Brand: MacNews

Mygate has filed for bankruptcy, according to MacUser UK. Rival retailer Cancom has purchased the rights to the Mygate name, and is also trying to purchase the company’s database. Mygate’s demise marks the third large Mac retailer to go under in recent years, joining Mac Supplies and Camelot.

A c|net article discusses the presence of Apple’s retail stores and their impact on local Mac dealers, weighing the positive (increased numbers of Mac users and, in some cases, service contracts) with the negative (a reduction in retail sales). Although, as Don Mayer, CEO of Mac reseller Small Dog Electronics points out, there are so many factors in the market right now that for a dealer to blame a reduction in sales on a nearby Apple retail location may not be fair.

Charles Haddad trumpets, “At long last, I can recommend [Mac OS X] to all Mac users,” in this week’s Byte of the Apple column for BusinessWeek. The column takes a close look at Mac OS X 10.1, the features, improvements, and other aspects of the upgraded operating system.

In the wake of the September 11 attacks and continued economic weakness, analysts are predicting that Dell Computer will announce an earnings warning tomorrow during a business update. If the company indeed cuts profit targets, it would join Compaq, NEC, Sony, and others in cutting estimates. Apple, which reports its earnings on October 17, has yet to issue any earnings warning.

LaCie has posted Silverlining Pro 6.4.3, as noted by VersionTracker, an update to the software and drivers for its USB, FireWire, and SCSI hard drives. The new version adds support for its USB 2.0 drives (although they only function at USB 1.1 speeds on the Mac), improved striped RAID performance, improved FireWire performance, and more. LaCie has also responded to user complaints regarding its Web site and now allows users to download updates without having to login or register.