SAN FRANCISCO - As we continue to cover Macworld, one struck me over the head late into the day on Thursday: The vibe here is simply fantastic. I would have written to tell you that, but with Cirque du Mac load-in at 5:00 PM yesterday, I didn't have time.

But, I think this is an important thing for community of users and developers to know and understand about this show in its post-Apple incarnation. The show floor is smaller -- though I suspect that many more vendors will be coming to Macworld 2011 -- but that floor has been packed every bit as much as it was when Apple was showing off its latest kit.

And people are having fun. This show has already been more fun for me, personally, but I found that such was the case with the vast majority of people I talked to about the show. Vendors were smiling, people were smiling and interested in getting to the next booth, and the press seemed to be having fun.

Speaking of Cirque du Mac (which I was earlier...no, really, it was in the first paragraph), we had a blast last night. The crowd was seriously the best we've had in a long time, and once again, everyone seemed to be having fun.

I know there was a lot of angst over this show heading into it, but the reality is that if you're a vendor in the Mac, iPhone, or iPad space, you're missing out if you're not here. That's all there is to it.

We have two more days of show to cover, and I need to get back over to the Expo, but I'll leave you with a couple of images of the people packing the show floor.