Macurmudgeon 2.0

Here's David Pogue on the new iMacs:

What you'll discover is that the new iMac is deliciously fast when it's running Intel-ready software. Just turning the machine on is a joy, because starting up now takes 20 seconds instead of 60, like the previous model; you'll want to do it again and again. Programs open up a lot faster, too: GarageBand, for example, is ready for your musical inspiration in only 9 seconds, rather than 20. Web pages appear startlingly quickly: nytimes.com pops open in about 1 second (versus 2), Amazon is ready in 2 seconds (versus 4) and MSN appears in 6 seconds (versus 8).

In other words, if your computer world is complete with programs for e-mail, the Web, word processing, graphics viewing, music playing and editing of photos, movies, basic Web sites and music tracks, then choosing the IntelliMac over the regular iMac is a no-brainer. The computer comes preloaded with all the software you need, all Intel-ready. You get a heck of a lot more speed for the same price.

Pogue could have added the following, among others, to his list of computer tasks:

• Converting graphics files (Preview)
  
• Writing shell scripts (Terminal)
  
• General Unix mucking-about (Terminal again)
  
• Creating DVD movies (iDVD)
  
• Blogging (iWeb)
  
• Administering a server (Apache)
  
• Duplicating drives and volumes (Disk Utility)
  
• Making presentations and reading PowerPoint files (Keynote)
  
• Word processing and basic page layout (Pages)
  

Other than those omissions, though, Pogue hits it right on the head: the new IntelliMacs (great moniker, that - well done, David) are great, right now, as-is, for the majority of computer users. This is not to dismiss the very real needs of "pro" users, or the performance hit of Rosetta, or the glitches with non-Intel-native flash or java content.

But for the vast majority of everyday computer tasks, these are fantastic machines, particularly the iMacs, which are targeted to users who don't need expandability or portability (and therefore are more likely to have our needs met by the apps and uses Pogue and I list above).

So you can go ahead and wait for 64-bit Intel CPUs and Universal binaries from MS and Adobe (although with MS, really, how fast does Word really need to be? You can still type up the florid emanations of your mind's eye just fine under Rosetta). As for me, if I didn't already have an iMac G5, I'd snap up a Core Duo this second.