[02/21/2001]
First Cube clone surfaces
This picture (exclusive!) I scanned out of an advertisement (catalog) today shows what I believe is one of the first PCs to imitate the PowerMac G4 Cube.
It's got a P3 850Mhz, 128MB RAM, 20GB Harddisk (2.5", 4200rpm model I assume), 24x CD-ROM, optional Floppy drive (wow, no standard floppy for the first time !), 56k modem, 10/100MBit Ethernet (standard!), 2x USB, 1X parallel, 1x serial, 1x infrared, sound in and out, VGA, TV-out and probably PS2 ( not written here, but it says "connectors for mouse and keyboard, so I assume they mean that)
The thing called "BusinessBox" weighs only 1kg (a bit more than 2 pounds) and is only 15.5x5x15.5 cm big (like a CD-ROM drive, just a bit shorter). However, the picture indicates that there is a fan mounted inside, so it's probably a fairly noisy thing. However the pricetag of 2490.- is nice (that's Swiss franks, so about 1500$). I wonder whether this thing is going to have more success than the cube, as it most certainly is pretty much not upgradeable at all.

[02/21/2001]
Bootable CD-RW Drive
xlr8yourmac.com notes that a reader found a cheap internal CD-RW drive that works and boots inside a beige G3. In the end she payed only 69$. Also there are a few other notes, one concerning yesterday's PowerBook HD ugrade.

[02/21/2001]
PowerMacs ship
Yahoo has the official Apple press release, releasing the new PowerMac G4 733 with the first DVD-R SuperDrive ever officially (noticed the double redundancy?). Whatever, the unit is available now and the ones who ordered real quick are likely going to get theirs in a matter of a few days.

[02/21/2001]
If it's Mac it's ok
the register notes that the "Entourage" mail client in Office 2001 for Mac offers an option to turn off HTML mail, which is a good security extra, while Outlook Express on the PC does not offer this option. Thanks to the Mac team over at Microsoft, there are some people who're actually doing a good job too. Of course PC users want that option too now.

[02/21/2001]
MW Tokyo starts
MacWEEK has all the links you need to keep yourself informed of what's happening at MWT. There is a satellite broadcast, as reported earlier, but it's not exactly public, so you'll have to wait for the video-on-demand stream a little later. I wonder what's going to happen.

[02/21/2001]
MOSR
MOSR again has some interesting rumors and Q&As. Take a look.

[02/21/2001]
Another problem
MacCentral just confirmed again, that Apple too isn't perfect. Aparently some CD-RW drives that shipped are not capable of writing to high-speed CD-RW disks, instead reporting an error. I guess they're going to issue a firmware upgrade or something.

[02/21/2001]
More ideas
AppleInsider notes that the new iMac Special edition may indeed feature a hybrid DVD/CD-RW drive (something that I expected to come with PowerMacs too) and might even include a G4 chip in the high end model. Otherwise it's just going to be a major speed bump on the G3.