Year: 2001

The Institute of Electrial and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has tentatively approved the 802.11g wireless networking protocol. Similar to 802.11b (AirPort), 802.11g operates at the same 2.4GHz frequency—allowing for backwards compatibility with 802.11b products—while boosting transfer speeds from 11Mbps to 54Mbps. 802.11g products are expected to arrive within about a year.

Microsoft today announced the release of Office v.X, the Mac OS X version of the company’s productivity suite. Office v.X is available for US$499; owners of Office 98 or 2001 can upgrade for $299. Office v.X is comprised of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Entourage—individual programs can be purchased for $399 ($149 upgrade).

ResExcellence and unmarked software are offering a weeklong giveaway for textSOAP, a tool for helping you clean up email and Web text. Unmarked software is looking for suggestions for feature enhancements in future versions. Full details are available on the contest page.

MacEase has announced the release of Balloon Helper 1.0, an easy-to-use Mac-only utility that provides fast, customizable access to Balloon Help. Balloon Helper 1.0 is freeware and requires Mac OS 7.5.3 through 9.x.