mon chuckmeister...  
Please add the following to your Mac page for All Of Us Mac Head / 
M2 Black Mamba Owners and Users... 

October  Apple / M 2 Update 

Apple has had a phenomenal year! From new desktops, laptops, and great 
software releases Apple continues to raise the bar for making great 
products that work beautifully.

POWER MAC G5
The Power Mac G5 is the world's fastest personal computer and the first 
with a 64-bit processor - which means it breaks the 4 gigabyte barrier 
and can use up to 8 gigabytes of main memory. The new G5 processor -
available at speeds up to dual 2GHz with a new ultrahigh-bandwidth 
system architecture featuring AGP 8X and PCI-X - makes the Power 
Mac G5 a breakthrough in desktop processing power. And models start 
at just $1999.

The PowerPC G5 processor dramatically accelerates performance in real 
world applications, too. When compared head-to-head against the same 
PCs, in a large series of Photoshop tests the dual 2GHz Power Mac G5 is 
2.2 times faster than the 3GHz Pentium 4-based system and almost twice 
as fast as the dual 3.06GHz Xeon-based system. Additional performance 
tests reveal similar performance gains for professional music and audio 
creation, and scientific analysis of genetic research.

The Power Mac G5's ultra-high bandwidth system architecture features a
GHz FSB (front-side-bus)  - one on each processor - for maximum throughput.

And a point-to-point system controller lets data move directly between 
subsystems, without affecting processor function. 
The Power Mac G5 comes with three PCI-X slots, giving you the benefit
of the newest advance in PCI technology. The PCI-X protocol is perfect 
for high-performance PCI devices, increasing speeds from 33MHz to 
133MHz and throughput from 266MBps to 2GBps.

Compared with the AGP 4X interface, the Power Mac G5's AGP 8X Pro 
graphics bus effectively doubles the maximum transfer rate and doubles 
the amount of data transferred in a single AGP bus cycle. The 66MHz AGP 
8X Pro bus strobes eight times per clock cycle, achieving a 533MHz data 
rate and a maximum bandwidth of 2.1GB per second - ideal for the 
ultra-fast graphics cards it ships with, like the ATI Radeon 9800 Pro or 
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra.

The Power Mac G5 ships with a FireWire 800 port and three USB 2.0 ports 
(plus two USB 1.1 ports on the keyboard). Gigabit Ethernet, FireWire, 
USB 2.0 and optical digital and analog audio are all integrated through 
two bi-directional 16-bit, 800MHz Hyper Transport interconnects for a 
maximum throughput of 3.2GB per second.

The Power Mac G5 product line comes in three muscular configurations - 
1.6GHz, 1.8GHz and a dual 2GHz model. They all feature the legendary 
SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW) as standard equipment across the line. And of 
course they come with two FireWire 400 ports, three PCI expansion  
slots, ADC connector, DVI connector, analog audio in, analog audio out, 
optical S/PDIF in, optical S/PDIF out, front headphone and speaker jack 
and built-in Gigabit Ethernet - all as standard equipment. All models 
are AirPort Extreme-ready, and offer Bluetooth capability as a build-to-
order option.

POWERBOOKS:
Choose from three new ultrafast models: small, medium or epic 
Starting from just $1599, the new PowerBook family gives you power in a 
choice of three ultrafast portables. Whether you prefer the ultra-compact 
12-inch model, the coveted 15-inch powerhouse, or the stunning 17-inch 
beauty, every new PowerBook G4 is loaded with advanced capabilities. 
Like turbocharged PowerPC G4 processors, DVD-burning SuperDrive, the 
fastest speeds in wireless networking, and cutting-edge graphics.

Housed in a sleek, lightweight aluminum alloy enclosure, the PowerBook 
G4 is resistant to stains and scratches. It's also perfectly smooth on 
all surfaces, with no doors, protruding latches or levers to break and 
no sharp edges to catch on your clothing. And whatever your notebook 
needs or desires are, you can be sure there's a PowerBook G4 that's 
perfect for you.

Starting at just 4.6 pounds, the three new PowerBook G4 models are 
light enough to carry around all day. And thanks to the PowerPC G4 
processor with Velocity Engine, every PowerBook packs a tremendous 
punch for doing everything from crunching numbers to editing video and 
designing show-stopping presentations. You'll marvel at the way we've 
fitted the supersharp high-resolution TFT XGA active-matrix display 
into such a remarkably compact frame. To see it is to feel the strong 
stirrings of technolust.

The new PowerBook G4s feature the speedy new AirPort Extreme 
technology, based on the 802.11g standard - at 54Mbps, the fastest 
wireless connection available. And with thousands of wireless "hot 
spots" in hotels, airport lounges, coffee shops and bookstores around 
the world, you'll be able to use your PowerBook G4 to get online from 
practically anywhere.

