TidBITS#427/27-Apr-98 ===================== When numbers get serious, most Mac users turn to Microsoft Excel. But is the latest version of Microsoft's spreadsheet worth the the upgrade? Matt Neuburg looks at Excel 98 to answer that question. Also this week, Adam explores issues surrounding the Quicken debacle and uncovers a Macintosh personal finance package that's still alive. Finally, announcements of new software releases include Eudora Pro 4.0.1, HyperCard 2.4, Dreamweaver 1.2, AutoShare 2.2, and Assimilator 2.0. Topics: MailBITS/27-Apr-98 Financial Competition? Lives of a Cell: Excel 98 Copyright 1998 TidBITS Electronic Publishing. All rights reserved. Information: Comments: --------------------------------------------------------------- This issue of TidBITS sponsored in part by: * APS Technologies -- 800/443-4199 -- -- How do you back up your APS hard drives? Try APS tape, removable, and CDR drives! Weekly specials at ! * Northwest Nexus -- 1 888-NWNEXUS -- Internet business solutions throughout the Pacific Northwest. * Small Dog Electronics -- Special Deal for TidBITS Readers! <------- NEW! MS Office 4.2.1 and Office 98 upgrade with Grolier's: $339! UMAX SuperMac C600/240 (refurb) w/ new 17" KDS monitor - $1329! For Details: -- 802/496-7171 * Cyberian Outpost -- the Cool Place to Shop for Computer Stuff! <--- NEW! Take advantage of the power of Microsoft Office 98: $447.95 Order online or call 860/927-2050 x9228 * This may sound surprising, but there are serious Mac disciples <--- NEW! who'll tell you that Internet Explorer 4 is the best way to surf the Web. But why not find out for yourself? Download IE 4 free at * Software piracy fines cost businesses over $9 million in 1997. <--- NEW! Do your boss a favor and find out how to protect your company and your job. Visit: * Microsoft Office 98 Macintosh Edition -- Draw tables into any <---- NEW! Office document, edit Excel spreadsheets with other users at the same time and even share Office files with the PC crowd. * REGISTER NOW for Digital University online professional courses! <- NEW! Online Marketing, JavaScript, Photoshop, Microsoft, Multimedia Classes start May 6th. Add to your job skills online! Sign up now at . * Remember last week? What if your hard disk doesn't? You need <----- NEW! new Retrospect Express from Dantz Development for quick and easy backups to floppy, cartridge drives, and even CD-Rs. Special Offer: $49.95 at --------------------------------------------------------------- MailBITS/27-Apr-98 ------------------ **Eudora Pro 4.0.1 Updater Released** -- Qualcomm has released a free updater that takes Eudora Pro 4.0 to version 4.0.1. Although the update adds few new features, it includes many small tweaks, including vastly improved find performance within the Filters window, improved HTML parsing and performance, better nickname completion performance, and the capability to send copies of both styled and plain text in a single message using MIME. In addition, I recently learned of a neat feature that also exists in Eudora Pro 4.0: To see which filters have been applied to a selected message, press Shift and choose Filters from the Windows menu. Eudora responds by opening the Filters window with the applied filters selected. Although there's nothing earth-shattering in Eudora Pro 4.0.1, the improvements are well worth the 2.3 MB download. [ACE] **Apple Releases HyperCard 2.4** -- After a two year lull, Apple has released an incremental upgrade to HyperCard, its venerable authoring and scripting tool. HyperCard 2.4 adds extensive support for QuickTime 3.0 (including real-time scripting of QuickTime effects and playback), support for QuickTime VR scenes, and the capability to script connections to URLs via Internet Config. HyperCard 2.4 also has bug fixes and interface tweaks such as handler pop-ups in the script editor and floating windows that display correctly under Mac OS 8. Owners of HyperCard 2.3.5 can download a free updater (a 5.7 MB download); otherwise HyperCard 2.4 costs $99 through the Apple Store. Although this isn't the long-presaged HyperCard 3.0, rebuilt entirely on top of the QuickTime 3.0 architecture, the HyperCard team felt it was important to show motion and reward HyperCard's long-time supporters for their patience. [GD] **New Virtual Desktop** -- After the mention of Virtual Desktop in "Monitor Shielding and Background" in TidBITS-426_, Ross Brown of AWOL Software Productions advises us that you need Virtual Desktop 1.9.2, not 1.9.1, for compatibility with Mac OS 8.0 and 8.1. The new version, released 24-Apr-98, will be archived at Info-Mac later this week. [ACE] **Dreamweaver 1.2 Update Available** -- Macromedia's latest update to the $299 Dreamweaver, Web authoring software that supports modern features such as cascading style sheets and animated buttons, continues to tempt designers. The new version 1.2 adds site-management features, a conversion tool for making 4.x-version browser-specific code compatible with version 3.x browsers, new JavaScript behaviors such as browser detection and image pre- loading, and onscreen editing features. Registered users can download a 5.4 MB updater or order it on CD-ROM for $19.99; a free 30-day trial version (6 MB) is also available. [JLC] **CE Sells QuickConference** -- CE Software has announced that the Iowa-based