Whenever I come across a Media 100 article, my mind has a sort of "hmmmm" moment. It's not like I don't like the system, or wish it a slow death. It's just that it wouldn't exactly make my short list of the most popular editing systems.

Media 100 has been around since the early 90s. In it's heyday, non-linear editors required expensive hardware add-ons to get the job done. In the last 5 or 6 years, the PC has become powerful enough to handle editing by itself. This new power spawned editing systems like Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere, and Avid Express among others. Well, it looks like Media 100 hopes to be added to the list.

Yesterday, Artel Software (makers of Boris FX) began shipping software only versions of Media 100 Producer, and Media 100 Producer Suite. The software supports SD and HD, as well as traditional Media 100 codecs. built in is FireWire I/O, and P2 card work-flow have also been added to the mix. The Media 100 producer line will be optimized for Intel based Macs in January 2007.

From the short list of features, it sounds like media 100 has a comprehensive software package, but to me it seems they are a little late to the dance. the software is for Mac only, and the Producer Suite retails for $1295. At that price, and on that system, another production bundle comes to mind.

I certainly don't mean to bash Media 100, and I am sure it has some advantages I have overlooked. It's just that, taking this long to release a product and hoping to compete with Apple doesn't instill a lot of confidence in me. If any stalwart Media 100 users read this, please leave me some feedback, and let me know why you love the system.