HINT: New computer users may be unfamiliar with some of the terms used in this column. If you come across something you are unfamiliar with, you may wish to go to the Computing With Bifocals Index for help.

Macworld is so much fun! Anyone who gets the chance to go should do so, at least once. It doesn't matter if you are a new or inexperienced user. There is something for everyone.

Highlights for me included seeing Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in person (on stage); meeting a couple of the young men from Apple's Switcher ads, Jeremiah Cohick and Alex Schoknecht ; the excitement of being surrounded by thousands of Mac enthusiasts; and the Keynote address by Steve Jobs. If you have QuickTime loaded on your computer you can see and hear the Keynote address by visiting Apple's dedicated Web page for the keynote and then clicking on the box that says "watch now."

Note: QuickTime is a free download from Apple and can be accessed by going to the Apple home page and searching for QuickTime. Once you find it, click on download. Once the download is complete, open the new folder that will appear on your desktop and click on the download box. Follow the instructions, it is very easy.

My favorite event was the Keynote. First of all, there was such a buzz of excitement in the long lines waiting to get in. As a member of the media, I got to be in a special line, but even that line started forming a couple of hours before the event was scheduled to begin. Steve Jobs is a real showman. His presentation was fast paced and well rehearsed, and he knows just how to build the expectations of his audience. I heard a number of people remark that this was the best Keynote they had heard in the past couple of years.

Jeremiah and Alex are both charming young men who knew more about computers at age 5 than I will ever know. If you are unfamiliar with the switch ads you can see them at Apple's Switcher Web site.

Steve had lots of new updates and products to announce. Of special interest to bifocal-wearing readers may be the updates for iPhoto, iTunes, iMovie, and iDVD. Users can download iPhoto 2, iTunes 3, and iMovie 3 free from the iLife Apple web site. iDVD is not a free download. All the new versions have been made to be integrated so that, as an example, the user can easily use music from iTunes when making an iMovie.

Apple has combined all four of these applications into something they are calling iLife which can be purchased for US$49. It will be available January 25th and can be preordered online at the web site noted above. Those using dial-up internet service may want to order the CD because of the time required to download each application update.

The next thing of interest was a new application called Keynote. Steve used it to illustrate his presentation and then announced that it was available immediately. I immediately went into covet mode. I wanted that application so bad I could taste it. I had just completed putting together a slide show for Macworld using Microsoft Power Point so I was blown away by the capabilities of Keynote. You can imagine my delight when Steve announced that everyone in the audience would receive a free copy.

Most, if not all, of the attendees reacted with surprise when Steve introduced a new browser called Safari. Safari is billed as a turbo browser for Mac OS X. It is currently in beta form, but it can be downloaded free from the Apple's Safari Web site.

The beta version of Safari has a link inside the Safari pull-down menu that allows a user to e-mail any bugs or problems directly to Apple. Within hours of the completion of the keynote address something like 30,000 copies of Safari had been downloaded.

The trade show is almost overwhelming. I was told it was bigger than a couple of football fields. There was so much to see and so much to buy that it was easy to feel as if you were in Mac heaven. There were so many people there that it was not unusual to find crowds standing 3 deep in front of some of the booths. Many of the application booths, such as Adobe and Aladdin, provided numerous computers and training opportunities for their software, as did Apple. It was possible to go straight from the Keynote address to the trade show floor to learn how to use the new products and updates.

So what now? I am going to test out both Keynote and Safari and will give feedback on them in the next couple of columns. I am also going to test out a couple of games that I have come across and evaluating a couple of new digital cameras that should be of particular interest to new users.