Prairie Group will take over development and sales of QuickConference IP, instant messaging software that evolved from CE's long-standing QuickMail email software. QuickConference IP, which Prairie Group plans to ship on 01-May-98, uses TCP/IP to enable users of Mac OS, Windows NT, and Windows 95 to exchange instant messages on local networks or over the Internet. CE veteran and well-known Mac developer Don Brown, now at Prairie Group, will spearhead continued development of the software, which will cost of $119.95 for a five-user license. [MHA] **PageSpinner Extension Spins Sites** -- Fans of the HTML editor PageSpinner should note Optima System's new Site Assistant 1.0, a PageSpinner extension that streamlines site-related operations. Features include quick image insertion, uploading multiple pages via Anarchie or Fetch, and page archiving. Site Assistant tracks settings for up to 20 sites and displays the currently active site in a limited Finder list-like view. Site Assistant also offers a rudimentary multi-file Search & Replace command. Although Site Assistant should prove handy for running small sites, it's not fast enough to handle large sites and not up to power user standards in some areas; in particular the Search & Replace feature lacks basic options like searching for only whole words or approving changes individually. Site Assistant is free to registered users of the $25 PageSpinner. For more about PageSpinner, see "Spinning the Web Part I: Trade-Offs and PageSpinner" in TidBITS-384_. [TJE] **AutoShare 2.2 Released** -- Mikael Hansen has released AutoShare 2.2, a freeware mailing list manager and autoresponder. Version 2.2 adds compatibility with the just-released Eudora Internet Mail Server 2.1, enhancements to the AppleScript dictionary, and process extenders. Most interesting, AutoShare 2.2 includes a bounce module that handles hard and soft bounces. The download is 1.8 MB. [ACE] **Resistance Is Futile... You Will Be Assimilated** -- Stairways Software has released the shareware Assimilator 2.0, which helps manage groups of Macs in situations such as student labs, testing labs, and stores that rent Macs to the public. In essence, Assimilator ensures that the disks in a large number of Macs contain almost identical files (preferences files may need to be different), all copied from an AppleShare server over the network. New features in 2.0 include support for multiple partitions, support for AppleShare IP over TCP/IP, and new customization features based on feedback from the MacLabManager mailing list. For a brief discussion of Assimilator, read "InterviewBITS with Peter Lewis" beginning in TidBITS-304_. Assimilator 2.0 costs $10 for individuals, with site licenses available for $500 and multiple site organization licenses for $2,000. Upgrades are free to those who registered after 01-Jan-98; otherwise upgrades cost $5 per machine. [ACE] Financial Competition? ---------------------- by Adam C. Engst Last week's announcement that Intuit was ceasing development of Quicken for Macintosh due to declining sales fostered a slew of negative reactions (see "Intuit Drops Quicken for Macintosh" in TidBITS-426_). Comments from Steve Jobs at Apple's annual shareholders meeting last week offered encouragement that Intuit may reconsider, but it remains to be seen how the situation will play out. **Who's to Blame?** Discussion on the new TidBITS Talk list proved interesting, with blame for the move being laid not just on Intuit, but also on Apple. A number of people felt that Intuit failed to provide compelling upgrades, commenting that Quicken's new features were too fluffy, and that features in the Windows version never materialized for Mac users. Also, some people felt that earlier versions of Quicken did everything they wanted, so there was no reason to upgrade. Initially, I hadn't given sufficient credence to the argument that the fault for Intuit's move lay in part with Apple. But, a portion of Intuit's dominance came thanks to Apple, which bundled versions of Quicken with many Performa models, and a search through TidBITS revealed that Claris was bundling Quicken with ClarisWorks as early as 1992. Given Quicken's market dominance, bundling Quicken with other products eroded the population of new users and people who upgrade previous copies, ensuring that each new release had a smaller potential audience than the last. Steve Lunseth, CEO of Aatrix software, makers of Quicken competitor CheckWriter Pro, noted that Apple's bundling deals with Intuit caused other personal finance programs to disappear, since it's hard to compete with free software available with every Performa. In short, if the loss of Quicken for the Mac is considered a problem for Apple, Apple must accept some blame for creating its own fate. **Alternatives** -- In large part as a result of Apple's bundling of Quicken, Aatrix stopped selling CheckWriter Pro, and MECA Software put Managing Your Money into similar mothballs. In fact, the only remaining personal finance program is MacMoney from the aptly named Survivor Software. Mike Farmer, CEO of Survivor Software, commented, "We may not have the budget to run ads, but we have supported our product and made enhancements over the years." Mike also noted that MacMoney reads QIF files, so Quicken users can move most data over if