Adobe Creative Suite 4 Now Shipping

Milestone Release Radically Improves Creative Workflow Efficiency; Redefines Collaboration Between Designers and Developers

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Oct. 15, 2008 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced the immediate availability of the Adobe® Creative Suite® 4 product family, the highly-anticipated release of industry-leading design and development software for virtually every creative workflow. Delivering radical breakthroughs in workflow efficiency – and packed with hundreds of innovative, time saving features – the new Creative Suite 4 product line advances the creative process across print, Web, interactive, film, video and mobile.

Customers can choose from six new versions: Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Premium, Design Standard, Web Premium, Web Standard, Production Premium and Master Collection. The combination of Creative Suite and the new capabilities of Adobe Flash® Player 10, also available today (see separate press release) deliver new levels of creativity and expressiveness across media channels. Designers using the Adobe Creative Suite 4 product family will gain unprecedented creative control using the new expressive features and visual performance improvements in Adobe Flash Player 10 to deliver breakthrough Web experiences across multiple browsers and operating systems.

“Creative Suite 4 and Flash Player 10 introduce vital time-saving features, new levels of integration and the jaw-dropping innovations our design and developer customers expect from us,” said John Loiacono, senior vice president, Creative Solutions Business Unit at Adobe.

“CS4 continues to fulfill our promise to customers to break down more barriers in cross-media workflows, while also providing new services and collaboration tools that help them manage complex client demands.”

As part of the CS4 product launch, the largest in Adobe’s history, also available today are brand new versions of Photoshop® CS4, Photoshop CS4 Extended, InDesign® CS4, Illustrator® CS4, Flash CS4 Professional, Dreamweaver® CS4, Fireworks® CS4, Contribute® CS4, After Effects® CS4, Adobe Premiere® Pro CS4, Encore® CS4, Soundbooth® CS4 and Adobe OnLocation™ CS4.

Intuitive Workflows Improve Creative Efficiency

A simplified workflow in Adobe Creative Suite 4 enables users to design across media more efficiently by making it easier to complete common tasks and move content seamlessly among applications. InDesign CS4 includes a new Live Preflight tool that allows designers to catch production errors and a newly customizable Links panel to manage placed files more efficiently. The revolutionary new Content-Aware Scaling tool in Photoshop CS4 and Photoshop CS4 Extended automatically recomposes an image as it is resized, preserving vital areas as it adapts to new dimensions. An expanded version of Dynamic Link in CS4 Production Premium enables users to move and update content between After Effects CS4, Adobe Premiere Pro CS4, Soundbooth CS4, and Encore CS4 without rendering, saving countless hours in production. With deep XMP metadata support, the production workflow is simplified, resulting in online content that gives viewers new ways to interact with and search for video, while giving content owners new opportunities to track and monetize content.

Adobe Creative Suite 4 brings 3D center-stage providing the ability to paint, composite, and animate 3D models using familiar tools in Photoshop CS4 Extended. Flash CS4 Professional now offers the ability to apply tweens to objects instead of keyframes, providing greater control over animation attributes. Also in Flash CS4 Professional, the new Bones tool helps create more realistic animations between linked objects. With a searchable library of more than 450 dynamically updated device profiles from leading manufacturers, Adobe Device Central CS4 enables users to easily test mobile content designed using many of the Creative Suite 4 products.

New and Expanded Services Extend Capabilities for Online Collaboration

Adobe Creative Suite 4 now also offers a host of services* for online collaboration. Adobe ConnectNow, a service of Acrobat.com, allows real-time collaboration with two colleagues or clients. Designers can also share color harmonies with Adobe Kuler™. Other online resources include: Adobe Community Help for technical questions; Resource Central for accessing video and audio product-related news and tutorials, as well as Soundbooth scores and sound effects; and Adobe Bridge Home, a customizable resource for tips, tutorials, news and inspirational content.

Pricing and Availability

Adobe Creative Suite 4 and its associated point products are immediately available through Adobe Authorized Resellers and the Adobe Store at www.adobe.com/store. Estimated street price for the Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Premium is US$1799, US$1699 for Adobe Creative Suite 4 Web Premium, US$1699 for Adobe Creative Suite 4 Production Premium, and US$2499 for Adobe Creative Suite 4 Master Collection. To reward customers for staying current, Adobe is offering Creative Suite 3 customers moving to Creative Suite 4 a lower upgrade price than it offers to those moving from older, qualifying versions. For a limited time, a special introductory offer enables customers with older qualifying products to enjoy the same lower price with savings of up to US$200 off their actual upgrade price. For more detailed information please visit www.adobe.com/creativesuite.

