Normally, a speedier computer that appears to be a carbon copy of the one it replaced isn’t worthy of much attention.
Not so with the new iMac from Apple Computer Inc., the first with silicon brains from Intel Corp.
The new iMacs remain visually stunning, with the entire computer squeezed into the frame of a 17-inch or 20-inch flat-panel display. They still have built-in video cameras. They run most of the same software titles. And they cost the same ($1,299 or $1,699) as the last generation of iMacs, which ran IBM’s PowerPC chips.
Given all that could have gone wrong in the historic chip switch, all this similitude is significant.
The Intel Core Duo processor inside, with two computing engines on each chip, does deliver a boost in performance with some programs, though Apple’s claims of up to three times over the last generation is a stretch.
The chips also don’t kick off as much heat, suggesting they’re consuming less power – just as would be expected from a chip whose heritage is in notebooks.
More significant than the new chip itself is the impact of the transition on users.
Swapping such a key component isn’t as easy as prying out the old and plopping in the new. Supporting chips also must be switched out, and every bit of software, from the operating system on up, must either be rewritten or translated on the fly.
It requires considerable skill, not to mention arm-twisting, to get users and software developers in the same boat.
Apple, at least so far, seems to have done a very good job at making sure all old programs run seamlessly on the new Mac and that its new programs run on older Macs.
With very few exceptions, no one should feel abandoned.
I borrowed a 20-inch Intel-based iMac from Apple and installed a variety of software on it, including programs optimized for the new systems and some that I had bought for my five-year-old Power Mac.
A number of Apple’s applications, including the latest versions of Mac OS X, iWork ‘06 productivity suite and the iLife ‘06 bundle of multimedia applications, already are available as “Universal” applications that work with both Intel and PowerPC Macs.
On the new Mac, the operating system was snappy. Programs such as iPhoto, iTunes, Pages and Keynote were similarly responsive and felt like they benefited from the boost in computing horsepower. The Web browser Safari also seemed zippier than usual, though that has more to do with the speed of my Internet connection than the processor.
The new programs also ran well on my older, PowerPC-based system.
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