MWNY: Doubletalk update adds Network Browser support

In addition to a version of Virtual PC for Mac OS X, Connectix also announced Doubletalk 1.1 at Macworld New York.

Doubletalk, the company’s Mac application that lets users access Windows networks from their Mac. It’s designed for the Mac user who has little or no Windows knowledge, but needs to share resources, such as file servers or printers, on a Windows based network. DoubleTalk has been enhanced in version 1.1 to provide improved ease of use and better support for large networks, according to Mitchell Cipriano, Connectix vice president of marketing.

“DoubleTalk 1.1 contains key features that our customers requested,” he said. “Now DoubleTalk is an even better solution for Mac users who need to access large Windows networks.”

New features include:

Network Browser Support: you can access Windows networks using the Macintosh Network Browser.

Connectix DoubleTalk Mounter: You can now access network volumes by typing the server name or IP address of the volume. The DoubleTalk Mounter provides access to an unlimited number of Mac or Windows volumes.

Printer Setup Assistant: helps users to identify and select Windows PostScript printers on a network.

Alias Support: lets you create and use aliases of Windows networked volumes.

Mount Windows Servers at Startup: you can select Windows volumes to automatically mount at startup.

“DoubleTalk does the impossible, it gives Mac users access to Windows networks,” Cipriano added. “Because it is so easy to use, DoubleTalk actually makes a Mac a better Windows client than a PC.”

DoubleTalk lets you access Windows fileservers, transfer files to and from shared Windows workstations over the network and print to shared PC-based PostScript printers. Since it’s designed for Mac users, it “assumes” no PC networking knowledge.

Version 1.1 is available now at a price of US$99. System requirements are a Power Mac G3 or G4, Mac OS 8.1 or later, 24MB of RAM, 5MB of disk space, a CD-ROM drive. You must have AppleTalk enabled and AppleShare Client is needed for Mac OS 8.1.