MacDirectory Magazine

Summer-Fall 2008 (#38)

MacDirectory magazine is the premiere creative lifestyle magazine for Apple enthusiasts featuring interviews, in-depth tech reviews, Apple news, insights, latest Apple patents, apps, market analysis, entertainment and more.

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42 MacDirectory DEPARTMENT cing with tools to provide desktop sharing, video and voice conferencing. Acrobat 9 Pro and Acrobat 9 Standard were scheduled to be available for Mac OS X in July. Acrobat 9 Pro Extended, a version that includes Presenter, a tool for packaging PowerPoint presentations into multimedia PDF files will only be available in the Windows version for $699. Acrobat Pro will be priced at $449 and the Acrobat Standard at $229. Upgrade pricing will be available for owners of qualifying earlier versions. Adobe Betas Preview Creative Suite 4 SAN JOSE, Calif. — With the release of Dreamweaver, Fireworks and Soundtrack CS4 betas, Adobe Systems, Inc. gave the public a sneak peek at the next generation of its popular design applications and started existing CS3 customers on the road to the big update. The downloads, available from , were to function for 48 hours – however, a CS3 activation key will keep them alive until the new suite is released. "Dreamweaver, Fireworks and Soundbooth are the major applications we're unveiling as public betas before the next release of Creative Suite," said David Burkett, vice president of product management for Adobe Creative Suite. "This early release software gives our loyal customers a taste of the radical workflow enhancements that we have in store, as we redefine how designers and developers collaborate to deliver stand- out digital experiences." The Dreamweaver CS4 beta reveals several new interface features including a Related Files Toolbar that provides access to all files (JavaScript, CSS, etc.) files that are linked to the page and a Code Navigator that simplifies the editing of complex pages. A new Live View Mode, based on the open source Webkit engine allows developers to test and debug active page content without leaving the Dreamweaver environment. The Fireworks interface now bears more resemblance to other Creative Suite products and now offers full support for the recently introduced Adobe AIR technology as well as integration with Flash and FLEX builder. Soundbooth CS4 offers multi-track audio editing as well as a speech-recognition feature permitting the creation of audio transcripts directly from recordings. All three programs support Mac OS X 10.4.11 and later. Soundbooth requires an Intel processor. Adobe hasn't announced a release date for Creative Suite 4, but watch MacDirectory for further coverage in our next issue. Quark Announces QuarkXPress 8 DUSSELDORF, Germany – Quark chose the DRUPA international design conference here to unveil the latest version of its flagship QuarkXPress 8. The new release promises an updated, more intuitive interface and a host of new features to simplify and speed up production tasks. Rather than adding more tools, the program has improved the flexibility of existing tools in an effort to streamline the design process. The program has also added the ability to drag and drop files from the desktop onto a layout. "QuarkXPress 8 demonstrates our understanding of the way designers work today, and underscores Quark's commitment to continually providing innovative software that pushes the design experience forward," said Tim Banister, general manager of Desktop Technology for Quark. "We have combined highly intuitive software with the design control elements that are critical in the creative process, and as a result believe QuarkXPress 8 will not only be a seamless upgrade for existing QuarkXPress users, but the most accessible professional page-layout software for new users to learn as well." The program continues its tradition of industry-leading typographic tools with paragraph-by-paragraph control over hanging characters and an even higher level of control over baseline grid settings than its predecessor. The new version offers improved graphic capabilities, as well. The Bezier pen tool has been enhanced for improved drawing control and images can now be rotated and scaled directly in a layout. The new version also offers native support for Adobe Illustrator files. QuarkXPress 8 was expected to ship by August 1. Buyers of QuarkXPress 7 from May 1 on were expected to be eligible for a free upgrade to 8. Details are available at . Extensis Serves Up New Font Management System PORTLAND, Ore. – Previewed at Macworld in January, Extensis announced that it is now shipping its Universal Type Server, the company's second-generation workgroup solution that goes well beyond the role of a simple font repository. Leveraging Java-based architecture, the product will offer flexible integration in mixed Mac/ Windows, client/server environments. Brian Berson, general manager at Extensis told MacDirectory the program was inspired by users' requests, "They asked for centrally managed fonts in a con- trolled, but easy to implement environ- ment." As a result, Universal Type Server not only provides for the distribution of fonts, but manages the complex meta- data (licenses, classifications, foundries and keywords) that play a crucial role in active production environments. The design's manage-centrally/use-anywhere philosophy intends to simplify access for an increasingly mobile creative staff while providing granular permissions control and Active Directory integration for system administrators. APPLE NEWS

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