The Stevenote is on the launch pad; repeat, the Stevenote is on the launch pad. T-minus five days and counting, and speculation readings are off the charts. Will there finally be new PowerBooks launching in Paris? Only ground control knows for sure, but that hasn't stopped everybody and his crazy Aunt Lois from asking that very question. Indeed, we're still asking that question, along with a slew of others: If there are new PowerBooks on Tuesday, will they be available immediately, or will we have to wait a few weeks or months before the first units dribble off the production lines? In addition to the inevitable faster G4s and bigger disks, will all three models get backlit keyboards? If they do show up in Paris, will you buy us one? Was our French teacher smoking something when she insisted that the French term for a hot ham and cheese sandwich could arguably be interpreted as "mangled-up dead guy"?

Oh, and is it time for lunch yet?

Well, although we've found precious little speculation in the Mac media about potential chemical "enhancements" of Mme. Grenier's state of mind (names changed to protect the odd), as far as we can make out, at least most prognosticators now have their feet planted firmly in the "PowerBooks on Tuesday" camp. A new article at AppleInsider claims that Apple has actually told certain "select retail partners" that they'd be getting new PowerBooks in "early- to mid-September," and confirms MacBidouille's recent rumor that Motorola had finally managed to scrape together 50,000 7457-class G4 processors and kick 'em over to Apple. (Interestingly, Moto's reportedly losing $125 per chip, or $6.25 million, because of some guaranteed price arrangement. Ouch. Well, another couple of hundred pink slips ought to clear that right up.) AppleInsider is now on-record as having "positively confirmed" that at the very least the 15-inch PowerBook will be reborn on Tuesday, and the 12- and 17-inchers will probably get a little gussied up as well.

Likewise, Mac OS Rumors has reiterated its belief that new PowerBooks are indeed topping the entrées list on the Stevenote menu, and also tosses in the possibility that new displays might be served up as a garnish. As far as we can tell, at this point the only people not expecting PowerBooks on Tuesday are the folks at the PowerPage, so if they wind up being correct and Steve goes 'Bookless, you just know they're going to be doing an elaborate "We Told You So" dance number with Vegas showgirls and a white tiger and a guy in a gorilla suit getting shot out of a cannon during the big finale. (We sense a Tony in the offing!)

So that's where things stand right now: the consensus says PowerBooks on Tuesday, while a spunky minority still says nay. And while we value both our fierce underdog mystique and any chance to do high kicks and jazz hands while wearing lamé, this time we're going to go all mainstream with the guesswork: we figure we will see new aluminum wonders next week. Not that we have anything to go on except our gut feeling, of course, but our shiny gold top hat and tails are at the cleaners.