Don't get us wrong; while we sort of miss the constant adrenaline rush of supporting a company poised to collapse into dust at any moment, we wouldn't trade Apple's newfound stability for the "Scary Years" for anything. Sure, there was a lot more drama back then, but we'll accept a certain amount of tranquility (and yes, even boredom) in exchange for an Apple not about to spontaneously combust and go down in flames. If Apple disappeared overnight, we'd have to make our current Macs last until we die, and we don't relish the thought of technological stasis, thank you very much. So yeah, we're glad that Apple's healthy, even though things are significantly less soap-operaesque as a result.

There was one aspect of the "Scary Years" that we really liked, though-- not too long before Commander Steve returned and set his sights on the cloners, cheeky upstarts Power Computing gave the Mac platform a brief lead in the Megahertz Wars. Remember the exhilaration we all felt when the PowerTower Pro 225 beat out Intel's fastest Pentium Pro by a cool 25 MHz? Heck, we still have one of those posters with Sluggo's evil twin shouting, "Let's Kick Intel's Ass!" It was a giddy time, to be sure. Sadly, Power Computing suffered an ignominious defeat in the Clone Wars a year later, and now, by its own choice, Apple fights the Megahertz Wars alone. And, to be frank, it's getting its butt kicked all over the map. AIM partners IBM and Motorola just haven't been able to keep pace with Intel and AMD when it comes to raw clock speed, and consequently, Apple's fastest G4 model runs at an embarrassing 300 MHz less than the Wintel world's speediest chips.

And now the gap's about to widen still further. With Intel and AMD locked in mortal battle, clock speeds are spiralling up into the stratosphere; CNET reports that Intel's about to release an 800 MHz Pentium III ahead of schedule in order to report a "symbolic" victory over AMD and its Athlon chip, which recently hit 750 MHz. Meanwhile, according to Mac OS Rumors (the key word there being "rumors"), with luck, we may see G4s as high as 600 MHz demonstrated at next month's Macworld Expo, though 550 MHz is more likely. And the "G4+," which will reach clock speeds of 750 MHz to 1 GHz, won't ship until the second calendar quarter at best. That means that six months from now, the PowerPC might just manage to reach clock speeds as high as Intel and AMD have today. Depressed yet?

We know, we know: "Who cares?" Yes, the G4 with its lower clock speed is still very competitive when it comes to performance; in some applications, a single G4 beats out multiple Pentiums, each running at a higher clock speed, so what's the big deal? Yeah, and size doesn't matter. It's all about perception, folks; as long as the Mac ads make Joe Schmoe think that Wintels are "300 MHz faster" than a similarly-priced Mac, Apple's just not going to reach a critical mass and really start regaining serious market share. And no, we don't have a solution (unless multiple-processor G4 systems will be dirt-cheap). We're just venting. Sorry to bring you down, but hey, this is a soap opera after all-- it ain't all sunshine and puppy dogs. Just be thankful Steve doesn't discover that Mike Dell is his long-lost half-brother... (shudder)