Source: MacAddict – Issue Number 3 – November 1996

I was never really a Mac person. Mainly because I always felt they were overpriced and later on I enjoyed building my own PCs anyway. There also weren’t as many games available for the Mac which was a consideration for me. However, if you were a Mac fan back in the late 90s then MacAddict was an excellent magazine. It reminds me of Boot/Maximum PC for the PC. Sadly, it eventually degraded into MacLife, a much more generic and boring magazine. The November 1996 issue of MacAddict includes:

Hightlights

• 5 Steps to 3D Animation – A guide to developing your own animation. Their 5 steps include developing a concept, modeling the character, making the scene, animating the character, and post production. Some of the software demonstrated include Infini-D, QuickDraw 3.0, Adobe Premiere, and others.

• 3Dilemma – A guide to 3D modeling and animation software. Some products reviewed include 3D World, Fractal Design’s Raydream Studio, StudioPro 2.0, LogoMoton 2.0, Extreme 3D 1.0, Infini-D 3.5, Poser, and more.

• Us & Them – A comparison of Mac vs. PC. Here they compare a Power Computing PowerBase 200 to a Compaq Presario 8710. The Mac (clone) includes a 200MHz PowerPC 603e CPU, 32MB of RAM, 512k of L2 cache, an 8x CD-ROM drive, a 2.2GB hard drive, on board 3D accelerator including 2MB EDO RAM, and 3 PCI slots for $3,221. The Compaq includes a 200MHz Pentium CPU, 32MB of RAM, 512k L2 cache, 8X CD-ROM drive, 2.5GB hard drive, On-board 3D video with 2MB EDO RAM and 3 PCI slots for $3,299. They try to argue that the Mac is price competitive but this is a Mac clone which was allowed by apple for about 30 seconds and this is a very specific PC. There were other options with equivalent or better hardware that could be had cheaper. Apple choices were far more limited. Still an interesting comparison.

• Every Trick in the Bookmark – A guide to organizing your bookmarks in Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer.

How To

• Create Web Graphics – A guide to creating graphics and images for web pages. This includes tips for aligning and sizing images, using GIFs, spacing, when to use JPEGs, and more.

Every Month

• Editor’s Note – A guide to e-mail etiquette and a suggestion to do without e-mail for a day or two.

• Letters – Letters from readers that are mostly pretty goofy.

• Get Info – A look at BeOS, an alternative OS that works with PowerPC based Macs (and other hardware); new Magneto-Optical drives (these used to seem so futuristic); some news about the upcoming OS 8; a look at AOL 3.0; and more.

• Cravings – A look at interesting new gadgets, software and hardware, including Lightwave 3D, Tarpon (a ruggedized PDA based on the Newton), Xclaim VR (a graphics accelerator), PhotoTools 1.0, CD/Maxtet 1600 (a device that connects 16 hot swappable 8x CD-ROM drives to your Mac), and Photoshop 4.0.

• Reviews – Reviews of Claris Home Page & golive Pro, Chromatica, QX-Tools 2.0/PageTools 2.0, Killer Transitions 1.0, Street Atlas 3.0, Phone Search 2.0, MovieStar 1.5, Movie Cleaner, Web-Motion, Myrmidon, Spell Catcher 1.5.6, RAM Doubler 2.0, QuicKeys 3.5, KeyQuencer, Zork Nemesis, AMBER: Journeys Beyond, Gabriel Knight II, Voyeur II, Close Combat, IndyCar Racing II, Don’t Quite Your Day Job, Catz, Sacred and Secular, Berlitz Think & Talk Spanish 2.0, Michael Jackson’s World Beer Hunter, The Ultimate 3D Skeleton, Origins of Mankind, Better Homes and Gardens Remodeling Your Home, Practice Makes Perfect Spanish, Mortimer and the Riddles of the Medallion, and more.

• Ask Us – Questions answered about changing the Mac’s Trash icon, adding an additional monitor to a Mac IIci, keeping the Mac’s clock in sync, memory interleaving on PowerMacs, and more.

• PowerPlay – An sneak peak at Starfleet Academy and an interview with Rusty Buchert, the producer of Starfleet Academy.

…and more!

Source: MacAddict – Issue Number 7 – March 1997

MacAddict was very much like a Mac specific version of Maximum PC. I think that it eventually morphed into MacLife but in my opinion it was much, much better when it was MacAddict. The March 1997 issue includes:

Highlights

• Hopping Online – A guide for the first time surfer to get on the Internet. The given list of items that you will need includes a modem (14.4kbps or faster recommended), an ISP (of course), TCP/IP software (Open Transport for macs 68030 or newer, LocalTalk otherwise), PPP software, and then it is recommended that you have at least System 7.5.5, 8MB RAM (16MB for PowerPC users) and a 68030 processor though the minimum configuration is a Mac Plus running System 7.1 with 4MB of RAM.

• Now That You’re Wired – A continuation of the previous article describing where you can go, what you can do and how to do it online. Includes info about web browsers, e-mail, Usenet, FTP and more.

• Teach Your Old Modem New Tricks – How to set up and use a modem including using it for stuff other than the Internet. Online gaming, calling local bulletin board systems, faxing and more are all covered.