Sure, they're masterfully painted, but more interestingly come from a time when Apple, a more innocent underdog, could portray their products as fine art without coming off as arrogant. I'm not saying that this campaign wasn't at least partially born of hubris, but the effect - especially this many years later - is more strange and hilarious than anything else. Details and a full gallery are available here. [MyOldMac via Cult of Mac]

Finally she [Susan Kare] came across a floral symbol that was used in Sweden to indicate an interesting feature or attraction in a campground. She rendered a 16 x 16 bitmap of the little symbol and showed it to the rest of the team, and everybody liked it. Twenty years later, even in OS X, the Macintosh still has a little bit of a Swedish campground in it.

It certainly marks the spot in this case.

I'm back from Lego's headquarters in Denmark, frantically writing features, editing video, and preparing images showing the amazing brick manufacturing process, the Lego cathedrals with billions of pieces in them and giant robots moving them around, the Lego secret vault with every single set ever produced, and many more awesome things. I've to say that I've been blown away and, trust me, it's not just fanboyism. [LEGO in Gizmodo]

Apparently, Mac fanboys and fangirls are perfectionists, more likely to use teeth whitening products, notebooks over desktop computers, drive station wagons and/or hybrid cars, pay for downloaded music, visit Starbucks frequently. The study also says that Mac users are environmentally conscious and have purchased five pairs of sneakers in the last year. For some reason. Whatever. [The Street via TUAW]

The 24-year old Canadian may look like she has nothing in common with you, but that stops at aesthetics. She loves Apple products, her dearest and most loved Apple possession is her Titanium G4, but she still twiddles her long locks, chews bubblegum and reminisces about the old skool SE/30 Macintosh her father owned. She may like the Pussycat Dolls to rock to, but we'll forgive her because she wears a black bra better than any of us ever could, (even if Eric claims otherwise.) [Macenstein]

Hackers, in the past year, have managed to procure top-secret information directly from Pentagon computers, as well as from major military contractors, including Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. Growing concern for the safety of sensitive information has led to the introduction of the Mac computers as a way to thwart the efforts of hackers prematurely. At present, Apple provides some 20,000 of the Army's 700,000 servers and desktops. This may be a very small proportion, but the number is growing annually. This fact sits a little uneasy with us:

Although we would not trade our Macs for Aladdin's lamp, calling them in to the Army's systems to further its security is questionable. First thing, we are not great believers that Macs offer greater protection than Microsoft's offerings; secondly, even if they did; where there's a will, there's a way. That way may not be so difficult with Apple computers, making the route of attack potentially easier. Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Apple's Mac OS X license state military use of its software is forbidden? [Forbes]

Apple to Ship Mac OS X Leopard on October 26

CUPERTINO, Calif., Oct. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple(R) today announced that Mac OS(R) X Leopard will go on sale Friday, October 26 at 6:00 p.m. at Apple's retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers, and that Apple's online store is now accepting pre-orders. Leopard is packed with more
than 300 new features and introduces a brand new desktop with Stacks, a new way to easily access files from the Dock; a redesigned Finder that lets users quickly browse and share files between multiple Macs; Quick Look, a new way to instantly see files without opening an application; Spaces, an intuitive new feature used to create groups of applications and instantly switch between them; and Time Machine, an effortless way to automatically back up everything on a Mac(R).

"Leopard, the sixth major release of Mac OS X, is the best upgrade we've ever released," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "And everyone gets the 'Ultimate' version, packed with all the new innovative features, for just $129."

Leopard's new desktop includes the redesigned 3D Dock with Stacks, a new way to organize files for quick and easy access with just one click. Leopard automatically places web, email and other downloads in a Downloads stack to maintain a clutter-free desktop, and users can instantly fan the contents of this and other Stacks into an elegant arc right from the Dock. Users can also create their own Stacks for quick access to folders, documents or applications. Leopard's gorgeous new look extends to all applications, with every window on the desktop offering a consistent design theme and active windows outlined by deeper shadows that make them stand out.

