“I’ve been using a new Intel-based Apple iMac since last week. I had been curious to see how the machine would compare to its predecessors, and I’m happy to say that the news is mostly quite good. Encased in the same case as its predecessor, the 20″ widescreen iMac looks almost identical to the iMac G5 it replaces, albeit with one new exterior addition: a mini-DVI-out port, which, when combined with an external display, lets you extend the Mac desktop to two screens,” Paul Thurrott writes for Connected Home Media. “Inside, of course, the iMac is all new, with an Intel Core Duo processor, and Intel-based versions of Mac OS X 10.4.4, Front Row, and iLife ’06. In day-to-day use, the iMac is virtually indistinguishable from its predecessor: The performance is snappy, especially in the Finder, the bundled applications, and iLife.”
“Some pieces are missing, however, and these exclusions could make Apple’s Intel transition perilous in the short term for long-time Mac users,” Thurrott writes and then goes on to explain that Classic Mac programs won’t run on Intel-based Macs and some applications need to be updated by developers to run at full speed on the Intel-based Macs (Universal Binaries).
Thurrott concludes, “Like its predecessor, the new iMac is available in 17″ and 21″ variants, at prices of $1299 and $1699, respectively. Those prices might seem a bit high compared to similar PCs, but remember that they include the roomy displays and a number of features that most PCs don’t include, such as FireWire, an 8X dual-layer DVD burner, an integrated VGA-quality Web camera, a remote control, and, of course, iLife ’06. A fully equipped iMac can set you back north of $2000, but don’t be misled: This is a high-quality machine with legs for the future. I highly recommend it, especially if you don’t mind living on the edge for the next few months.”
Full article here.
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Related MacDailyNews articles:
Thurrott: ‘Nothing on Windows approaches the quality of Apple’s iLife ’06’ – January 31, 2006
Computerworld: Apple’s MacBook Pro ‘fast, really fast – looks like a real winner’ – January 28, 2006
MacSpeedZone: Apple’s iMac Core Duo nearly as fast as Power Mac G5 Quad – January 26, 2006
InfoWorld: Apple perfects the desktop personal computer with new iMac Core Duo – January 25, 2006
Flawed CNET review pans Apple’s iMac Core Duo with 7 out of 10 rating – January 23, 2006
Washington Post: Wait a month or so before buying Apple’s appealing new Intel-based iMac – January 22, 2006
Apple’s Intel-powered iMac provides a smooth transistion from PowerPC – January 21, 2006
PC Magazine review gives Apple iMac Intel Core Duo 4.5 out of 5 stars – January 20, 2006
Time names Apple iMac Core Duo ‘Gadget of the Week’ – January 20, 2006
Mossberg: New Intel-based iMac the best consumer desktop with the best OS and best software bundle – January 18, 2006
Wow, another pro-Apple article from Thurrott. Or perhaps it’s “Thurr-bott” a new top secret invention from Apple’s deepest darkest labs?
Once you go mac…
(Is he becoming a mac fan??)
he’s been a mac fan for some time now. however, he’s pretty balanced too. thankfully not too much zealotry.
is that what the lack of 5-10 year old OS 9 apps means to Thurott’s readers?
and WHY go on and on about non-native games for which native patches have ALREADY been announced and are expected within days anyway? that’s the “most damaging” is it?
still, give him hits until MS agrees to up his kickback and he returns to spreading FUD.
In the past while I’ve grown much more fond of Paul, and not just because he has been writing more positive reviews on Apple products as of late. Gather round, and I shall tell ye a tale…
On Christmas Day I got a little bit too inebriated (intoxicated, for those without Tiger’s dictionary) and I was reading some old Thurrott articles, primarily when he was very negative about Apple products. I got frustrated and wrote Paul an email proving my disgust for him and how he doesn’t do anything but bash products. I didn’t expect an answer at all.
The very next day (early in the morning, as well) I got a personal response from Paul himself, and he took the email I sent him lightly, and seemed very honest. He explained that he didn’t just bash products, but helped companies build better technologies, such as forcing Microsoft to rewrite a new UI model for Vista. Pretty big. I was surprised that he even responded personally, and not some cookie-cutter generic email he’s sent to countless others.
So I’ve thought twice before laying the smack on Thurrott, and although he might now be “seeing the light”, I think we should all make peace with the guy.
*preparing for backlash*
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bummer that classic programs won’t run. I didn’t know that. I guess apple did a good job keeping that hidden for a while. I don’t use many classic programs anymore though, so itss all good.
I’m still running Quark 4 at work, under Classic on a G5 which I guess is going to last us another 4-5 years, so a switch to an Intel Mac and a Quark 6/7 upgrade is some years away…
By saying living on the edge he meant having to use non universal binary apps such as MS Office and Adobe Photoshop and even Apple’s high end Apps.
Living on the edge, having to use apps in emulation mode, waiting for universal binaries.
Good luck with that approach Bartsimpsonhead. The industry is fast switching over now that Quark 6.5 is stable and Quark 7 is nearly done. And 7 is loaded with an incredible array of new production-friendly features.
