From www.macobserver.com
PARIS, FRANCE - Despite Apple knowing consumers will make comparisons
of the new iMac G5 to its Windows counterparts, the Mac maker feels its
not as simple as comparing apples to oranges, because as one company
executive said Wednesday, "there is no comparison."
Apple's director of worldwide product marketing told The Mac Observer,
"This product is leaps and bounds over a Windows PC. It's in a class by
itself."
Tom Boger admitted that while people can compare hardware features to
competitors, it's tougher for them to judge equally the software
solutions bundled with the iMac.
"The iLife suite together with over a dozen more applications can't be
overlooked," he said. "Compared to a Windows PC, software on a Mac
works with the hardware in a total solution, and they were built that
way on purpose. Other solutions on the market are not like that and we
see the difference when you use an iMac."
The software bundle on the iMac G5 consists of Mac OS X version 10.3
"Panther," includes Classic environment, Mail, iChat AV, Safari,
Sherlock, Address Book, QuickTime, iSync, iCal, iLife, which includes
iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD and GarageBand, AppleWorks, Quicken 2004
for Mac, World Book 2004 Edition, Nanosaur 2, Marble Blast Gold,
Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac Test Drive and Apple Hardware Test.
The bundle has been tweaked with some additions and deletions from the
previous flat-panel iMac. Gone is Sound Studio and returning is the
popular Mac game Nanosaur 2.
Apple Faces Graphics Chip Criticism
Mr. Boger addressed criticism that the graphics processor on the iMac
G5 is the same as what was on the older flat-panel iMac and not
powerful enough for many game titles by saying the NVIDIA GeForce FX
5200 Ultra graphics processor is "very capable and is the right
solution for gaming on a consumer iMac. We're pleased with this
solution. We think this card handles most capabilities."
When criticized for it small amount of graphics memory - 64MB - Mr.
Boger defended the decision saying "hard core gamers" need to realize
the G5 professional system might be a better answer for them. "If you
want the pinnacle of gaming, you need to look at the Power Mac G5."
Boger: "Supply Will Be Tight"
Mr. Boger acknowledged the iMac G5 will be tough to get for the
foreseeable future after it initially ships in mid-September, but that
it will have nothing to do with a shortage of components.
"I can't go into specific business practices or relationships with our
suppliers, but the tight supply for the iMac G5 will have nothing to do
with not being able to get components, but more to do with meeting
demand," he said. "Like many of our products, we have great demand.
We're flattered by that and we do everything we can to meet demand as
fast as we can."
rmkay
