This year a record more than 50,000 veteran fans and new converts are expected to jam into San Francisco's Moscone Center, on pilgrimages to check out the newest products from Apple Inc.
MacWorld this year is again delivering on Apple's "cool factor," its ability to merge geeky gadgets with youth culture. Apple chief executive Steve Jobs unveiled the company's new iTunes movie rental service and the market's thinnest notebook computer.
And all around the show, which continues through Friday, are the paraphernalia of the Mac cult, books, software and hardware add-ons to take advantage of the dedication of the legions of Apple acolytes.
Their numbers are growing fast: sales of Macintosh computers have outpaced the market due to what analysts refer to as a "halo effect" from Apple's iPod MP3 players and iPhones that combine telephone, Internet, music and video.
"It is pretty much impossible to quantify the halo effect, but we are seeing Apple continue to grow faster than the market, so they are taking market share," NPD analyst Stephen Baker told AFP.
"Clearly, more people are buying Macs and more people are using Macs," he said, noting that people are creating "mixed home environments": running both Windows-based personal computers and Macintosh machines.
On the Macworld floor, Mark Lawrence bought an autographed copy of the book "Switching to a Mac" for his wife to coax her into using her Macintosh instead of her Windows-based personal computer at home.
Lawrence, chief engineer at the Stanford University radio station, is shifting his team to Macintosh computers as well.
"I think the iPod is what got it into people's consciousness that Macs are cool," said Lawrence, a Macintosh devotee for 20 years.
"Apple is doing a great job marketing the cool factor. For me, it has been that they are easy to use and stable."
"I have a friend who got a Mac recently and he actually used the word 'love'," said Philip Goward, founder of the firm Smile On My Mac.
"That's the first time I ever heard someone use that word concerning a computer. I think suddenly we've become cool."
Macworld offerings range from stylishly frivolous to technologically serious.
El Gato hawks an EyeTV device for watching television shows on Macintosh computers, while another company offers its Supacam for streaming video onto the Internet.
Gelaskins offers art print covers for laptops and iPhones, while Otterbox has shock and waterproof containers for iPhones and iPods.
Smithmicro sells a "Poser" program for Macintosh users to make 3-D animated proxies for online virtual worlds, as well as software to create one's own manga or anime characters.
"We look for things that appeal to the Mac market," said Linda Petrucci, head of e-commerce at Smithmicro.
"They are loyal, they stick with us. PC users tend to want something free or at very low cost and then go away."
At Macworld Vestalife launched its Ladybug iPod stereo docking system, designed in collaboration with Element Skateboards, for "teens and 'tweens," children 11 to adult.
"We want to reach a slightly edgy, hip crowd and that fit with Apple," said Vestalife co-founder Wayne Ludlum.
There are even product lines for the Mac-cool hopefuls still nervous about leaving their Microsoft Windows products behind.
VMware is showcasing a Fusion program that enables machines to seamlessly run programs regardless of which operating system they are written for, according to group manager Pat Lee.
"Fusion is a security blanket for those people worried that they will switch to Mac and need that one Windows application they left behind," Lee told AFP. "We are seeing good adoption."
Even Microsoft is at Macworld, the arch-rival launching a Macintosh version of its Office program.
"We blend the best of both worlds: Microsoft technology with Apple's look and feel," said Microsoft's Han-Yi Shaw.
"You get an efficient but esthetically pleasing result we are proud of. We are working very closely with Apple. We succeed together."
(Taken from www.tech.yahoo.com)