a couple of questions about macbook pro (again) and other questions

[Straylight]

Well here it goes:

I'll be attending college coming fall and I need a laptop. I've set my sights on a couple of laptops.. but none have design and the "prestiege" and the awesomeness of the Macbookpro. My question is that in the coming months will there be a "revised" edition (time frame is about April-ish)? I am going to get an iBook within this week and I was wondering I should wait. Also, what is Rosetta? What are the costs for it? Do I need to be using everything for Rosetta, such as iTunes, WoW, and Photoshop (i know photoshop needs rosetta).

On the iBook: are there plastic films that I can attach to my iBook so that it doesn't get scratched? Also, how playable is WoW on an iBook 12"? I'm going to increase the ram to 1.5 GB. Here's my frame of reference: 512 MB Ram, Windows XP Professional, AMD 2100+, ATI Radeon 9600, all stock and no overclock.

On the iPod: Has anyone tried the colorware custom colors? I'm thinking about painting my mouse wheel.. does anyone know of that affects the click wheel's sensitivity?

[MCQ]

My question is that in the coming months will there be a "revised" edition (time frame is about April-ish)? I am going to get an iBook within this week and I was wondering I should wait.


On the MacBook Pro? Doubtful that it would be so quick, but a revised iBook using Core Solo (or Duo) could be introduced in that timeframe. This is speculation, but April-May has typically been months where Apple has refreshed their iBook line.


Also, what is Rosetta? What are the costs for it? Do I need to be using everything for Rosetta, such as iTunes, WoW, and Photoshop (i know photoshop needs rosetta).


http://www.apple.com/rosetta/

Basically, it is a translation technology that allows programs built for the PowerPC processors to be run on Intel processors. It is free as part of OS X for Intel.

Only programs that have not been built as a universal binary (targeted for PowerPC and Intel) would need to be run using Rosetta.

iTunes is already built as a universal binary for both procesor types so Rosetta is not needed. Games would run under Rosetta, although I'm not sure how great the performance would be. In any case, when you launch the application OS X will know if it needs to use Rosetta or not.


On the iBook: are there plastic films that I can attach to my iBook so that it doesn't get scratched?


Probably, I would think any screen film you can find for a 12" LCD should do the trick.

[Straylight]

well I was actually talking about a film for the laptop cover.. since i heard that it scratches pretty easily like the ipod nano and ipod video.

[LudwigVan]

Only programs that have not been built as a universal binary (targeted for PowerPC and Intel) would need to be run using Rosetta.

One quick qualification I want to add to MCQ's excellent post. There are three pro-level programs that won't run through Rosetta. To quote from the Apple's Rosetta page (http://www.apple.com/rosetta/):

If you already own Final Cut Studio 1.0, Aperture, or Logic Pro 7.1, these applications are not supported to run on Intel-based Macs with Rosetta, but a Universal version will be available for $49. Logic Express will be $29.

[Straylight]

however, if I only use photoshop, primere pro, itunes, and wow.. i'm good to go right?