User group Newsletter Editors: Utilize this content in your newsletter -- PLEASE ... reference The User Group Network _ / _ UG Network Channel _ / _ NEWS_/ _ Info Manager The Info Manager is looking for your rumors and tidbits... give him a post! ...or subscribe... see subscription notes below Info Manager - 04/01/Y2K OS/9 Thwarts Teachers; Dimwit; Overclocking a Cyrix; IE 5.0; The Wiz; Apple & AOL; Mac on Intel; Iridium (one last time) and BeOS **** OS/9 Thwarts Teachers Rumor has it that more than just a few teachers and school systems are balking at the new OS/9 shipping computers. It seems OS/9 eliminates the ability to utilize Apple's superb security program AtEase as as the ideal interface for K-12 schools. One MIS we spoke with is pulling his hair with the delima of how to deal with a brand new computer lab with 28 new iMacs. Another with literally hundreds of Macs is attempting a downgrade to OS/8.6 and finding lots of bugs and problems to keep AtEase in place. One county school system computer specialist commented: "With all the off-the-wall moves Jobs is making these days, this one really takes the cake! Like there aren't enough problems with OS/9 as it is, now we have to deal with security." Undoing the security for several thousand middle school students is enough to "Send those computers back." More on this later. **** Dimwit Monitors In a MacFixit.com forum, the week of 3/21 there was a discussion about a monitor that kept getting dimmer. However when the shift key was held down so that Extensions didn't load, the monitor was fine. It turned out that he had an Extension called "OpenTptSerial" that was the culprit. It is a Trojan horse and can cause these type of problems. Sometimes it is called Dimwit. So if you have either of these files in your Extension Folder or Control Pannel folder or just loose in the System Folder, you should delete them immediately. **** Cyrix ... What happens when you overclock a bit too much? For a picture see: http://www.hardocp.com/ **** IE 5.0 is now available on Microsoft's website. I used http://www.microsoft.com/mac/default.asp to get my copy. After a very brief usage, it looks like a nice update. **** The Wiz... no, it's not cheese MacCentral reported on 3/24 that The Wiz (a New York based chain of 41 stores) will carry iMacs, iBooks and Apple accessories. But they won't carry the pro-level Macs unless space in the store becomes available. I suspect that if they see demand, they will find space. **** Apple and AOL Looks like the Earthlink connection has made the hard drives on new machines a little less crowded. Apple is no longer shipping AOL software on its machines. At least, not on the machines announced at MacWorld Tokyo. Their official statement is that third party software is often reviewed, as to being appropriate on their machines and that AOL MIGHT return in the future. But I bet Apple's investment in Earthlink had more than a little to do with it. (Apple used to have a large investment in AOL too, before they started eWorld.) **** MacOS for Intel According to xx, the MacOS X will be available for Intel machines. See: http://webx.lists.apple.com/?13@170.fHFLaaadj3E^2@.ee91e16 for the complete story. (Also a story on the Register at: http://www.theregister.co.uk/000327-000015.html) **** Iridium For those not in the wireless industry, you may not be aware that the Motorola sponsored company Iridium when belly up last week, leaving 66 satellites in orbit. A new group called "Save Our Satellites" has started up to raise funds to make them "open source". Check out their web site at: http://www.saveiridium.com/ **** Be Inc. Gives Away Personal Edition The San Fracisco Chronicle is reporting that Be is actually giving away a Personal Edition of its operating system. It actually can be access from Windows like any other application. However when run it will remove Windows from memory and the user has to restart to get Windows back. There is also a "Professional" version that they will sell for $64.95. In addition they are making the source code open source. So perhaps the company that started on a PowerPC chip will eventually have a product that will run there again. More info at: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/03/28/BU83664.DTL Quote of the Week: If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of the potential, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible... what wine is so fragrant, so intoxicating, as possibility! -----Soren Kierkegaard **** Web site of the Week: I didn't come across anything unusual this week. (Probably because I was out of the office for 2 days while waiting for cleanup from the tornado that had our building shut down here in Fort Worth. However one that I always recommend to Mac users is: www.versiontracker.com. It provides a search engine so you can find out what the latest version of your application, Extension or Control Panel is. Really a web site that was needed badly and if it wasn't there already, someone would invent it. So Mac users, if you aren't already using it. Check it out. pau **** Don't forget Any suggestions for topics and reports of rumors are always welcome. Please me know at the address below. Thanks ... the Info Manager invites you to use all or part of his column in your user group newsletter. Please let him know at rumormangr@aol.com and if possible send an electronic copy for the old scrapbook. Subscribe to Rumors@lists.user-groups.net DIGEST VERSION: rumors-digest@lists.user-groups.net (recommended) rumors-on@lists.user-groups.net for more information go to: http://www.user-groups.net/ugcommunity/subscribe.html The Info Manager is a veteran of the UGN (AOL User Groups Forum) and User Group Network. 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