Gigabit Ethernet is built into the 17-inch and 15-inch models (10/100 
Ethernet on the 12-inch model), and so is a 56K V.92 modem (which 
means that if your ISP supports the V.92 standard, you can put your 
Internet connection on hold while you answer an incoming phone call).

The PowerBook G4 is massively expandable, with high-speed USB 2.0 and 
FireWire 400 built in. FireWire 400 has become the gold standard for 
high-speed data transfer, and now Apple has upped the ante yet again on 
both the 15- and 17-inch models, effectively doubling data throughput 
with FireWire 800. So you can plug & play with the hundreds of printers, 
scanners, DV camcorders, and digital cameras out there, as well as must-
have peripherals such as the iPod and iSight.

Bluetooth wireless peripheral connectivity is built in across the line.
This means that using iSync, for instance, you can use Bluetooth to 
synchronize your personal information between your PowerBook, your 
mobile phone and your PDA. And now Bluetooth even lets you enjoy a 
cable-free desktop with the Apple wireless keyboard and mouse.

The PowerBook G4, with 512K on-chip level 2 cache on all models 
provides incredible performance when using complex multimedia or data 
intensive applications. The PowerBooks ship with a generous supply of 
memory, but there's room for even more. For instance, the 15-inch and 
17-inch models can hold up to 2GB of RAM - 1.25GB for the 12-inch 
model- allowing you to run several RAM-hungry apps simultaneously, OR 
to store an entire graphics project in main memory for image manipulations.

The 12-inch model comes with the NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5200 with 32MB 
of DDR SDRAM, while the new 15-inch and 17-inch PowerBook G4 ship 
with the ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 graphics processor with 64MB of DDR 
SDRAM.  Kicking 3D graphics performance into overdrive with their advanced 
ultra efficient memory architecture, these graphics processors deliver a 
dynamic, visually appealing, real-time 3D experience. And all new Power-Book 
feature five ways to do video out, including the 12-inch model with its mini-DVI 
port. Your PowerBook G4 with SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW) comes loaded 
with iDVD software, and can be used to burn DVDs which can be played in 
most consumer DVD players. The SuperDrive also lets you use iTunes to burn 
your own music CDs, and the Disc Burner feature in Mac OS X to burn data 
CDs. The slot-loading SuperDrive reads DVD titles at 8x and writes to 4.7 GB
DVD-R discs at 2x. The 12-inch and 15-inch PowerBooks are also available with 
the Combo (DVD-ROM/CD-RW) drive.

XSERVE RAID
The elegantly-engineered companion to Apple's highly-regarded Xserve line of 
server hardware, this cutting-edge, self-contained storage solution holds up to 
14 hot-swappable Apple Drive Modules - a phenomenal 2.52 terabytes of 
data - in a rack-optimized storage enclosure.

Xserve RAID features a breakthrough Apple-designed architecture that combines 
affordable, high-capacity ATA/100 drive technology with an innovative 2GB 
Fibre Channel interface for reliable - and incredibly fast - data access. Xserve 
RAID is hands-down the best value in external RAID storage.

The gigabyte-per-dollar ratio of Xserve RAID is the best in the world for Fibre 
Channel storage, and trumps most SCSI storage solutions as well. Xserve RAID  
offers up to 2.52TB of high-performance redundant storage at just over $4 per 
GB - a fraction of the cost of storage from Dell, HP, Sun or EMC. (as compared 
to pricing on their websites in February, 2003) The days of seemingly unlimited 
IT budgets are long gone - no more blank checks for digital asset management - 
so as an IT professional, you need to cut costs, without cutting corners.

For that reason alone, we think you'll appreciate our pragmatic approach to help  
you save huge amounts of data - as well as a nice chunk of change. Each 7200 
RPM Hard Drive connects to a dedicated ATA/100 drive channel to eliminate 
bottlenecks and maximize the 400MBps Fibre Channel host connection. This in 
turn means that as you add drives, Xserve RAID scales in both capacity and 
performance. And with an industry-standard 42U rack holding 35 terabytes of 
storage, you can keep adding drives for virtually unlimited storage.*

Digital video footage, large databases, media-rich documents, hi-res images, 
uncompressed audio and scientific data sets have one thing in common:  
terabyte sized storage needs. And while trying to keep up with the demand for 
more and more storage space is a job in itself, you can't lose sight of the need to 
protect your digital content against all contingencies - and still make that 
combination available to users round the clock.

Instead of following the ruinously expensive - and easily avoidable - industry 
practice of relying on Fibre Channel hard drives, Apple did something truly 
innovative: We designed and developed a high-performance ATA-to-Fiber 
Channel systems architecture that delivers superior performance and reliability 
at a much lower cost.

