MWSF 2001 wrap-up

This years MWSF Expo was certainly one of the most stunning ones to date. Thrilling announcements in hardware and software wowed the audience and caused quite a lot of rumble on the web.

Hardware

• Apple introduces new line of PowerMac G4 sporting a new and improved motherboard, with 133MHz bus and RAM, AGP4x slot, 4 PCI slots, improved sound system and G4 chips from 466 over533 to 667 and finally 733MHz. The two highest end models even feature e new version of the G4 chip, known by the name V'Ger (Voyager) or G4e/G4+. First benchmarks of these new machines are more than just an improvement already.
• All new PowerMacs also feature a CD-RW drive, finally enabling the user to burn it's own CDs and CD-RWs out of the box. The topest notch model even has a new Pioneer SuperDrive that can read and write CDs as well as read and write DVDs in DVD-R format, so you can play it in any DVD-ROM player.
• To top all that, Apple teamed up with nVidia to bring their graphics cards to the Mac. The top 3 models of the new G4 line all include a GeForce2 MX graphics card. All future nVidia chips are going to support the Mac now.
• Apple has also released a new, ultra thin and ultra light Powerbook (1", 5.3lbs) with a titanium case and a mega wide 15.2" TFT display. That combined with all the other great features, the new PowerBook has already conquered the hearts of many Mac loyalists.
• ATI has started shipping the PCI version of their RADEON graphics card, which might easily prove to be the fastest PCI card for the Mac so far.
• Sonnet has announced Dual G4 CPU upgrade cards for all "Sawtooth" G4s. This might be good news for owners of the slower entry line models that are already stating to show their age again.
• Of course this only gives an idea of what made the show so important, a lot of other stuff was also announced that is not mentioned here.

• Steve showed off the new and revised Mac OS X that has a lot of improvements compared to the public beta. It was the first time I was really starting to get excited about this new OS...I think that tels a lot.
• Bungie announced Myth 3, several companies demoed their newest products and there was also a lot of new stuff from the professional section, such as Macromedia etc.
• Apple introduced "iTunes", a small app that enables you to rip CDs to the HD, play all kinds of sound files, create a searchable sound file library, brun custom CDs, listen to web radio and a lot more. It even has a digital LSD plugin that visualizes the music you're listening to. Crazy.
• The other app from Apple is "iDVD" and it's big brother "DVD Studio Pro", both apps that ease the creation of user and professional level DVDs.
• Last but not least, Steve also mentioned that about 1200 applications are currently under development for Mac OS X (Carbon and Cocoa).
• For more gaming news at MWSF, check out this Apple article.