You know, it's funny, but on occasion we've actually been accused of undue skepticism regarding Swedish-based Xtrem, Inc. Now, really, what possible reason could we have for being skeptical of a company claiming to be working on a single-processor 1200 MHz G4-based Mac clone, when the only proof offered at its web site is a 3D rendering of an oversized microphone? After all, it's not like the company has never shipped a product; its MacThrust™ G3/G4 surfaced last October, barely three months past its "end of July" ship date; so what if it's just a $60 set of jumper blocks? So the reports are wrong, people-- we've got nothing but faith in Xtrem and its 1200 MHz XtremMac. Okay, sure, it was originally supposed to ship by the end of last year, and it didn't. Then it was supposed to ship by the end of January for $2000, and that didn't happen either. But it's not like Xtrem has since downgraded the product's specs after capitalizing on all the publicity, right?

Ow... we just pulled a sarcasm tendon. Remind us to stretch next time. Anyway, here's the scoop: faithful viewer Anders Westholm notes that Xtrem's web page now boasts a very different XtremMac. While the artist's rendition (nope, still no photos) still looks like a piece of recording equipment, gone are the claims of a 1200 MHz G4. Instead, now the XtremMac page lists single- and dual-processor models with G4s running at 1066 MHz. There's little other information there, other than a notice saying "these pages are being revised: February 22-24, 2001," but given that it's now the 27th and therefore the changes must be complete, we suppose Xtrem's taking a minimalist approach when it comes to product info.

There's still no ship date listed, but the page makes a big deal about how this is "the NEW XtremMac" that is "under development" and "NOT shipping," as opposed to that old XtremMac that never shipped at all. Notice how it's just "new," and not "new and improved." We figure even Xtrem isn't baldfaced enough to claim that an 11% speed reduction constitutes an improvement. If you want to get heavily into the comparisons, the original XtremMac boasted a 140% clock speed improvement over Apple's then-fastest 500 MHz Mac; now that the 733 MHz Power Mac G4 is available, the new XtremMac's downgraded clock speed is "only" a 45% boost. That's not to say that such an improvement isn't impressive-- or, rather, it'll be impressive if Xtrem ever actually ships it.

Now, it's entirely possible that Xtrem will turn around and announce that the XtremMac 1066 (what, is it the "Battle of Hastings" model?) will ship tomorrow for a suggested retail price of $1999. But given the company's history, it's also entirely possible that by the time the XtremMac sees the light of day, it'll indeed run at 1066 MHz-- when Apple's Power Macs are running at 1.1 GHz. In any event, our original prediction was right: Xtrem didn't bring us a 1200 MHz PowerPC 7400 by the close of the last millennium. And we're skeptical enough to think that if Xtrem ever ships its 1066 MHz wonder, it's going to be far less impressive than some people might expect. We'd be thrilled to be wrong, of course-- but then again, we're still waiting for our review copy of COS to arrive.