Apple iMac 15 in. (M7677LL/A) Mac Desktop

Much has been made about the design of the new generation of iMacs. I don't spend too much time thinking about that, but do appreciate the ability to re-adjust the screen according to whatever position I happen to be sitting - or slouching - in.

The great thing about these machines is their ability to become, basically, whatever you want them to be. The Apache server software that comes installed means you've automatically got a basic web server on your hands. If you want to stop there, you're set. If you want to use it for web development and add databasing & php or other languages, you'll have to go into the Unix guts and learn to deal with line commands, but there are more than enough help sites put together by other Mac enthusiasts that can walk the uninitiated through the process.

Apple didn't include all of its developer software with this machine, but it easily accepted and installed the aps from a previous version of OS X I had for my old one.

If you want to use it for gaming, as long as the game-makers are willing to support the OS, you're there. The 40 gig HD has plenty of space for your favorites, and 700 Mhz on a Mac is a good deal faster than its PC counter-part. Prior to this, I was using a 266 iMac with little difficulty for speed, but running out of space with 6 gigs.

If you want to use it as a sound editing & recording station, it can do that, too. I recommend Digidesign's Pro-Tools or Pro-Tools free - and with the addition Apple's included disc-burning software, you no longer have to purchase an external application. Again, the HD space is a bonus, and I've no complaints about the speed ability on the burner. 6 minutes burn-time for a 70 minute audio disc is the cat's meow.

When I brought the machine home (August 2002), the speed was the fastest I'd ever used on a Mac; unfortunately, the newest OS release - 10.2 (Jaguar) is clunky in comparison to the version that came installed. But that's a software issue; assume it will be improved on in future releases. Set-up took hardly any-time and I was on the 'net almost immediately.

Included were the usual keyboard and optical mouse (I opted to purchase a Kensington for the BIG trackball), plenty of cables, Apple Pro speakers, 256m RAM (immediately upgraded to 512) which can easily be augmented at home, a shammy for screen cleaning, and too many software programs to count.

So let's get down to it - here's what I love:

You have the option of choosing which OS you want to boot in - 9.x or OS X. With the ever-increasing amount of aps that support OS X, and the addition of 'Classic Mac,' which lets you use a version of 9 at the same time you operate in OS X, the need to physically reboot into 9.x is minimal.

Free BSD (Unix): For people who want and have the ability to use 100% total control over their machine, you now have the power. My PC/Linux/Unix-using friends that have had a chance to explore the G4 iMacs don't make fun of me anymore. They've also added Pico for text editing in terminal mode, so there's no more head-scratching and 'what was the name of that editor again?'

And if you don't want to go poking into the guts of your OS, there is the standard beauty of the Mac: advanced GUIs mean you don't have to. With improved security, the machine's owner can decide who can login, how they can login, and what permissions they will have to read, write and destroy. In other words, you can idiot-proof it enough for mom and dad to use. No one can install a program that will affect the operating system without a top level administrator's password.

The weight - or lack of it - means I can hook it up to my TV in the other room and record audio (you'll need jacks to convert RCA to USB or FireWire), and it's not a pain in the butt to carry back and forth.

Networking is a breeze, and when I'm ready to go WiFi, all it needs is an AirPort station and card.

The DVD rom/software & flat screen combo gives good quality picture - but I do have occasional pauses - you'll need to keep background applications at a minimum if you want to watch a movie. I purchased the ROM because I didn't see myself needing to make or copy DVDs, but now that I've seen the possibilities for making my own movies (iMovie software included doesn't give the best picture quality), I wish I'd held out for the DVDr super-drive after all.

Little annoyances:

Anytime I put a blank audio CD in, the machine thinks it's unrecognizable and wants to format it. This should be completely unnecessary.

Printing in OS X is less customizable than printing from 9.x or Classic Mac. (software issue)

There might be a little too much idiot-proofing going on, for when you want to DL a link source or web page under 'save as.'

The tech support rating is irrelevant to this review: I am an experienced Mac user and haven't had to place a call. There have been no hardware problems, and if there had been any software questions, I would have known where to go to get answers.

Also note that while audio and graphics upgrades shouldn't be necessary except for extreme professional use, the only upgrade slots are for RAM and AirPort cards. If you need to expand beyond that, this is not the machine for you.