Apple Computer Inc could soon loose its grip over the desktop publishing industry, following Intergraph Computer Systems Corp decision to establish an entire division devoted to publishing and graphics. An additional kick in the teeth for Apple is Intergraph’s signing of Quark Inc to help it on its way. The Huntsville, Alabama company says the new division will provide customers with an affordable, high performance range of products as an alternative to Apple Computer Inc’s Macintosh, and Unix systems that have dominated the market in recent years. Graphic art and publishing distributor, MacEurope Information Systems Ltd will distribute Intergraph’s products to companies throughout the UK. The Norwich and Luton, UK company has been selling Macintosh products for the past 10 years, and the last two have seen it selling Windows NT products. Although QuarkXPress has been a Macintosh-only application for many years, it has had a personal computer version available in the recent past. However, Quark announced the release of QuarkXPress 4.0 last week (CI No 3,147) and said the application had been engineered from the ground up for the Windows 95 and NT operating systems. Intergraph has also signed agreements with Intel Corp to incorporate its Pentium II processor in Intergraph hardware, and with media software company Luminous Technology. Intergraph’s InterServe PrePress servers will be bundled with Taipan company Agfa-Gevaert Ltd’s software raster image processor, which will be mainly used in the graphics field. Agfa and Intergraph joined forces earlier in the year (CI No 3100) to bundle the PrePress server with Agfa’s Windows NT- based Adobe Inc PostScript raster image, aimed at high-end publishing companies. The company says NT enables users working in graphic art, publishing and pre-press businesses to take advantage of an easy-to-use interface, strong administration and security features and true multitasking and multithreading. Intergraph is hoping its new division will give Apple a run for its money and the addition of Quark, which has traditionally run on Mac’s is likely to prove a threat. Steve Burr, Intergraph’s marketing manager said the division was an extension to its existing Pre-Press strategy, and the company had addressed the desktop publishing market in response to changes in the market place. Burr described the company’s products as a viable alternative to Apple and went on to say: Having the software companies on board is absolutely vital to any market place, and Quark is key.
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