The Mac version of Halo has now reached 1.03, bringing it compatible with the large number of PC-based servers out there that have already been running 1.03 for some weeks now. HBO is running a list of mirrors for the patch. We've also put up our own mirror of the Mac Halo 1.03 Updater. This also means that the HBO-Subnova Halo PC server has also been upgraded to 1.03 once more, bringing back some of the stranger custom gametypes that were hosted on it earlier. Thanks to Frankie for the heads-up over on Bungie.net.

UPDATE: VersionTracker, a site that... well, tracks versions, if you're into that sort of thing, also has a page on the Halo 1.03 Update, and some users have put some quite negative comments on it about the update. This mainly has to do with requiring the CD in the drive to play the game, which is especially aggravating to laptop users (like myself) who don't like to carry a lot of CDs (or use up precious battery life) while on the move. Here's hoping that at least, once MacSoft is satisfied they've sold all the copies of Mac Halo that they're going to, they'll change their minds and remove this requirement in a later patch; currently the Read Me file states:

Previous versions of Halo did not require you to have a CD inserted to play the game. Unfortunately, due to heavy illegal online downloading of the software, this and all future versions of Halo will require a CD to play.

Sympathizing as I do with the all-too-logical desire to get paid for work you've done, I can understand how someone stealing your stuff can piss you off. However, there's also a practical side here, and watching the software industry for the past twenty years should be enough to make a company realize that short of a dongle, determined pirates always win out in the long term, usually because they have more time than money. If there isn't a CD-hack for PC Halo yet, there will be, for 1.03 and for all following versions, and the only people who will be inconvenienced by this are the customers who paid for Halo.