As expected, throngs of the Mac faithful descended upon the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City Wednesday morning to attend Macworld Expo 2002. However, to look at the banner ads festooned throughout the lobby, you’d think the show was more geared to the PC crowd. The ads, part of Apple’s “Real People” advertising campaign that debuted in June, feature profiles of disgruntled PC users who have crossed party lines and found happiness with their new Macs.

Readers of this site have undoubtedly found out by now that relations between Apple and Microsoft have been less than peachy lately. Microsoft has been making headlines by their attempts to steal Apple’s Macworld spotlight by announcing new products long before ship dates, although you’d never guess that anything was amiss judging from the amiable atmosphere at the Microsoft booth, where the company showed continuous video clips of such wholesome scenes as people dancing around the Apple logo to the tune of the Turtles’ “Happy Together.”

Aside from trying to lure PC owners away from the dark side, Apple continues to nudge Mac users to upgrade to OS X. At the show, Apple introduced OS 10.2, code-named Jaguar.

Jaguar offers more than 150 new features and applications, including:

Enhanced Mail junk mail filter

iChat, an AIM-compatible instant messenger

A systemwide Address Book

Inkwell advanced handwriting recognition technology

QuickTime 6 with support for MPEG-4

Universal Access

An enhanced Finder

Sherlock 3, Apple’s new Internet Services tool

Quartz Extreme, which accelerates graphics performance to deliver seamlessly blended 2D, 3D and QuickTime content onto the desktop

Increased compatibility with Windows networks with SMB browsing and sharing and built-in PPTP VPN compatibility.

Rendezvous, Apple’s home networking technology that enables users to link computers and devices without any configuration via Ethernet, AirPort, FireWire, USB or Bluetooth.

Epson, HP and Lexmark are working to integrate Rendezvous into their products for automatic discovery and configuration of network printers.

Apple also introduced Mac OS X Server version 10.2 “Jaguar” Server, which includes more than 50 new features.

On the hardware side, the company unveiled a 17-inch flat-screen iMac and three new configurations of the iPod--5GB, 10GB and 20 GB--available for both Mac and Windows.

Over at Microsoft, the company’s Macintosh Business Unit served up a new Palm Handheld Synchronization add-in for Entourage (TM) X. Under the Get It Together promotion, consumers can get up to $100 off the purchase of Office v. X when purchased with any new Macintosh computer. Finally, Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) client, allows remote connection and access to Microsoft Windows®-based computers from virtually any network connection using a Macintosh computer.

Macworld Expo once again drove home Apple’s dominance as the platform of choice for graphic artists, web designers and filmmakers. The Macworld Conference and Expo Digital Art Gallery displayed the works of winning contestants. Adjacent to the gallery, a consortium of Final Cut Pro user groups hosted a program of short films and works created in Final Cut Pro.

Attendees could take a break from salespeople bearing Frisbees, posters, raffle tickets and Silly Putty knockoffs to drink coffee and go online at the Internet Café, get technical advice at the Apple Consultants Network counter, check out the latest game titles in the Gaming Area or meet fellow Macaholics in either the User Group Lounge or the Northeast Macintosh User Group Booth, hosted once again this year by the Long Island Macintosh User Group.

This year’s event will perhaps be defined as much by which companies chose not to attend as those that did. Conspicuous in their respective absences were Adobe and Macromedia.

According to Kevin Burr, Adobe’s vice president of corporate communications, "Adobe is not exhibiting at the Macworld New York show this year, but will continue to exhibit at Macworld San Francisco. Like many companies in today's economy, we've re-focused our tradeshow resources on a few select shows that will give us the most significant return on investment. The West Coast show has traditionally been more successful for us, since we're able to reach more Adobe Macintosh customers."

Macromedia’s PR department had their own official statement: "Macromedia is totally committed to the Mac community and has brought out a great new Macromedia MX family of tools, including Macromedia Flash MX, Dreamweaver MX, and Fireworks MX, which are all natively compatible with Mac OS X. While Macromedia as a company has found that seminars and other methods of communicating with our customers are more effective than trade shows, we are still one hundred percent committed to empowering Mac developers to create the most effective user experiences possible."

Now for the companies that did attend and had something to announce.

FileMaker introduced FileMaker Pro 6. The database software can import large numbers of images from a folder into a database, and, on Mac OS X only, capture digital images and image-data directly from cameras. With integrated XML (Extensible Markup Language) import and export, FileMaker can integrate and exchange data with many applications, without complex, costly converting of data between proprietary formats.

Ezedia announced its new eZediaQTI 1.0, a cross-platform QuickTime authoring and animation environment that enables users to combine and enhance video, graphics, animation, sound VRs and text to develop websites, Internet banner ads, interactive videos and online presentations.

DiamondSoft Inc. announced an update to Font Reserve Single User. Version 3.1 provides plug-ins to automatically activate fonts for documents opened in Adobe InDesign 2.0 and Adobe Illustrator 10, both Mac OS X-native applications.

Nikon added three new cameras to its Coolpix line: the 5.0-megapixel Coolpix 5700 with an 8x optical zoom, the 4-megapixel, 4x optical zoom 4500, and the 2.0-megapixel Coolpix 2000 with a 3x optical zoom. The company also unveiled the D100 6.1-megapixel digital SLR camera.

For people who want their computers to organize their lives in a slightly scary, Big Brother-ish way, Creo Inc. offers Six Degrees software. According to the company, Six Degrees is “an e-mail driven productivity tool that automatically links messages, files and people on the desktop…(and) helps you work more efficiently, stay on task, and complete projects faster. It tracks what you do and how you work, continually making connections between the messages you send, the files you create, and the people you work with.” The program enables users to save time, improve efficiency and reduce errors, but it sounds to me like anyone who can’t stand Microsoft’s Office Assistant may want to pass.

The award for cutest product had to go to Harman Multimedia’s “JBL Creature.” The self-powered satellite speakers and subwoofer resemble a cross between R2-D2 and a Hershey’s kiss. In terms of function, the speakers offer touch controls, remember your last volume setting, and utilize a straightforward interconnect technology with minimum desktop wiring.

Apple isn’t just making its presence known in New York City’s Hell’s Kitchen district; on July 18th the company opened its latest Apple retail store in trendy but hard-hit downtown Soho. The store, designed by Peter Bohlin and Ronnette Riley under the direction of Steve Jobs, was heralded in today’s New York Times as featuring a “Bauhaus” style, with “minimalist forms and a neutral palette.” Long Islanders will have to wait till Saturday, when Apple opens its next store in the Roosevelt Field Shopping Mall.

—Ela Schwartz is a Long Island-based freelance writer and journalist who has covered business, technology, consumer products and home décor for a range of publications and websites.