iMac G5 – simply the best PC I have ever used!

I just purchased a new iMac G5 PC for my home http://www.apple.com/imac/ (for home use, and my side consulting business) All I can do is shake my head at how incredible of a machine this is. I thought my Mac PowerBook was a great computer (and it still is) but the iMac is even better. First, MAC OS X is UNIX based, which is a huge plus for me, since I am a *nix geek. I love Linux, and just about any version of Unix. OS X is based on BSD Unix, which is a little bit different of a Unix flavor that I am used to, but I am slowly finding my way around.

The GUI on top of Unix in OS X, is beautiful. Plenty of eye candy, and useful features. The search tool is worth the price os the standalone OS itself (about $129). Have a look at http://www.apple.com/macosx for more features.

We Apple users also do not have to worry about viruses, spyware and worms, as much as our Windows friends. In fact, I do not even run anti-virus software on my Mac. Try that on a Windows PC, and you will be down for hours once you get zapped (and you will get zapped). Since the Mac is Unix based, it inherits the permissions system of Unix, where only the root user is allowed to install system wide applications, and regular users do not have permission to do so without the root password. So, every time you install new software, it will prompt you for your password. In the rare chance you were to receive an email with a virus, the password prompt would pop up, and you would know right away that something is wrong. Sure, Windows has user permission control, but most people, and even most software, require Administrator permissions to run. When will Microsoft learn? Unix/Linux has been doing this for many, many years, and it is really not that hard to do. Although backwards compatibility, may play a role with that paradigm.

The iMac comes with a remote! When the menu button on the remote is pressed, the desktop fades away (with a real neat graphic effect), and a real simple to use, large rotating icons appear, that let you easily navigate your Photo’s, DVD’s, Movie’s, and Music. The interface is very similar to navigating an iPod. Oh yea, using a digital camera on a Mac, is truly “plug, and play”. I have plugged 4 different digital camera’s (2 were borrowed for testing purposes) into it, and none of them required a driver disk, or download. All the camera’s were different makes, too. The iPhoto application popped up, and I was ready to import. No fumbling around for a CD, or surfing to the vendors website to download a driver – it simply worked.

If the iMac is too expensive for you (models start at $1299) there is also a Mac Mini – http://www.apple.com/macmini/, which starts at $499, but there is no monitor, keyboard or mouse. The Mac Mini will work with your current monitor, but it requires a USB keyboard and a USB mouse.

If you are thinking about a new computer this Christmas, and are tired of all the viruses, spyware, worms, and trojan horses, grab a Mac – you won’t want to go back to Windows.

Here is a link to a review from the Wall Street Journal:

http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/solution-20051130.html

That review is right on.

So, here is a summary of how I use computers now:

Linux on the Server
Mac OS X on the desktop
Windows for Solitaire