The rumors of Mac OS X Server's cancellation that blazed across the 'net recently are apparently only rumors. The brouhaha started when one or more Apple representatives in Europe publicly answered a question about the operating system's release date by stating that the whole project had been cancelled internally, though Apple hadn't yet made a statement about the fact. To add fuel to the fire, Apple remained distressingly tight-lipped about the whole thing when Mac pundit Don Crabb tried to get the real story by contacting people at the company directly. However, now it appears that Apple's official stance on the subject has been made public: they have told MacWEEK that the operating system has most definitely not been cancelled, and that it will ship before the end of the year.

While at last check Don Crabb himself had yet to receive official word from Apple that Mac OS X Server was still on track, he did hear from a trustworthy unnamed Apple source that the OS was definitely still going to be released. While it's a little disturbing that it's been so difficult to get Apple to come right out and give an official straight answer, it's understandable from a marketing perspective. After all, Mac OS 8.5 has just started shipping, and early indications show that sales are very strong; too much publicity about Mac OS X Server could both steal 8.5's spotlight, and reduce its sales-- since Mac OS X Server is expected to ship with a Blue Box environment running 8.5 itself. In fact, several sources claim that Mac OS X Server is ready to ship, but it's being kept under wraps for at least a few more weeks so as not to affect the sales of Mac OS 8.5. Marketing, after all, is what makes the world go 'round.

Of course, one has to wonder if perhaps Apple was planning to cancel Mac OS X Server outright, but changed its mind once word of the plan leaked out and the uproar ensued. Or maybe they were considering cancelling the release, and instructed the operative in Vienna to leak the news as a "trial balloon," which Apple could conveniently and vehemently deny if reaction to the scenario was too negative. See, you can't take your eye off these wacky Apple folks for a second.

Redmond Justice, Day 2: the season continues not to disappoint, as Microsoft and the Justice Department carry on with their epic antitrust battle. But today we got to see that the struggle is not all melodrama, as the show's writers are skilful enough to counterpoint deepest tragedy with the occasional touch of comedy. While the central theme of the show is certainly the tearjerking story of a how a poor, beleaguered software company from Redmond, Washington is being bullied by the government into crippling its own products, there are plenty of moments of mirth deftly interspersed for contrast.

For instance, take Microsoft's primary defense tactic on the second day of the trial. According to an article in Computer Reseller News, in a brilliant execution of the "we're not the only ones, so it can't be illegal" tactic, Microsoft attorney John Warden defended his company's moves to eliminate Netscape from the browser market by pointing out that at one time, Netscape actually had 70% of the market, and therefore it was "ironic" that Netscape was lobbying the government to go after Microsoft. Of course, Netscape didn't earn its market share by giving its browser away for free, tying it to an operating system that already had over 90% of the desktop computer market, threatening to cancel operating system licenses if computer vendors didn't pre-install the browser on every system they shipped, etc. The key phrase in Microsoft's hilariously flawed argument is "at one time;" after all, if Netscape still had 70%, Microsoft wouldn't be sitting in court today. At least not for antitrust actions, most likely.

But that's not all! Showing that they're not above throwing in a sight gag or two, the writers opted for a little comic relief when Microsoft made their opening statement. According to a Reuters article, Warden used a low-tech overhead projector as his visual aid when presenting his argument. You just gotta love it when the lawyer representing the world's largest software company makes a presentation with an overhead projector-- especially when the Justice Department's opening statement included a "computer-driven, multivideo screen presentation." Apparently PowerPoint wasn't up to the task for Warden? Or maybe he just didn't trust Microsoft's own software not to crash during the presentation. "There are a few of us who still use fountain pens and legal pads," says Warden. Well, yeah... everyone at AtAT sure did, but that's when Word 6 was out...

Wow, this certainly has been a banner year for Mac gamers. Apple's renewed financial vigor and the wildly successful introduction of the iMac have done a lot in terms of convincing publishers to release Mac versions of popular PC games, so we've been seeing lots of releases like Diablo, Unreal, and Tomb Raider II. Companies such as Interplay and LucasArts, who have ceased Mac development but continue to "monitor the Mac market," might re-enter the fray if Apple's share of the home market continues to grow, and every indication is that this holiday season ought to give the Mac installed base a big boost. And there are still plenty of games coming out for the Mac to look forward to, such as Myth II, Klingon Honor Guard, and Duality.

The big yuck, though, is the continuing disparity in price and availability between Mac and PC versions of game-oriented 3D acceleration hardware. A vast number of the newest and hottest games look a lot better and move a lot faster when the Mac on which they're played includes a 3D chip, and the 3D chip of choice for gamers is still the 3Dfx Voodoo. Unfortunately, there haven't been too many options when it comes to putting a Voodoo chip inside your Mac; for a while, the only Mac-specific choice was TechWorks' Power3d, which unfortunately cost more than twice as much as PC-branded cards with identical hardware. And now that the Voodoo 2 is out and offers something like three times the performance of the original Voodoo, the only Mac option is the Game Wizard by Micro Conversions, which, at $300, is about three times the cost of equivalent PC cards. Ouch!

But there's good news: according to the Mac Gamer's Ledge, VillageTronic has just announced a couple of new Mac cards that will use the Voodoo Banshee chipset, which offers Voodoo 2 class 3D acceleration and fast 2D graphics performance. The base unit, called the neXtGen MacPicasso 750, will cost only $199, which, while still higher than PC Banshee cards, is a price a little more in line with reality. One of their other Banshee-based offerings is the $299 neXtGen MacMagic Pro, which features more SGRAM for even better performance. These cards should be out by Christmas, so if you're looking for the best possible experience in games like Myth/Myth II, Unreal, Quake, Carmageddon, etc., consider putting a VillageTronic Banshee card on your holiday list.