attracted more attention as this thing will!

wieck will be using it as part of our workstations at the 2000 Detroit Auto Show. we figure on wiping drool from several thousand media types off of the display. "

DVD Player 2.0 (Software) Improves Lip-Sync: A reader notes the recently released update to the software DVD player improves things a bit:

"Well, i was at Versiontracker today and what did I see??? I saw DVD software 2.0. Finally, my prayers have been answered. I have found something out about it though. It still desychs BUT it corrects itself chapter by chapter. The Matrix, usually being an ass of a DVD (desyches every 1 minute) now does it VERY minorly and after that chapter corrects itself. I guess the Apple Sound Update and this DVD final version cleared it all up. But still, im not complaining TOO much now, but its still shabby programming to basically script in a sync-reset between chapters. Other experiences welcome.
-Eli Block"

The software DVD player only works in the new iMac DV and Apple G4 (AGP) systems. The B&W G3 and Yikes G4 (PCI) systems used a hardware decoder (piggyback card on the OEM Rage128) and have a different DVD player.

New POD patches for Demo and Retail Version: This from a post in my 3dfx forum from Rene Trost:

"Hi,
you can download the latest 3Dfx patches for the DEMO and the RETAIL version at: http://www.coolmedia.de/pod ...

This version should fix the shadow, fog issue with ATI Cards. Sorry, still no fog and pod shadows for Voodoo owners - the current 3Dfx OpenGL Renderer don't support these features. MESA does but lacks in gfx-display.
Merry Christmas, Rene. "

Seagate 28GB IDE Barracuda in Rev 1 Beige G3: Hugh Harris reported he's running a Seagate ATA 28.5Gb 7200rpm Barracuda drive fine in his rev 1 Beige G3. He used OS 9's Drive Setup to prep the drive and reported it was 85% faster than the original WD Caviar drive. He also reported the drive is quieter than the WD or Maxtor drives that he's seen and seems fine without any additional cooling. He said he has no warm restart problems that some Beige G3 owners have noted with certain brands of replacement drives.

$139.99 TurboMax cards - Limited Supply: Bottom Line sent a list of their latest holiday specials that included a limited supply of TurboMAX ATA/33 PCI Cards for $139.99 while they have stock at the old price. As noted here recently, the current list price is $199.99. If you missed it, read my review of the Turbomax from last spring which includes compatibility info and notes on A/V limitations in pre-G3 Macs.

Under $200 Maxtor 27GB 7200 RPM/2MB Cache IDE Drives: The local Staples has 27.2GB Maxtor DiamondMax Plus ATA/66 drives for $229.99 with a $30 mail-in rebate (ends 12/24/99). This puts the net cost under $200. This drive should work fine in Macs and has both the 2MB cache and 7200 RPM drive speed. CompUSA in Richmond had a special on the 40GB Maxtor 5400 RPM drives for $279.99 but this is not the DiamondMax Plus (7200 RPM) 40GB version noted in Monday's News page 'Best of 1999' listing. The DiamondMax Plus 40GB drives do not seem to be shipping in mass at retail yet.

Follow-up on Pioneer DVD Drive Problems: The reader that noted problems with his new 10X Pioneer DVD drive in yesterday's news sent more info on the authentication errors. (My questions are in italics):

" Could you send a list of what DVDs worked and which didn't?
Worked Perfectly - Sixteen Candles, Spies Like Us

Semi-Worked - Friday (played the FBI Warning Screen, and the New Line Intro, then gave the Authentication error)

Authentication Error Right Away- Rush Hour, Austin Powers 2, Money Talks.

Are you sure they are all the same region code?
Yes - All the boxes say Region 1 anyway, and besides, I think if it's a region issue, the error actually states REGION being the issue, and not authentication. :(

And what DVD player are you using?
I'm using a B/W G3 450MHz, DVD Player 1.3 (although I tried downgrading to 1.1 and the same thing happened), with the ATI DVD Hardware Decoder attached to the Rage 128 card. "

The problems with the drive are not just Mac related, as this reader notes he's seen issues with the drive in a PC:

"Hi Mike,
I have that drive, the slot loading model, and it's in a PC that I just built, and it has all kinds of problems. Basically, any DVD that has the "PC Friendly" [these are ISO format I think - like the Matrix-Mike] add-ons on it (including The Matrix and the newly released American Pie) just doesn't work well at all.

