Macworld 2009, the last Macworld ever, kicks off today with a Keynote address scheduled for tomorrow morning. And although this is the last Macworld ever, Steve Jobs will not be presenting the Keynote.

When both these announcements were made in late 2008 the internet buzzed with rumors of Jobs failing health and need for Apple to address the issue.

Well, Steve addressed it today by releasing a letter to the public:

Dear Apple Community,

For the first time in a decade, I’m getting to spend the holiday season with my family, rather than intensely preparing for a Macworld keynote.

Unfortunately, my decision to have Phil deliver the Macworld keynote set off another flurry of rumors about my health, with some even publishing stories of me on my deathbed.

I’ve decided to share something very personal with the Apple community so that we can all relax and enjoy the show tomorrow.

As many of you know, I have been losing weight throughout 2008. The reason has been a mystery to me and my doctors. A few weeks ago, I decided that getting to the root cause of this and reversing it needed to become my #1 priority.

Fortunately, after further testing, my doctors think they have found the cause—a hormone imbalance that has been “robbing” me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy. Sophisticated blood tests have confirmed this diagnosis.

The remedy for this nutritional problem is relatively simple and straightforward, and I’ve already begun treatment. But, just like I didn’t lose this much weight and body mass in a week or a month, my doctors expect it will take me until late this Spring to regain it. I will continue as Apple’s CEO during my recovery.

I have given more than my all to Apple for the past 11 years now. I will be the first one to step up and tell our Board of Directors if I can no longer continue to fulfill my duties as Apple’s CEO. I hope the Apple community will support me in my recovery and know that I will always put what is best for Apple first.

So now I’ve said more than I wanted to say, and all that I am going to say, about this.

Steve

Although Steve points out his weight loss and health issue, he seems to feel strongly about his capabilities to continue to lead Apple. This will hopefully let everyone focus on the great announcements we hope to hear at Macworld from Apple and Third Party Developers.

Back in May we pointed out that Apple openly stated you need no Anti-Virus Software for your Apple Computers. Interestingly they’ve softened their stance a bit recently.

News has recently broken of a report on Apple’s website that suggests users implementing many different Anti-Virus software tools. Apple in response stated that the report was old and recently even removed it from their site.

But despite the removal of their report, Apple has changed their Get a Mac FAQ.

Below is a screenshot from May’s FAQ:

This has recently changed to their new Security, less Anti-Virus Free and Direct answer:

While most of the content remains the same, Apple is now advertising Macs as Secure computers instead of their previous “No Need for Anti-Virus” stance.

Only time will tell how much an Apple Computer really needs anti-virus software.

Apple has listed a number of its products as well as third party accessories and software at a discount Today, Friday the 28th of November. 

Items that are listed for this 1 day sale include: 

1. 20inch iMac  - Save $51
2. 13inch Macbook - Save $101
3. iPods (Save $11 - $21 depending on model)
4. Games including Call of Duty 4, Guitar Hero, and more

I’ve always been a big fan of movies. I enjoy watching them at the theater, the drive-ins, at home with family, on my computer, and even on my iPod Touch. And since I enjoy movies so much you can guess how excited I was with Netflix streaming library finally being available on Mac OS X.

In case you hadn’t heard, Netflix announced recently that they were releasing an upgrade to their Watch Instantly feature for both PC & Mac users. This was big news for us Mac fans because previously the only way we could take advantage of this Netflix feature was to do so through a Virtual Machine or booting directly into Windows.

Dropping Blockbuster

The news about streaming content from Netflix being available on my Mac, and the ever increasing price of online rentals through Blockbuster finally reached levels that made me decide to switch my movie rental service. I signed into my Blockbuster account, canceled it, and then directly signed up for Netflix.

Unfortunately, Netflix hasn’t turned on their upgraded and Mac ready streaming technology for all users. I was a bit surprised that they would announce the new feature and then tell people that they couldn’t yet take advantage of it. But it didn’t take long before Netflix announced on their blog how you can “Opt-In” to the new technology and watch video from their huge online catalog on your Mac.

Opt In to Netflix on your Mac

Thankfully, the process to Opt In to the new Mac ready features is quick and easy. Navigate to www.netflix.com/silverlightoptin , login to your account, and start watching streaming movies.

First Impressions

So far I’ve been impressed with the quality of video and how easy it is to navigate to find videos I may be interested in watching. I’ll keep you posted on the quality and added features that Mac users may see form their Netflix subscriptions. If you haven’t tried out Netflix, now may be the time.

Who ever thought that low gas prices would bring you free software!? Apparently, the CEO at CodeWeavers didn’t have much faith in the gas prices dropping before the end President Bush’s term.

Sometime three months ago the CEO at CodeWeavers promised to give away all of their software for free for one day if gas prices reached a low level before President Bush left office. Unfortunately for CodeWeavers, the sudden onslaught of recession fears and ever increasing drop in demand for oil has pushed gas prices below the level the CEO set.

And true to his word, CodeWeavers is allowing anyone to come and download free copies of their products TODAY Only (Oct 28th 2008).

Head over to CodeWeavers website now and download your Free copy of some of their products including:

CrossOver Mac Pro
CrossOver Games Mac

Be sure to provide your email address to receive the serial code for the applications you select.

*Both these applications allow you to run windows applications on OS X and outside of a virtual machine*