QuarkXpress patches performance

Quark has released an update to its QuarkXpress desktop publishing application that addresses a number of issues in version 7 and provides several performance enhancements. The update provides substantial improvements to the performance of actions involving text selection, such as scrolling, spell checking and Find/Change, general layout manipulation where images have clipping paths and flattening of layouts that use transparency. Resolved issues include: slow printing, PDF export and EPS saving where layouts include tables that use opacity, numerous or highly blurred drop shadows and drop shadows over lines of text; slow text editing, especially in multi-column text boxes; slow zooming and scrolling when displaying a clipping path with a large number of points and in layouts with a large quantity of selected text; incorrect resolution when printing low-resolution drop shadows when they occurred over high-resolution images; failure to apply clipping-path runarounds when printing to non-PostScript printers; failure to apply the Accents for All Caps preference setting; incorrect spelling of Ukraine by the spelling checker; and several cosmetic issues relating to control placement, text truncation and stylistic inconsistencies. ...more

Analysis: Windows, the next Apple core?

Apple's latest iMac and MacBook Pro have Intel inside, as the company ends its commitment to IBM's PowerPC range of processors. This is great news for Apple fans, who should enjoy significant power benefits, but what impact, if any, will it have on the world of PCs? Apple has played down the significance of the move that puts it on a level playing field with its rivals running Microsoft, but a recent advert seeks confrontation with the world of Windows. 'The Intel chip: for years, it's been trapped inside PCs, inside dull little boxes, dutifully performing dull little tasks, when it could have been doing so much more', goes the company propaganda. ...more

Love Bug author freed

The Philippines Department of Justice has dropped all charges against Onel de Guzman, the man suspected of releasing the Love Bug virus last May. Despite his admission that he may have released the virus accidentally, all charges against him have been dismissed. The virus swept through business computers across the world, replicating itself through email systems and causing damage estimated at around $10 billion. ...more

Visionary work for silicon

A microchip implant into the eyes of three blind men could restore their vision. A tiny microchip, implanted underneath the retina at the back of the eye, converts light signals to electrical pulses that the brain can interpret as visual stimuli, or at least that's the plan. The chips, developed by Alan Chow, a paediatric ophthalmologist, were implanted in the eyes of a 72-year-old man and 59-year-old twins last week and show no signs of being rejected. ...more

Napster losses deepen despite subs and sales gains

Napster has reported a rise in net losses over the last financial quarter despite recording increases in both subscriber numbers and revenue. Losses for the quarter totalled $16.7mn compared to $14. ...more