Remember the firestorm of controversy that swept through the Mac community after Uncle Steve gave the first public demonstration of Mac OS X last January? The flame wars were raging so hot, you could scarcely launch a web browser without singeing your fingers. At the heart of the controversy was Aqua, Apple's new "refined" user interface whose earmarks are lots of sizzle and a distinct "Liqui-Gel" look. Now, by themselves, there's nothing particularly wrong with flying icons and control buttons that look like over-the-counter cough remedies, but the interface purists had a bone to pick with Apple's apparent decision to study its own Human Interface Guidelines very carefully, understand each and every subtle nuance, and then throw them all straight out the window.

So, as the HIG faithful worked themselves up into a virtual froth by lambasting Aqua's reordered window controls, confusing and inconsistent Dock, and the elimination of the Finder as we know it, Apple was apparently taking notes. A ZDNet News article examines some of the refinements to Aqua that have been made in its latest developmental incarnation, which recently shipped with Mac OS X Developer Preview 4. For starters, there's the Dock: as originally demonstrated, it was a catch-all toolbar that held icons for running applications, user-defined aliases to non-running applications, and minimized windows. In DP4, though, the Dock has been transformed into-- well, a catch-all toolbar that holds icons for running apps, aliases, and minimized windows. But at least now those three categories of entries aren't all jumbled together. Reportedly the Dock now keeps the icons of running applications separated on the left, which hopefully will reduce confusion. A little.

Other seemingly-arbitrary departures from the long-established Mac Way seem to have been scaled back, as well. Back in January, dragging a file from one place to another in the Aqua universe resulted in a copy, not the moving of the original file; in DP4, the standard Mac behavior (drag to move, option-drag to copy) has been restored. And while the Desktop still may not be as flexible as it is in Mac OS 9, at least there's now an option to make volumes appear on the Desktop instead of only in the Windowsy "Computer" directory. So those of you who were concerned that Apple was transforming your Mac into something decidedly "other" should be at least a little relieved.

Now, the way we see it, there are two basic possibilities as to how this whole thing is going down. One is that Apple is honestly listening to customer and developer feedback and is working to restore more Mac-style behavior to Aqua. The other is that maybe Apple planned on shipping a more Mac-like OS all along, but foresaw opposition to Aqua's new look, so lots of Mac interface standards were deliberately broken. Apple waited for the controversy to reach a fever pitch and then "repaired" the grosser infractions, thus quieting most of the outrage and paving the way for a smoother introduction when Mac OS X finally ships. You have to admit, both scenarios are pretty impressive, with high marks for either honesty or deviousness.

Been wondering why Rumorville's been so darned quiet lately? We sure have. Usually the week before a major Apple event (such as next week's Worldwide Developers Conference) has the citizens busy as bees on coke, dishing all the dirt they can find and revealing top secret insider info in a rush to be the first with the scoop before Apple springs its surprises at the show. Instead, it's less than a week before Zero Hour and all we've seen that remotely resembles leaked Apple info is one report on the likely introduction of multiprocessor G4s. Most surprising of all, we all know that Mac OS X is going to be the star of the show, and yet we've heard hardly a peep from news or rumors sites about their experiences with (cough) "evaluation copies." Even coverage of the recent Developer Preview 4 release has been awfully low-key.

Now, that could mean that Apple's done an admirable job of plugging its leaks. It could also mean that Apple just doesn't have anything interesting to unveil next week, so there's been nothing to uncover. But an intriguing-- and somewhat sinister-- third possibility has surfaced, courtesy of a faithful viewer whose identity shall remain hidden to preserve his well-being. Have you noticed all those WWDC ad banners flying high on so many Mac-centric sites recently? (We don't see how you could miss them; they're in heavier rotation than that damn "Millionaire" show we can't seem to get away from.) The next time you're at a site sporting a WWDC banner, try this little experiment: dig around and try to find anything there that might qualify as rumor or speculation about what might happen at WWDC. If our source is right, you may be surprised at how tough it turns out to be; the most you'll find is perhaps a reference to "official" news from Apple, such as a press release repackaged as a "news item."

The deal, we've been told, is that sites advertising WWDC are under strict orders from Apple not to publish any rumors or speculation about what may happen at the event. What's this? Editorial content being shaped by advertising dollars? Well, no, not exactly... we hear that Apple's paying sites in product, not dollars, with the number of clickthroughs for the ads determining how much gear each site will get-- but if any of them dare to dish dirt about WWDC, the deal's off. If this is true (and for what it's worth, even while wearing "conspiracy-colored glasses," we're hard-pressed to find evidence of a deliberate cover-up, but we'll go along with it just for the sake of plot development), then journalistic integrity's just taken one more hit on the chin. Of course, if Apple came to us with the prospect of receiving a shiny new G4 in the mail, you can bet that all WWDC-related content (except for an Aqua-looking banner ad bearing the caption, "For the love of Mike, click me! Please!") would vanish quicker than a popsicle in a blast furnace. Then again, we've never claimed any pretensions to journalism in the first place; "we're not a news site, but we've seen one on TV!"

We're experiencing the most extraordinary sense of déjà vu. We just read a fascinating article over at Go2Mac about Larry Ellison's new Network Computer project, and certain facets of the story seem somehow... familiar. Titled "Larry, Bill, & Steve," the piece discusses how Ellison's upcoming $199 NC may not just be targeting Microsoft's user base: "This time we're not sure who he's gunning for, Bill or Steve... hurt your dear friend Bill Gates' Windows monopoly, plus steal sales and momentum from the iMac and the company [on] whose board you sit." That's an insightful analysis, don't you agree?

Hopefully you do, because it's strikingly similar to the episode we broadcast on Monday, in which we referred to the "Bill-Steve-Larry triangle." In that scene, in reference to the consumer NC Larry's prepping for release, we asked, "Now whose bread-and-butter market does it look like Larry's trying to swipe? Suddenly we have a much better idea of why Steve put Larry on the Apple board." And compare our opening words ("Keep your friends close and your enemies closer-- nowhere is that maxim more important than in the high-tech industry") with Go2Mac's closing ones ("Hopefully Steve has learned to keep his friends close and his enemies closer"). Are you beginning to see the subtlest of similarities?

Now, despite the fact that Go2Mac's piece was posted nearly twenty hours after our own scene first hit the airwaves, we're certainly not suggesting that Go2Mac swiped our material without so much as a by-your-leave. Rather, we're probably getting far too conventional in our plotlines-- either that, or this is just a case of great minds thinking alike. But a note to anyone who might be considering rebroadcasting our show without the express written consent of Major League Baseball: the phrase is "Think different." Now if you'll excuse us, we have to go double-check our antibugging devices.