The updates are coming fast and furious, now; it's been scarcely a month and a half since Mac OS X first shipped, but in that short time we've witnessed no fewer than three official updates already. First came Mac OS X 10.0.1, which improved stability, speed, and USB support. Then came 10.0.2, which primarily added the long-awaited support for CD-burning. And as of yesterday, faithful viewer David Freeland clued us in on the fact that 10.0.3 was available via Software Update; according to an Apple Tech Info Library article, it... uh... adds the long-awaited support for CD-burning. Hmmm... Is anyone else getting the most extraordinary sense of déjà vu?

Granted, the TIL article for 10.0.3 also mentions "a number of improvements for overall application stability" and "the latest version of the Internet file transfer service (ftpd) which features important security improvements," but clearly something's a trifle askew. It sure looks to us like someone at Apple took a TIL intended for the last update and replaced "10.0.2" with "10.0.3." In fact, the responsible party didn't even do a global search and replace; the grid under the "DISCUSSION" heading still lists the software version as 10.0.2. Whoops.

But if you're just bursting to discover the details of 10.0.3's real purpose, it's The Mac Observer to the rescue. Apparently by digging through the contents of the update package itself, it's possible to extract the true feature list of this mysterious incremental upgrade: "The 10.0.3 Update ensures full visibility of file lists in directories that contain a large number of items." Don't feel bad if you find that a tad anticlimactic; given the apparent intrigue surrounding the posted specs of this update, we were half expecting to find out that it added some kind of top secret James Bond crypto technology. Instead, we get a minor Finder bug fix.

Whatever. To tell you the truth, we didn't even bother finding out what Mac OS X 10.0.3 was for before installing it, so we hardly have the right to complain about an erroneous TIL article. The important thing is that Apple is adding features and fixing bugs in Mac OS X on a frequent basis, which bodes well for a relatively "Mom-proof" version of the operating system in time for the summer release. Here's looking forward to those Mac OS X iMacs!

Good gravy, Apple has done the impossible: somehow the company has escaped the clutches of the Great Portable Delay Curse. Think about it; when was the last time Apple introduced a new PowerBook or iBook that actually shipped even remotely near its expected availability date? Wall Street, Lombard, and Pismo were each scarcer than hen's teeth for months after their already-delayed introductions-- and does everyone remember how tough it was to get hold of an original iBook in the fall of '99? Even the PowerBook G4 just barely shipped "on time," and most orders were still pushed back for weeks.

But with this latest iBook, finally it seems that the curse has been lifted. Check it out; the mighty mite was introduced on Tuesday of last week and Steve indicated that it would be shipping in mid-May, right? Well, some early-bird Apple Store customers who had placed their orders as soon as possible (and who were given estimated ship times of "3 to 5 weeks") received shipping confirmations by the weekend. Some of them had their new portables in hand by Monday-- and the 15th is still five days away. Yes, Apple actually beat a reported portable ship date by a full week; make your peace, because the end is nigh.

Moreover, here's the really scary part: these new iBooks are already showing up in retail outlets! You've probably already seen faithful viewer Dan Deering's reports at various other spots on the 'net; Dan's with an outfit called Diversified Computers in sunny (and tax-free!) Keene, New Hampshire, which, coincidentally enough, just happens to be the city where the AtAT staff bought its first iMac back in '98. Anyway, Diversified got its first shipment of new iBooks yesterday, and they have the photos to prove it. And unless Dan has some kind of blackmail scam that lets him get Apple gear long before anyone else, we figure we might even be able to check out a display model up close and personal at our local Micro Center this weekend. Here's hoping.

Given how hot a seller we're expecting this iBook to be, the fact that it won't be plagued by production delays ought to mean great things for Apple's next quarterly earnings statement. Imagine; people who want to give Apple their money in return for goods and services are actually being allowed to do so, without delay. Are you sure this is Apple we're talking about?

Speaking of underpromising and overdelivering, we thought we'd fill you in on the latest developments in our dead AirPort Base Station saga. When last you tuned in on Monday, our Base Station had decided that infinite rebooting was a valid alternative lifestyle, thus rendering your AtAT staff wirelessless until the confused unit could be replaced. (We think we've borne up remarkably well under the strain.) Back on Monday, the Apple tech to whom we spoke told us to expect a replacement ABS by the end of the week, which we considered to be perfectly reasonable (though the prospect of being tethered to a hub for four days left us in a cold sweat).

However, when we returned to the AtAT studios on Tuesday, we discovered that Airborne Express had already attempted to deliver a package from Apple Computer. Yes, folks, our replacement had actually been sent via overnight delivery. Had we been there to sign for the package, our wireless utopia would have been restored the day after our original ABS went loopy on us. Now that's service! We've encountered this phenomenon before, on a number of occasions; Apple Support claims we'll have something in three to five business days, and it's sitting on the doorstep the very next day. And yet, no matter how many times it happens, we're always pleasantly surprised.

We should also mention that, at least in our experience, Apple's quintessential ease of use continues to shine through. Whereas our original installation of an AirPort card and Base Station (from breaking the shrinkwrap on the boxes to surfing the 'net wirelessly) took less than fifteen minutes (yes, we had a stopwatch running), we replaced our nuked ABS with Apple's replacement and configured it for our network entirely during a single commercial break. No joke! We surfing wirelessly by the time That '70s Show was back on.

The next step is to send the faulty ABS back to Apple, but even that's so easy it hurts. We didn't even have to affix a shipping label; Apple uses an AirBorne Express service called "EZ Return," where the prepaid return address label cleverly hides underneath the existing label. One quick peel later, and bickety-bam-- there was our return box, good to go. We scheduled a pickup with one brief toll-free call to AirBorne, and that's pretty much that.

Since the whole process was so fast and easy, we spent a little time typing up a summary of the problem and included URLs for the Apple Support forum thread (which illustrates just how widespread the failing Base Station problem is) and Constantin von Wentzel's fix for the problem. Who knows? Since the problem is pretty clearly due to a design flaw, maybe Apple will set up a program by which faulty Base Stations will be replaced regardless of their warranty status.

Or maybe the support techs will just keep telling afflicted owners of out-of-warranty Base Stations to tune in to AtAT for links to a fix-- at least, that's what happened to faithful viewer Patrick Cranston. While we'd rather see a repair extension program, it's nice to hear that the tech support staff is tuning in. (Hi, folks! Thanks for the snappy service!) In any case, we're wireless again, and the elapsed time from the onset of the problem to the fix was a mere 60 hours-- and it would have been more like 30, had we been available to sign for the shipment on Tuesday. Say what you like about Apple Support, but this was one impressive turn of events. Ahhh... surfing from the couch...