If we had to isolate one single recent development in the PC world that's caused more steam to issue forth from Mac users' ears than any other, it's the unveiling of Future Power's new E-Power iMac knockoff. Unless you've been repeatedly watching your tape of "Pirates of Silicon Valley" non-stop for the past week, you've heard about this thing; it's a cheapo PC stuffed into a case that looks like an iMac. (Actually, it looks like an iMac after the "designers" at Compaq made some bulgy uglifications and left it in a hot car to melt slightly.) Now, the reasons for all the outrage are various and sundry: some of us are indignant that something as beautiful as the iMac has been reworked into something so incredibly devoid of soul; others are affronted by the sheer gall of a company making such an obvious play to ride on Apple's coattails of success-- especially since they try to claim credit for such amazingly original ideas as five differently-colored cases in their press release. And still others are worried that, yes, the E-Power could well steal customers who would otherwise buy an iMac.

How's that? Well, as a NoBeige article points out, in a side-by-side feature set comparison, the E-Power has the numbers; it's got a chip with a higher clock speed, twice the RAM, a slightly larger hard drive, better video, a faster CD-ROM drive, and a PCI slot and built-in floppy-- yet it costs $400 less than an iMac. Price-conscious consumers, if you had to choose based purely on those numbers, which would you buy? And if you feel that in a side-by-side in-store test drive good taste will prevail, we beg to differ-- the average consumer's taste is abysmal. (Two words: Britney Spears. 'Nuff said.) Besides, if good taste were really a deciding factor in computer sales, Windows wouldn't be on some 90% of the systems out there. It would take a whole heck of a lot of taste to overcome a $400 price differential for the average buyer.

So why aren't we at AtAT particularly worried? Well, first of all, there's the fact that the E-Power doesn't exist yet. They won't be available until "later this summer," and it's entirely possible that they'll take even longer than that to surface. Secondly, the E-Power feature set is "subject to change," and we imagine that the price is, too. There's a chance that once the thing really ships, it won't have nearly the price-per-features edge over the iMac that it has now. Thirdly, there's the little matter of Apple's legal department pitbulls, who are probably licking their chops right now over such a tasty cut-and-dried case of trade dress infringement-- meaning, the E-Power may never ship at all without some drastic changes made to its rip-off chassis. And lastly, by the time the E-Power does ship, the iMac may well sport a much improved feature set and/or lower price, making the difference less of an issue. About the only thing that we are worried about is the possibility that Apple's traditional "head in the sand" attitude about potential competition makes an untimely return-- because if they don't do something to fend off the E-Power, they may be very sorry.

Even though Apple's well past its darkest days and overall retail market share is on the rise, it seems that we still hear about the Mac's continuing decline in the educational arena, as if the schools are just a little behind on their Apple homework. Then again, schools were also among the last institutions to stick with Macs long after everybody else started jumping ship, so we assume there's sort of a "delayed reaction" thing going on here, probably tied to the length of time it takes for schools to receive funding for computer purchases. But whatever the reason, we still hear about schools ditching their Macs for Windows boxes and "encouraging" the student population to do the same.

That's why we're delighted to hear that Wintel-only rumors circulating at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign appear to have been false. Not so long ago we had heard that the university was planning on instituting a campus-wide requirement that all new computer purchases be Windows systems, but if the swarm of fruit-flavored iMacs invading the campus is any indication, the Mac platform isn't going anywhere. Faithful viewer (and AtAT dad) Joseph Miller kindly pointed out a Daily Illini article describing the 187 new iMacs that the university just installed in five campus labs over the course of the past week. The cuddly new computers are apparently replacing older Macs, so the move doesn't exactly constitute what MacCentral would call a "forward migration," but it's a good sign that the U of I isn't taking a step backwards and replacing those aging Macs with PCs.

Hearing that the U of I hasn't abandoned the Mac platform holds a particular joy for the AtAT staff, since Yours Truly used his first computers there-- the PLATO system-- at the ripe old age of five, beginning a lifelong interest in computers of all types that has since reached unparalleled heights with the Macintosh. The difference between those old PLATO terminals and today's iMac is astounding, and it's nice to see the university keeping up with the times. We find it strange, though, that they opted not to take advantage of one of the iMac's greatest innovations: color. After all, if they're going to buy 187 computers that are actually available in the school colors, wouldn't you expect them to leap at the chance? Imagine a translucent sea of blue and orange... Er, on second thought, that would probably look kind of frightening. Never mind.

We all knew this day would come someday, but it's still something of a shock: testimony in the "Redmond Justice" trial has officially ended. Government lawyer David Boies finished up with Microsoft witness Richard Schmalensee ("SCHMALENSEE!!") and that's all she wrote. The writers couldn't help turning the latest installment into a "very special episode" complete with fond farewells of a sort, and really, who could blame them? It's been a long, strange trial, and while the holy grail of a verdict is still a long ways off, the body of the trial is over, and we're all a little poorer for that.

In a delicious twist of circumstance, the ever-lovin' Judge "Grumpy" Jackson had the most outwardly sentimental line in the farewell episode. According to The Industry Standard, when the final witness left the stand, "Jackson looked at the attorneys from both sides, broke out in a broad grin, and said: 'It has almost been pure pleasure.'" And with that immortal line, the judge captured the feelings of all the "Redmond Justice" fans who tune in day after day-- who have welcomed Boies, Warner, the judge, and the rest of the courtroom denizens into their homes to bring a little antitrust joy into our humdrum lives. Aw, now we're getting all teary-eyed and stuff...

But fear not, folks, the show isn't over yet, though the day-to-day entertainment is certainly taking a vacation. Both sides are due to present their respective summaries of the case, known as "findings of fact," on August 10th. After that, the courtroom reunion is scheduled for September 21st, when we'll get to hear closing arguments. And the magical verdict? The writers plan on stringing us along for quite some time yet-- the judge isn't expected to deliver one until early next year. That means there's a good long time for both sides to try to reach a settlement, but given the friction so far, we have a feeling this case is going to drag out to the bitter end. Would you want it any other way?