Year: 2002

Corel has posted Corel Graphics Suite 10.01, an update to its graphic suite that includes CorelDRAW 10, Corel PHOTO-PAINT 10, Corel R.A.V.E, and CorelTRACE 10. The new version improves overall stability, performance, Asian language support, fixes specific issues with Mac OS 8.6 and Mac OS X, and more. Corel Graphics Suite 10 sells for US$549.99.

Praising the “innovative design, attractive hardware complement, and excellent software bundle,” PC Magazine has awarded Apple’s flat-panel iMac four out of five stars in its hands-on review of the high-end model. The review is overwhelmingly positive, but does criticize the slightly dimmed LCD brightness, back panel location of the power switch, and “rinky-dink” keyboard and mouse.

Apple has launched a pair of product bundle promotions, as noted by MacCentral. “Design values” offers an instant US$100 savings with the purchase of a Power Mac G4 and the Adobe Design Collection, which sells for $999.95 and includes InDesign 2, Illustrator 10, Acrobat 5, and Photoshop 6 (with a free upgrade to version 7).

Quark, Inc. is now shipping the international English version of XPress 5.0 in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Africa, according to Macworld UK. QuarkXPress 5.0 sells for £1,095 in the UK; the upgrade from 4.x to 5.0 costs £328, while upgrading from 3.0 costs £570.

The five major record labels, which account for 90 percent of all music sold, are primarily blaming rampant digital piracy for the 10 percent decline in units sold during 2001, according to Reuters. Some 969 million CDs, cassettes, LPs, and DVD music videos were sold during the year, down from 1.08 billion in 2000. The labels also attributed the decline in part on the events of September 11 and the weak economy in general.