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System thoughts: The first update for System 7.5 is out. It generally cheers things up a bit and includes an upgraded QuickDraw GX. Call 0181-730 2828 for the CD-ROM or floppy update, but remember that you will have to pay a nominal sum for handling on the just about justifiable grounds that the new QuickDraw GX is more than just a bug fix. The alternative is to watch the phone meter as you download from eWorld, AppleLink or the America Online FTP gateway.

Across the great divide: If you’re using an AppleShare network and have PCs in the office you can now get AppleShare Client for Windows. Plug an Ethernet card into each PC, cable up to the Mac network with an ODI or NDIS 3.0 driver and hey presto – Mac speaks unto PC. Client for Windows is ú200 if you were an early adopter of a Workgroup server (before 1 January 1995) or free if you are buying a system now.

Digital Box Brownie: Kodak’s latest digital camera, the DC40, can take 48 images using a high res (756x 504 pixels) sensor. That’s more and better than the Apple QuickTake which is, however, less than half the price. Lithium batteries allow up to 800 exposures per battery set; the camera has interchangeable lenses, automatic exposure and, uh-oh, focus from around a metre to infinity – sounds remarkably like the original fixed-focus Box Brownie. Images are transferred via a serial cable to a Mac or PC and there is photo enhancement software. List price is about ú900. Call Joanne Palmer at Kodak on 01442 845228 for further particulars.

SG jostles for position: Following Microsoft’s acquisition of Soft Image, the high-end workstation graphics software house, Silicon Graphics decided to acquire two SG software houses, namely Wavefront Technologies and Alias Research. SG has paid around $500m (ú318) – but in shares, not cash. Wavefront and Alias, whose 3D system version 6 was announced days before the acquisition, are well-respected SG applications. Silicon is one of the underwriters of the Keystone standard for digital visual media translation.

Doubling up: You’ve read about the virtues of RAM Doubler (out now for the PowerPC); now look out for Speed Doubler. Slated for a May release, it’s akin to the System 7 disk cache but is more intelligent and much faster. When run on a Power Mac, it also offers on-the-fly recompilation for any parts of the code that haven’t been rewritten for the new hardware. We’ll be trying it on both platforms as soon as Computers Unlimited lets us. They’re on 0181-200 8282.

Forthcoming events: The aforesaid Computers Unlimited is holding its annual warehouse clearance sale on 22 April – this weekend. Ring 0181-200 8282 for details. Digital Media 95 is at the Congress Centre, Great Russell Street, London from 3 to 5 May. Could be interesting – at least it’s not at Olympia or Earls Court. Or the NEC. Ring Melanie Grant on 0171-226 8585 for more information.