Loving My iMac
I’ve wanted to get a Mac for a really long time now. When they first came out with the iMac in 1998, Mac still had alot of catching up to do with the PC in terms of useability and applications. But OS X has established itself not only as a viable alternative Windows but also as a superior one. I have been holding out to see what Apple would release next for several iterations. For a long time I wasn’t sure what to get. I love the portability and price of the iBook but I loved the horepower of the PowerMac. But when Apple released the new iMac with Front Row and a faster G5 processor, I couldn’t resist. The price was right, the options were right and I couldn’t hold out any longer. I’ve been using my iMac for about a month now and I am completely in love with this machine! I went with the 17 inch model which includes:
- 1.9 GHz Power PC G5 processor
- 512MB of 533MHz DDR2 SDRAM
- 160 GB HDD
- Slot-loading 8x SuperDrive
- 17-inch (viewable) widescreen TFT active-matrix LCD
- Built-in iSight
- ATI Radeon X600 Pro with 128MB DDR SDRAM; PCI-Express
My new iMac is by far the best desktop computer I’ve owned. It has such a small footprint on my desk and the display is absolutely beautiful. It is almost completely silent with only the occassional sound of a fan when I am really pushing its buttons. OS X is extremely stable and has so many great features that will satisfy any user from a novice to a full blown computer geek. I’m not going to go into the features of OS X here because that will be the subject of many future posts. I’m especially excited to start writing software for the Mac using the XCode IDE.
My day job is developing web based software for a Microsoft shop. Its great to come home and work in a different environment. Microsoft still has its competition beat in the server market, but OS X is clearly a better desktop OS than Windows XP. Another reason that I chose to purchase my Mac now is because I’m a little sceptacle about the transition to Intel chips next year. Ultimately this will be great for Apple computers, but there may be some rough spots in the beginning.
The new iMac’s are great machines and I would recommend them to anyone looking for a new desktop. They are beautiful to look at and they perform like a dream. I’ve lost alot of sleep since making the purchase of my new iMac!
It`s great to hear that people like iMacs. I love them, but i can`t affort one.
I`m buying an Intel Mac Mini after they come out.
Good luck with you iMac and post more stuff about it. I`ll read everything.
I want an intel mac as well, perhaps one of the MacBooks when they perfect them. I want to wait untill they sort out all of the rough spots first. When I first heard about the new intel iMacs I was a little bummed out for not waiting, but I know that my tried and true G5 may not be as fast but its likely not as glitchy either!
As much as I know, they have been testing the intel processor since the first versions of OS X, or even earlier than that. Here is a quote by Steve Jobs:
Mac OS X has been leading a secret double life for the past ten years. We’ve had teams doing a ‘just in case’ scenario.
More on this topic is available here. Also read apple.com/intel. This ad looks so good. Check it out
I`m sure these links will change your mind a little about how glitchy this is
[...] Before I upgraded to my new iMac and Dell Demension 9150 I had a super slow frankenstein PC that I would try to run iTunes on. Boy was it pig slow. Unless you have a Mac or a super fast PC, iTunes can be a nightmare to work with. iTunes can also be a pain to work with if you have multiple sources with which you are loading your iPod from. Many times I like to take my iPod over to a friend’s house and load it up or load some stuff from work or home. This can cause real headaches if you use iTunes. Well Lifehacker just posted this great tutorial on how to configure your iPod so that it is self sustaining. [...]