Apple Vows Its Next Step Is Counterattack

SAN FRANCISCO —  With a speech that was long on theatrics but short on specifics, Apple Computer Inc. Chairman Gilbert Amelio on Tuesday sought to persuade the world that the beleaguered computer company has a viable strategy for the future.

The much-anticipated event at the Macworld trade show here featured brief appearances by the likes of Hollywood actors Jeff Goldblum and Sinbad, as well as musician Peter Gabriel and former boxing champion Muhammad Ali, but the real stars were Apple’s legendary co-founders, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.

Even a takeoff from “Independence Day,” the film in which aliens attack Earth--and in this version are saved by Apple’s Macintosh computer--could not upstage the two Steves, who started the company in a garage 20 years ago.

Amelio likened his company’s predicament to that of the human race in the hit movie: “Independence Day has three acts. In the first, we’re all under attack. In Act 2, the good guys regroup . . . and finally when everything looks bleakest, there comes the counterattack.”

Apple’s counterattack features the new operating system software it will create based on the technology of Jobs’ Next Software Inc. Apple agreed late last month to acquire Next, and Jobs will rejoin the company as a consultant.

Jobs gave only a brief speech before being joined by Wozniak. The two received a standing ovation from the 4,000-strong Apple faithful who filled the seats and lined the hallways.

Jobs rallied the crowd with talk of the new operating system, scheduled for release during the fourth quarter of this year.

He and Amelio stressed that the new software, code-named “Rhapsody,” will run on today’s Macs and will be able to run applications written for machines shipping today via a compatibility window on the computer’s screen. In a briefing before the keynote address, Apple chief technology officer Ellen Hancock said the current Macintosh operating system will continue to be improved, perhaps for as long as another decade.

Though Amelio said he was disappointed by a projected first-quarter loss of between $100 and $150 million, he said the company’s recovery is on track. He noted that Apple has $1.7 billion in cash to weather what is likely to be a difficult transition year.

“In the past when we had problems, Apple would invent a new strategy,” he said. “We don’t do that anymore.

Apple hopes to ship a first version of Rhapsody to software developers by mid- to late next year, and a version ready for consumers within 12 months.