On the subject of "killer apps," we don't doubt for a second that if Mac OS X shipped with iPizza software that actually allowed users to configure, pay for, and receive a large pepperoni with extra cheese in real time, the operating system market share numbers would look a whole lot different six months from now. Sadly, our latest reports from moles in Apple's Top Secret Hush-Hush Projects department indicate that the company is no closer to successful pizza-beaming teleportation technology than it was six months ago (apparently the sauce still turns into petroleum jelly upon arrival), and so Apple's going to have to rely on some other sort of super-cool Mac-only software application to drive the Mac OS X hypemobile.

So with iPizza still deeply in development, it's unclear what Apple will ship as the followup to its immensely successful iMovie product. No less an authority than Steve Jobs himself was forced to leak a little info about Apple's future "killer apps" during that last earnings warning, at which he hinted at two "iMovie-like" applications coming from Apple sometime in the first half of this year. We've all heard the predictions that one will be iMusic, software that would make the Mac the platform of choice among regular people who want to create their own audio CDs. Following Apple's acquisition of Astarte's DVD-authoring tools, there's been a lot of speculation that the other one will be some sort of package that will let users take their iMovies and burn them onto their own DVDs. Frankly, we don't have any evidence one way or the other.

One thing's for sure, though-- Steve and his minions aren't planning to rely solely on good looks and elegant design to woo Windows users over to Mac OS X. Sure, Aqua's nice, but it's going to take more than pretty widgets and the Genie effect to get the Wintel hordes to switch to a Mac when it comes time to replace their existing hardware. As a Wall Street Journal article reports, Apple needs more "killer apps" to draw the crowds-- and that's exactly what the company plans to deliver. Of particular note is the fact that Steve himself has reportedly referred to one of those upcoming applications as "on a par with iMovie" and the other as-- and we quote-- "the greatest thing that Apple has ever done."

Digest that for a second. The greatest thing ever? That's one tall order. Of course, Steve's comment is likely colored by his typical bubbling enthusiasm, but still, the man is clearly even more excited than normal about whatever this mystery application might be. We don't know about you, but we're keeping our fingers crossed that there's been a recent breakthrough and Uncle Steve is preparing an imminent release of iPizza after all...