iMac Redux

At a "special event" yesterday, 13 months after the first iMac was unveiled, Apple interim CEO and Noah Wyle lookalike Steve Jobs launched four new products: three new iMacs and a new version of the Macintosh operating system called OS9. Besides keeping its promise to upgrade its product lines more or less annually, and giving its fans something to ask Santa for, the announcement revealed Apple as firmly seated on three bandwagons: the Internet, desktop video and privacy.

First and foremost, the new iMacs give their users what all users want: more power. The basic iMac — which now qualifies as the low-end iMac — comes with a 350MHz G3 chip, 64 MB of RAM (expandable all the way up to 512MB), and a six-gigabyte hard drive. What else? A new, quieter cooling system, rapid startup, and a new price: $999. MORE>>