Well, another MacWorld is “in the books”. I watched the Keynote address via satellite feed at the Apple Store in the Rockingham Park Mall in New Hampshire. The Keynote began with the traditional “where we are today” review. Haven’t upgraded to Mac OS X yet? Well, 9.5 million other Mac users have, which is 40 percent of the installed Mac base. If you have a system that can run OS X, it’s time to do it!

Final Cut Express goes to version 2.0, inheriting the RT Extreme feature from Final Cut Pro. RT Extreme enables render-free, real-time effects and transitions, and lets you preview your editing decisions immediately.

Two really bizarre representatives from Microsoft demoed some new features in Microsoft Office 2004 for the Mac, which will be available in the Spring, none of which I have any use for. Sorry, but easier print previews in Excel are BORING!

Steve then announced new XServe server systems with the G5 processor. What’s significant about the new XServe is it’s powered by a newer G5, manufactured with a 90 nanometer process (the current G5s in PowerMacs are 120 nanometer chips). What does this mean? The 90 nanometer chips can run at faster clock speeds, which probably foretells faster consumer PowerMacs coming soon (maybe even later this month).

Next up: iLife ’04, a major upgrade to the iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie and iDVD applications, as well as the addition of a fifth application, called GarageBand. iLife ’04 will be available on January 16th, and will cost $49. I will wait to detail the new features until I’ve had a chance to use the new suite, but it sure looks like a must-have upgrade. Plus, GarageBand is a landmark application, and is well worth the price of admission by itself.

Ah, the iPod. Steve reported that the iPod has been selling like, well, iPods, over the holiday season – 730,000 sold between October and December, and over two million to date. The low-end iPod gets a capacity boost to 15GB, but keeps it’s $299 price tag. As many expected, the iPod got a “little brother” this year. Dubbed the iPod mini, it’s the size of a business card, 1/2 inch thick, weighs under four ounces, and is made with anodized aluminum, in five colors (silver, gold, blue, pink, and green). It contains a 4GB hard drive, an eight-hour battery, holds 1000 songs, and retails for $249.

© 2004 Peter F. Zimowski