The updated Finder includes Cover Flow(R) and a new sidebar with a dramatically simplified way to search for, browse and copy content from any PC or Mac on a local network. Content on any computer on a local network can now be searched using Spotlight(TM), browsed using Cover Flow or copied across the network with a simple drag and drop. .Mac members can use the new Back to My Mac feature to browse and access files on their remote Macs over the Internet.

Quick Look is the fastest and easiest way for users to look inside files without launching them or even having the application that created them. With Quick Look, users can instantly view full-screen, high-resolution files of virtually anything, even media files, from any view in the Finder.

Spaces gives users a powerful new way to organize their work by creating customized desktops which can contain only those applications or documents needed for each project, with the ability to quickly switch between Spaces with the mouse or keyboard.

Time Machine lets users easily back up all of the data on their Mac, find lost files and even restore all of the software on their Mac. With just a one-click setup, Time Machine automatically keeps an up-to-date copy of everything on the Mac.* In the event a file is lost, users can search back through time to find deleted files, applications, photos and other digital media and then instantly restore the file. If it's ever necessary, Leopard can also easily restore an entire system from the Time Machine data on an external drive.

Mail has been updated in Leopard and features more than 30 stationery designs and layouts that look great on a Windows PC or Mac so users can easily send stylish, personalized emails with beautiful graphics and photos. Notes and To Dos help users stay organized by acting just like emails that can be easily created, saved as drafts, synced across multiple Macs and stored in Smart Mailboxes. Data detectors automatically sense phone numbers, addresses and events so they can be added to Address Book or iCal(R) with just a few clicks, and users can keep up-to-date by getting the latest news and blog feeds delivered directly to the their mailboxes with a built-in RSS reader.

iChat(R), the easiest-to-use video conferencing application on any personal computer, offers even richer video chats in Leopard with iChat Theater, which makes it easy to show photos, presentations, videos or files in a video conference; screen sharing which lets users remotely view and operate another Mac; and Photo Booth(R) effects for fun distortions and video backdrops that can instantly make users appear to be anywhere they choose.

Other new features in Leopard include:

— improved Parental Controls, aiding parents in managing their kids' online activities with automatic identification of unsuitable content before allowing website access, plus time limits and activity logs that can be accessed from any Mac on a home network;
— the complete Boot Camp(R) release, previously available only as a beta, making it possible to run Windows natively on Intel-based Macs;**
— Web Clip, bringing anything that a user wants from a web page to Dashboard as a live widget;
— new Photo Booth features, helping users create animated iChat buddy icons or fun effects and backdrops with still or video images;
— an enhanced Dictionary with Wikipedia built in, allowing users to access up to date information on virtually any subject in a snap;
— a newly updated iCal with multi-user calendaring based on the new CalDAV standard; and
— an updated version of Front Row, making it even easier to play music or watch movies, TV shows and photos on a Mac using the ultra-simple Apple Remote.

Pricing & Availability

Mac OS X version 10.5 Leopard will be available on October 26 at Apple's retail stores and through Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $129 (US) for a single user license, and online pre-orders can be made through Apple's online store (http://www.apple.com) starting today. The Mac OS X Leopard Family Pack is a single-household, five-user license that will be available for a suggested retail price of $199 (US). Volume and maintenance pricing is available from Apple. The standard Mac OS Up-To-Date upgrade package is available to all customers who purchased a qualifying new Mac system from Apple or an Apple Authorized Reseller on or after October 1, 2007 for a shipping and handling fee of $9.95 (US). Leopard requires a minimum of 512MB of RAM and is designed to run on any Macintosh(R) computer with an Intel, PowerPC G5 or G4 (867 Mhz or faster) processor. Full system requirements can be found at http://www.apple.com/macosx/techspecs.

Apple Announces Mac OS X Server Leopard

CUPERTINO, Calif., Oct. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple(R) today announced that Mac OS(R) X Server version 10.5 Leopard will go on sale on Friday, October 26, at the same time as Mac OS X Leopard. Leopard Server extends Apple's legendary ease of use, making it even easier to take advantage of the benefits of a server, and introduces Podcast Producer, the ideal way to automatically publish podcasts to iTunes(R) or the web. Leopard Server packs more than 250 new features including Wiki Server, allowing people to collaboratively create and modify their shared web sites with just a few
clicks; and iCal(R) Server, the world's first commercial CalDAV standard-based calendar server.

"Leopard Server is the best release of Mac OS X Server yet, bringing more great innovations, like Podcast Producer, Wiki Server and iCal Server," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing.

