Oh, our cup runneth over... as the rest of the professional Mac-using world awaits the arrival of the new pro-level G3 systems to see how many slots it ends up having, we at AtAT are on the edge of our seats due to reports that the new casing and design are so beautiful and cool, they belong in the Museum of Modern Art. This new high-fashion enclosure is apparently code-named "El Capitan," and based on the report on prototype units over at Reality, it sounds like Apple's going for the jugular, style-wise. If the iMac is the cutest computer since the original Macintosh, "El Capitan" is the sexiest.

So what is it about the design that's already got us considering pulling funds out of our IRA's to buy one? It's not so much the smoky midnight-blue translucent plastics themselves, such as those used in the Apple Studio Display. That feature alone we could resist, though it's certainly a gorgeous-sounding sight. No, it's the rumor that current prototypes have the Apple logo and model name printed on the inside of the translucent casing. Reportedly, upon startup, a light inside the box illuminates the whole unit from within, revealing the logo and model name in shadowy silhouette. Holy luciferin, Batman! You'll recall that we're suckers for light-up computers, even though none seem to have ever made it into production.

Now, it's important to note that we've been burned before on this; just before its release, we had been told that the large white Apple logo on the cover of the PowerBook G3 actually glowed visibly when the computer was in use, but have not witnessed the phenomenon with any of the seven such units we've had the honor of using. (Reportedly if you take one of the high-end models with a 14.1" screen into a very dark room and turn up the backlighting all the way, you can just barely make out a faint glow coming from the crystal Apple, but that's about all.) And when the iMac was unveiled last May, it first appeared that the whole translucent unit glowed when it was on. That report turned out to be false, and was probably due to special stage lighting used to enhance the iMac when it was first trotted out. Then it seemed quite clear that the iMac's mouse lit up when in use, and in fact it seems that this was the case in the early prototypes, but Apple removed the feature from the final specification. So overall, Apple engineers seem to like the idea of light-up computers, but such a "frivolous" feature hasn't really made it into a shipping product yet. Here's hoping that the funky internal light/backlit logo and product name gimmick remains in the design for the production "El Capitan" units. We want our light-up computer!

Meanwhile, the question of what processors will be slapped inside the upcoming Pro systems seems to have been answered. Motorola just officially announced their new G3 PPC 750 processors running at 300, 333, and 366 MHz. MacWEEK has the story. While Apple refuses to comment specifically on its future product plans, MacCentral reports that Apple has committed to using the fastest available G3's as they come out.

These new chips aren't just the existing G3's cranked up to a higher clock speed; they're manufactured using a new process that reduces the internal voltage of the processor to a mere 1.9 volts. Older (or should we say "current?") G3's run at 2.6 volts instead. The upshot is, the new processors run significantly cooler than the G3's we've grown to love, which has its pros and cons. On the plus side, in addition to simply being faster than the current models, future PowerBook G3's should no longer require their users to wear asbestos pants in order to use them on their actual laptops. Unfortunately, that also means that those new, cooler PowerBooks also can't double as an efficient mug-warmer when running closed and connected to an external monitor and keyboard. (The rubberized surface was a great non-slip place on which to set a coffee cup.)

By the way, when we talk about the new Pro systems, we're speaking of the funky new machines that will use the translucent "El Capitan" case design, which may not become available until later this year or possibly early next year. Apple's more likely first to use at least the slower of these faster G3's in a much closer speed bump to its existing Power Mac line, perhaps in late August and announced at Seybold.

Hmmm, does Fred Anderson know something we don't? Apple's kick-ass CFO, who has done more than his share of good hard work straightening out Apple's financial debacle over the last couple of years, has registered to sell off 133,000 shares of Apple stock, to the tune of almost $5 million. And Jon Rubinstein, Apple's hardware engineering guru, has also registered to sell about half that amount. A CNET article has the skinny.

So how should we interpret Fred and Jon's actions? The stock price is dropping following a huge rally after Apple reported its third consecutive profitable quarter, which seems to be a normal correction. But the iMac hits store shelves in a scant three weeks, which we at AtAT assume would send the stock on an upward swing again. (Of course, the fact that we know absolutely nothing about the stock market is precisely the reason that we don't own any stock in anything.)

We suppose that it's important not to read too much into stock sales. It's simply good business to sell off some Apple stock now, as it starts dipping lower from its highest point in over two years (and if anyone knows good business, it's Fred Anderson). Heck, Fred probably just wants to buy a boat or three. Both he and Jon Rubinstein would appear to have several hundred thousand shares and/or unexercised options remaining after the sale. Compare and contrast that with Steve Jobs, who sold off all his shares but one last year, making him the only CEO we know of (interim or not) whose investment in the company he's running is a mere $34.44 more than ours. And actually, if you count hardware and software investments into the equation, we're probably beating out Steve, who, last we heard, was still computing on non-Apple hardware. Apple's one big odd family, that's for sure.