search site  |  contact us  HOME PRODUCTS DOWNLOADS SALES SUPPORT NEWS CrystalMaker 6 for Mac OS X A new dimension in crystal structures visualization 24 September 2002. Today marks the launch of our most eagerly-awaited product: an all-new CrystalMaker 6.0, built exclusively for Mac OS X, and taking crystal structures visualization to a whole new level of power and usability. Genuine Mac OS X Performance Over a year has passed since the previous CrystalMaker launch: the award-winning version 5 for Mac OS Classic. Since that time we have released a Mac OS X version of our powder diffraction software, CrystalDiffract 4, and we've been experimenting with new system technologies and interfaces, in order to make the very best of Apple's operating system of the future. In implementing these new technologies, we've rewritten about 80% of the program, including the entire interface and the underlying "engine", resulting in an application that's more powerful, more elegant and even easier to use. Whilst many "Carbon" applications are essentially Classic applications ported to Mac OS X, CrystalMaker has been rebuilt, from the ground up, to to take full advantage of the new operating system. Unlike ported software, CrystalMaker uses the efficient Carbon Event system, combined with Mach-O (the native executable format for Mac OS X), to give genuine Mac OS X performance, with access to advanced new system features denied to legacy, ported applications. Clean New Interface In the transition from versions 5 to 6, CrystalMaker's interface has been refined and polished, adopting the "Aqua" look and feel and introducing new interface technologies such as sheet windows, data browsers and a new text editor. The new Symmetry Browser lets you quickly find conventional and unconventional spacegroups, either by browsing, or via a search command. New windows provide additional features and ease-of-use. For example, a new Info window lets you edit atom colours, radii, visibility and labelling - interactively; and the new Symmetry Browser window invites you to explore spacegroup symmetry in a fast and convenient way, with the option to search for for spacegroups by number or symbol. Virtually all modal dialogs have been swept away and replaced by window-centric sheets, which improve workflow, letting you easily compare data in multiple windows and switch between editing and visualization sessions. Data Browsers New data editors are available for crystal structures, molecules, bond specifications and element settings. These provide an unsurpassed degree of flexibility: lists are resizable, with inline editing, and can be sorted by any column - or rearranged simply by clicking and dragging columns. You can edit structural data using new "sheet windows", with sortable, resizable lists - and inline text editing. Ultra-High Resolution Graphics Mac OS X's robust and efficient memory-handling means that you can generate ultra-high resolution photo-realistic graphics: for printing, copying to the clipboard, or exported to disc. A new Print Preview window lets you configure your printing or PDF file output, with page setup and print controls available without leaving the window. CrystalMaker now handles memory settings transparently, automatically using the highest-possible resolution, according to the capabilities of your printer. Copying or exporting graphics to disc is now vastly more flexible. The new copy/export graphics window gives you full control over output format, size and resolution. And you can use the Preview application to convert CrystalMaker's output into a wide range of other graphics file formats, including TIFF and PNG. Multi-Styled Text Editing CrystalMaker 6 supports Apple's new Multi-Lingual Text Editor (MLTE) technology for its Output and Notebook windows. Multi-byte script systems such as Japanese and Korean can now be used. You can also take advantage of drag-and-drop editing, with multi-styled text: different fonts, sizes, colours and styles, including superscripts and subscripts and the crystallographic overbar symbol. A new text menu, and new contextual (popup) menus, make editing even easier - plus, there's a text "undo" command. Formatted notebook text is saved in CrystalMaker binary files, and, for backwards compatibility with CrystalMaker 5, a mono-styled text record is also saved. Multi-styled text editing brings your notebook text to life - and is great for education use. Searchable Online Help CrystalMaker 6 features a comprehensive online help system, using the standard Help Viewer technology built into Mac OS X. The help files are stored inside the application package and are indexed, with keywords, so that searching is now possible. You can search by keyword, or simply type a question like "how do I display lattice planes?". A list of matching help topics is then displayed, sorted by relevance. Many of CrystalMaker's windows contain help buttons which take you directly to the appropriate help pages. Further Enhancements CrystalMaker 6 includes numerous additional improvements, some of them subtle, but all adding up to give a dramatic improvement in usability and quality. Imported data files now have bonds automatically generated. The number of element definitions has been doubled, to 200. Window layouts - including all floating palette windows - are now automatically saved. CrystalMaker binary files can be saved with high-quality picture icons. Bond searching is more flexible, as is the Define Cluster command. Molecules can now have disordered sites. Fractional coordinates can be displayed, as atom labels. Diffraction patterns can be viewed using CrystalDiffract 4 for Mac OS X. It is now easier and much faster, to place a molecular structure into another structure... CrystalMaker 6 is a highly refined and elegant upgrade to an award-winning program. It also provides a secure foundation for your future work with Mac OS X. Supporting the Old and New CrystalMaker 6 for Mac OS X is distributed on CD-ROM, bundled with version 5.2 of CrystalMaker for Mac OS Classic. CrystalMaker 5.2 runs on system software 7.1 through to 9.2 and can read binary files generated by CrystalMaker 6. The program licence entitles you to use both versions: 5.2 and 6.0. 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