| Cruise Control 1.1 -with Voice Agents 1.1 Reviewed by: Brent Hecht Review Date 12.6.99 Publisher: Walnut Systems MSRP: $99/Cruise Control, $29/Voice Agents |
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One of the major advantages of using a computer is not having to do remedial and repetitive tasks. But do computers really eliminate repetitive tasks, or do they simply replace old ones with new ones of their own? How many times a day do you check your email? Surf to a certain website? Backup? Cruise Control by Walnut Systems aims to free you from these mundane tasks.
Cruise Control allows users to create Agents, which execute a task (or tasks) when a customizable scheduled time arrives. The software also allows users to create Agents that execute while the computer is idle. Supported tasks include "copy," "duplicate," "sleep," "wake," "shut down," "launch application," "power on," and others. But, the most powerful of the tasks is the "Make Recording" task, which records the cursor movement for playback at any time.
All of the scheduled Agents I created, with the exception of one, executed perfectly at the exact time to which they were set. The one that did not work incorporated the "Make Recording" task. The reason it did not work was because when Cruise Control makes the recording for later playback, it does not take into account that windows could have been moved since the task was recorded. Therefore, when the recording executed, the cursor was clicking on blank space instead of on the top of a window.
The other large gripe I have with Cruise Control is its somewhat clunky interface. While the interface itself has a very refined look, the layout of controls makes it much more difficult to set certain options than it should be. For instance, the "Make Recording" task does not allow users to make the recording immediately. Instead, they must execute the Agent that contains the task before recording can be initiated.
The Voice Agents plug-in is the high-point of the Cruise Control package. It works
in the same manner as its parent application except that instead executing Agents
at given times or after periods of inactivity, it executes them after the user gives
a voice command. In addition, the plug-in utilizes Apple's PlainTalk technology,
which is generally pretty good at recognizing speech. Any Star Trek fan will appreciate
the ability command a computer through a set of complicated tasks simply by speaking.
Want to know how to prevent a good chunk of the Mac market from using your software?
Put it on a floppy disk instead of a CD-ROM. That is exactly what Walnut Systems
did with Cruise Control. They must have forgotten that all iMacs, new PowerBook G3s,
new PowerMac G3s, and PowerMac G4s do not ship with a floppy disk. If you own one
of these systems and you don't have a USB floppy drive, you are out of luck until
Walnut Systems comes to its senses and releases a CD-ROM version.
The concept that Cruise Control is based on is an excellent one: schedule your mundane
tasks such as backing up and running disk utility programs so that you can get real
work done. However, the implementation behind the concept has left a lot to be desired.
Cruise Control needs to undergo a major overhaul before it can reach its potential.
For now, unless you want to experiment with the Voice Agents plug-in, you many want
to hold off on buying Cruise Control.
Score
8 out of 10
Requirements
Macintosh with minimum 68020 processor or PowerPC, System 7.1 or later, Hard Disk
with 2MB free, On-line features require Internet connection, Power on/off features
not available on all computer models.
Voice Agents requires PlainTalk Speech Recognition from Apple Computer.
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