Odds & Ends: Word 5.1a & NUD; G4 PowerBook keyboard; Minitab ceases Mac development

Word 5.1 conflicts with PageMaker and NUD Dan Timlin has identified what seems to be a problem with Word 5.1a that affects both Pagemaker 6.52 and Now Up to Date version 4.0 (and perhaps 3.9 also), when using Mac OS 9.1. He writes: "Anytime after the most recent startup, if Word 5.1a is launched before either PageMaker or NUD, both PageMaker and NUD exhibit display problems ranging from disappearing calendar numbers (NUD) to blank palettes (PM) and other oddities. It does appear if Word is launched after the other two programs are run, the problem does not occur. Also, note that Word does not have to be running: launching it and quitting is enough to cripple the other two applications."

Update: Frank Easterbrook writes: "The problem caused by opening Word 5.1 and then NUD under Mac OS 9.1 only, and can be worked around by resetting the monitor's color depth. For example, open Word, then change from Millions of colors to Thousands, and the problem vanishes until the next boot or the next time you quit and relaunch Word 5.1. I do not know why this works, but it does."

Locking keyboard on Ti PowerBook A long-standing fix for improving keyboard 'feel' on PowerBooks - turning the lock screw - appears to help the new Ti PowerBook too. Joseph Fox writes: "I couldn't believe the difference it made! I was never really happy with the feel of the keyboard, it seemed so flimsy, but now its perfect. There isn't any noise either from the keys bouncing, either."

MINITAB ceases development and support for Mac Scott Street sent us a note he received from Minitab Software: "Due to a shrinking market for MINITAB 10Xtra, as well as recent changes in Macintosh hardware and operating systems that have make it increasingly difficult for us to provide our Mac users with high-quality technical support, Minitab has decided to discontinue development, sales, and support of all Macintosh versions of MINITAB as of July 1, 2001. As a courtesy to those customers directly affected by this change, we are offering all individual users of MINITAB 10Xtra the opportunity to upgrade to MINITAB Release 13 for Windows at a discounted price."