This month will be the launch of the Creature Creator for Will Wright's Spore, and the evolution simulator is set to touch two thirds of the PC population: Windows and Mac. What we have here are for gamers on both segments, though several Linux players might be interested as well. Are your Windows (emulation or non-emulation) and Mac rigs ready? The system requirements to run EA Maxis' masterpiece follows at the full story.

Apple's known for keeping secrets, though rumors about new MacBook SKUs soon to hit retail got out. Just a day after fellow blogger Tim Y. reported on a plausible product list hinting at the new models, the Cupertino-based company decided it was high time to make it official. The 2008 line of MacBook and MacBook Pro laptops have been introduced, with specifications updated for the current mobile generation.

The US$ 1,500 Tesla computing powerhouse might not be a PC-only affair after all - not with the news we've just heard. It looks like NVIDIA is gearing up to compete in the Apple segment of the personal computing market, and their latest offering includes the next-generation of GPUs: the general purpose graphics processing units or GPGPUs for short. More on that at the full story.

Now, here's something you don't see everyday - one of the fastest rated laptops for this year by PC World is the Apple Macbook Pro 17"...running on a Windows Vista Premium OS.

The the test was undertaken using a combination of the WorldBench 6 Tests, at which the MacBook Pro rated an 88, and by running two-graphics intensive games: Far Cry, and Doom 3.

The Apple machine passed the Doom 3 test with flying colors, thanks in part to its new nVidia GeForce 8600M GT card, which also allowed it to play Far Cry at a staggering 141 frames per second. The video card is bolstered by a 2.4-GHz Core 2 Duo T7700 CPU, 4GB of RAM, and a 160GB hard drive. This added up to a machine that the testers say was also light for its screen size - 6.6 pounds, although at the loss of a considerable bit of battery life - 2 hours and 45 minutes.

A lot of people who are the proud owners of an iMac aren't satisfied with just serving one master, so to speak. Thanks to the Boot Camp utility developed by Apple Inc., iMac users are given the opportunity to run Windows based applications through a separate partition on their hard drives.

Unfortunately, a lot of problems have been surfacing when it comes to running their dual-OS iMacs properly. These were most commonly found on computers that used NVIDIA's MXM slot format for the 24-inch iMacs. However, word from AppleInsider is that testers from Apple are validating a small patch that can solve these hiccups in the system.

Customers are having an especially hard time convincing customer support that these glitches in their systems were inherent to the iMac and not just a glitch within Boot Camp. Also, because Boot Camp is considered a beta when run under Mac OS X Tiger, it receives no official technical support from Apple.

The new patch confirms that the system failures can be controlled through software alone and its success depends largely whether the testers can isolate the remaining bugs in the system. Labeled as "iMac MXM Updater 1.0," the new patch has yet to have a release date, but with the advent of the new Mac OS X Leopard this October, the MXM updater will have the opportunity to be tested on the newer operating system as well.

Rumor has it that the entire MacBook line is going to be redesigned. The new units are said to be slimmer, faster, and generally better than its predecessors. Let's take a look at what Apple is said to be working on.

The standard MacBook's casing will be constructed from black and silver aluminum. The keyboards will be the standard Apple keyboards and will include a Biometric fingerprint reader for security. The track pad will be larger than previous models and is said to contain various "unusual" features. The best part of this whole deal is the fact that its price will be lowered so it can compete with the PC laptops.

Power users who opt to pick up the MacBook Pro will be treated to the same Black and Silver construction found in the MacBook. The units will come with the redesigned keyboards (backlit, of course), better battery life, and a 17-inch LED screen. Powering this monster will be Core 2 Extreme Mobile processors at 2.8 GHZ. If that's not enough, this laptop is said to also be sporting an NVIDIA GeForce 8600m GT at either 256 MB or 512 MB.

After looking at the specs, it really sounds too good to be true. But then, knowing Apple, it wouldn't be beyond them to be developing something as awesome as this under the radar. Hopefully, this rumor is true, because this blogger is already looking to replace his aging three year old laptop.

