New and Noteworthy: Top 2004 vaporware; Gates on iWorks; Move to Mac a smart move; iPod changing how we listen; CES iPod stuff

Top Vaporware of 2004 On the verge of Macworld Expo, where Apple and other vendors will be announcing new products, Wired names their top ten vaporware -- products that are announced but never actually make it to market -- of the past year: "Not only were there plenty of vaporous products floating about -- several companies are fast heading for the hallowed halls of vaporware fame." More.

Gates comments on "iWorks" In a Gizmodo interview, Bill Gates comments on rumors of a new office suite of applications from Apple: "They've always had a Works-type product...[AppleWorks is] actually not that low-end. It's pretty good. Not as good as Office, but not bad at all?that they've bundled in with different machines." More.

Moving to Mac all-time smartest call InfoWorld's Tom Yager notes that his switch to the Mac in 2004 was one of his most important decisions: "Every day I learn to do things better (meaning simpler), and I like hanging with a platform that makes constant progress. Moving to the Mac is one of my all-time smartest calls." More.

The iPod is changing how we listen An AZCentral article focuses on the iPod and satellite radio as ways in which the act of listening to music is changing: "As we enter 2005, and cast our eyes back at 2004, it seems like the real revolution in music hasn't come from a musician, but from a piece of technology. Namely: the almighty iPod." More.

New iPod products at CES MacFixIt's own Dan Frakes, writing for Playlist, covers some of the new iPod products announced at CES, including the first look at the innovative SmartDeck, iTop, and Movie Player. More.

Previously on MacFixIt:

• Mac OS X 10.3.7 (#16): Secondary volume booting problems: Not be relegated to FireWire drives, possible explanation; more
• Odds and Ends: Knowledge Base Updates
• Utilities Updates: Cocktail 3.5.1; Memory Usage Getter 2.5; Apple Xserve Remote Diagnostics 1.0.1; more
• New and Noteworthy: Mac OS X Desktop search agent to debut; Gates: "Apple's had three hits"; more

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