Xserve RAID is designed for nonstop operation, with uninterrupted access to 
your critical data. Redundant hot-swappable power supplies and cooling 
modules enable the system to keep running even if one module were to fail. 
All active components are modular and designed to be switched in and out of 
place in seconds - without tools, and without interruption of service.

Each Xserve RAID controller uses an environment management coprocessor 
to monitor and manage the RAID set and enclosure conditions. Naturally, 
you control the controllers, instead of the other way around (this is Apple 
technology, remember). The RAID Admin utility uses the environment 
management coprocessor to build multiple RAID sets on the fly, enabling you 
to bring storage online instantly - with no waiting for initialization. And since 
the RAID Admin utility is written entirely in Java, you can monitor and manage 
your RAID storage from anywhere on the Internet.

Onsite management is even easier. Fact is, if you're the kind of IT professional 
who likes to keep tabs on what's going on in your domain by actually walking 
around and checking things out for yourself, you'll love the way Xserve RAID 
provides continuous visual feedback on system status. Indicator lights on the 
front panel display status at a glance for power cooling, RAID controllers and 
enclosure lock, while LEDs on each Apple Drive Module signal drive activity. 

With 48 blue LEDs down the middle displaying activity levels for each host 
channel and Fibre Channel indicators showing link status, you can verify a
system's health - what a concept - just by looking at it.

XSERVE
Apple's breakthrough rack-optimized 1U server now delivers improved 
performance, more storage - and tremendous value.

Designed to deliver the UNIX-based strengths - and cutting-edge capabilities - 
of Mac OS X Server, this rack-optimized server offers phenomenal processing  
power, massively expanded storage capacity and remote management tools 
that make them a snap to deploy and maintain.

This time around, the objective was to take everything that IT professionals 
love about Xserve and make it even better.

The new Xserve features faster processors, a faster system bus and faster 
memory, as well as faster storage throughput, and more of it - up to 720GB. 
You get more flexible configuration options and quieter operation, but you 
won't get a higher sticker price. Xserve is more affordable than ever.

Xserve's industrial strength, purpose-built server hardware harnesses 
the tremendous IT-friendly potential of Mac OS X Server software. 
Xserve features prodigiously powerful PowerPC G4 processors, superior 
system architecture, jaw-dropping storage capacity, hot-pluggable drives, 
RAID solutions, remote management tools, and the ability to boot up and 
run without a monitor.

At just 1.75 inches thick, the Xserve 1U form factor enables you to deploy 
a formidable array of up to 84 PowerPC G4 processors in a 42U industry-
standard rack that makes the best possible use of the floor space in your 
server room or data center (the server units have been designed to fit 
industry-standard four-post and telco racks, and come complete with all 
the required mounting hardware).

Do the math: The dual 1.33GHz PowerPC G4 processors provide 19 GB 
flops of computational power per 1U. That means 42 Xserve units in a 
42U rack can deliver up to an astonishing 798 GB's of processing power.

Today's bleeding edge demands vast amounts of space for storing everything 
from high-definition video to large scientific data sets.

Accordingly, Xserve features four drive bays that hold up to 720GB of 
data per machine* - and more than 30 terabytes per 42U rack.

The new Xserve turns on the spigots with two FireWire 800 ports, dual 
Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000BASE-T RJ-45) interfaces - one on the 
logic board and one on a card installed in the PCI/AGP slot - and a 
faster-than-ever system bus*. You can also use the optional dual-port 
2GB Apple Fibre Channel PCI Card for high-bandwidth connecitivity to 
your Xserve RAID systems.

Next-generation monitoring and management tools let you keep your 
finger on the pulse of your network at all times - remotely, if you like. 
You can install software using the nifty slot-loading optical drive, or 
select an optional Combo drive to read DVDs and back up to CD-ROM.

Xserve comes with Mac OS X Server, the UNIX-based server operating 
system that gives you a complete suite of standards-based network 
services & supports up-to-the-minute security and networking protocols.

Out-of-the-box support for Mac, Windows, UNIX and Linux clients Mac 
OS X Server is perfect for mixed computing environments, which is to 
say most computing environments. It doesn't matter whether you have
Mac, Windows, UNIX or Linux clients - or a combination thereof - on 
your network. Mac OS X Server provides cross-platform support for 
native file sharing, as well as Apache web server and WebDAV server,
POP and IMAP mail, ftp, QuickTime Streaming Server, DNS and DHCP 
right out of the box. Windows, UNIX and Linux are not treated any 
differently, and will enjoy benefits that Mac users take for granted.**

The new Xserve continues to offer welcome relief from the punitive 
practices of the software industry by letting you eliminate the most 
galling expense in your department's budget: the per-user "tax" you've 
been obliged to pay for using server software. Since Xserve gives you 
an unlimited-client license for Mac OS X Server*, you can serve 
thousands of additional users - without spending thousands of additional 
dollars in licensing fees.