"With new setup features that have a server up and running within minutes and no client access licenses, Leopard Server is the ideal alternative to complicated and expensive server offerings for small and large businesses."

Leopard Server presents new features for effortless setup, management and monitoring of systems on the network. Server Assistant configures server applications, network settings such as IP addresses and DNS configurations and user accounts with just a few clicks. Server Preferences simplifies management of users, groups and key server applications, and a Server Status Dashboard widget remotely monitors activity and usage. Leopard Server also eliminates the need to manually set up Leopard clients by automatically configuring client applications, including file sharing, Mail, iChat(R), iCal, Address Book and VPN from user information stored on the server.

Podcast Producer is the easiest way for anyone to record content, automatically upload it to the server and convert it into a podcast optimized for playback on almost any device, including a High Definition TV, iPod(R), Apple TV(TM) or multimedia-enabled cell phone.

With Wiki Server, anyone can easily create and edit collaborative web pages, called wikis, with a few clicks of a mouse. Wiki Server has 20 Apple-designed web page themes and provides a complete revision history to make it easy to restore previous entries and merge or compare different versions. Wiki Server can automatically notify users whenever a change is made, keeping them up-to-date on the latest information, and users can tag keywords to find content quickly.

It's easy to share calendars, schedule meetings and coordinate events within a workgroup, school, small business or large corporation using iCal Server. iCal Server is the first open, standards-based calendar server that works with popular calendar programs which support the new CalDAV standard and does not require client access licenses, so businesses can add users freely as they expand at no additional cost.

Leopard Server is fully UNIX compliant and its core services, including Apache 2, MySQL 5, Postfix, Podcast Producer and QuickTime(R) Streaming Server, are 64-bit, allowing users to work with larger data sets and take full advantage of the performance and processing power of their 64-bit hardware. Since Leopard Server is fully 32-bit compatible, users can run 32-bit and 64-bit applications natively side-by-side.

Pricing & Availability

Mac OS X Server version 10.5 Leopard will be available on October 26 at Apple's retail stores and through Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $499 (US) for a 10-client edition and $999 (US) for an unlimited-client edition. An unlimited client license of Leopard Server is included with Apple's powerful Xserve(R) rack-mount server hardware at no extra charge. Online pre-orders can be made through the Apple Store(R) (http://www.apple.com) starting today and current subscribers to the Apple Maintenance Program will receive Leopard Server as part of their service agreement. Volume and maintenance pricing is available from Apple. The standard Mac OS Up-To-Date upgrade package is available to all customers who purchased a qualifying new Xserve system from Apple or an Apple Authorized Reseller on or after October 1, 2007 for a shipping and handling fee of $9.95 (US). Leopard Server can run on any Macintosh(R) computer with an Intel, PowerPC G5, or G4 (867 Mhz or faster) processor, a minimum 1GB of RAM and at least 20GB of available disk space.

A Williamsburg tattooist, Scott Campbell, has come up with half a dozen designs that you can have lasered onto your laptop for $200. If you up the price by $100 he'll etch your own design onto your machine, just like he did above, for Brooklyn-based artist Kaws. If these take off, perhaps Apple will change their ad campaign, swapping Justin Long for a large and leathered-up hairy biker who answers to the name of Steel Ball (he lost the second one in a fight down Altamont way). Check the gallery below for the six designs on offer.

– Ad Dugdale

Saved Tattoo Laser Laptops [Cool Hunting]

Flickr Gallery [Via ChipChick]

Sorry Mac. Happy belated bday. (And sorry Mom.)–Brian Lam

Mac [Wikipedia]

Perhaps the relatively painless $2 million out-of-court settlement Apple paid to that small software company taught Jobs a valuable lesson: Shoot first, ask questions later. That's probably not a bad strategy, especially when you have billions of dollars in your coffers and a product line that pretty much amounts to a license to print money. – Charlie White

The "Mac" Name Was Also Trademarked By Another Company [Wired News]

Computer Rock iPod Cover [Outblush]

There are only 100 units of this limited edition playset available. The Lego playset will go on sale tonight at 9:00pm eastern for $198.99 each. Well worth it for any old school Apple fan. – Travis Hudson

Product Page [PodBrix]

While I have been a Mac fan for years, I have never felt strongly enough to make the Mac a default recommendation. But things have changed. Mac software, both the OS X operating system and the applications such as iPhoto and GarageBand bundled with it, have gotten steadily better, while Windows seems stuck in a rut.

