What a Macworld!

What a brilliant, unexpected Macworld. After much outcry over the rumours of Apple charging for iApps (iMovie, iPhoto and iDVD), Steve Jobs turned it all around and even made fun of the rumour sites. And he did it masterfully - slowly revealing new, previously speculated on products (the new Safari web browser and the new versions of iApps - iPhoto2, iMovie3, iDVD2) and some hidden well from the public (intermediate level movie editing package Final Cut Express, presentation software Keynote). Hardly anyone expected the new Powerbooks - a high end one sporting a 17in screen (already dubbed by some as LapZilla) and the much-requested 12in aluminium "super iBook". The Powerbooks incorporated some long-delayed technology (built-in Bluetooth) and some unexpected ones (Firewire2 at 800Mbps, and Airport Extreme 802.11g at 54Mbps). Several nice touches are to be found : a keyboard that illuminates itself in dim lighting, anodised aluminum casing, upgraded internal antennas that match the iBook's Airport reception. Finally, many of the things that Apple has been working on has come together. The iApps have been bundled into an "Office for the Digital Lifestyle" - the iLife. Corny name, but try to come up with a better one! iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie and iDVD now work seamlessly together, apparently calling upon some "previously hidden features". Safari and Keystone are two newcomers that fit into the rest of Apple's home-grown applications. Previously, these were : Mail, Address Book, iCal, and iSync. Apple seems to be gradually weaning itself from dependency on Microsoft. The current suite of applications has only 2 more items missing : a word processor, and a spreadsheet application. Microsoft App Apple App Internet Explorer Safari Entourage Mail, Address Book, iCal, iSync Powerpoint Keynote Word n/a Excel n/a Another welcome announcement was Apple's own version of the X11 windowing system, now in beta. With this in place, Mac OS X now has the capability of running X applications alongside Classic, Cocoa and Carbon applications.