Hope you had a nice holiday. I sure did, partly from hearing from all of you Mac-heads that emailed me. Thanks for your support, suggestions and questions. I knew you were out there!

The very first email I received contained a very timely question: Where can I buy Mac games/software in the Portland area for my nine-year-old for Christmas? The best selection can be found at the Apple retail stores at the Northshore Mall in Peabody, MA., or the Rockingham Park Mall in Salem, N.H. Although they’re worth the visit, they’re over two hours drive away. Another place to look is Best Buy in the Maine Mall. Although they don’t have a dedicated Mac software section, you might find, especially among the “edutainment” software, several titles that contain “hybrid” CDs, which contain both Mac and Windows versions of the software. Also, both Best Buy and Target carry Apple’s iPod. Finally, there’s always the internet. Apple’s on-line store has an excellent software selection, as well as MacWarehouse and MacMall, to name a few. They’re all going to be about the same price. If you know of any other closer outlets, let me know at petez@macmaineiac.com and we’ll get the word out.

The biggest news in the Mac world this week was Macworld Expo in San Francisco, where thousands of the faithful checked out the newest and coolest stuff. At Tuesday’s Keynote Address Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced major updates to the Digital Hub software suite (see article 12/23/02), renaming it “iLife”, once again raising the bar for Windows pretenders. He debuted a new Apple web browser for OSX, named “Safari”. You can download it now. It’s sleek and very fast. Jobs also delivered two new G4 Powerbooks, one with a 12 inch display perfect for road warriors, and the other with a gorgeous 17 inch display, the largest laptop display available anywhere.

Keep those emails coming in. This week’s homework assignment is to send me an email (petez@macmaineiac.com) with details about your system – not in an onerous, intrusive, Microsoft way – just what kind of Mac you’re using, what you use it for, etc. Have a great week, and, as always, Semper Mac!

© 2003 Peter F. Zimowski