Stuck in a rut, you say? Pshaw! How are the geekses out there ever going to meet girls by ridding their powder-pink stickered Windows laptops of spyware, viruses, and porn pop-ups? Plus, what if some clueless Prof fails them for not using the "right kind of computer?" – John Biggs

Advice to Students: Pack a Mac[Business Week ]via MacMinute]

The whole thing runs simultaneous sound and visuals on a MacBook (Pro not required). Not only is that Apple Remote more useful, but you can go onstage with a Mac without embarassing trips to the QWERTY
keyboard. – Peter Kirn

Front
Row for Music: plasq Rax 2, Mac Music Host, Takes You Onstage
[Create Digital Music]

A Night in the Box [Laptop]

Panorama [Panoramas.dk]

But what Mac should you buy? The folks at eHomeUpgrade graciously wrote a bit of a service piece for us all informing us which Mac to buy. Fairly useful, we think. Until Apple sues us for liking them so much.

Apple Mac-Intel Simplified Buying Guide [eHomeUpgrade]

You could also use the EvolutionTV for OS X, but where's the challenge?

SnApple PVR [SnapStream via ZatzNotFunny]

Apple purchased every last bit of advertising space in Newsweek's November/December 1984 special election issue and used all 39 pages to promote the Macintosh; GUIdebook not only scanned in every single page but went and transcribed all the text, a great read if you're in the grip of Mac nostalgia as we always are. This bit from page 14 cracked us up:

At Apple, we only have one rule:

Rules are made to be broken.

Take "Thou shalt be compatible with IBM?" for instance.

We decided there was something more important than building a computer that's compatible with another computer.

Namely, building a computer that's compatible with people.

Only 22 years later, Apple decides they've gotten the compatible with people thing down pat and it's time to get compatible with another computer working—et voila, they give us Boot Camp!

Macintosh advertisement [GUIdebook via swissmiss]

Apparently it was. The best features are the speed and the little magnetic power cable while the real draw—battery life—was kind of a downer. It appears that the real battery life is about 4 hours, down from the six touted on the Apple website. However, this was with full brightness and not much power saving tech turned on, so take that with a grain of salt. Overall, however, the MacBook looks to be just about the best piece of kit on the Apple website thus far.

First Impressions: MacBook Pro [MobilityToday]

Well, not really. Basically, the OSX.Inqtana.A spreads itself through Bluetooth when you restart your PC. This assumes you have lots of Bluetooth-enabled Macs hanging out and it also assumes the user is very dumb and won't notice a bunch of Bluetooth activity popping up all over your screen and the following symptoms:

Unexpected request for file transfer via the Bluetooth OBEX Push service. Presence of one or more of the following files: /Users/w0rm-support.tgz /Users/com.pwned.plist /Users/com.openbundle.plist

Otherwise, I think this great that the ha><0rs are moving to OSX. It forces script kiddies to learn Darwin/FreeBSD, making them potentially more valuable when/if they graduate college.

Worm targets Macs via Bluetooth [CNN]

ThinkSecret sez:

Solid information on what Apple may unveil at the event has escaped sources, but reasonable speculation suggests the debut of further Intel-based Macs or a new video iPod. Think Secret recently reported details of Apple's intentions to release a new iPod with a larger display and integrated touch-sensitive controls.

What ever could it be? Poll after the jump.

Apple Event Set for February 28
[ThinkSecret]

Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.

Mac Prius [Kusnetz via Treehugger]

Using elilo and a modified Linux kernel, we can boot from a USB hard disk on the 17" iMac Core Duo. We are using the hacked vesafb driver to inherit the bootloader's framebuffer, keyboard and a USB network card work. Gentoo runs and can compile the Linux kernel. Look closely at the second screenshot and you can see that it's i686. :-)

Wiki [Xbox-Linux]

More Mac rumor madness for you kids. Now people are saying that Apple will have an Intel-based Macintosh by January, 2006. The big Intel deal is supposed to be announced during MacWorld in January, which makes sense to us. The original guesstimate was that Intel-based Macs wouldn't hit stores until June, 2006, but that seems a bit too late to analysts for a launch. Another question that could be posed: Will Mac OS X Intel go on sale around this time? Technically one could make an image of the Intel-Mac's hard disk and could copy that on to a non-Apple Intel box. Again, this isn't confirmed, but everything seems to be set for a January release date.

