First, it goes without saying that you should have the Mac Pack. This is Palm Computing's product which adapts the standard PalmPilot to the Macintosh. It consists of a small package with an adaptor cable and some floppy disks. The adaptor cable adapts the PalmPilot's cable to plug into a Mac serial port. The floppy disks contain the PalmPilot Desktop software for Mac described above.

Second, run, don't walk, to Palm Computing's web site to pick up the update to the Conduit Manager. This will fix some problems with HotSyncing, and every user should have it. You can download it from http://www.3com.com/palm/custsupp/macconmgr.html.

Third, in order to download PalmPilot software from the Web, there are two indispensable applications: Stuffit Expander, and DropStuff with Expander Enhancer. Both are published by Aladdin Systems, and can be downloaded from their web page. Stuffit Expander, presently at version 4.5, uncompresses StuffIt format (indicated by a ".sit" at the end of the file name), BinHex format (".hqx"), and MacBinary format (".bin") files. It works great on its own or in conjunction with a Web browser like Netscape Navigator. Best of all, it's free. You may have a copy already, or you can download it from http://www.aladdinsys.com/expander/index.html.

This will be sufficient for Mac-specific software, and some PalmPilot software which is distributed in ".hqx" or ".bin" format. But much of the good PalmPilot software is distributed only as a PC ".zip" format file. A great way to get access to this format is with Aladdin Systems' DropStuff with Expander Enhancer. (It took me several tries to comprehend this gargantuan name.) Basically, it enhances Stuffit Expander by adding ".zip" format support, plus lets you create your own StuffIt format archives. It is shareware, priced at US$30. You can find it at http://www.aladdinsys.com/dropstuff/index.html.

By the way, in case your Windows-using friends get jealous of the cool PalmPilot software distributed in ".sit", ".bin", or ".hqx" format, Aladdin Systems has something for them too, and at another great price. Stuffit Expander for Windows is the Windows version of Stuffit Expander, and is also freeware. You can download it from the same URL where you got Stuffit Expander for Macintosh, that is http://www.aladdinsys.com/expander/index.html.

MORE TO COME
In a future issue, we'll cover some third-party Mac software which synchronizes ingeniously to the PalmPilot, point out places to go for Mac-specific PalmPilot information, and see what the future holds.

Jim DeLaHunt is an independent PalmPilot software developer. In his spare time, is an engineering manager with a multi-national software company and a tenor with local opera companies. He can be reached via E-mail at jdlh@jdlh.palo-alto.ca.us.