And no, I don’t work for Quark. I’m just a user of 6.5 and I perused the review of 7 over at creativepro.com and have messed around with the beta. Runs on Intel, too. Sweet stuff.
{Reprint}
O.K., I’ve finally figured it out!
“Thurrott” is not a person. No, “Thurrott” is a franchise. Kind of like “Santa Claus” or the “Tooth Fairy”.
You see, somewhere in India (probably Bangalore), there is a sweat shop of “writers” that stamp out the various “Thurrott” articles on this and that. Sometimes (purely by chance) the Indian, sweat shop “writer” is competent on things relating to Macintosh. Result: the article makes sense. Mostly though someone dimmer than a pen light, writes the articles saying things like Bill Gates invented the Macintosh.
I’m glad it finally came to me; “Thurrott’s” seeming multiple personalities was driving me nuts!
I have Aldus SuperPaint that I use a lot – works fine on a PPC with Tiger. So that’s one reason not to upgrade to Intel yet. (For you youngsters – Aldus was the company that originally released PageMaker. They were bought up by Adobe years and years and years ago.)
I have a freeware game that I like. The developers notes say “has been tested on a Macintosh II”, like that is the latest and greatest thing. It also works great on a PPC under Tiger. Mac II – that’s like late 1980’s technology!
Also I lot of the kids software I see in the stores is still OS 9.
Last year I working for a company that was still using OS 9 for all its key apps. The old stuff- hardware and software – did what they needed, so why change?
So it will be a shame that evil local leader SJ finally gets his way and finally kills OS 9.
Now I know how the Woz felt when SJ finally killed the Apple ][!
I’m still running Quark 4 at work, under Classic on a G5 which I guess is going to last us another 4-5 years
In my previous post about my employer last year, I shoud have said they were still on Quark 3. We found Quark 4 to be too buggy.
A print shop that I do a lot of work with uses PageMaker 6.5 which never has and never will be ported to OS X. Adobe wants the world to use InDesign. That client will not be updating anytime soon.
YA’ HEAR THAT ‘LIZABETH? I’M COMIN’ TO JOIN YA’ HONEY!
(Fred Sanford mimicking a heart attack upon hearing shocking news)
I don’t give a damn about Classic/OS 9 support either. I switched from Windows 3 years ago and I don’t own one piece of software that ever ran in Classic. Hell, they haven’t even sold Mac software that wasn’t OS X native since when? 2002 maybe?
The lack of Classic support literally will only impact maybe 2% of potential iMac buyers out there, so it’s basically a non issue. If you still have OS 9 only software, you probably need to toss it. It’s about as silly as trying to run DOS only software on a Windows XP PC today.
Has an alternate Universe opened a worm hole to ours and an alternate reality Thurrott come over into our universe and replaced the evil Thurrott with a good one? Reminds me of Star Trek. Does Thurrott have a goatee?
“A print shop that I do a lot of work with uses PageMaker 6.5 which never has and never will be ported to OS X. Adobe wants the world to use InDesign. That client will not be updating anytime soon.”
I have yet to find a program that matches the simplicity and powe of PageMaker. What a great program.
I especially miss the “Make Booklet” function…Brilliant!
Age mellows.
Perhaps Mr Thurrott, like me, is getting older and beginning to regret some of the exuberancies of his youth.
OS 9 only makes sense when you run it natively on, let’s say, a G4 tower. Classic has only been a crutch, same as Rosetta, but not as good. A lot of apps under Classic have the processor running at full tilt, slowing the machine to a crawl. Two months ago, we have sat down for a full day and transformed all the old files (ClarisDraw) into PDFs for later reference. All MacWritePro files were transformed to RTF with an old version of MacLinkPlus in batch mode. Then we deinstalled Classic and have been happy ever since. Good riddance.
OK Thurrott – what name are you using on the MDN forum now we see you what you are – a total Mac convert???
He is jumping the MS ship because he sees where the
money is. He wouldn’t be saying any of this if MS
weren’t having its woes and Apple skyrocketing.
He’s just a wanker.
Period.
Thurr- rat’s previous anti mMac rantings are not to be forgiven or forgotten. Too late, freak, your reservation in the Eighth Circle of Hell is confirmed and can’t be avoided. Fry, bitch.
I still use Quark 4, had two liscenses of Quark 6.0 during the scary days of Panther, between new installs of the OS’s, Quark 2 updates – which all trashed the install and resulted in activation calls to Quark. In Feb. of 2005 I was informed by Quark’s tech support that they would no longer support me since I was having so many reinstalls 7 in the last 14 months. I said thank you, pulled out Indesign 2.0 and resurrected my 2 copies of Quark 4. Markwarz makes a program that will open Quark 5 or 6 in Quark 4. Once in Quark 4.0 it can be imported to InDesign. Life had gotten easy compared to dealing with Quark. Now I hear that Classic is gone, I’ll be eyeing Markzware for a solution. Since removing Quark, my system has been very stable.
“the new iMac is available in 17″ and 21″ variants”
I didn’t know there was a 21″ iMac.