In the flood of file-translation software unleashed by AFE (Apple FileExchange) and the Mac SuperDrive, the new version of DataViz's MacLinkPlus/Translators stands out as the most complete and easy-to-use solution for exchanging a wide variety of file formats between Macs and PCs.
Translation, Please?
The new version of MacLinkPlus/Translators adds 50 new file translators, including some for graphics and Windows 3.0 formats, to its already impressive collection. In addition, the new package includes Dayna Communications' DOS Mounter software, which makes DOS floppy disks loaded in the Mac SuperDrive visible from the Mac desktop and from within Mac applications.
The versatile MacLinkPlus/Translators supports several methods of exchanging files between Macs and PCs, The package comprises three elements: the MacLinkPlus translators, the MacLinkPlus/Desktop utility, and DOS Mounter, The translators work with AFE or Claris' XTND technology, both of which execute the actual conversion process between PC and Mac Formats.
You can use the MacLinkPlus/Desktop utility (the original MacLinkPlus software) to handle the conversion process, as an alternative to using AFE or the Claris solution.
DOS Mounter 2.0 is an INIT that lets Mac users with Mac SuperDrives mount DOS-formatted 3.5-inch floppy disks on the Mac desktop.
To use the MacLinkPlus translators with AFE, you drag the MacLinkPlus translator file to the AFE folder. From that point on, the AFE utility finds and uses the appropriate MacLinkPlus translators automatically. This means that all you have to do is launch AFE, pop a DOS-formatted floppy into your drive, and begin translating and transferring files. The only drawbacks are that AFE loads very slowly when the MacLinkPlus translator file is in its folder and that AFE forces you to access the list of translators through a sluggish, seemingly interminable pull-down menu. Creating customized settings for only the specific translators you want to use is a workaround to this problem, but that process can be slow and clumsy.
The MacLinkPlus/Desktop utility, on the other hand, is fast about its conversion business. What's more, you can select the translators or build custom sellings via a speedy scrollable list. Unlike AFE. however, the DataViz utility can't mount DOS floppies on the Mac desktop. You must first transfer the files to your Mac via modem or AFE. Or if you have a Mac equipped with a Mac SuperDrive, you can lake advantage of the package's DOS Mounter 2.0,
DOS Mounter
Most users who have a SuperDrive will find that using MacLinkPlus/Desktop combined with the DOS Mounter is the easiest way to transfer and translate PC tiles. With the DOS Mounter installed, you open the MacLinkPlus/Dcsktop software, choose the appropriate file translators (unfortunately, MacLinkPlus/Desktop isn't smart enough to select them for you), and slip a DOS-formatted floppy into your SuperDrive. You then select the files on that floppy that you want translated (only files that can be translated with the selected translator appear in the selection list), choose a destination for the file on your Mac, and click the Convert button, A log file tracks any problems that might arise during the conversion.
Keep in mind that DOS Mounter works so well that if you try to use AFE while the DOS Mounter INIT is active, AFE will think the inserted DOS floppy disk is a Mac floppy disk and will display only the Mac-to-Mac translation menu. You can work around this by holding down the Option key as you insert the DOS disk, which temporarily disables DOS Mounter. If you need to import PC files primarily into Claris' MacWrite II, you can use the supplied bridge software in the MacLinkPlus/Translators package. It allows MacWrite II to import DOS files via Claris' XTND technology.
Whatever approach you finally adopt with MacLinkPlus/Translators, you'11 generally find the results to your liking. We successfully worked with a variety of DOS word-processing documents, including Word for Windows, Word 5.5, WordPerfect 5.0 and 5.1, and WordStar. We translated them into Word 4.0, MacWrite II, MacWrite, and WriteNow file formats.
The March '91 review (page 68) compared the accuracy of MacLinkPlus' conversions of WordPerfect 5.0/5.1 (PC) documents to Word 4.0 (Mac) unfavorably with the accuracy of other conversion packages, but MacLinkPlus/Translators offers a vast improvement in this area. Its new WordPerfect 5.1-to-Word 4.0 translators, in particular, offer far-more-accurate translations than its previous version. Footnotes, headers, footers, and point sizes are all more faithfully rendered. Overall, the success of MacLinkPlus/Translators' document-formatting translation depends on the original DOS application. In general, we found that the package successfully translated indents, boldface, headers, footers, and even footnotes from other character-based DOS word processors as well as it did from WordPerfect, it also correctly translated more-advanced formatting elements (fonts, point sizes, and tables) supported by word processors with graphical user interlaces, such as Word for Windows. The single document-formatting element that DataViz software still couldn't cope with was multiple columns.
In addition to support for word-processing files, MacLinkPlus/Translators provides substantial support for graphics-, database-, and spreadsheet-file formats on the Mac and PC. Lotus 1-2-3 worksheets translated to Excel 2.2 Mac format without incident and with functional Excel formulas in place. The DataViz filters also make translating PC graphics-file formats (specifically Paintbrush PCX. TIFF, and Windows BMP) to Mac PICT files a snap.
The Bottom Line
If your file-translation needs are limited to word-processing documents, specific word-processing-file translators, such as Word for Word or Software Bridge, are probably a belter choice than DataViz's package. The DataViz translators have been improved since the last version, but they still don't handle newspaper or snaking columns well.
Overall, however, the MacLinkPlus/Translators package overwhelms the competition with the sheer number of translator pairs it provides (more than 350) and the wide variety of file types it translates (spreadsheet, database, graphics, and word processing). What's more, with DOS Mounter 2.0 bundled with the new version, the DataViz package becomes an excellent overall solution for moving files between PCs and Macintoshes equipped with Mac SuperDrives.
DataViz Inc.
Applications
out of 10 (0 vote)
10 / 
2023-01-07 / 
1825e64bfe5451f5ad8a862b2f544af5dc3bcdb4 / 
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MacLinkPlus-Translators_5.0.hqx
Emulating this? It could probably run under: 
Basilisk II
