Walt, after all, it is the basis for this. And this. Microsoft should be very proud, or we should all be very scared. [WSJ]

“But here’s a tip: Apple concedes that the $US29 Snow Leopard upgrade will work properly on these Tiger-equipped Macs, so you can save the extra $US140.”

I know Apple’s PR people are having a heart attack right now reading that. They don’t like it when influential journalists suggest violations of the EULA. In fact, they generally label that stuff as “illegal,” and I am sure many lawyers would agree that it is.

So, is this Mossberg ripping open his shirt, tying a bandanna around his head and saying, “Ahoy mateys, the rules were meant to be keel-hauled!” Or is this a slip-up he’s going to have to apologise for—or at least qualify with an explanation—in the morning? Is it a great tip, or is he telling every Tiger user to steal $US140 out of the mouth of Steve Jobs. We’ll keep an eye out for the answer. [AllThingsD]

Update: Apparently NYT’s David Pogue also supports this breach of EULA (or is perhaps using a funny way to report EULA crashers to Apple?):

Don’t forget to read our Snow Leopard review!

Walt Mosspuppet lays out surviving the Windows 7 apocalypse: Blowing up Best Buys will slow the spread, but killing the head Windows 7 is crucial. If you can’t join the fight, seek shelter in an Apple Store. Ready? [YouTube]

Walt Mossberg, that wrinkly goateed goblin hired by the Wall Street Journal for some reason, is known as the world’s most powerful Apple fanboy, at least to him. The latest Mosspuppet video, featuring Muppet Mossberg, includes a not-so-friendly Gizmodo shout-out.

This is maybe a little insidery for those who don’t read other tech journalism besides Giz (and really, why would you?), but Mossberg is known for playing up his close connection with Steve Jobs for product previews, being vastly inferior to the New York Times‘ David Pogue, and using the word “iPhone” more often than “Pre” in his supposed hands-on article about the Palm Pre. This video is a pretty spot-on skewering, though I’m no doubt swayed by my deep and unabashed love of all things Muppet.

The best part of the video? “I’m Walt Mossberg. Shut up!” Genius. [Fake Steve]

Walt Mosspuppet answers reader mail, exactly like you’d expect the only technology journalist in the world to. [YouTube via Fake Steve Jobs]

As usual, this matrix is just the tip of the molehill—if you want to really get in deep with these colourful characters, here’s where to look:

• NYT – David Pogue

• WSJ – Walt Mossberg

• USA Today – Ed Baig

• Wired – Steven Levy

• Cnet – Kent German

• Engadget – Josh Topolsky

• Gizmodo – Jason Chen

What the…?

Aaaaah, in reply to:

“Ah too much netbook, cell phone and mobile tech news coming! As Jessie Spano said, I’m soooo excited…I’m sooo scared!”

*relief*

[@waltmossberg in reply to @JoannaStern]

His review is behind WSJ’s curtain, so to summarise:

His major gripe with MobileMe is that unlike most Apple products he’s reviewed, it doesn’t “just work.” He cites changes made on computers taking “15 minutes, at best” to sync out to the web interface and iPhones, which is a big no-no for a service touting instant syncing across all of your devices. Other results from his test are equally disappointing:

• Web interface sluggish, and needs to be hard-refreshed to get changes to show up.
• Web-based storage is full of bugs when trying to connect with Windows machines
• Tons of incompatibilities bringing Mac contact groups and calendars into Outlook–things showing up as separate address books and calendars rather than groups or merging into the main calendar.
• Synched contacts loading slowly on iPhone, occasionally loading with no phone numbers and dropping custom ringtones (to play the Rocky theme when Pogue calls?)

In short, MobileMe is still full of substantial bugs and isn’t close to being ready for prime time, if you haven’t been able to tell already. Coming from Mossberg, though, means Apple needs to get serious about fixing this thing. So if you’re on the fence of whether to drop the US$100 on a subscription, it’s probably a good idea to wait a bit.

Here’s the report straight from Walt’s iSight.

[WSJ]