Brand: MacNews

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.

IDG World Expo has begun taking pre-registrations for Macworld Expo New York 2002, which takes place July 15-19 at the Javits Center. Special pricing is available to attendees who register prior to June 17, while those who have attended a previous Macworld Expo should receive a priority code by email for a free Exhibits Only pass.

ZDNet AnchorDesk Executive Editor David Coursey attempts to allayconcerns from some readers regarding the switch from Windows to Mac in his latest column. “I think Macs are, for the average user, much easier to use and manage than Windows machines.” Coursey is in the midst of an experiment to use a Mac as his daily work machine for a month, chronicling the experience in his weekly column.