New Intel Apple to arrive in January [The Inquirer]

Has anyone outside of the official media DLed and tried MacIntel? Drop me a line. I got burned once with a fake torrent and I'm not about to make that same mistake.

Apple Mac OS X on x86: a first test [ZDNet]

Apple Mighty Mouse [arstechnica]
Jobs' Apple Launches 'Mighty Mouse' [Forbes]
Apple Mighty Mouse: First UK Review [The Register]
Apple Mighty Mouse Review [Apple Insider]
Apple Reinvents "The Wheel" [Trusted Reviews]

Once we separated the top and bottom halves of the mouse, things started to get exciting. On the bottom half of the mouse, we observed the presence of a speaker (yes, it's true!), switches that trigger the side squeeze buttons, the mechanism that generates the main click of the mouse itself, and even an empty spot with a symbol showing where a capacitor would be (hmm, what sort of Mac rumors could we start with that one?).

A speaker? Vibrational haptics? Sing-along with mice?

Dissecting Mighty Mouse [ArsTechnica]

Anyway, someone got MacIntel running in a VMWare session. W00T. [Thanks, Dave]

blex86r's photos [Flickr]

Torrent of Mac OS X for intel starts spreading [RandomType]

Anyway, it's a very detailed description of a very arcane and pointless process. But aren't they all?

Multibooting Intel based Macs - A Step-by-step How to Guide [Jasbone via MacMod]

Press Release [Belkin]

One of them, buckling under the weight, stumbles over to me and hands me a coaster-sized piece of paper, with a picture of the RIMAGE 360i printer on it. His name is Samir.

Sir, would you like to hear about our printer? he says. I wouldn t, but I take the coaster anyway and ask him how it came about that a flat screen television ended up attached to his backpack and hanging over his head.

He explains that he works for a company called Street Factory Media, which does underground marketing for major conventions. I point out that it doesn t seem very underground to walk around in 90-degree heat with flat screen televisions above one s head, and he laughs, though neither of us is sure why.

Samir, a muscular dude who looks to be in his mid-20s, has been in front of the convention center since about 8 a.m. that morning, an eight-hour shift. He says the backpack/flat screen combo weighs about 35-40 pounds. That s why I go to the gym every day, he says.

His friend doesn t seem like much of a gym rat; he s short, scrawny and trying not to gasp. I put out my hand to shake his, and he lifts and shakes like my dog.

How much longer you guys have to be out here? I ask.

Not long the smaller one says, and the evil part of me wonders if there s something I could steal from him. No way he d be able to catch me.

Among the Believers with Will Leitch

I keep walking and come up to The Lenox, a hotel of much higher quality than my Howard Johnson s. Signs are set up throughout the lobby with the convention s schedule. Success! I stroll past the exercise center definitely nobody I d want to talk to in there and saddle up to the hotel bar, a sleek light blue cauldron of skinny people. I order a vodka tonic and sit next to a guy rifling through some papers. Being an investigative reporter, I sneak a peek at his work. It appears to be a legal brief, and the guy is clean shaven. I m barking up the wrong tree. I gulp down my drink, look around, see nobody wearing a Professor Frink shirt and leave.

I stop by Lir, an Irish pub, and order another vodka tonic. A middle-aged couple is next to me; he s drinking a domestic draft beer, she appears to be nibbling at a Diet Coke. Trying to be subtle, I take my convention badge out of my pocket and set it on the bar. The woman sees it, and her face lights up.

Are you with the computer convention? she asks me.

I am, yes, I m covering it, I m a reporter, I say, reaching for my notebook excitedly.

Oh, that s great, she says. My husband and I are on vacation, and we were really curious about that convention. Her husband glances over at us, bored. The woman shakes my hand; her name is Barbara. I really want to get a Mac computer, but Tom says they re too expensive. Did you see any good deals? I just think they look so neat!

I put my notebook back down and sheathe my pen. We make small talk for a bit, and then I point out the Great Outdoor Games on the television in front of us. Two women are log-rolling; it s more interesting than I would have thought. There s real strategy involved.

I finish my drink and leave.

Desperate, I notice a man on the street standing in front of a Lord & Taylor display window, staring at a mannequin that is looking away, completely nude save for a shawl draped over her shoulders. At this point in the evening, having still found no partying conventioneers, I m not beneath some racial profiling: He s Asian, not particularly fit and has unruly hair, and not in a stylish way. Worth a shot.

