The Kanex Group has rolled out MacPopUp 2.5, which is built for Mac OS X. MacPopUp — touted by Kanex as “the only full-featured IM LAN Solution available for Mac OS X” — lets Mac users exchange instant messages with other users on any local area network. Users can communicate with anyone on corporate, school and home networks.
“MacPopUp provides users with all advantages of Apple’s advanced operating system and, at the same time, it’s available for Mac OS and Windows,” Paul Pen, Kanex’s vice president of sales & marketing, said. “And it works with Windows and Unix computers, too.”
Version 2.5 lets home and SOHO (small office/home office) users to utilize LAN messaging and access to the Internet without switching the TCP/IP settings. Users get the one-click recipient select, message broadcasting, enhanced multiple users/workgroups functionality and printing of the received messages, Pen said.
Broadcasting messages to multiple users or multiple workgroups is “just a snap of fingers now” with MacPopUp 2.5, he said. Users can also be members of multiple workgroups; choose a recipient at a single click from the pull-down menu; print received messages; send messages faster; and enjoy improved overall program stability, Pen added.
“MacPopUp features the advanced technology of text-to-speech so MacPopUp can be left working in the background and all incoming messages can be listened to while user continues to work,” Pen said. “MacPopUp also utilizes Speech Recognition software and accepts more than 25 speech commands. Incoming messages can also be correctly displayed in different languages with its Text Encoding.”
System requirements are any Macintosh (yep, including ones with 68k processors) with 1MB of free RAM; Mac OS version 7 or later (though there’s full Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X compatibility); OpenTransport software; and a local area network with TCP/IP services. You can download a 30-day trial version of MacPopUp 2.5 from the product Web site. Pricing starts at US$10 per copy with discounts for site licenses and educational institutions. All current customers can upgrade to version 2.5 free.