While Monday is usually the day for conference pass attendees, and the show officially starts on Tuesday, Macworld Conference & Expo really begins right after you register in your hotel room. Many people wander down to the Moscone to see what’s going on, and all of the press and conference speakers are there picking up their badges.

General attendees often want to meet the speakers and writers they admire, and Monday is the best day to grab a few minutes to do that. It is also the best day to reconnect with old Expo friends, and that’s what many of us did today. It is all about gearing up and prepping for the biggest Macintosh-related product show in the US. As of a few weeks ago attendance was up about 28% from last year, which adds to the promise of a great show.

A glimpse of the show floor showed lots of people working very hard to set up their booths. Equipment, boxes, and pieces of booths covered both halls. It’s that behind the scenes mass hysteria you never want to see, as the empty floor is efficiently filled with everything you’ve ever wanted to see for your Macintosh, iPod. All just waiting for you to investigate or buy.

While there isn’t much news on Monday, I did get a sneak peak at some of the features to be announced tomorrow (Tues.) bundled into the forthcoming MS Office product. I think you’ll like them! In the meantime an update for Office 2004 is available online. (http://store.mactech.com/description.html?PCODE=Stb2006)

Also announced on Monday is the new, first ever TidBITS Archive CD. Containing every article TidBITs ever published, it contains over 6,500 articles from 860 issues, written by more than 300 Macintosh experts. (Search back to the first two years and you’ll even see my name in there, reporting on Macworld Expo, of course.) Through Jan 31st, the CD is available through MacTech’s online store for $29.95 and this price will also be in effect as a show special at the MacTech booth (#N3320). Normally, the cost is $49.95.

Stay tuned for more Macworld news as the week flies by!
Ilene Hoffman, Review Editor