No doubt a number of members receive many “Virus Warning Alerts” via email and these are normally are along the lines of “AOL and Microsoft announced that ‘Virus XXX’ has just been released to the internet and it is more dangerous then Melissa but no one else knows yet, so pass it on to everyone in your address book and that it uses “Nortons Utilities or Internet Explorer to erase your hard drive”

However, these “Virus Announcements” from “IBM & AOL” are FAKES. The “Virus” is actually the message itself and it “spreads” when people forward the message on to others. The actual “virus” they mention usually DOESN’T exist. To let you know neither AOL, nor IBM, issue Anti-Virus warnings and they certainly do not release joint virus announcements. Continue Reading

A beta release of Eudora 5.0 has been posted to Eudora’s web site. Continue Reading

As many of you have been aware, AUSOM attended that Australian Connectivity Expo 2000 (ACE 2000) over the last weekend of October. ACE 2000 was conceived to promote non-Microsoft solutions and there were a large number of exhibitors promoting Amiga and various Unix/Linux solutions. AUSOM was the sole Macintosh presence. Continue Reading

On Wednesday September 13, 2000 at 10:00am Paris Time (7:00pm Melbourne Time), Apple iCEO, Steve Jobs, opened the MacWorld Expo – Paris with the Keynote Speech that lasted for about 90 minuted and although the event was not “webcast” live, it was available tobe viewed at

Dispite floods in the main Expo hall the night before; the Expo went ahead as expected. Jobs even joked about the incident with a couple of one liners – “well something had to leak” and “how fitting since we are introducing Aqua today” Continue Reading

What is ACE 2000?

The Australian Connectivity Expo 2000 (ACE 2000) is an expo for users by users. It’s about how computers are used. It’s about Alternatives (particularly alternatives to so-called Microsoft “solutions”). It’s about connecting with people. It’s about enhancing the user experience. ACE 200 will feature “alternative” Operating System’s, including Amiga, Linux, OS/2 and MacOS. Continue Reading

In light of the recent findings in the Anti-Trust case against Microsoft, and the proposed to Microsoft break-up, it might be prudent to start looking at alternatives for various Microsoft products. There are a couple of office suites available, including AppleWorks, but there is about to be another major player on the Macintosh field – StarOffice – and they already exist for the Unix and Windows platforms. Continue Reading

MacWorld Expo’s are similar in concept to the PC/IT shows that we have here in Australia, but they have a very important differences – They are 100% Apple Computer focussed.

Since the return of Steve Jobs to Apple Computer Inc a couple of years ago as iCEO, the MacWorld Expo’s have grown in popularity as Apple now uses them almost exclusively to launch new or updated product ranges. These announcements are normally made during a Keynote speech, by Jobs’ himself, that opens the show and this year’s MacWorld Expo New York was no exception with major changes to product lineups. Continue Reading

Early in July, seven of Australia’s major Apple Channel partners released a proposal to merge operations, to “capitalise on buoyant and increasing market share of Apple Computer in Australia”.

With the merger of Choice Connections, DesignWyse, GM Computer, Mac’s Place, Manning Computers, Next Byte and Status Graph, we will see the creation of the largest Apple Channel Partner, with over 30 retails locations, along with a significant portion of the professional market division and Apple Education Centres. Continue Reading

A couple of days before the US Department of Justice requested that Microsoft be spilt into two separate companies [see DOJ asks for Microsoft Spilt article elsewhere in this issue], Microsoft themselves announced some great news for Macintosh users – Microsoft Office 2001 Macintosh Edition (Office) will be available later this year. Continue Reading

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and the 19 US states who successfully sued Microsoft over Anti-Trust violations have requested that the US court spilt Microsoft in to two separate companies.

The first company will handle the Windows Operating System, while the other would handle applications including Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer. Continue Reading