Fortune magazine’s Peter Lewis is the latest to talk up Apple’s new iMac G5. In a review titled “Apple All-In-One Is One For Almost All,” Mr. Lewis offers the now-familiar praise for the iMac G5’s design, looks, display, speed, etc. He also criticizes the 64 MB video card Apple included in the unit as “paltry,” but says that suck concerns are “minor.”
The review offers another good pitch for the Mac platform, however, when Mr. Lewis explains why it is that he has moved most of his work to the Mac. Those comments make for an excellent pitch to possible Switchers tired of the Windows world. From Fortune:
But let’s pretend I already have a portable computer and I’m looking for a desktop machine for use at home as an alternative to lugging the portable to and fro. (And let’s pretend I can afford to buy both a laptop and a desktop.) In that case, the iMac is certainly worth considering, even for people whose political persuasion leans toward the Windows operating system instead of the Mac OS.
I’ve shifted most of my work to the Macintosh, in part because of my appreciation for the Mac system’s stability and ease of use, but in larger part because I’m sick of downloading Microsoft security patches and worrying every minute about viruses and worms and other threats aimed at Microsoft’s Windows infrastructure. But when I need to work with Windows files, the iMac’s G5 processor is strong enough to run a program called Virtual PC for Mac ($129 to $249, depending on the version), which tricks the Mac into thinking it’s a Windows machine. A cruel trick, for sure, but it works in a pinch. That way I can have fun with the iMac, managing my digital music, photos, videos, and other creative applications, and work with Windows-based files and applications when unavoidable.
You can find the two page review at Fortune‘s Web site.
The Mac Observer Spin:
It’s the two pronged attack: The iMac G5 is very cool, and dealing with Windows sucks. That’s a very, very nice message to have delivered to Fortune’s mainstream readers. That it’s delivered in terms that will resonate with many people makes it all that much better.