• This Old Mac – As someone who plays around with older computers a lot, I appreciate this column. It covers upgrades and uses for older Macs. This month the SE/30 is covered. Some upgrade possibilities include: The RAM can be upgraded to as much as 32MB using eight 4MB 30-pin SIMMs; There is room for one 3.5″ device such as a hard drive (up to at least 4GB) or something like a ZIP drive; A PDS video card can be installed for connection to an external color monitor (the built-in monitor is black and white only); multiple SCSI drives can be connected externally along with other peripherals such as a modem; The system software itself can be upgraded to 7.5.5. Also mentioned is upgrading the SE to an SE/30 via a logic board swap.

How To

• Use AppleScript – An AppleScript tutorial, Apple’s scripting language used to control apps and share data among other things.

• Make a Custom Palette – A tutorial for creating a custom color pallet for the Web. At the time, web browsers only displayed 216 colors.

Every Month

• Editor’s Note – The previous years Apple bought NextStep. Here the editor speculates on the future of a NextStep based MacOS (what would become OS X). There’s some amusing things in here like Steve Jobs only being brought on as a part time consultant and the new version of the OS arriving by late 1997 (a consumer version of OS X wouldn’t be released until 2001).

• Letters – Mac vs. PC, readers ask for computers, and other, mostly humorous letters.

• Get Info – News, new products and other info: custom designed covers for the PowerBook 1400, NewTech NUpowr 1400/200 “200MHz CPU + Cache” upgrade for the PowerBook 1400, multiple video out cards for the PowerBook 1400, plus various other expansions; Photoshop 4.0 and FreeHand 7 support PNG format; new high speed serial PCI cards; Frontpage 1.0 for Mac, Labtec LCS-2408 subwoofer; and much more.

• Cravings – Fancy new gadgets including the Newton MessagePad 2000, Panasonic PD/CD-ROM, Mitsubishi 40-inch Plasma monitor with 640×480 resolution for $10k-$12k, miroVideo DV 100 PCI card, and more.

• Reviews
  • Expression 1.0 – A vector based drawing and paint program.
  • Nisus Writer 5.0 – Word processor that supports multiple languages, indexing, OpenDoc, HTML, and more.
  • Wav – An OpenDoc based word processor.
  • Adobe Acrobat 3.0 – The latest PDF publishing software for the mac.
  • RayDream Extensions Pack – Modeling, texturing, and special affects additions for RayDream Designer and RayDream Studio.
  • Rosetta Stone Language Library – This language software has been around a long time.
  • Claris Organizer 2.0 – A personal information manager.
  • eMate 300 – Meant to be a low cost laptop substitute for schools based on Newton technology.
  • Captivate – A scrapbook tool consisting of screen capture, graphics display/manipulation, and multimedia storage tools.
  • Netopia ISDN Modem 412 – Before broadband, ISDN was the next best thing…if you could afford it.
  • You Don’t Know Jack 2 – The once immensely popular trivia game.
  • NASCAR Racing – I had this for my 486 based PC. For the Mac it requires a PowerPC and 16MB of RAM.
  • Virtual Pool – Just what it sounds like. Play pool…virtually.
  • Heroes of Might and Magic – Fantasy strategy game requireing a 68040 or faster and at least 12MB of RAM.
  • Step On It! – A 100 level arcade game featuring many classic gaming elements.
  • Pro Pinball – A decent video pinball game. Only one table though.
  • Star Trek: Borg – A point and click Star Trek adventure game.
  • Encarta ’97 Deluxe Encyclopedia – Encyclopedia on CD.
  • The Genius of Edison – An interactive Edison education.
  • Warren Miller’s Ski World ’97 – A database of ski resorts and associated information on CD.
  • Castle Explorer – An educational game about medieval Europe.
  • Sound Toys – An interesting piece of musical composition software.
  • Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel – Interactive version of the kids’ book.
  • Sierra’s School House Science – Educational edutainment software.
  • Bears at Work – Bears teach kids about jobs.
  • Big Science Comics – Learn about density, weight, energy and more in this science based game.
  • The Way Things Work 2.0 – Educational software that describes how a variety of things work.
  • Stellaluna – Educational software about bats.
  • Learning in Toyland – Educational games for preschoolers.
  • Stay Tooned! – Capture the cartoon characters that have escaped from your TV.

• Ask Us – Questions from readers about file association, opening TeachText and SimpleText documents with Word via drag and drop, the value of a used Mac, finding how much free hard drive space you have, using a DOS compatibility card with an older Mac, adding VRAM, 32-bit addressing, and more.

• PowerPlay – An interview with Greg Armanini, creative producer for Inverse Ink, maker of CD-ROM based comic books; Brief previews of Creatures, Macintosh Archives Volume II: The Star Wars Collection and Riven; and more.

The Disc

• Demos – This month, demos of the games Over the Reich, Stay Tooned, Step On It! and Zone Raiders are provided on the cover disc.

• Shareware – Titles this month include ColorFall (Tetris like game), ePress (business card creator), Snitch (tool for extracting file info), and much more.

…and more!