they want to switch. I asked Steve Lunseth if he'd consider reviving CheckWriter Pro, given the situation with Intuit and Quicken. He immediately told me that CheckWriter Pro works fine under Mac OS 8 and rattled off an impressive sounding feature set. Then he paused and said if Intuit leaves Quicken 98 for the Macintosh in its current state and if Apple will support other developers and help foster competition, he'll put CheckWriter Pro back on the market. Although the only information I received from an email exchange with MECA Software was that Managing Your Money is no longer a retail product, I wouldn't be surprised if it too could recover, given sufficient incentive. **It's Up to Apple** -- We're starting to see some pieces coming together here, and it's not an entirely rosy picture. In Henry Norr's report on MacInTouch about Apple's annual shareholder meeting, Steve Jobs is quoted as saying that Apple should shoulder much of the blame for "failing to get in Intuit's face." But, as discussed above, Apple's lack of evangelism for Intuit isn't the entire story. Steve Lunseth said that he'd revive CheckWriter Pro if Apple would help support other developers. Unfortunately, as Geoff Duncan noted in "Furor Over Developer Programs & QuickTime Licensing" in TidBITS-425_, Apple doesn't seem interested in smaller developers right now. In Henry's report on Apple's annual meeting, he notes that Jobs defended the new Apple developer programs, claiming that Apple must devote more resources to the top 100 Macintosh developers. Although it's true that Apple needs the top 100 developers to survive and thrive, I fear this may be another case of Apple ignoring lines of influence in the industry. Small developers often make up the talent pool absorbed by large companies, and smaller developers are often a source of new ideas, particularly in emerging markets. Lines of influence can be important, and short-term financial gains may come at a huge long-term loss. Look at HyperCard. It was free for several years, and in that time, it enabled thousands of individuals to create small, useful solutions to specific problems. The fact that those solutions required HyperCard, which in turn required a Macintosh, meant the Mac was guaranteed its position in certain organizations as long as a HyperCard solution remained necessary. By trying to make HyperCard into a commercial multimedia authoring tool, Apple eliminated thousands of small developers who then never had a chance to create software that would ensconce the Macintosh in new places. I know no more than anyone else about Apple's and Intuit's plans for future Macintosh development; however, I sincerely hope they don't continue to shut out other developers. We would all be the poorer for it. Lives of a Cell: Excel 98 ------------------------- by Matt Neuburg To call Microsoft Excel a spreadsheet program is rather like calling the Grand Canyon a gully. Like the Grand Canyon, Excel is huge; it seems a rugged and forbidding place, but in reality it's full of power and beauty, much of which is concealed, and accessible only with a certain amount of labor. That's why it's no bad thing that most of the ways in which Excel 98 improves upon Excel 5 have to do with its interface. Fundamental changes were not to be expected; Excel is a mature, polished, highly functional application. And besides, the great Excel revolution took place four years ago with Excel 5. Until then, cell data had to be entered in the formula bar rather than the cell itself (enough to confuse and deter many a beginner), character formatting could not be applied within cell text, workbooks were intractable and cranky, named ranges were hard to use, and the macro language was a series of illegible incantations, crammed into the cells of a worksheet and debuggable only at the cost of ten percent of one's body weight. **My Numbers Stay Crunchy** -- To put Excel 98 through its paces, I had it work out my 1997 taxes. To a large extent, this involved building worksheets whose structure mirrored that of my tax forms. Then, all I plugged in my numbers (various types of income and expenditure); calculations such as sums and differences and percentages and copying numbers from one cell to another were done for me. Forms such as the new Schedule D, where you must calculate different bits of your tax at different rates, or Form 2210, where you must justify your annualized installments of estimated tax, are tedious and daunting when done by hand; thanks to Excel, they filled themselves out as if by magic, almost without human intervention. My tax forms used Excel as a spreadsheet; but throughout the year I also had used Excel as a kind of database, recording each item of income and expenditure as it occurred. Now I sorted and filtered that database to obtain particular information, such as business phone calls. The neat part was having Excel make a "pivot table" to summarize the data into totals horizontally by category (interest, dividends, office expenses, travel expenses, and so on) and vertically by calendrical quarter, with grand totals in both directions. This gave me the numbers to plug into the tax form spreadsheets. To try charts, I used Excel to track my stock portfolio. I used Yahoo's customizable portfolio feature so each day I could see a Web page showing