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What a year! If 1997 was a year of incredible lows, 1998 gave the Mac community equally breathtaking highs. From the revitalization of the PowerBook to the stunning debut of the iMac, 1998 was the year that Apple, the Macintosh, and the Mac OS came back with a vengeance. But it wasn't just Apple's doings that made 1998 a banner year for the Macintosh. The year brought innovative new applications, impressive updates to old favorites, and some truly amazing technology advancements conceived far from Cupertino. Once a year, we at Macworld recognize the products we feel are the best of the best, with our Editors' Choice Awards. If you had any doubt that 1998 was a great year for the Macintosh, you'll need no more evidence than these 31 award winners. Utility WINNER: Casady and Greene's Conflict Catcher 8 ($80; 831/484-9228, http://www.casadyg.com ) is the essential troubleshooting tool for Macintosh users. The latest version of the popular extension-management utility … [Read more...] about 1998 Editors’ Choice Awards

Take a stab at this riddle: When is a new product upgrade not really all that new? When it was first announced last fall. Apple (800/767-2775, www.apple.com ) has boosted the processor speeds on its Power Mac G4 product line, with the fastest G4 now clocking in at 500MHz. Apple claims the high-speed processor can run applications like Adobe Photoshop 50 percent faster than Intel's 800MHz Pentium III chip. The G4 systems also come in 400MHz and 450MHz versions. Don't be alarmed if that news sounds like déjà vu. Apple first introduced its souped-up desktops in the fall (see "Fantastic Four," November 1999). Why the six-month delay? Chip supplier Motorola couldn't deliver enough 500MHz G4 processors. A chagrined Apple had to reconfigure the G4 line with lower-speed processors (see "Vision Thing: Shell Game" ), but sold the slower machines at the same prices it had announced for the faster models. Adding to Apple's public relations woes, the company gave conflicting information … [Read more...] about G4s Go Back To The Future

Publishing Software Winner Font Reserve Server ($1,200, server software; $130 per client; www.diamondsoft.com, 415/381-3303) eliminates font conflicts, manages access privileges and font licenses, and lets you create font sets that users can work with almost instantly. The server software is Windows NT-based, but the administration and client software is Mac-only. Runners-Up ImagePort 1.0 ($100; www.alap.com, 888/818-5790), from A Lowly Apprentice Production, is the only XTension out there that lets you tweak the layers, channels, and paths of most Adobe Photoshop files without leaving QuarkXPress. If PDF files are part of your prepress workflow, look to Adobe Acrobat InProduction 1.0 ($699; www.adobe.com, 888/724-4508). It combines PDF preflight and color-correction tools formerly available only in several separate third-party applications, and introduces a few new aids. Graphics Software Winner Adobe Photoshop 6.0 ($609; www.adobe.com, 888/724-4508) is one … [Read more...] about Editors’ Choice Awards: Creative/Publishing