MEDIA CONTACTS:
Jennifer Lyng or Nicole Rowland
pr@aladdinsys.com
(831)761-6200 x7
NEW DESKTOP MANAGEMENT UTILITY, ALADDIN DESKTOP MAGICIAN, CUSTOMIZES
DESKTOP ITEMS FOR MAXIMUM USER EFFICIENCY
Aladdin Systems' New Desktop Management Tool Gives Macintosh Users The
Power To Create Personalized Desktops
Watsonville, CA August 28, 1998- Aladdin Systems, Inc. today announced
Aladdin Desktop Magician(tm) 1.0 for Macintosh is now available. It allows
users to manage the selection and arrangement of items on their desktop for
convenient access to their most active files. Users can customize their
desktops by creating sets of files and folders that can be hidden or
revealed at any time. Desktop Magician can also set desktop icon positions
of preferred files within customized sets for continuous quick and easy
access. Now, users can instantly return to an orderly desktop, even after
moving files around.
"With many computer users striving to be more productive, Aladdin Desktop
Magician organizes a user's desktop for a more efficient workspace," said
Peter Thomas, Aladdin Desktop Magician product manager. "Aladdin Desktop
Magician allows users to create personalized desktops for how they work.
This is especially helpful for users working on several projects
simultaneously, or for multiple users on one machine. Aladdin Desktop
Magician brings sanity to your desktop."
Customers of Aladdin Desktop Magician
* Users who treat their desktop like an office desk and quickly accumulate
numerous items
* Multi-tasking individuals who work on several projects simultaneously and
want to keep their most active files organized on several different desktops
* Users who want to keep their sensitive files private
* Computers that have one or more users at the same time (small businesses,
homes, schools, etc.)
It is perfect for office or home use. Desktops can be created for different
business projects, home finances, children's games, personal
correspondence, etc.
How It Works
Aladdin Desktop Magician gives users the ability to tailor their desktops
to their specific needs. After creating several customized desktops, at any
time in the future, users can instantly retrieve particular desktops for
individual tasks. Files and folders are not limited to one specific set; a
file or folder may be duplicated in several different desktops.
Aladdin Desktop Magician is comprised of three menus: the Abracadabra menu,
the Edit menu and the Presto menu.
Abracadabra Menu
)From this menu the user selects "Show Desktop" to retrieve every file and
folder that has been hidden by Desktop Magician. The "Hide Desktop"
function removes all the files and folders currently located on the desktop
to a Desktop Storage Folder. All hidden files and folders are placed in a
Desktop Storage Folder that is visibly located in the user's hard drive.
The user can also select "Show Items" or "Hide Items" to specify conditions
about which items to be shown or hidden on the desktop. For example, the
user may only want to show files that are labeled a certain color, or those
that have a particular word in their name. Also, by selecting "Hide (set
name)," the user can choose the sets to be hidden from the desktop.
Edit Menu
The Edit Menu provides the user with the commands to create and edit sets.
When "Edit Sets" is selected, the user is presented with a list of all the
files and folders (up to 450) currently on their desktop. To choose items
for a particular set, the user simply clicks on the desired items then
selects "Save Set" to choose settings and name the set. The user can add
or delete items within any set, or add or delete entire sets at any time.
Deleting sets does not delete the files, only the arrangement of a set's
icons on the desktop. Desktop Magician's preferences are also maintained in
the Edit menu.
Presto Menu
The "Restore (set name)" feature in the Presto menu allows the user to
instantly restore the icon positions of a particular set on the desktop.
The "Update Icon Positions of (set name)" function changes the saved icon
positions to new locations.
Other Features in Aladdin Desktop Magician
* Choosing "Lock Set" in the Edit menu will protect a set from being
removed or modified, providing security from accidental deletion by other
users
* Hot-keys, when pressed in conjunction with a mouse click, display the
Abracadabra and Presto menus at any time, in any application for quick and
easy document management
* Ability to hide all other items on desktop before showing sets
* Up to 32 different sets can be individually configured
Availability, Pricing, and Requirements
Aladdin Desktop Magician is available for download and is copyrighted
trialware with a 30-day trial period. It is available directly from Aladdin
at (http://www.aladdinsys.com/magician/index.html) and has a registration
fee of $19.95 (US). Users who want to purchase Aladdin Desktop Magician
should go to (http://www.aladdinsys.com) and click on the "Online Store"
button, or contact Aladdin's customer service at (831)761-6200 x 4 or
(sales@aladdinsys.com). Desktop Magician is available on diskette; a $7.50
(US) shipping fee will apply.
All Aladdin freeware and shareware is available direct from Aladdin's Web
site (http://www.aladdinsys.com) and various online sites.
Aladdin Desktop Magician requires a Macintosh running Mac OS 7.1.1 or later
with a minimum of 225k of RAM, and at least 600k of free hard disk space.
Aladdin Systems: Making Access Transparent - Founded in 1988, Aladdin
Systems, Inc. is celebrating 10 years of developing and publishing
award-winning business and consumer products. Aladdin publishes StuffIt,
the worldwide compression standard; Aladdin FlashBack(tm), unlimited
"Undos" and instant access to any document version in any application;
Private File(tm), the easiest cross-platform security software, and Spring
Cleaning(tm), the best-selling uninstaller for the Mac. Aladdin products
are designed to make life easier by helping users take full advantage of
their computers.
Aladdin is located at 165 Westridge Drive, Watsonville, CA 95076, USA;
telephone: (831)761-6200; URL: http://www.aladdinsys.com; e-mail:
info@aladdinsys.com.