FINAL CUT PRO 4.0
New stuff in FCP 4.0!
Final Cut Pro 4 is the creative, professional and extensible tool for editing 
and finishing in SD and HD formats.

Final Cut Pro 4 is a scalable digital nonlinear editing system built on a 
resolution-independent architecture. From the innovative Offline RT 
and DV, up to uncompressed 10-bit 601 or HD, Final Cut Pro 4 is perfect
for editing and finishing a wide variety of programs at virtually any 
resolution or frame rate.

Video pros will appreciate Final Cut Pro 4's rich editing tools - including 
support for asymmetric trimming - and new customization features such 
as fully customizable keyboards and workspace layouts. RT Extreme, a 
sophisticated multi-stream real-time architecture supports an increased 
number of video streams and effects. Multi-track audio mixing, multi-
channel output and real-time audio effects enhance NLE-based audio 
editing. Final Cut Pro 4 includes two additional creative tools: LiveType, 
a broadcast-quality title generator and Soundtrack, an intuitive tool for 
creating custom musical scores. Final Cut Pro 4 gives digital artists the 
freedom to explore their creativity.

XML interchange format - a new, standards-based composition and 
metadata interchange format - bridges the gap between disparate edit 
systems, asset management databases and customized post-production 
workflows. XML interchange format, AAF support and the ubiquity of 
QuickTime across professional applications give Final Cut Pro 4 the 
flexibility to fit into any production pipeline. A new plug-in API, 
enhanced EDL support and FXScript - a visual effects scripting language 
- make Final Cut Pro 4 the most extensible NLE available.

DVD STUDIO PRO 2.0 
Completely redesigned to simplify DVD-Video authoring, DVD Studio 
Pro gives you unprecedented creative control over the design process. 
DVD Studio Pro 2 lets you customize the interface to suit your work flow 
needs. Apple-designed menu templates allow you to create DVDs quickly.

And you can instantly view tracks, assets and menus, so you can see how 
your project looks and operates before you build the DVD. With the 
advanced interactivity controls of DVD Studio Pro 2, you can create up 
to 98 stories, use scripting controls for advanced playback options, 
define remote control functionality, create multiple language DVDs and
include DVD-ROM data in your project.

DVD Studio Pro 2 includes a world-class MPEG-2 encoder that generates 
stunning video at lower bit rates, allowing users to maximize the 
length of video on a DVD without compromising quality. For those who 
need more encoding control, DVD Studio Pro 2 comes with two powerful 
encoding utilities: Compressor and A.Pack. Compressor provides 
customization and correction of compression files in real-time and lets 
you batch process to MPEG-2 for DVD and MPEG-4 for web streaming.

A.Pack encodes uncompressed audio into highly compressed Dolby digital
AC-3 streams, which can then be used in DVD Studio Pro 2 for full 
5.1-channel surround sound or simply as a compressed 2.0 stereo track.
DVD Studio Pro's timeline and other user interface elements are so 
similar to those of Final Cut Pro that FCP users can jump right in and 
start creating DVDs. When combined with Final Cut Pro, DVD Studio 
Pro becomes a key part of a complete system for professional digital
content creation and delivery.

SHAKE

The industry-standard compositing and effects solution for film and HD
now comes with an unlimited network rendering on Mac OS X.

Shake has been used on so many feature films - including the last six
Academy Award winners for Best Visual Effects - and is required 
courseware at so many major film schools worldwide, that listing its 
credits would require several pages. Shake's reputation as the 
industry-standard yet affordable high-end post-production solution for 
film and video professionals is about to get another big boost. Because 
with the inclusion of unlimited network render licenses and render 
management software on Mac OS X, visual effects artists can now 
distribute rendering tasks across multiple PowerPC G4-based Macintosh
computers.

Shake 3 uses an intuitive, tree-based compositing model that gives
artists access to any part of the composite at any time. This flexible,
nonlinear workflow allows users to make critical creative and technical 
decisions at any point in the compositing process.

Shake 3 includes-production proven visual effects tools such as 
layering, tracking, rotoscoping, painting and color correction. 
Built-in keying capabilities include Photron's Primatte and CFC's 
Keylight, two industry-leading professional keyers. For additional 
flexibility, Shake supports third-party plug-ins such as The Foundry,
GenArts, Ultimatte and more.

The resolution-independent, hybrid scan line/tile-based render engine
allows composites to contain standard-definition (SD), high-definition
(HD) and film images simultaneously. Artists can choose to process
operations at 8-, 16-, or 32-bit (float) color resolution, enabling HDR
images to be composited with greater fidelity while maintaining overall 
performance.

Pictures will follow. sincerely your 
TorreyL-meister