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Mac enthusiasts say Apple is the mother of all invention. Maybe they're right. Microsoft took six years to deliver the kind of operating system the company promised in 1995. Windows 95 didn't live up to the hype until Windows XP. Apple managed the same feat in less than two years. Mac OS X 10.0, released in March 2001, lacked fundamental features such as CD burning and DVD playback. Successor 10.1, which debuted in September 2001, delivered better performance but couldn't match some of XP's best features. But Mac OS X 10.2, also known as Jaguar, beats Apple's original promise of a robust, modern operating system and outclasses Windows XP's handling of multiple programs running simultaneously. Still, many important changes are mere catch up to XP or even Apple's older Mac OS 9.

Apple delivered my official Jaguar copy on Aug. 16, 2002, about a week before OS X 10.2's official Aug. 24, 2002 release. Talk about efforts to woo the reviewer: Apple preloaded Jaguar on a PowerBook G4 800. But I already had been working with betas and final code obtained though "special sources." Before Apple's woo-the-reviewer package arrived, I had the "unofficial" official release running on three Macs: Dual 1GHz Power Mac G4, 700MHz flat-panel iMac and another PowerBook 800.

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I have never considered myself a big car kind of guy. If anything, I often laugh at the person sitting behind the wheel of a Lincoln Town Car or Cadillac. My dad drove bugs, as in Volkswagen Beetles, through the snow-covered back woods of Maine. I've been driving small cars since I got my license--at 25. Point: A 1988 Toyota Corolla sits in my driveway, which as much as anything is testimony to just how little regular working reporters are paid. (Don't quit your McDonald's job just yet to take up writing for a living.)

But Toshiba has given me a taste of the big car world, by way of the company's innovative new Satellite 1955-S801 portable, and it's much sweeter than I imagined.

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Many computer manufacturers are hawking thin-and-light notebooks as the next big thing. Dell Computer, Gateway, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Sony and Toshiba are some of the big name companies delivering small portables, some weighing under 3 pounds. But none of these companies has achieved notebook nirvana, a slim-and-light model with a beefy display and enough power to replace a desktop computer. Consumers that want desktop power must buy heavy-set portables, many weighing as much as 8 pounds or more. Those people looking for true portability have had to accept less computing power and smaller displays.

Until now.

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Looking for a way to stay in touch on the go? AOL Mobile Communicator might be the easiest, and most affordable solution for you. The Mobile Communicator is one of the newer additions to the AOL’s AOL Anywhere initiative. Based on the familiar BlackBerry design from Research in Motion (RIM), the AOL Mobile Communicator is a smartly designed pager-sized device for sending and receiving your AOL e-mail and instant messages. This thing will turn heads, even among the crowd that would normally say something like, "You still use AOL?" (you know who you are).

AOL users will have no problem learning how to use the Mobile Communicator. RIM has received kudos for making its BlackBerry amazingly easy to navigate, and this certainly continues with the Mobile Communicator. One of my favorite features is the thumb-wheel, used to scroll through e-mails and menus, and also pressed to make selections. I quickly adjusted to the small-but-manageable keyboard -- you can get typing fairly quickly with your thumbs. One feature you’ll really appreciate is that the buddy list on your Mobile Communicator is automatically synced with the one on your AOL account, so there’s no need to have to add everyone on to it when you first get the device.

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The guys over at Technoyard.com sent word that they just completed their review of the ASUS AGP-V7700 GeForce2 GTS Deluxe video card for all you gamers out there. Here is a little taste of the review: "Overall I really liked the Asus V7700 Deluxe. Heck! I like most GF2 GTS boards for that matter. It also has the added benefit of fully featured but mediocre video digitizing.And despite all the extra hardware ASUS added for video digitizing, the deluxe performs with extreme stability." Read the rest over at Technoyard.

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Paul Thurrott has written up a lengthy review of Microsoft Windows Whistler, Build 2257 on his site Winsupersite.com for all you interested readers out there. The review comes complete with screenshots and the differences between the three different versions of the operating system. Also on the site are step-by-step instructions for SlipStreaming the deployment of Windows 2000 Service Pack 1. SlipStreaming will "allow system administrators to meld the updated SP1 files into a Windows 2000 install share on a network." Visit the Winsupersite for more information and to read the review.

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