by , 7:00 AM EST, January 5th, 2001

The Mac Observer turns 4 today, having been launched as Webintosh on January 5th, 1997. That's a hundred and 32 years in Internet time, but don't tell us that. We like to think of ourselves as a svelte 72. In honor of entering our 5th year, the new millennium, and just in time for MACWORLD San Francisco, we decided to give ourselves a face lift with a new logo and the new design, which you may have noticed. We hope you like it.

The new home page is designed to let you see all of our latest content with a minimum of scrolling. We are also introducing our new Columns & Editorials home page for easy access to our opinionated content, and a new Reports section that includes all of our in-depth reports. Mac Observer reports consist of stories pertaining to a particular topic, such as The Apple Stock Watch report. Need to see what was introduced at the WWDC 1999? It's there, and don't let anyone tell you that Apple never introduces hardware at a WWDC event either. Our MACWORLD San Francisco 2001 Report has also been launched so you can see all the latest Expo news.

Many people prefer to see more than just headlines when they are surfing for news, but we simply run too many stories every day to put more than the headlines on our home page. For those readers who want this feature, we have provided a News Page for just that purpose. The News Page has a teaser for every story (stories with Spins have a teaser for that too). The News Page is simultaneously updated with our home page, so feel free to bookmark it!

Lastly, we have introduced a new logo and new icons that you may have also noticed. Our previous logo served us well, but it was time to replace it. The icons are a new feature to help let you know what's what. They look pretty darned good too, and that's handy. They were designed by Mendelini, the design firm behind Liquid Folders and Liquid Buttons. You can see more of their work and icons at the company's Web site.

We would like to thank everyone who helped with the new design, as well as the readers and sponsors who make The Mac Observer possible. Thanks to BackBeat Media for their great work with our advertising needs, too. It's been a great 4 years, and we are looking forward to the next 4!

Please e-mail us your comments on the new design. We want to know what you think!

Bryan Chaffin
Editor-in-Chief