If you're still mourning the apparent quiet retirement of Apple's long-running "Think different" marketing campaign, you might be finding it tough to let go-- but it may be time. Wearing a black armband to commemorate an advertising phrase can get you tossed in the looney bin in some states, and we can pretty much guarantee that your boss isn't too keen on the funeral veil. Besides, it looks like Apple itself may have picked up and moved on, because as faithful viewer William Bonde informs us, there's a new slogan gracing Apple's web site: "Everything is easier on a Mac."

Word on the street is that Apple resellers are already receiving brochures featuring the new slogan, complete with scads of examples of the Mac's highly-touted ease of use just like the ones on Apple's web site. (Actually, it looks to us like that page may still be something of a work in progress, since under "Sending email," Apple included the confusing line, "Set up to get your Serve your own Web site." But we hear the brochures are pretty nifty, all told.)

For what it's worth, maybe it's just us, but somehow the new slogan seems to lack a certain... pizzazz. "Think different" was nice because it worked on several levels; granted, it was a little touchy-feely, but we always felt that its conciseness, quirkiness, and strength swirled together just right to give it some real punch. "Everything is easier on a Mac": it's a simple, straightforward statement of fact, but there's nothing there to chew on; it lacks poetry. Then again, maybe that's exactly what Apple needs these days: since the different-thinkers are already hooked, it's time to move on to the masses with a marketing message even a four-year-old can grasp. Your mileage may vary.

Meanwhile, our own sources indicate that Microsoft is considering filing suit against Apple, on the grounds that the new slogan is misleading and false. Negotiations between the two companies are ongoing but strained, as Microsoft reportedly wants Apple to amend its slogan to the more strictly accurate "Everything is easier on a Mac, except getting infected by nasty viruses that automatically email themselves to your friends"; Apple, on the other hand, admits that the proposed amendment does indeed make the slogan more accurate, but contends that the new, longer version would look really stupid on a promotional desk clock. We'll keep you posted on how this all turns out.