This was an interesting week with Macworld Expo New York, and I
attended for the first time. By now, news of the new Power Macintosh G4 and the new, faster
iMacs is all over the Web, but I
would like to mention them first before I say anything else.
The Quicksilver G4 comes in a redesigned case, similar to the
old one, with a different front (at first glance it doesn't look
like it has a CD drive, but it is
hidden behind the top oval on the front of the case - the speaker
also shows through the front). The new G4 comes in 733, 867, and
dual 800 MHz configurations. The top of the line models ship with
the "SuperDrive" (no relation to the "Macintosh SE SuperDrive"),
which reads and writes both CDs and DVDs. You can choose between
the three different Apple displays, and the Nvidia GeForce 2 can
drive up to two monitors.
Then there are the faster iMacs. No flat panel, but they are
available in 500, 600, and 700 MHz versions with a minimum of 128
MB of RAM in order to run Mac OS X, which is preloaded. The
new colour choices are indigo or snow (remember that one?) on the
lower end and snow or graphite on the 600 and 700 MHz models.
There were iBooks, TiBooks, iMacs, and new Quicksilver G4s out
there for you to "play with". Most of these Macs were running OS
XÖ
Which reminds me, Apple previewed Mac OS X version 10.1. It does
seem much faster than 10.0x and has a few new features such as a
moveable dock, a way for you to choose the effect when
miniaturizing windows, an updated Aqua interface with quicker menus
and moveable columns. It also includes the ability to burn data CDs
and play DVDs. Carbon applications now have "services" (system wide
utilities), and if you want to take a screen shot you don't have to
open Grab anymore - just press "command-shift-3".
Version 10.1 supports many different types of networks,
including connecting to Windows NT servers. I noticed that there
seemed to be a few bugs with this new version (notably dragging a
document on an open application in the dock when it is on the right
side, causes all of the open applications windows to come forward);
it is clearly not finished.
Some of the other interesting things were not from Apple, but
from other manufacturers. Here were a few that I found particularly
interesting.
Virtual PC for Mac OS X. I am still amazed by Virtual PC
and have been ever since it came out back in 1997. Back then,
Virtual PC ran one OS - it shipped with Windows 95 or DOS and was
painfully slow. Virtual PC 4 is as fast as a low end PC, can run
any number of OSes, and can have them all run at the same time if
you have enough RAM. Now this is possible for Mac OS X users.
The Test
Drive version of VPC for Mac OS X is available for
download to those who have Virtual PC 4. This is another exciting
step forward in Mac and PC compatibility. Virtual PC 4 can even run
the new Windows XP, which has not yet shipped.
There was a new WallStreet
upgrade from Sonnet. You can now upgrade your WallStreet PowerBook
to 500 MHz with a new Sonnet Technologies card, which greatly
improves the performance of these aging machines. The upgrade even
works on the cacheless 233 MHz
version. These cards are OS X compatible and will sell for
$399, which brings your older PowerBook up to iBook speed. This may
be a good value if you have a large investment in older peripherals
or PCMCIA cards.
On to IBM ViaVoice for Mac OS X. By now it's obvious that I am
excited about new Mac OS X products (after all, it is the
future of the Macintosh). Well, I am very excited about this one.
ViaVoice allows you to control your Mac by telling it what to do.
You can write email and letters just by speaking into your Mac's
microphone. You can tell your Mac to open programs, close windows,
and play QuickTime movies. This software is still beta. While
watching the demonstration at the IBM booth, ViaVoice failed to
work and their machine crashed. Walking past the booth later
revealed another restart happening, so it is obvious that there is
more work to be done. However, I am eagerly anticipating the
release of this product.
Overall, Macworld Expo New York was a great experience. It was
nice to be able to look at these products before they are released,
and even "play" with them a bit in some cases. I would have liked
to attend the keynote, although I registered just a little bit late
(try 10:00 p.m. the night before the show). That is a possibility
for next year's Macworld NY, which I already plan to attend.