What happens is the drive doesn't recognize it properly, and will make this clicking sound as the optics try to recognize what the heck you just put in. It's not a driver issue, as even before you get out of the ram check when you start a PeeCee, the drive will be clicking and trying to read the disc. So, it's either a physical limitation or someone (Pioneer) needs to upgrade their firmware.

I have written to Pioneer and gotten ZERO response, maybe you'd have better luck, carrying a little more clout than just one person :)
Ian Story
PS - I'm not just a PeeCee user, I also have 3 Macs, just the machine with the DVD is a PeeCee."

A Beige G3 owner reported his older 2x Pioneer DVD drive also had some problems. A friend has a PC with a Pioneer 303S SCSI DVD (older slotted model) drive that seems to work fine with the Matrox DVD player included with the G400 graphics card. (But come to think of it, WinDVD didn't seem to work at all he said). I welcome other Pioneer 10X IDE DVD drive owner reports.

Mac Diablo II at MWSF: Diabo fans will be happy to hear this news:

"Hello, I just wanted to let you know that Blizzard will be showing Mac Diablo II for the first time at Mac World 2000. We will be found in the gaming area, in booth 4447.

Brian Love and I will be there for the duration of the show, so feel free to stop by and see Blizzard's next hot Mac title.

Best wishes for the holidays,
Tony Gervase
Blizzard Entertainment PR"

Note: I've not had time to update the Rate Your CPU Upgrade and Mac Game/Video Card Framerates databases for the last week but will try to do so by Monday. Thanks to all readers that take the time to post an entry and sorry for the delay in adding them.

For a blast from the past see what was on the front page news here one year ago.

Thursday's News Summary

• Info on Joining Mac RC5 Team
• iMac DVD ROM Update
• Security Updates for IE 4.5/OE 5.0
• More on Acard Low-Cost Mac ATA/66 Card
• Problems Joining Mac RC5 Team
• Another Pioneer 10X DVD Report
• Pod Racer Full Version/Patch Info
• Other Net News

Wednesday's News Summary

• Altivec Enhanced RC5 Client Boosts Perf. 3X
  (& call for G4 owners to help the mac RC5 team)
• How the GHz PC Stole Christmas
• Pod Racer Demo Patch for 3dfx
• Airport and AOL Problems/Workaround
• $100 Mac PCI ATA/66 Card
• More Asante Network Adapter/Sonnet L2G3 Feedback
• Quark Express 4.1 Feedback
• Mac OS 9 Audio Update may help DVD
• OWC CPU Upgrades Sale
• MacWasher 'Cleans' Your HD
• Other Net News

Monday's News Summary

• Creative announces SoundBlaster Live Mac Support
• Final Cut Pro 1.2 Optimized for G4
• $109 Turbomax Cards?
• Game News page has reasons/workarounds for Pod Racer/3Dfx Card Problems
• CPU Upgrade of the Year
• Graphics Card of the Year
• Best SCSI Card Values of 1999
• Best Hard Drives of 1999
• Noteworthy CDROM Drives of 1999
• Most Improved System of the Year
• My Wish List for 2000
• Thanks For a Great Year
• New ROM in Rev 1 Beige G3s doesn't add IDE Slave Support
• VR128 Video Extension Loading Tip
• Blackfire Mac ATA/66 IDE Controller
• Sawtooth/GeeThree Serial Adapter Report
• Yamaha 8X/4X/24X CDR Report
• Other Net News

Weekend's News Summary

• Pioneer SCSI DVD Drive/Wired4DVD/9600 Tip
• Sonnet G3 Upgrade PDS AV Adapter Note
• Region Locking on Pioneer DVD Drive
• Pod Racer Joystick Tip
• Pod Racer Demo/Voodoo3 Problems
• Mac 3dfx Screensavers
• More Raves for UT Demo
• More VR128 Audio Problem Feedback
• Airport/ISP Troubleshooting Tips
• XLR8 Updates Cache Control
• Wired4DVD Software Update
• Other Net News

For links to older news pages see the Archives page.

The recent features page has a lists reviews/articles you may have missed.

For a guide to finding answers to questions - see my Site Guide page.

Considering a CPU Upgrade? Check the CPU Upgrade Owner's Survey results and search for owner reports by Mac model and/or card brand. Readers post new entries daily and the database is updated several times a week. The current database has more than 2,800 reports and growing.

-Freq Asked Questions