October 26, 2001
Apple offers $500 back on G4/display purchase
Apple has started two new promotions today, offering discounts on purchases of new Power Mac and iMac hardware between October 26 and December 31st:

1. Apple's Crystal Clear Savings promo offers up to $500 back with the purchase of any Apple 15-inch, 17-inch, and 22-inch flat panel display and a Power Mac G4. Apple is offering $100 cash back on a 733MHz G4/display purchase, $300 back with a 867MHz G4/display purchase, and $500 cash back with a dual-800MHz G4/display purchase.
2. Snap it up offers a HP 318xi digital camera or $150 cash back with the purchase of any iMac through the end of the year.

Microsoft Internet Explorer Update available for OS 9.x
Microsoft has posted Internet Explorer 5.0 Service Release 1, which fixes a bug that could cause certain plug-ins to freeze the application, as well as a bug that could cause Entourage to stop responding if both applications were being used.

Office v. X ready and set for November 19 launch
Microsoft has announced that Office v. X for Mac is complete and being delivered to manufacturers. The highly anticipated title will ship on November 19 exclusively for Mac OS X 10.1. Office v. X will sell for US$499, with upgrades priced at $299. Additionally, Microsoft announced that more than 90,000 Mac OS X users have downloaded a copy of the free Word X Test Drive.

October 23, 2001
Apple Announces iPod MP3 Player
Today Apple announced iPod, a portable MP3 player, and iTunes 2. iPod requires a FireWire Mac and iTunes 2 in order to function, and iTunes 2 requires at least Mac OS 9.2.1 or Mac OS X 10.1. In describing the new device, Steve Jobs said: "With iPod, Apple has invented a whole new category of digital music player that lets you put your entire music collection in your pocket and listen to it wherever you go. With iPod, listening to music will never be the same again."

iPod details:

• 5 GB of storage holds over 1000 CD-quality songs
• 4 inches by 2.4 inches, 3/4 inch thick
• Weight 6.5 ounces
• 160-by-128-pixel high-resolution display, with a white LED backlight
• Plays up to 10 hours with 20 minute skip protection
• Auto synchronizes with iTunes 2 (iTunes 2 is required)
• iTunes songs and playlists are automatically downloaded into iPod
• Transfer an entire CD in 10 seconds
• Reload the iPod with 1000 new songs in 10 minutes
• "Breakthrough user interface"
• Doubles as a 5 GB FireWire drive
• Charges via the included FireWire cable when connected to a Mac or the external adapter

  There is also a longish iPod info QuickTime 5 movie and a detailed specifications page.

iTunes 2 details:

• Burn and recognize MP3 CDs
• Burn audio CDs up to twice as fast as original iTunes
• New crossfader creates more graceful transitions between songs
• New 10-band equalizer with over 20 presets
• Customize audio settings to fit any style of music
• New sound enhancer creates additional depth and richness in sound output

  iTunes 2 is expected to be available in early November as a free download, and it will be bundled with iPod

Slot-loading CD-RW drive available for PowerBook G4 In case you didn't notice, the new PowerBook G4s now not only come with a slot-loading DVD-ROM drive (as opposed to the tray-loading drive used in the iBook) but, for $100 more at the Apple Store, you can order a slot-loading CD-RW drive.

PowerBook G4 (Gigabit Ethernet): Volume Control Unresponsive Past Midpoint Apple Knowledge base article 88236 states: "The volume control may seem unresponsive on a PowerBook G4 (Gigabit Ethernet) computer running Mac OS 9.2.1 when you move it past the midpoint. Apple is seeking a solution to this issue. The maximum volume can be reached by moving the volume slider slightly above midpoint. Moving the slider above that point has no effect."

Apple has updated the Developer Notes for the PowerBook G4 and the iBook to include information about the latest product features and configurations in the models introduced earlier this week.

October 16, 2001
Apple has introduced new speed-bumped PowerBooks and iBooks. The new iBooks offer G3 PowerPC speeds of up to 600-MHz (except for the low-end model), more memory, and larger drives (15GB/20GB) as well as a $100 price reduction on the high-end Combo DVD/CD-RW drive model. The new PowerBooks, available in 550-MHz and 667-MHz models, feature a new ATI Mobility Radeon AGP 4X graphics chip with 16MB of DDR video RAM, larger drives (20GB and 30GB, respectively), more memory (via a "Double for Nothing" RAM promo), Gigabit Ethernet, and a new smaller, lightweight power adapter. The high-end 667-MHz PowerBook also includes a 133-MHz system bus as well as a bundled AirPort card. The PowerBooks also have BTO configuration options for a CD-RW at the Apple Store; however, a Combo DVD/CD-RW drive is not available.

Along with new PowerBooks and iBooks, Apple today also began quietly shipping dual-800MHz Power Mac G4 Server configurations. At US$3,799, the entry-level model commands a $300 premium over the Power Mac G4 (non-server) configuration, but features a CD-RW drive in place of the SuperDrive and a standard GeForce2 MX video card instead of the TwinView model. Otherwise, the specs between the two models are identical (256MB RAM, 80GB ATA HD). For another $950, the $4,749 model configuration boosts the RAM to 1GB and adds a second 80GB ATA hard drive. Both models ship with an unlimited version of Mac OS X Server 10.1.

The Apple Ethernet Update 2.0, which includes Apple Ethernet extension v2.4.3, improves AppleShare connections in high-traffic network environments: "When you use certain Mac OS 9 applications while connected to AppleShare volumes, disconnections can occur. You may see 'TickleTimeout' disconnect messages in the Mac OS X Server 10 Apple File Service access log. The Apple Ethernet Extension 2.4.3 prevents these disconnections from occurring." [1.1 MB]

October 09, 2001
E.Q. Magazine's 'The X Factor' talks about the audio industry's reaction to OS X and some its advance features for the community: "The good news is that OS X 10.1 boasts some impressive built-in audio tools to go along with generally enhanced performance. Primary among these: system level multichannel I/O with high-resolution audio."

Epson has announced expected dates for Mac OS X compatible printer drivers on their OS X and Supported EPSON Products Web page.

CE QuicKeys X 1.0 is the release version of this macro/shortcut utility for Mac OS X. New in this version: Shortcuts can now be copied or dragged from one Steps drawer to another. Other improvements include better toolbar functionality, increased reliability when triggering hot keys, better handling of the Playback Palette and more.

Microsoft has posted a PowerPoint/Excel 2001 for Mac Macro Vulnerability Update for Mac versions of PowerPoint 98, PowerPoint 2001, Excel 98, and Excel 2001. [739 KB]

This update addresses a vulnerability that could allow malicious code to run in a Microsoft Excel 2001 for Mac or Microsoft PowerPoint 2001 for Mac file without warning. In an Excel or PowerPoint file, macros can be modified in such a way that they could run without displaying a warning. This could cause damage to data or allow unauthorized retrieval of data from your system when you visit a Web site or open an e-mail message. After you apply this update, a warning will appear when you open an Excel or PowerPoint file that contains macros.

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