The Signs are Aligning.
Rumors are solid regarding the PowerPC 970-equipped Power Mac systems already manufactured and awaiting announcement, perhaps at the WWDC developer conference next week, before they go on sale.
Combine that with the release of beta versions of Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther) a heavily optimized 64-bit compatible (if not 64-bit pure) OS that is rumored to have significant speed gains throughout--Quartz Extreme support or not.
And, add to this the announcement from Quark that the long-awaited QuarkXPress 6, a version fully compatible with Mac OS X, will actually ship next week, and you have signs of a serious upturn in the Mac prepress market.
Sales of Power Mac desktop have waned due to the negligible speed bumps that have reduced the G4's performance comparison to Pentium systems. Add to that the changes that Mac OS X brought as well as a slower economy, and you have the makings for dissent and dissatisfaction.
But this appears to be at an end, if WWDC shows what many Mac pundits expect.
I anticipate not only new desktops and the OS update but an additional minor product, another accessory that will cause Mac envy among the larger PC populace. While Apple knows that prepress and design drive much of their sales, they also know that their consumer targeting is paying off well, particularly with the iPod. And Apple wants to repeat this success as much as possible.
I am personally curious of what the new desktop systems will look like. Speculation indicates that it will still have handles and may also be much of the same configuration, but no longer so rounded. Boxy designs are in this year--have you seen the new Gen Y SUVs from Honda and Toyota?
7:39:40 AM 
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