DataViz and its MacLink
Plus product have a long history on the Mac platform. I still
can find a copy of a version of it dating back to the late 1980s,
designed for System 6 Macs.
Like later versions of the product, it included a set of file format
translators, allowing users to convert between a multitude of word
processor, spreadsheet, database, and graphics formats. This older
version also had some uniquely useful functionality that got dropped
from later versions of the product.
Along with the ancient program stored on a Mac-formatted floppy
disk, there is a cable with a plug for a round Macintosh serial port
(the "modem" or "printer" port on older Macs) on one end and a PC-style
RS232 serial port connector on the other. There's also a floppy disk
for use with a DOS or Windows (version 2.x!) PC.
Unlike today, it was often difficult to get Mac-created files onto a
PC or PC-created files onto a Mac; few personal computers had Internet
connections or local area networks, and few used 1.4 MB high density
floppies. Many PCs used 5-1/4" diskettes, and even if your Mac and PC
both had 3-1/2" drives, they most often could only read double density
(800K Mac, 720K PC) diskettes.
Also, unlike the later 1.4 MB diskettes, Macs and PCs physically
formatted double density disks in totally different ways; they can't
easily read one another's diskettes. (Central Point Software, makers of
the copy protection-breaking CopyIIPC and CopyIIMac software marketed a
PC add-on board that could be used to let PCs read, write, and format
double-density Mac disks, but these were not very common items).
With this old version of MacLink Plus, schools, homes, and
businesses with a mix of Macs and PCs could transfer files between the
two systems. And with the files on the Mac, they could be translated
into a format that could be read by the Mac's applications (in most
cases).
Pretty neat.
For the better part of the 1990s, most Mac owners had some of
MacLink Plus whether they knew it or not. A subset of the product's
file translators were licensed by Apple and included in some (but not
all) Mac OS versions as well as with most of the versions of
ClarisWorks/AppleWorks. In fact, the latest editions of AppleWorks 6.x
include a variety of MacLink Plus translators customized to allow
AppleWorks to read and save in Microsoft Office file formats (among
others).
Let's call what Apple licensed "MacLink Lite."
DataViz continued to develop the full MacLink Plus, adding the
ability to read, view, and convert between a growing list of file
types. Version 15 (US$80; US$40 upgrade) includes compatibility with
new products like Microsoft Office 2004 and Word Perfect 12, new
graphics translators for Photoshop, and support for the new Stuffit X
compression format.
Another new feature is the ability to extract the text from PDF
files for pasting into a word processor. And new support for dock
connector iPods and iPod minis lets users convert word processor and
PDF files to plain text and send them to their iPod.
In all, MacLink Plus 15 boasts of the ability to read and translate
files created by various versions of 17 PC (DOS or Windows) and 15 Mac
word processing programs, 9 PC and 7 Mac spreadsheets, 10 PC and 7 Mac
graphics formats, and 7 PC and 6 Mac database formats. As well, the
program can deal with files encoded or compressed with a range of
popular formats.
All this can come in very handy if you have a collection of data
files created over the years using software that is no longer installed
on your computer. On my Windows systems, I was a big fan of a now
obscure word processing program: Samna Ami Pro (later purchased by
Lotus, which is now owned by IBM) in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Ami Pro support is not built-into either the Windows or Mac versions of
Microsoft
Word, but when I need to refer back to those old files, MacLink
Plus (or its companion Windows program, Conversions
Plus) will let me open those files in Word.
(It's not always a perfect translation, however. A Slovenian
computer user recently asked me for help with a large number of Ami Pro
files that included formulas. While MacLink Plus/Conversions Plus
happily read the text and basic formatting, both left blank spaces
where the formulas appeared. IBM/Lotus's more modern WordPro word
processor (part of the company's little-marketed SmartSuite alternative
to Microsoft Office for Windows) also left blanks for the
AmiPro-created formulas).
If you need to access Mac or DOS/Windows documents in formats
supported by MacLink Plus, it could prove a lifesaver. But those users
are probably in a shrinking minority.
In the program's heyday, 15 years ago (more or less), PC and Mac
users used a wide variety of programs. I remember a review in PC
Magazine (around 1988 or so) of over 100 different word processors, for
example. Aside from plain text files, it could be difficult to transfer
files between different applications - or even between different
versions of the same application.
It was even more difficult to transfer files between platforms; even
applications from the same manufacturer might use incompatible file
formats for the Windows and Mac versions.
Those choices have shrunk dramatically. How many word processors for
the Mac can you think of? One? Three? Half a dozen? And file format
compatibility has become increasingly important. Even Microsoft has
learned a lesson here; their Windows version of Word 97 created .doc
files that couldn't be read by users of previous Word versions. This
forced many users to move up to Word 97 than might have otherwise been
the case, but it also created a consumer backlash. Microsoft released
file translators for the two previous Word versions and has kept the
file formats of subsequent PC and Mac versions of Word compatible with
that Word 97 format.
Today most users are able to share word processor, spreadsheet, and
graphics files with other PC and Mac users and have some confidence
that their documents will be readable by the recipient.
The result: MacLink Plus works pretty much as advertised. It will
let users read, view, open, and edit documents created in a wide range
of file formats even if they don't have the programs originally used to
create the documents. It will let Mac users access documents created by
PC users and by users of a range of older Mac software.
But, if like many of us you only need to access Word and Excel
office documents, PDF files, and JPG graphics, maybe you don't need it.