Apple has updated its line of MacBook Pro notebooks with faster models. These new MacBook Pros come equipped with the latest Core 2 Duo processors from Intel, increased memory of up to 4GB, and some nifty high-speed graphics courtesy of the Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT.

The new models come encased in a one-inch thin lightweight aluminum enclosures and are available in 15- and 17-inch models. The 15-inch models now sport mercury-free LED-backlit displays. The 17-inch model, on the other hand, features an optional 1920-1200 high-resolution display.

The 15-Inch MacBook pros come in two models: a 2.2 GHz model that retails for a suggested price of US$ 1,999 and a 2.4 GHz model that retails for a suggested price of US$ 2,499. The 17-inch 2.4GHz model has a suggested price tag of US$ 2,799. All of these models are now available.

In the spirit of bringing you more Apple TV-related modifications, we're now gonna show you how to run the full Mac OS X on the Apple TV. semthex from Hackint0sh.org hacked out a replacement to the Mac OS X kernel, side-stepping over certain hardware restrictions that previously made running the Mac OS X on an Apple TV improbable.

Here are the steps to install the full Mac OS X on the Apple TV. Install at your own risk.

1) Remove the drive from the Apple TV
2) Back up your drive! Make an image of it (see the harddrive upgrade tutorial for this)
3) Connect the drive to a regular Mac (use a Firewire or USB drive dock)
4) Install OS X (Intel version) to the drive (we suggest a slim install - no printer drivers etc.)
5) Boot from this drive, and set it up as you would like it. Make sure you do updates so it is at least 10.4.8.
6) Reboot to your normal OS X install.
7) Remove mach_kernel from root of the drive containg the ATV install.
8) Replace it with the customised mach_kernel that youÂ?ll find on Hackint0sh.org.
9) Replace /System/Libary/Coreservices/boot.efiwith the same file from your backup of the Apple TV OS drive (OSBoot partition).
10) Run bless:

bless --folder=/Volumes/OSBoot/System/Library/CoreServices --file=/Volumes/OSBoot/System/Library/CoreServices/boot.efi --setBoot

11) Delete all the Nvidia kexts (all beginning with NVD, there should be 5) from the target drive (in /System/Library/Extensions).
12) Transfer the drive back to the Apple TV
13) Turn the Apple TV on and cross your fingers...

And you should boot up into Mac OS X. The Apple TV running Mac OS X can use the mouse and the keyboard normally. Use either Front Row or Back Row to watch content.

For a more detailed how-to, check the installation video by clicking on the full article link below.

Mac News World reports that Aspyr Media has released a demo of Star Wars: Empire at War for the Mac. The demo, which weighs in at 892MB, is free and can be downloaded at Macgamefiles.com. PowerPC users are out of luck, though, as the demo is only for Intel-based Macs.

Set a few years before Star Wars: A New Hope, the game lets gamers experience the creation of the Rebel Alliance and the Empire's struggle to keep its iron grip on the universe. Players can choose to play as one of the two aforementioned factions. As in all RTS games, they must collect resources, build bases, recruit units, and research new technology.

If you're thinking of getting a copy of the demo, here are the system requirements for the game, courtesy of Mac News World and the Mac Game Store: Intel processor, Mac OS 10.4.8 or later, a CPU speed of 1.83 GHz or greater, 512 MB of RAM, and one of the following video cards: ATI Latest News about ATI Radeon X1600, Nvidia Geforce 7300 or Intel GMA 7300 with at least 64 MB of VRAM.

Star Wars: Empire at War is slated for a North American release this week for a price of US$ 49.95.

Mac fans have been waiting for their pre-ordered Apple TV, sometimes nicknamed iTV, since January. This is because a lot of delays have pushed the product's release from it's originally planned date of launch.

Now, Apple sends its word of reassurance saying that the Apple TV will begin shipping by mid-March. Apple has never really issued an official explanation for the delays. There's been a lot of speculation as to why the release dates keep getting postponed, but people familiar with the matter have figured out that NVIDIA is the source of last month's delay.

Apparently, some quirks in the embedded graphics software has had Apple's quality assurance people raise some last minute warnings. Just take it as a sign that those Apple guys are always in the lookout for their clients' satisfaction.