There's lots to like about Apple these days: a healthy financial footing, a terrific product line, a nice relationship with the press, etc. But Apple just wouldn't be Apple without the occasional dramatic boneheaded misstep to keep things interesting. The most recent example of this phenomenon was when Apple not only downgraded the entire Power Mac G4 line while keeping the price the same, but also cancelled all the pre-orders that customers had placed for the original, faster systems. Luckily that insanity was temporary, and over the course of a rough PR week, Apple eventually reinstated nearly all of the G4 pre-orders. And that's probably Apple's saving grace these days-- even when the higher-ups make a dumbass mistake, they actually appear to be listening to the customers and seem willing to put things right.

But not always, or at least, not yet. Perhaps you've noticed that while we at AtAT generally don't shy away from leaping into the fray to take a position on the occasional Cupertino blunder, we've remained primly on the sidelines while the Great Interface Debacle rages around us. We're talking about the 3D brushed-metal "consumer appliance" look that first appeared in the new QuickTime Player application, surfaced more recently as the look for Sherlock 2, and is rumored to be used extensively throughout Mac OS X. Here's why we've been uncharacteristically quiet on the matter: we're a little torn. We agree with the naysayers that Apple's new interface is an utter abomination from a human interface perspective. Yes, it violates dozens of Apple's own Human Interface Guidelines. Yes, it wastes screen space. Yes, it removes functionality, like the ability to Windowshade the windows. Yes, it's got elements like the "Favorites Drawer" that are counterintuitive and hideously inefficient. But darnit, it looks cool.

Don't get us wrong-- we're not siding with style against substance. (At least, not this time.) We really wish that Apple (and when we say "Apple" here, we mean "Steve Jobs") has come up with an interface that looked cool and wasn't a hollow mockery of the Mac Human Interface Guidelines. It's just that we understand what Apple was trying to do with QuickTime. It's a kick-ass cross-platform technology that Apple's trying to spread all over the planet. It needed a recognizable face, and the "brushed metal" look accomplished that. Now, we have no idea why Apple brought the same interface into Sherlock 2, which is only available in Mac OS 9, but it certainly lends credence to those troubling rumors about Mac OS X eventually having more brushed metal than a Bond villain's control center.

So will Apple listen to its customers about the "QuickTime look"? Faithful viewer Al Barten told us there's a Wired article about a patch called Winfix which surgically removes the brushed metal from Sherlock 2-- at least, enough of it to restore a real Mac title bar and borders. Apparently 10,000 people downloaded it in the first couple of days it was released. How many copies of Mac OS 9 has Apple sold, we wonder? We think it's safe to take the download numbers for Winfix as a resounding vote for a return to a Mac interface, in favor of whatever alien stereo doohickey inspired Steve's metallic monstrosity. And as for Mac OS X (and Sherlock 3 and QuickTime 5), maybe Apple can come up with something that's stylish and functional in the meantime.

There are basically only two possibilities when it comes to MSNBC's recent anti-Mac web hijinx. The first is that MSNBC's webmasters are simply completely incompetent and should be replaced by a cow and a duck; the farm animals wouldn't do a better job (probably), but at least they'd accept a much lower salary. The second possibility here is that the "MS" part of MSNBC is up to the usual kinds of slimy behavior that put Redmond on the map as the Sleazy Business Tricks Capital of the World. Remember the recent MSNBC poll asking for opinions on the "Redmond Justice" trial? At first, only Internet Explorer users could vote. And even after users complained and MSNBC corrected the "mistake" to allow Netscape users to vote as well, Mac users of any browser were still locked out. What a fun way to skew an opinion poll, right?

So now here's the latest "mistake" made by the MSNBC webdorks: according to a Mac Observer article, Mac users are prevented from viewing any video on the site. MSNBC doesn't offer QuickTime or RealVideo versions of its video content-- it's Windows Media Player or nothing. That's not terribly surprising, given the company's Microsoft ties. But what's particularly interesting is that Mac browsers attempting to view the Media Player content find themselves locked out with a curt message stating that "Windows Media Player for Macintosh is not currently available." The Javascript code on the page actually checks to see if you're using a Mac, and if you are, it doesn't give you the link to the video files. And the strangest thing of all, here, is that there is a version of Windows Media Player for the Mac, although it's "only" a beta version. (As if all Microsoft software isn't a beta version...) Loading MSNBC video files on a Mac running Windows Media Player reportedly works fine, once you work around the "get lost" code that MSNBC put up.

Of course, just as when the poll "mistake" was made public, MSNBC has stated that everything will be fixed by Monday. According to MacNN, some MSNBC spokesperson says that "the block put on Mac browsers because of Media Player was a simple programming error." Yeah, a "simple programming error" that explicitly checks for the string "mac" in the browser identification data and then blocks the user: "Whoops, I accidentally leaned on the keyboard and constructed a working if-then routine, complete with a terse notification that Mac users are screwed. Sorry about that." Please. At best it was ignorance of Mac Media Player's existence. At worst it was a deliberate attempt to make Mac users think their computers can't handle Internet video as well as Wintel systems can. But there's no way the Mac block was an actual programming error. That's like calling Judge Jackson's findings of fact a "typo." (Whoops, we hope we didn't just give Microsoft's lawyers any ideas.)

Ooooh, that darn Judge Jackson just makes us so mad sometimes. It's been obvious all along that he's pushing hard for a settlement in the "Redmond Justice" case, so he won't have to issue an actual verdict. He's left some nice, long pauses in the case's progression to encourage settlement talks. He's made the unorthodox move of announcing his findings of fact well ahead of his findings of law, in the obvious hope of signalling to Microsoft that a settlement would be better than an outright loss. And now, faithful viewer and "Redmond Justice" watchdog Jerry O'Neil tells us that Jackson's gone even further; according to the San Jose Mercury News, the judge has even appointed another judge as a mediator to try and get the stalled settlement talks moving again.

How wacky is that? On the plus side, fans of "Redmond Justice" have gained another colorful character to watch: Richard A. Posner, the chief judge for Chicago's U.S. Court of Appeals. Posner's background is set out in another Mercury News article, if you'd like to read up on the star's background before he takes the stage. Reportedly the experts are "stunned" at Posner's new role, and whether or not he's actually able to "cudgel" both sides into reaching a mutually acceptable settlement deal, he's bound to add a little spice to the show.

As for why Jackson seems so reluctant to issue a ruling, well, we can only guess. Maybe he's tired of the limelight and doesn't want his name attached to a verdict that will shape antitrust law for decades to come. Or maybe he just wants to get started on an early vacation, which he can't do until the show's over. Who knows? The only thing we know for sure is that if Jackson gets his way, "Redmond Justice" will come to an early close, and we, the viewers, will be robbed of months of continuing antitrust drama. Let's hope both Microsoft and the government remain stubborn and pigheaded enough to resist the temptation to settle-- and that Posner gives us some thrills in the meantime.