MacPac puts PalmPilot in hands of Mac users
San Jose Mercury News - Published Sunday, March 21, 1999
It has been a long time coming but apparently worth the wait.
At least that is the initial review coming from the Internet
about 3Com's new Mac software for its PalmPilot line of hand-held
computers.
Called MacPac 2.1, this software lets you back up and synchronize your PalmPilot data
on a Mac. It has been hailed so far as a lean package that runs fast and offers some
innovative features.
''After seeing MacPac, some Windows users told me they will switch to the Mac so they
can use our software,'' Doug Wirnowski, PalmPilot product manager, recently told
trade news magazine MacWeek.
The MacPac is great news for the Mac community. The PalmPilot, which has sold more
than 2 million units in the past several years, is the only hand-held computer that lets you
back up and synchronize personal information on a Mac.
Until now, though, the synchronization software for the Mac paled in comparison with
its Windows counterpart for the PalmPilot.
No longer. What 3Com did was take the old Claris Organizer, which was a excellent
personal information manager, and retool it for the PalmPilot. But 3Com has done more
than just translate Organizer to the PalmPilot. It has actually improved on the old
software.
For starters, Organizer as MacPac 2.1 synchronizes some data in only 11 seconds,
according to 3Com tests.
You can also install applications for the PalmPilot through drag-and-drop technology.
That is, you just drag an icon of the application onto an icon of the PalmPilot on your
desktop for installation.
Another nifty new feature is the addition of AppleScript, which lets users customize their
Macs. Now you can do this, too, on the PalmPilot. For example, you could program
your PalmPilot to back up certain files every day at a specific time.
With MacPac 2.1, the PalmPilot can now communicate with an iMac, Apple's
hottest-selling new computer.
MacPac 2.1 is available online at 3Com's site, in stores and in catalogs. It retails for
$15. The computer CD also includes other software, such as Adobe Acrobat Reader and
the basic version of Shana's Expense Creator program.
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