ClarisWorks and MacWrite Pro now are both Powertalk-savy. What does that mean? PowerTalk is one of the first products to come out of Apple's emerging technology, AOCETM (Apple Open Collaboration Environment),the set of programming and human interface elements that will one day be as common as the print command in all your applications.
Until that day comes, ClarisWorks 2.1 and MacWrite Pro 1.5 are ahead of the game in this new genre for software: collaborative applications that help individuals communicate and work together with others more effectively. PowerTalk lets you consolidate and share data. In addition, you can also send electronic mail and faxes directly from within MacWrite Pro1.5 or ClarisWorks 2.1.
The new Mail command in the File menu is what you use to address and send several types of local and remote messages. You can attach any type of document including text, graphics,video and sound to your mail documents. With this new soft ware, you no longer have to exit your document, open a communications application, create a document and attach your MacWrite Pro or ClarisWorks document to send local or remote messages.
This is no ordinary electronic mail. You can mail in three ways, as:
* Apple Mail. This would be useful if the recipient does not have the PowerTalk savvy application you are using to send mail. Since AppleMail comes with System 7 Pro the recipients of your mail will be able to view and edit the document from within AppleMail. Think of the AppleMail environment as TeachText, your very basic word processor.
* Snapshot. The recipient gets a picture (PICT format) of your document with all the formatting. I can be read in AppleMail.
* Native format. The recipient gets a document of same type. Providing they have the same Application you sent it in, they will get a MacWrite Pro or ClarisWorks document. You can also take advantage of the XTND translator system that is part of the Claris application send files in an appropriate format. Just address your document and choose Send from the Mail sub-menu in the File menu. Send spreadsheets from ClarisWorks, QuickTime movies in MacWrite Pro frames. Since the process is streamlined and uniform, you don't have to think about it.
Collaborative capabilities PowerTalk is more than just electronic mail. AOCE technology also includes authentication services and over the wire encryption to prevent wiretapping on the network.PowerShare catalog services are available in a powerful, flexible, easy-to-maintain distributed database. PowerTalk offers built-in store and forward messaging in addition to mail. Through the use of service access modules, PowerTalk users will be able to exchange information with anyone, on any platform, including fax and voice mail.
Exchanging ideas in a workgroup has never been easier. Whether you need to talk to people in groups or to individuals who dial in remotely, application s that support PowerTalk offer you a number of solutions that save you time and simplify the present ways you communicate. In sum, PowerTalk allows you to:
* Exchange mail with other PowerTalk users without a server or system administrator.
* Send items with a simple "drag and drop" of desktop icons
* Send a single document over multiple delivery mechanisms (fax, electronic mail, and so on) with a single command
* Receive all your mail from multiple sources in a single desktop mailbox
* Use PowerTalk Catalogs to organize the information you refer to most often when collaborating with others
* Implement basic mail services with the AppleMail letter application, which supports text, images, video, and sound
* Protect your mailbox and other PowerTalk services with a single access code
* Use legal and binding digital signature (DigiSign software) to approve documents electronically
* Use PowerTalk-savvy applications to further automate and extend your messaging capabilities
* Obtain additional authentication and encryption capabilities with optional PowerShare servers.
The method and the magicÉ On a basic level, PowerTalk has support for AppleTalk,which allows a small team of users to communicate on a network without the use of a server. If you have a small work group, and you want to be able to send mail back and forth, System 7 Pro and ClarisWorks is potentially all you need to run your office. Larger workgroups will want to use PowerShare Collaboration Servers, with the full range of server-based options and centralized administration of such services as messaging, calendaring and project management.
Setting up your PowerTalk services is as easy as installing System 7 Pro, and launching either ClarisWorks 2.1 or MacWrite Pro 1.5. After installing System 7 Pro, your desktop will be a little different than before. You will have a PowerTalk folder on the root level of your hard drive, new icons on your desktop, and two new Apple Menu items. The new interface items are explained briefly below. The PowerTalk desktop. Using System 7 Pro, you will find PowerTalk installed in its own folder, in addition to having new icons on your desktop. The icons are for Catalogs (the "electronic yellow pages" that contain addresses, mail centers and services), the PowerTalk KeyChain, which gives you access to servers on your network, and the Mailbox, which contains incoming electronic documents, such as faxes and e-mail, addressed to you.
PowerTalk Key Chain: The Key Chain opens on your desktop to show the services available to you and provides a way to add and remove services. Gain access to all your services by typing just one access code.You can easily add keys to the Key Chain, one for each AppleShare and file sharing account, your PowerShare service, Direct Dialup mail, Direct AppleTalk mail, and any other third party-supplied PowerTalk-related service such as fax and other mail systems. You can quickly lock your Key Chain to secure your services while you are away from your computer. But, if you forget to do so and your computer is left idle for a specified number of minutes, PowerTalk will automatically lock your Key Chain for you.
Mailbox: Incoming mail items arrive in a single universal mailbox directly on the Macintosh desktop. That means all your QuickMail's, internet mail, AppleLinks, electronic faxes are all in one place, consolidated. Items can be opened, copied to folders, and otherwise manipulated just as you would any other desktop objects. From the Mailbox, you can also view the correspondence you have sent to others.
Catalogs: The Catalogs icon on your desktop allows you to see the catalogs (for example, collections of information about people,
services, and other things you can work with) to which you have access. Information is displayed hierarchically, and you can search by key words or phrases. Open catalogues to browse Information Cards (see entry below). PowerTalk also lets you create catalogs of information that facilitate your collaboration with others, from simple group address lists to collections of images or sounds.
Information Cards: Information cards are new kinds of Finder icons that hold information about people, places, or things, including addresses of users and groups with whom you want to communicate.You can send mail in the Finder by dragging and dropping files or folders to the destination single addressee or group addressee Information Card. Think of it as having their address right on your desktop.
DigiSign Utility: This utility takes advantage of encryption technology to facilitate a means of attaching electronic approval to computer-generated documents. Not only can this feature potentially save paper that gets used during requests for signatures, but this feature is also helpful in providing an audit trail of people that have worked on a document during a work cycle. More importantly, the digital signature that is gets attached is legal and binding (unlike a scanned signature), because to get your digital signature, you must go through the process of getting your digital signature notarized and certified by the appropriate authority (please refer to your System 7 Pro guide that came with your system software for details)
The power of PowerTalk is surely in its simplicity as well as its ability to fit into large and small workgroup situations. Its underlying framework of AOCE technology is both what allows you to take advantage of your present methods of communication and what will prepare you for things to come in the ever-changing world of personal computing. Applications like ClarisWorks and MacWrite Pro take advantage of all the full feature set of PowerTalk and can now be thought of as groupware or collaborative software to address the growing communication needs in the work- place.