You didn't really think Uncle Steve could officially introduce Mac OS X to the press yesterday without giving us drooling, slavering "early adopters" something to smile about, did you? Hopefully you took time out from your "Mac OS X is build 4K78 / Is not / Is so / Is not, and don't make me smack you / Is so, and you and what army?" debate long enough to catch Apple's press release (first pointed out to us by faithful viewer David Nagler) regarding the operating system's coming-out party this Saturday. Concerned that there won't be enough Mac OS X-native applications to keep you busy? Well, get happy: when Saturday rolls around, you'll be able to download a Mighty Triumvirate of Apple apps-- assuming the servers in Cupertino don't catch fire from all the traffic, of course.

Remember when we mentioned that, due to the lack of iTunes and iMovie in Mac OS X's installers, upgrading the AtAT PowerBook to Apple's latest OS would result in a fairly hefty loss of functionality? After all, other than general Internet access, our PowerBook is primarily used for playing music, editing camcorder footage, and playing DVD movies. But after yesterday's news, we can honestly say that two out of three ain't bad; Apple's engineers pulled it off, and in two days, we'll be able to download Mac OS X-ready versions of both iTunes and iMovie 2-- thus giving us something to do in Mac OS X other than play with the Genie Effect and the Dock's magnification for hours on end. Sure, we'll still need to boot back into Mac OS 9 to watch a movie, but heck, what's a little dual-booting between friends?

While we're already stoked that we won't have to wait a couple of weeks before iTuning and iMovieing with a vengeance, we're extra-tingly over our free upgrade. See, we've been using iMovie 1.x, which we snagged way back when Apple briefly made it available as a free download; we've been meaning to shell out the $50 to upgrade to iMovie 2, which has lots of nifty extra features that would suit us just fine-- but now we don't have to. Our $99 operating system purchase just netted us fifty bucks' worth of iMoviey goodness. Score!

But wait, there's more! As an extra-special bonus, Apple is also posting a free "preview version" of AppleWorks 6.1, which will give us a chance to evaluate Apple's productivity suite anew. We here at AtAT generally don't use productivity software, since we're-- you guessed it-- not productive; still, we're looking forward to seeing how AppleWorks performs as an honest-to-goodness Mac OS X application. Yessiree, these are exciting times to be a Mac geek. Pardon us while we do a little dance.

Okay, so we are getting iMovie and iTunes for Mac OS X right at the operating system's launch-- just not in the box. That's fine by us, since downloading is what Tiggers do best. But lest you think that we've gone too googly-eyed over Apple finishing native versions of two of its most important consumer-oriented applications to notice that Mac OS X is still missing a few features, think again; there's still no DVD player, iTunes will let us rip and mix but it won't let us burn, and iDVD for Mac OS X is still nowhere to be seen. But here's the good news: at yesterday's press briefing, Steve graciously described the timetable for the stuff that should have been ready this Saturday, but won't be.

According to a CNET article we found courtesy of faithful viewer Johnny Asbury, CD-RW support is first in line; apparently we can expect an update by the end of April that'll let us burn discs to our hearts' content. Next up is DVD playback, a feature that's slated for release "sometime in the spring." For those of you who only look at the pictures on the calendar, we should mention that spring only started a couple of days ago, so it's possible that we'll be waiting for up to three months before we can watch movies on our PowerBook; with luck, however, Apple will get it working in time for the April 24th release of the DVD version of Little Nicky, because otherwise riots may break out among cinema fans the world over.

After that, iDVD will finally make its appearance; a Mac OS X-compatible version of Apple's revolutionary DVD-creation software is slated for release "later this spring or early summer." Those of you lucky enough to own a SuperDrive-equipped Power Mac G4 are therefore banished to Mac OS 9ville for a while longer-- at least on those occasions when you want to throw your iMovies onto a handy DVD. We're guessing that's a rare enough event that most G4/733 owners are going to want to spend most of their time running Apple's latest and greatest, however; with that kind of horsepower under the hood, not running Mac OS X would be a crime against all that's decent in this world.

So there it is: Apple's schedule for rolling out the remaining "nonessential" features missing from this Saturday's release. Note, if you will, that all of these features are slated to appear well in advance of mid-July. Coincidence? Yeah, right; remember, Apple's going to start shipping Mac OS X on every Mac starting this summer, and the most logical time for the switchover will be at Macworld Expo which kicks off on July 17th. Suffice it to say that Apple had better have a full stable of features by then, or the press is going to shred it to bits...

It's official; the end of the world is at hand, so start preparing for whatever comes next. As of this past Tuesday night, discriminating Mac users agree that the best place to buy Mac software is, of all places, Staples. The only thing scarier would be Apple stores-within-stores showing up in clean, well-lit areas of Best Buy.

Most of you already know why Staples is currently the Mac user's best friend (and the latest addition to Steve Jobs's enemies list), but those of you who don't are probably a tad baffled by this news-- especially if you've ever actually tried to buy Mac software at Staples, whose selection of Mac-compatible products makes Sears look like the frickin' Promised Land. Well, here's the scoop: as dozens of people clued us in (faithful viewer Tony led the charge), most Staples stores are carrying Mac OS X-- and many of them received their shipments on Tuesday. What's more, evidently nobody bothered to tell Staples that they aren't allowed to sell any copies of Apple's new operating system until Saturday. Whoops!

So, yeah... some lucky guy wandered into his local Staples store on Tuesday night, saw a copy of Mac OS X on the shelf, laid out his $129, and went home with a copy four days early. And as soon as his report hit the 'net, Staples stores all over the nation were mobbed by drooling Mac geeks eager for a screen-licking fix well in advance of Apple's officially-sanctioned date. Not all locations are putting their copies of Mac OS X on display, but we've received numerous reports from people who simply asked for a copy and were brought one from the back room. We imagine Steve Jobs is on his way to Staples corporate headquarters armed with a nailgun even as we speak.

We at AtAT chose not to go the Staples route, since we're perfectly content to wait for our pre-order to arrive on Saturday. However, if you're the impulsive type and you really, really, really want Mac OS X right away, you might consider paying your local Staples a visit. It might be worth it simply for the surreal experience; after all, that's probably going to be the first and last time that Staples is the best place to buy something for your Mac. Be a part of history!