I stop next to him. Hey, are you with the convention? I ask.

It occurs to me, as his face shifts from confusion to fear, that the words Are you with the convention? when spoken to someone who is not, in fact, with the convention, sound similar to what What s the frequency, Kenneth? must have sounded like to Dan Rather right before he started getting pummeled.

He says, Excuse me? I look down, apologize and drift away. He goes back to his window and stares in.

Discouraged and frustrated, I decide that even if I m apparently terrible at finding conventioneers to drink with, well, dammit, I at least know how to have fun! To the Foggy Goggle! I hop in and grab another vodka tonic, served to be in a plastic cup with an orange wedge. The Foggy Goggle is nearly empty and has the depressing pallor of a place built to host fun but currently containing none.

I sip my drink and watch some more Great Outdoor Games. Now little dogs are jumping through hoops and running some sort of obstacle course. I notice three men at the table next to mine equally enthralled by the little dogs. It s getting late; now or never.

Hey, guys, you with the convention? I ask.

They are. Their names are Michael, Michael and Christopher. Michael II is the boss, and he looks it: Older, distinguished, polished. Too polished. I ask him what they do.

We re with [name of company redacted by their request], he says. We re financial planners. We re here to prospect new clients. This seems like a good place to go. Mac buyers tend to have lots of disposable income.

I sit there, sipping my vodka tonic in my plastic cup, wondering if this counts as a real conventioneer. Oh, close enough.

So, what kind of Macs do you guys use? I say, hoping they ll spit some technical jargon back at me.

Michael II grins. Oh, we don t have Macs in our office, he says. They re too expensive.

I nod, sip my drink and watch the little dogs scamper.

Among the Believers with Will Leitch

BOSTON—I had this really great idea. At this convention of what from all accounts to be a collection of Magic: The Gathering players and dudes with ironic Scarface posters in their basement, I would spend my final night here my only night here, actually partying with the Mac dorks. I would prowl the town with them, pounding shots, hopping from bar to bar, causing trouble, stirring shit up, all while debating the difficulties of troubleshooting the FileMaker Pro 7 product.

Look, I d even imagined what a great lead would be. Something like this:

Herbert Johnson loves PBG3 s, synchronizing his portable home directories, managing DNS, NAT and VPN firewall constructions and snorting lines of coke off the floor of dingy Irish bars in Boston. His proficiency in all these endeavors is impressive, though to an outside observer, somewhat bewildering.

Wouldn t that have been great? If they had Pulitzers for the Web, that would have totally won me one. I wanted to find out what made this guys tick; understand their Mac obsession over ether, tequila or, in a pinch, a vodka and cranberry. Unfortunately, it didn t really turn out that way. I had dreamed of a story like Stephen Glass famous young Republicans getting blasted piece for The New Republic. Of course, the only way he got that story was by, you know, completely making the whole thing up. I didn t consider that an option.

My search started around 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, when I waited outside room P223 of the Hynes Convention Center as the attendees of the Neutered Admins: Creating a Limited Administrator Account Within Mac OS X left their session. I spotted a grouping of about four guys, all deep in conversation. Their discussion, I thought, surely was about what strip club they were hitting that night, or which Mac whore which guy was going to take home, something like that. They re at a convention; that s what people do at conventions, right?

I pulled up aside them and cleared my throat. Hey, guys, I m Will Leitch, a reporter here for Gizmodo.com. How s it going? So, what s going tonight? Everybody all hitting the town tonight? This might not have been the best tactic. They looked at me like I had just offered to sell them some heroin, or maybe just invited them to, hey, take a look at my dong.

Uh, we ve all got work to do in the room tonight, said the oldest one, a grey-haired one, probably everybody s boss. Good luck, though. They shuffled away quickly while I wondered if I should apologize to the Gizmodo editor for tossing the site s name out there so cavalierly.

I recalibrated and figured I d just crawl up and down Boylston Street, home of the convention center, the Bradlee School of Music and various pubs and clubs. I went back to my hotel, showered and changed out of my tie and into a Nirvana T-shirt I d brought specifically for this occasion. And then I hit the strip.

The first bar I come to is the Foggy Goggle Pub and Restaurant, right across the street from Hynes. There is a sign at the door: If you don t know how to have fun, don t come in! Something tells me there are no Mac guys in there.