Version 2.0b6 
=============

July 18, 1994.


NewsWatcher goes native 
-----------------------

NewsWatcher is now distributed as a "fat binary". This means that it
runs in 68K native mode on 68K Macintoshes, and it runs in PowerPC
native mode on Power Macintoshes.

As expected, the native version does not dramatically improve
performance on Power Macs. NewsWatcher spends most of its time waiting
for the network and for your news server. The program does not do a
great deal of CPU-intensive calculation. The native version is faster on
Power Macs, but not a great deal faster.

As a joke, the native version spins the beachball cursor twice as fast
while it's waiting for a network operation to complete. (Hey, I had to
make *something* go faster.)

The source code has been converted from Symantec Think C to Metrowerks
CodeWarrior C. It uses the universal header files, universal procedure
pointers, and the new names for the toolbox and OS functions.


Errors fixed 
------------

When you use the "Save As" command in the "File" menu to save an open
article window, a standard file dialog appears. A checkbox named "Save
threads to separate files" appears at the bottom of the dialog. This
checkbox is supposed to be initialized using the preference with the
same name. This wasn't working. Fixed.

When you opened an article, NewsWatcher failed to properly recognize
some kinds of very unusual double spaced uuencode and BinHex text.
Fixed.

When you turn on the keypad shortcuts option, the '.' key on the keypad
does a "Next Thread" operation. This wasn't working on some
international keyboards which have a ',' key instead of a '.' key on the
keypad. Fixed.

Fixed another error in handling cancel operations when sending messages
which are both posted and mailed.

In some unusual cases, the screen was not updated properly after
collapsing a thread in a subject window. Fixed.


Other stuff 
-----------

If NewsWatcher can't find a helper program, it presents an alert. The
alert refers you to "About NewsWatcher" to find out how to get copies of
the helpers. In the new version, the alert also mentions that if you are
certain you installed the helper, and NewsWatcher still can't find it,
you probably need to reuild your desktop. The alert refers you to the
NewsWatcher document for detailed instructions.

We added some more ideas for version 2.1 to the "Plans for Future
Versions" chapter of the user document.