the value of my stocks. Excel can now read HTML, so it was able to import that Web page; and a Visual Basic routine instantly added the current date and the new figures to an array of numbers, which was rendered into a chart. (Subsequently I discovered that I could have automated the process still further, skipping Yahoo and my browser, and importing the stock quotes directly from the Internet with an Excel "Web query.") Throughout these experiments, Excel 98 really did feel easier to use. If you're accustomed to Excel 5, you can start using Excel 98 immediately; at first you'll think it's the same program. If you're a new user, Excel 98 is a splendid version to learn. Occasional user or power guru, you'll quickly encounter subtle enhancements that break down the barriers between you and the work you want to do. **Fear and Loafing** -- Here's a paradoxical theory: a large, powerful program like Excel can prevent you from exploring its power. The reason, I suggest, is fear. If I feel uncertain about what will happen if I perform a certain action, the likelihood is that I'll be reluctant to perform it. This, in turn, makes me lazy; there are features I shy away from, because the safety of not venturing into them outweighs the possible advantages of learning them. Excel is an especially apt candidate for this scenario. For one thing, its data are important numbers; one mistake and you could be in more trouble than the Beardstown Ladies. Also, much of Excel's action is concealed from the user. The fundamental entity visible onscreen, the worksheet, is not the "real" entity one is concerned with; the "real" entity is the hidden formulas and how they interact with cells. One creates formulas with a certain amount of perspiration; having done so, one tends to become conservative, afraid of messing things up accidentally. Shall I try to tweak this formula, or is it best to leave it alone? If I move these cells will I fry some data or break some formulas? That's why the interface improvements in Excel 98 are so important. To the extent that they reduce such fears, they make the user more confident, more adventurous, and ultimately more productive. For instance, as you drag selected cells to copy or move them, a ScreenTip box appears near the cursor, telling you the range that the cells will occupy if you release the cursor at that moment. As you drag the corner of a selection to fill a range of cells automatically, a ScreenTip box shows what values Excel will insert. In both cases, if you're still not sure what effect your action will have, press Control as you drag to see a contextual menu when you release the mouse; this feature existed in 5.0, but I find it easier to use in the new version. And if you're still nervous, note that Excel now offers 16 levels of Undo and Redo. To prevent yourself (and others) from entering the wrong sort of data, you can now mark a cell for validation: entering a value that fails to meet certain criteria causes an alert to appear. Plus, the "validation" rubric subsumes several other cool features (which don't seem particularly related). Clicking in a cell can cause a custom ScreenTip to appear; that's a good way to leave a note explaining what the cell is for. (Another is to attach an actual note to the cell; notes, now called comments, were formerly hidden features of a cell, but now they can display as text boxes with arrows pointing to the cell in question.) A cell can also display a dropdown list from which the user selects a value to enter. Another common Excel fear is that formulas may not work properly. Ensuring that they do is now easier. If you double-click a cell, the other cells whose values are used by its formula are framed in different colors. When you need a fast check to make sure you're combining the right numbers, this technique is easier than using Excel's auditing tools. Plus, you can move or resize a frame to change the reference within the formula. Constructing or troubleshooting a complex formula used to be daunting; it is now easy, and even fun. As you edit the formula, the vastly improved Function Wizard shows what actual values are being fed into each function, and what actual result that function is producing. So, you can discern instantly which particular function within your formula is giving the wrong output, and why. Further, if you make a mistake while typing a formula (such as omitting a parenthesis), Excel no longer complains and leaves you hanging; it proposes a sensible correction. **Charts and Other Smarts** -- Working with charts is now considerably simpler. The Chart Wizard shows at every step exactly what the finished chart, using your data, will look like. A selected chart (you no longer must double-click a chart to select it) can easily be modified using the Chart menu that now appears. ScreenTips tell you what data value or element of the chart is under the cursor, which aids analysis and editing. At one point in the Chart Wizard, you're presented with a dialog box containing an edit field in which a range of cells is to be entered. This is something that often happens in Excel. The easiest way to enter that range is usually to select it, and Excel has always allowed you to do so; the trouble is that the dialog box itself is in the way. Now, wherever this situation occurs (not