iMac Update: June 14, 2001

You know it as well as we do. Today, connections are everything, so isn’t it good to know that with an iBook, you can connect to almost anything?

Take USB, for example. The two USB ports alone will let you:

	•	Export a playlist to an MP3 player
	•	Pump music through a pair of USB speakers
	•	Print documents on one of the many USB laser and inkjet printers available for the Mac
	•	Download photographs from a digital still camera
	•	Synchronize data between your iBook and your Visor or Palm handheld
	•	Use a gamepad or joystick to get more action out of Cro-Mag Rally or Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2
	•	Create your own recording studio via a USB audio and MIDI mixer
	•	Transfer data to an external floppy, zip, or optical drive

We’ll let you imagine what kinds of other connections you can make with the five other ports you’ll find on iBook: modem, 10/100BASE-T Ethernet, FireWire, VGA Video Out, and AV port. And let’s not forget the great wireless connections you can make with AirPort.

Check out the great connections on iBook

You’re making demo reels. Shooting your own music videos. Taking us down under — under the water, that is. Creating digital presents to commemorate anniversaries and 90th birthdays. Sharing special family moments. Exploring the four corners of the world. Cutting feature film trailers. Practicing video hijinks. In short, you’re using iMovie and having loads of fun.

Not too long ago, we asked you to show us the Desktop Movies you were creating with iMovie. Although we’re still reviewing your movies—we received thousands—we couldn’t wait to share your creativity with other iMovie fans, so we created a gallery page on our iMovie website to celebrate the Desktop Movies you submitted.

We hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

Visit the iMovie Gallery

But iTools for Education continues to offer access to a wide variety of websites your family can visit and enjoy over the summer months.

You could, for example, take a virtual family outing to the National Museum of Natural History and explore the new exhibit on Triceratops, embark on an Insect Safari, or listen to African Voices and learn how the peoples and cultures of Africa have enriched our lives.

You could learn all about Independence Day (July 4) and Bastille Day (July 14) and learn what both holidays mean for U.S. and French citizens by visiting our Holidays site.

Or you can spend some time at Science/Nature for Kids at About.com and tackle some of the neat activities and projects you’ll find there.

Visit our iTools site for Summer fun

Play games. Surf the web. Rip, mix, and burn your own music to audio CDs. Edit Desktop Movies. We probably don’t have to recount all the great things you can do with an iMac, but we thought you’d want to know about a great summer promo that just started.

Buy an iMac from the Apple Store or any participating authorized Apple reseller, and you can choose between two great options:

	•	a free Rio 600 32MB MP3 player, or
	•	special financing with no interest or payments until 2002

The promotion runs for a limited time—between June 5 and July 8—so you’ll want to visit our website and get all of the details about the Rio 600 and the special financing offer while there’s still time to take advantage of this great opportunity.

Get details about our great Summer Promo

In the mood for a good mystery?

Perhaps Myst III: Exile—the latest installment in the best-selling Myst series of games—will satisfy that desire. Set among the five lost ages of the Myst universe, the story concerns a mysterious villain who is threatening to destroy everything that Atrus and Catherine, the game’s protagonists, hold dear.

Who is this villain and why does he have a vendetta against them? Your task is to make your way through the five new ages and unearth the clues you’ll need to answer those questions.

Myst III:Exile—Another great Mac game

Thank you for reading this issue of iMac Update.
Look for your next issue on June 28.

“Mac OS X will be the best platform for games.”

A strong statement, to be sure, but Omni Group President Wil Shipley knows what he’s talking about. His company has already developed such useful Mac OS X applications as OmniWeb and OmniPDF. And now Shipley wants to let everyone know that the Omni Group is hard at work bringing some of the most popular game titles—Oni, Heavy Metal F.A.K.K. 2, and Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force—to Mac OS X.

How’s the work coming? Says Shipley, “We’re finding that we get better frame rates for every game we port. The sound latency is lower and the graphics are faster. What more do you want?”

Find out how Shipley and the Omni Group are doing in “Worth the Wait: Omni Group and Mac OS X Games.”

You’ve just received email. A friend or colleague has sent you a document in rich-text format (RTF), possibly created in Microsoft Word. Think you can open that document in AppleWorks 6?

Of course you can. AppleWorks 6 can open files in a wide variety of formats (including such generic ones as ASCII text and RTF). In fact, it will attempt to retain all formatting—layout, colors, HTML code, and other options—when it translates the file.

If preferable, you can even choose what type of AppleWorks file the document will become when you open it, such as a spreadsheet, a database, or a presentation.

Want to know more? “AppleWorks 6: Opening Documents Created by Other Programs” explains everything.

In “The New iBook: Head of the Class,” Steve Wildstrom, writing for Business Week, calls the new iBook “a winning design.” “Ruggedly built with students in mind,” he says, “it’s a smart, sleek, superbly designed triumph...and a great value, too.”

“In a world of big, heavy, black laptops designed for home and campus use,” writes Walt Mossberg in the Wall Street Journal, “Apple has created a svelte but robust machine with a snow-white skin encased in a clear plastic coating...I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it for home users or college students.”

As your father probably told you—and you will remember to send him an iCard, won’t you?—there are at least two sides to every story. Finally, the folks at PIXAR have stepped up to the bar to speak for the furry and one-eyed creatures who have thus far been without suitable representation. Take a peek at what’s in store later this year when Monsters, Inc., comes to a theater near you.

Enter a “Water Race.” See if you can “Escape from Monkey Island.” Explore “Myst III: Exile.” Call on “The Summoner.” Or sample many of the other games available for the Mac by visiting our QuickTime Game Trailers site.

iMac Update is a free, bi-weekly email publication.

Event dates are subject to change. Some products, programs, or promotions are not available outside the U.S. Visit your local Apple site or call your local authorized Apple reseller for more information. Prices are estimated retail prices and are listed in U.S. dollars. Product specifications are subject to change.