Product Reviews

At last, the long-awaited new version of MacPac, 3Com's Palm connectivity software, is complete. And version 2.1 was definitely worth the wait, offering full integration between your Palm organiser and your Mac - and, unlike previous versions, via infrared, too.

For starters, it's free to anyone who cares to download it from the Palm Web site, with no restrictions (other than that support is only offered to those with a Palm device, and it'll run only on Power Macs). Interestingly, you don't have to have a Palm device to use the MacPac's main desktop features and, as it's a fully featured and versatile personal information manager in its own right, it's well worth the download time even if you don't have one. As an alternative for users of Palm hand-helds, MacPac 2 is available on CD-ROM with the 9-pin D-type PC-to-Mac 8-pin serial converter required to connect it to a Palm device cradle, for £14.99 plus VAT.

Palm's intention in allowing free access to download the software is pretty clear. By getting top-quality desktop PIM software on Macs, it knows consumers will be tempted to buy a Palm device for the added benefits the software affords.

MacPac 2.1 is built around Claris Organizer, which Palm bought from Apple last year. It has taken a little while to reach fruition, but it's plain to see that this was a worthwhile purchase. Organizer was always a good PIM, and combining it with a new version of Palm's Mac HotSyncing software (HotSync is Palm's term for synchronisation) means Macs and Palm devices now join together with a smoothness unmatched

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by any other PC or PDA.

Palm has gone to town on the way in which Palm desktop data on a Mac and data in a Palm device are HotSynced. A completely re-written synchronisation architecture means it's now easy for third-party developers to create programs, and it's even easier for users to install them - dropping a new program on the HotSync Manager icon, for example, is enough to install it. Synchronisation itself centres around 'conduits' that control how data is synchronised, and this makes it easy for other applications to share data. It's sufficient to place a conduit in the Conduit Folder on the Mac to ensure a desktop application can share Palm device data.

So, finally, Mac users can take advantage of a Palm's Mail and Expense applications. Actual Software's MultiMail conduit (a demo is provided in the Palm Extras download file), for example, shares your Palm Mail (or MultiMail Pro, Actual's full email application for the Palm) email with a Mac email application. Currently, the conduit works with Eudora Lite or Pro, but versions supporting Claris Emailer and Outlook Express email formats are due shortly.

Shana's Informed Palm Expense conduit creates a variety of forms from your Palm Expense data. An extension (now called Instant Palm Desktop, to replace the old Instant Organizer) makes it easy to open Palm Desktop, open the HotSync Manager, find contacts, and view and create records, all from the menu bar in the Finder.

New to Palm Desktop, even since the beta version (see Reviews, Vol 15 No 2, p38), is the ability to HotSync using a Palm's infrared port. Recent PowerBook users and original Rev A and B iMac users can be pleased that they can HotSync without a single wire tying them down.

So, all in all, the Palm MacPac 2.1 is the perfect complement to a Mac user with a Palm hand-held. It is stable as a rock, powerful, yet a doddle to use. Indeed, the only downside is that the Organizer terms - Calendar, Contact List, Task List, and Note List - are used for the Palm applications, Date Book, Address Book, To Do List and Memo Pad. However, this is a very small niggle in an otherwise excellent update.