just in the Chart Wizard, but throughout Excel), a "collapse" button reduces the dialog to the edit field alone; you make the selection, press the button again, and are returned to the dialog's earlier state. This is a good example of how a small interface change can make a major difference. There are many small tweaks to formatting, such as cell merging, rotated text, the ability to indent cell contents, and easy adjustment of print regions. Pivot tables are easier to format, modify, and maintain. Collaborative power is enhanced through workbook sharing (multiple users can open and change the same worksheet across a network, simultaneously) and through a revision-tracking feature akin to Word's. Certain fundamental limits are raised: the size of a worksheet is now 64,000 rows - yes, I know folks whose spreadsheets routinely hit that limit - and a cell can contain 32,000 characters. **Office Party** -- Excel also inherits some features by virtue of its integration within the Office 98 suite. I mentioned these in my earlier review of Word 98 (see "A Word to the Wise - Word 98, That Is" in TidBITS-425_). There's Max, the animated Office Assistant. There's the enlarged collection of drawing tools. There are hyperlinks, and the capability to read and write HTML. (You can't save a file across the Internet, though, by uploading it through FTP, as you can with the Windows version.) And then there's the fact that the Visual Basic debugging environment is no longer as good as it was in Excel 5 (the capability to set a "watch" is gone). It's curious that after all these years of supposed integration, Excel and Word remain so dissimilar. For instance, Word menus have always been customizable, but this is the first version of Excel where you can manually customize menus. Keyboard shortcuts are different from Word's and can't be customized as Word's can. Excel's internal functionality is not totally exposed as macro commands the way Word's is. Word can show keyboard shortcuts for toolbar items in a ToolTip; Excel can't. Some user-configurable options affect just Excel, others affect all Office programs, and you won't know which is which until you experiment. Excel boasts a drawing object that Word lacks, "smart connectors" (arrows that continue to link shapes even if those shapes are repositioned). Templates are very differently implemented. It's time that Microsoft undertook a Grand Unification. **Grand Total** -- My experience with Excel 98 has been mostly positive. I did run into some buggy behavior that may have been attributable to extension conflicts: at various moments, hierarchical menus didn't work, menus sometimes stopped working entirely, there were freezes while working in Visual Basic (especially when making a new dialog), and when I first opened an Excel 5 document and tried to save it in Excel 98 format, I couldn't. I believe I've mostly resolved these problems, but anecdotally I do continue to see occasional unexplained freezes. Still, Excel 98 doesn't seem any less stable than Excel 5, which quite regularly used to drop me into MacsBug. These few problems aside, Microsoft deserves commendation for the many ways they've made Excel not just easier to use, but less intimidating. That's not to imply I think their work is done; Excel still has many areas where the interface is more arcane than it needs to be. But the effort thus far definitely makes a difference, and since the program's functionality leaves very little to be desired, it is to be hoped that Microsoft will continue on this course of simplifying user access to Excel's power. Finally, the bottom line: should you upgrade? If your work doesn't expose you to Excel 5's interface annoyances, or if you're so expert that you're completely inured to them, you may not find the upgrade worth the price. On the other hand, if, like me, you tremble at the idea of changing the scale of a chart's x-axis, or if you've ever spent hours trying to figure out why a formula yields a bizarre value, you're likely to want Excel 98; and if you need the new graphic, printing, collaborative or Web-related features, upgrading becomes almost obligatory. Upgrades cost $299 for the entire Microsoft Office 98 suite, or $149 for Excel 98 alone. New users pay $499 for Office 98 or $399 for Excel 98. Those are list prices - street prices run lower. TidBITS sponsor Cyberian Outpost sells Office 98 for $447.95, and Small Dog Electronics has a $339 bundle of Office 4.2.1 and the upgrade to Office 98 (see the sponsorship text at the top of the issue for links). For academic users, Microsoft Office 98 runs $199 and Excel 98 alone is $129. A Microsoft Office 98 Gold Edition costs about $100 more and includes FrontPage 1.0, Encarta 98 Deluxe, and Bookshelf 98. Also, Apple today started a $30 rebate promotion if you buy both Mac OS 8.1 and Microsoft Office 98 between 15-Mar-98 and 30-Jun-98; Apple's Web site has details. $$ Non-profit, non-commercial publications may reprint articles if full credit is given. Others please contact us. We don't guarantee accuracy of articles. Caveat lector. Publication, product, and company names may be registered trademarks of their companies. This file is formatted as setext. For more information send email to . A file will be returned shortly. 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