There is an evangelical zeal in the air when twice a year, in January and July, a chosen few gather in some drab US convention centre to read from the book of Jobs. The mood at MacWorld has steadily lifted over the past three years and while Apple's market share is still tiny, many believe the future is bright. It would certainly appear to be orange, purple, blue, indigo and, now, snow.
MacWorld, which wound down in New York last Friday, is an event eagerly anticipated by Mac-lovers. Apple's chief executive, Steve Jobs, habitually announces "exciting" new products, programs and strategies in an effort to position the self-styled friendly face of computing at the forefront of the information revolution.
At MacWorld, in the summer of 1997, the company shook its loyal following by announcing a $100 million partnership with its old foe, Microsoft. The following year saw the industry wrong-footed with the unheralded release of the iMac - which paved the way for the company's slow and steady return to profit. At last year's event things were somewhat less dramatic, although the iBook laptop did make its society debut. And last week a plethora of new products, colours and promises were presented as a new dawn for the company.
Taking centre stage was a new model, the G4 Cube - a hybrid of the G4 and the iMac. The Cube looks similar to an iMac stripped of its screen - leading industry sources to dub it the "Sleepy Hollow Mac" in honour of its "headless" status.
The company also announced plans to ship dual-processor G4 systems, touted as the "first personal computers in history to come standard with dual processors". The new machines will run at 400, 450 and 500 MHz, with the latter two versions boasting the dual processors.
Speaking about the Cube, Jobs said the company had "miniaturised all the power of the G4 to make a whole new class of machine". It will be available in two models and will come with one of three displays, all of which are powered through the computer. In addition, the firm announced five new iMac systems, ranging in price in the US from $799 to $1,499 and coming in a raft of "exciting" new colours including indigo, ruby, sage, graphite and snow. Snow?
Jobs also unveiled an optical mouse with no moving parts and a new keyboard that includes a single key allowing PowerMac users to eject data storage disks from the keyboard.
A major talking point at last week's event was not a product launch but the impending release of a new operating system for the Mac. For over a decade, until the autumn of 1995, the Mac had the operating system to die for. It was comparatively bugfree and was the benchmark for all interfaces. When Windows 95 started appearing pre-packaged on almost every new PC, Apple was suddenly playing catch-up.
The new system, called Mac OS X (the roman numeral rather than the letter), aims to reclaim ground lost to rival operators (including upstarts like Linux) over the past five years. If everything goes to plan, it will be available in beta before the autumn and on general release by the beginning of next year. More than 200 developers have been working on the system since the new year. "With this preview release, developers now have everything they need to make killer applications for Mac OS X," Jobs has said. "We are incredibly pleased at the support we are getting from many of the world's best software developers for the future of the Mac platform." According to Apple, more than 200 developers have committed to delivering products for Mac OS X since early January, including Adobe, Canon, Disney Interactive, Epson, HP, IBM, Macromedia, Microsoft, Palm and Sun Microsystems.
The support of the big software developers is essential if the system is to appeal to professional users and consumers less concerned with optimum performance than cost, ease of use and value for money. The current Mac OS works well, providing the public with a user-friendly interface and professional users with a wide range of well-established applications.
Apple is banking on the new system following suit. Many commentators believe that despite Jobs's regular assertions that Apple has "lost the OS war", the launch of the Mac OS X is an effort to win across all fronts.
When, or if, the US Justice Department dismantles Microsoft, Apple wants to be in a position to take it on. In the meantime the company will focus on consolidating its position as a system business, concentrating on developing its hardware platform in tandem with its operating system to ensure both fit comfortably together.
Whatever happens, Apple faces serious obstacles before the new system and the range of new hardware announced last week can succeed. Dubbed "the computer for the rest of us", the Mac has always made much of its ease of use and has marketed itself more efficiently than any other brand.
So entrenched is the idea that Apple makes machines for the good guys that it has starred in more than 1,500 films and television programmes, saving the day in Mission Impossible and the world in Independence Day. Yes, of course the alien software was perfectly compatible.
Yet it continues to be dogged by a perception problem. Many users fear if they invest in a Mac they'll be cut adrift from the software "sharing" now commonplace. One computer user told Computimes how he recently had £1,500 to invest and found himself leaning towards the iMac. He balked at the last minute and bought a run-of-the-mill PC, worried that an iMac would cut him off from the bundles of free software that he knew he'd be able to beg, borrow and steal from friends and colleagues.
iMac sales have levelled off. Other computer-makers who have made forays into the world of cool computing have had their fingers burned. Dell and Compaq recently dropped sleek but poor-selling machines. "The problem is the pendulum is swinging back to performance and buying as much as you can afford versus buying something that is cool," PC Data analyst Stephen Baker was quoted as saying on CNet (www.cnet.com).
People are clearly more interested in value and functionality, and once the sleek look, slick marketing and broadening colour range are discounted, the new range of Macs will face hard questions. Apple's ability to answer them will go far towards proving the long-term viability of the "world's favourite computer".
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