Well, the plates are cleaned, the belts are loosened, and it's time to settle back in a digestive torpor and reflect on all those things for which we're thankful. And really, it's not tough to get into a thankful frame of mind when stuffed to the gills with stuffing and other stuff. First and foremost, we're thankful we don't have to get up and run anywhere right now. Then comes the whole list of obvious blessings: Steve Jobs back at Apple, a Mac product line that takes names and kicks butt, Judge Jackson's findings of fact in the "Redmond Justice" saga, etc. But when you're giving thanks for all the things that already happened, don't forget to give thanks for what's coming next.

Like even faster PowerPC processors, for one thing. Right now Apple's shipping products using G3s running at up to 400 MHz and G4s peaking at 450 MHz. If you want even more speed, third-party companies are selling G3 upgrades running at up to 500 MHz, and we can confirm first-hand that using a Mac upgraded with an XLR8 G3/466 is tantamount to Krazy-Glueing a couple of NASA-class rockets under each arm and igniting them (only we suspect that using the Mac is a whole lot less unpleasant). Sure, Intel and AMD may have a huge lead in raw clock speed, but to say that Macs are slow would be like saying that Bill Gates is "scraping by." Megahertz ain't everything, and real-world tests are proving it.

Still, it'd be nice to see the PowerPC at least narrow the MHz Gap, for marketing purposes if for no other reason. And that's why we're thankful that, according to The Register, Motorola's gearing up to show off the next iteration of the PowerPC line, the G4+, at February's IEEE International Solid-state Circuits conference. While by that time we hope Apple will be shipping 500 MHz G4 Macs, the G4+ will be shown running at 780 MHz-- more than respectable by today's Wintel standards, and hopefully still competitive by the time the processor actually ships. We've all but given up hope that the PowerPC will ever retake the MHz lead, but the closer it gets, the more its fundamental architectural advantages can shine through. If things stay on track, we ought to give thanks for some really nice things next year.

Here's another thing to give thanks for as you consider a second piece of pumpkin pie: rabid anti-Apple journalists who now grudgingly admit that the Mac has certain advantages. This past year, Mac-bashing Jesse Berst of ZDNet Anchordesk publicly declared he was sick of Windows crashes and was seriously considering switching to an iMac. (Apple then sent him an iMac DV Special Edition to try out, though we haven't heard what he thought of it.) We also saw longtime Apple critic Hiawatha Bray of the Boston Globe make lots of Mac-positive statements about the iMac, FireWire, and the G4 processor. That's a big change from yesteryear.

And now we can add another pundit to the list. The Boston Globe, an embarrassment of riches, boasts two anti-Mac bigots: Bray, and Simson L. Garfinkel. (Hmmm... Simson Garfinkel, Hiawatha Bray, Jesse Berst, John Dvorak... Why do all the Apple critics seem to have such odd names?) Garfinkel has, in the past, published plenty of anti-Mac sentiment in the guise of "facts." Problem is, many of his "facts" are flat-out incorrect. In his recent iBook review, for example, he claims that the iBook doesn't come with an ftp client. Now, granted, Netscape Communicator may not be the best ftp client available, but it does work-- you can upload and download and navigate directory structures. What more do you really need?

Anyway, now even Garfinkel's saying nice things about the Mac. His latest article, "Giving Thanks for the Mac," calls a "truce" with the Mac faithful who flamed him for his iBook review, and makes such bold statements as "without a doubt, the Macintosh is the friendliest, easiest-to-use, and the most colorful computer on the market today. The Mac is a pleasure to operate. It's a computer that respects its user." He then goes on to note that upgrading to Mac OS 9 was painless and took about ten minutes, whereas upgrading his PC to a new version of Windows 98 was "far more complicated." Holy yikes, this is Garfinkel? Simson Garfinkel? Only doubtful "facts" like his claim that his iBook came with Mac OS 8.5 installed make us slightly less positive that he's been eliminated and replaced with a Mac-friendly alien clone. Actually, wait-- it is him, because he still says the Mac ships without ftp. But we admit, we really like the new kinder, gentler Garfinkel. Let's see if the attitude adjustment sticks.

While we're giving thanks for the fact that at least one AtAT staff member has the magic touch when it comes to pie crust, we're also thankful for our faithful viewers, who tune in day after day to see what's shaking in the melodramatic world of Apple. And we're especially thankful for the viewers who take the time to send us feedback and sometimes even tip us off to the weird, wild stuff going on out there among Mac users. For instance, faithful viewer Matthew Guerrieri not only fed us a vegan "wicked-looking confit," but he also pointed out an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education about an art exhibit featuring iMacs in prayer.

That's right: in prayer. Artist Lorette Skeddle has created a "CyberRosary" by arranging a circle of iMacs and programming them to recite prayers to one another, as part of an exhibit at the School of Visual Arts. A Mac with an Apple Studio Display is the designated prayer leader, and people can interact with the prayer group by kneeling in the middle of the circle and "pushing a series of buttons that look like rosary beads." Ms. Skeddle raises some interesting questions about the blurring line between computers and humans. Her iMac prayer circle also provokes thought about people's own spirituality-- whether they're really praying or just going through the motions. And who's to say that computers don't need religion-- or won't, as artificial intelligence technology progresses?

Or, you can just look at the whole thing as a neat use for a bunch of iMacs. If it were up to us, we'd probably change the prayer book a bit for the exhibit; instead of reciting the Lord's Prayer, we think it'd be more appropriate if the iMac were praying for a better keyboard, fewer Type 2 errors, and the second coming: the advent of Mac OS X. "Now I put myself to Sleep, I pray for Jobs my RAM to keep..."