MailBITS/12-Apr-99

Extensis Unpacks New Suitcase 8 -- After resurrecting Suitcase from Symantec's Macintosh product graveyard (see "Extensis Rescuing Suitcase" in TidBITS-466), Extensis announced today that a new version of the venerable font control utility is now available via Extensis's Web site. Suitcase 8 features compatibility with System 7.5.5 and higher, plus improved font selection and set management. Additional baggage in the Suitcase family include Suitcase FontAgent, which offers font file diagnosis and troubleshooting features, and Suitcase 8 XT, a QuarkXPress XTension for automatically activating fonts when opening XPress documents. Suitcase 8 costs $90 for new owners in the U.S. ($100 for the International English version), $40 for those upgrading from previous Suitcase versions, or $50 for users of other font management utilities. You can download Suitcase 8 as a free 30-day demo (3.1 MB); a serial number can be purchased at the Extensis Online Store, though Suitcase was not listed at press time. Packaged versions will begin shipping 21-Apr-99. [JLC]

<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=05266>
<http://www.extensis.com/suitcase/>

Acrobat 4.0 Released with Limited Mac Support -- Adobe today announced the release of Acrobat 4.0, which boasts improved collaboration and Web features using Portable Document Format (PDF) files. The new version, in addition to being able to convert any document into a PDF, also creates forms whose data can be returned via the Web. Shared files can be marked up with text-annotation tools and handwritten strokes, as well as sticky notes. As we mentioned in "Adobe Announces InDesign, Acrobat 4.0" in TidBITS-470, Acrobat 4.0 for the Macintosh doesn't support current Windows-only features such as secure digital signatures, integration with Microsoft Office, and converting Web sites to PDF; these are expected to be available later this year. One welcome addition not mentioned in Adobe's press materials is that Acrobat finally supports many of Adobe's long-standing keyboard shortcuts, such as Command-spacebar to activate the Zoom tool. It's a small touch, but worthwhile for those of us who try to cut down on trips to the mouse. Acrobat 4.0 for Windows or Macintosh costs $249 for the full product, or $99 if you're upgrading from a previous version. Acrobat Reader 4.0, a 3.9 MB download, is available for free. [JLC]

<http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/main.html>
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=05302>
<http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/readstep.html>

StuffIt Expander & DropStuff 5.1.2 -- Aladdin Systems has released version 5.1.2 of both its freeware StuffIt Expander and shareware DropStuff compression utilities. StuffIt Expander 5.1.2 fixes problems decoding Zip files encoded in MacBinary format and enables users to launch StuffIt Expander by double-clicking a StuffIt archive. DropStuff 5.1.2 fixes a bug in the StuffIt Engine and PowerPC-only StuffIt Engine PowerPlug that would cause StuffIt Expander to report errors processing MacBinary-encoded StuffIt 3.x or 4.x archives. StuffIt Expander is free and a 700K download; DropStuff is $30 shareware and a 1.2 MB download. [GD]

<http://www.aladdinsys.com/expander/>
<http://www.aladdinsys.com/dropstuff/>

Free Stock Tool for Excel Users -- Jonathan Jackel <jjackel@bmmdc.com> wrote after reading our article on MacTicker in TidBITS-471 to let us know that he offers a free stock quote tool for Excel called Reval at his "Backtesting Page" Web site. (The site offers several software tools and online references of use to investors.) Reval works with Excel 98 for Macintosh or Excel 97 for Windows. Like the $25 MacTicker, Reval queries free online stock quote services. For users who own Excel 98 and tend to have it open anyway, this may be a good alternative to MacTicker. Unlike the online stock Web pages themselves, Reval doesn't give other companies information about what stocks (and how much of them) you own. [MHA]

<http://www.geocities.com/WallStreet/District/2148/backfunc2.html>
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=05313>