WWDC 2003

Apple’s Worlwide Developers Conference got underway this morning. The most anticipated part of the conference is obviously the keynote address being given, as I type this, by Apple’s CEO, Steve Jobs. Unfortunately, I’m unable to watch this as there is no Apple store close to Gainesville and UF isn’t one of the universities participating in the satellite feed. However, Apple is going to offer the entire keynote as a QuickTime stream after the presentation is over. Woo hoo!

The biggest news from the keynote will undoubtedly be the announcement of the newest OS, Panther (OS X v10.3). Apparently it will be offered as a $129 upgrade by the end of the year. The arrival of the Power Mac G5, featuring a next-generation processor from IBM — the 64-bit PowerPC 970 — will likely be a very hot topic as well. Another major subject will be that of Apple’s browser, Safari, whose first non-beta release (1.0 v85) will be available for download later today. I can’t wait! You can follow these announcements and all of the others in real-time, at MacCentral, where live updates of the keynote are available.

It’s going to be really nice when I move to the Bay Area. I’ll be a stone’s throw from all of these big companies and conferences and instead of reading/watching/salivating, I’ll actually be participating (and probably still salivating).