So the Power Mac G3 continues to do well, and we're all hearing about the next generation using the "Yosemite" motherboard and the "El Capitan" translucent case. And the iMac is selling like gangbusters (even though it's not actually out yet), and we're all looking forward to next year's "eBook" consumer portable. So what about the future of the PowerBook? Just because its last major overhaul arrived only a few short months ago, that doesn't mean that Apple is standing still in the pro laptop world. Mac OS Rumors has early details on next year's successor to the PowerBook G3 Series, alias Wall Street.

Sometime next year, Apple is expected to introduce "Lombard," the next generation in professional-level PowerBooks. According to Rumors, Lombard will pack a G3 processor running between 450 and 600 MHz, plus a full megabyte of backside cache and that wacky set of processor instructions known as AltiVec. Combine those little facts with Lombard's 100-166 MHz system bus, and you can expect performance to completely shatter all records in laptop performance. In step with Apple's peripheral architecture plans, Lombard will include on-board USB and FireWire (replacing today's serial, ADB, and SCSI) and a fast IrDA port. And of course, the case will be fantastic; early prototypes are even curvier than Wall Street's, and are built from the translucent plastics that are fast becoming Apple's trademark.

And Lombard won't just be cooler than Wall Street, it'll also be cooler than Wall Street. Perhaps the best news of all for the high-end road warriors out there, the Lombard architecture reportedly may include a special "cooling duct" system, which will supposedly pipe air away from the PowerBook's internal components via the use of a more powerful (yet quieter) fan. This efficient circulation system, coupled with the probable lower power consumption of next year's high-speed G3 processors, ought to translate into a much cooler working temperature of the overall laptop. That's music to the ears of Wall Street owners, who have single-handedly expanded the market for asbestos chaps by nearly tenfold.

So, uh, where are all the iMac ads? We've all heard that Apple is spending a whopping $100 million on promotions pushing the little blue guy onto the consumer market, but so far, all we've seen are little brochures, some banners, and empty boxes on display at the local Microcenter. (We're not counting the iMac posters spotted in Manhattan around the Javits Center during MacWorld Expo for obvious reasons.) Where are the newspaper and magazine ads? And most importantly, where are the television commercials?

According to Reality, the answer to the above questions is, "coming soon." Borrowing its understated style from the "Think Different" ad campaign, Apple's iMac billboards will reportedly consist of photos of the system displayed next to quick little catch phrases. To those of you who attended the Expo, the "Sleek Preview" and "Sorry, No Beige" posters there were only the beginning. Similarly-styled print ads will focus on the iMac's simplicity by playing up its role as an appliance, rather than a computer; just plug it in, and it's ready to rock. Perhaps the best news of all, though, is that Apple apparently plans to have several iMac television commercials touting the system's low cost, extreme power, and miraculous ease of use. The first of these spots will air this Saturday, and eventually we should see a minute-long condensed version of the 3 1/2-minute "Simplicity Shootout" video shown during the Expo keynote.

So why no teaser ads from Apple before the iMac's actual release? AtAT continues to guess that Apple had not only temporarily shelved most of its own $100 million iMac promotional campaign, but that resellers had been advised to do the same-- until Apple can produce enough iMacs to fill at least most of the backorders, and excited customers who see the ads touting the cool blue iMac could actually go out and buy one. But that's just us. Regardless, we're looking forward to seeing real advertising for a system that, so far, has been selling itself-- and doing a wonderful job, we might add.

As they threatened to do last week, Microsoft has gone ahead and filed a summary judgement requesting Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson to dismiss the antitrust lawsuit we've all grown to know and love as "Redmond Justice." Is it possible? A sudden cancellation of everyone's favorite courtroom drama, before it even gets to court? A NewsBytes article has more details on Microsoft's latest move.

Citing their recent appeal victory in the "classic" Redmond Justice case (which overturned Judge Jackson's famous preliminary injunction of last December), Microsoft asked that the entire suit against them, filed jointly by the Justice Department and the attorneys general of twenty states, be completely dismissed. They claim that it should be abundantly clear to the whole world by now that Internet Explorer is an inseparable part of Windows 95 and 98, always has been, and always was planned that way. Plus, they claim that their actions have in no way prevented Netscape from distributing their own browser.

Fans of the show needn't worry overly much, however; Microsoft's attempt at an early cancellation is "doomed to fail," in the words of one antitrust observer. We tend to agree, given Judge Jackson's overt statement that such a motion would be denied. But heck, it's worth a try, right?