Apple's iMac G5: Best Choice for Photos?
By Mike Wilmer
Quick Take: Next to politics and religion, nothing stirs up a passionate debate among techies quicker than the question, "Should I buy a PC or Mac?" Apple loyalists staunchly defend their computer choice even though they concede that Microsoft's Windows operating system dominates today's personal computer market. So it should come as no surprise that you'll rarely find a Windows user recommending a Mac to a friend. Until now. While the majority of Windows users will not be easily convinced to switch, it's the opinion of this writer that anyone who isn't already heavily invested in Windows hardware and software should, at the very least, give the new iMac G5 with its iLife software bundle serious consideration for managing personal photos, music, and home videos. When compared to comparable Windows alternatives, it's attractively priced and has significant advantages in areas of ease of use and security.
A young couple, John and Casey, recently asked me if they should consider buying one of Apple's Macintosh computers. Besides tracking personal finances and doing a little word processing, they wanted a way to keep their digital photos organized. They said editing family videos would be a plus, and they thought it would be fun to produce DVDs that they could send to family and friends.
With those goals in mind, they asked the same question of other Windows users and were given the standard arguments against going with Apple's iMac. They were told it's more costly, that there were more applications available for Windows, and that help would be lacking since fewer people own Macs. Because they knew I used both Mac and Windows computers in my photography business, they wanted my opinion as well.
I began by telling them that in recent years I had similar concerns about recommending the Mac, but the landscape changed considerably when Apple introduced their new and powerful iMac G5 models. Not only do they have the processing horsepower needed to work with images and video, they're elegantly designed-sporting gorgeous 17" and 20" LCD screens, as well as a small desktop footprint that makes it welcomed in many home locations where similarly configured Windows systems would never fit. With wireless networking, adding an iMac to their family room would be neat and easy, I said, and if they wanted, the printer could be tucked away in a bedroom so it would be out of the way. Casey liked hearing that. She was dreading the mess of a computer with all its attachments and wires hanging everywhere.
More importantly, I said, iMacs come with a robust software bundle that's topped off by iLife, a package of five applications that feature drag-and-drop integration, themes and innovative organizational tools to aid the novice in producing sophisticated multimedia projects.
To handle John's immediate need, iLife has iPhoto, an extremely fast application that imports photos into the computer, enhances their appearance, organizes them into "smart albums," and helps share them in print, by email, over the Web or, for a reasonable fee, printed in a professional-looking coffee-table book.
While John and Casey don't yet own a video camera, with a baby on the way, the thought had crossed their mind. That's why iLife's iMovie sounded good to them. It's a powerful video editor that would take charge of their videos while making it easy to experiment with special effects like scene transitions. Its drag and drop simplicity would let them edit their videos like professional cinematographers, cutting and splicing scenes for effective story telling.
Before I could even get into describing iTunes, iLife's third application, Casey told me her friend had the popular iPod, a portable music gadget that's taken the nation by storm. She understood immediately how iTunes would keep their music library just a mouse-click away. Since iTunes integrates seamlessly with iPhoto and iMovie, she instinctively knew adding sound to their video productions would be fun and easy.
For anyone with a little Mozart or Elton John in his or her soul, GarageBand, iLife's fourth application, turns the iMac into a recording studio packed with hundreds of instruments making it possible to generate original music, avoiding any troublesome copyright concerns.
To cap it all off, I said, iDVD, with powerful menu tools, themes and additional slideshow options, makes a simple task of burning your creations to disc.
"But," asked John, "what about the arguments the other Windows users made?"
Yes, I said, you can find some very economical Windows computers, but if you buy one that matches all of the features in the iMac G5, including a top-of-the-line LCD screen, it's unlikely you'll save much. And besides, as the iPod has demonstrated, people are willing to pay more for a stylish product that works well. The iMac G5 is definitely stylish.
I went on to say that it's true that there are more applications available for Windows, but that's only meaningful if something you want to do can't be done on a Mac. In addition to iLife, the iMac comes with AppleWorks for word processing, spreadsheets, painting, drawing, presentations and databases. It even has file translators that will handle most Microsoft Word and Excel documents. A version of Quicken is included, along with games that the whole family will enjoy. Last, but not least, I said, it's possible to use Microsoft's Virtual PC to run Windows on the Mac.
Then I shared one more tidbit of wisdom: the costliest system is the one that you never figure out how to use! It's extremely hard to put into words the experience of using a computer like the iMac and how it differs from Windows. I pointed out that OS X, Apple's new operating system, is winning awards for its ease of use, and iLife has that same look and feel.
Plus, with so many hackers writing viruses that take advantage of Windows vulnerabilities, many experts are suggesting OS X is simply a more secure environment. Then I shared this useful tip: A utility called Carbon Copy can easily create a duplicate external drive as a backup and that can be selected for startup use from iMac's Preferences-a very useful option that's difficult to emulate on a Windows PC.
So what did John and Casey decide? They got the iMac, but only after taking my advice to spend several hands-on hours taking both systems for a test-drive. John summed up their decision like this: "While we were impressed by the Windows machines we tried, we both immediately felt at home with the iMac."
Do you agree with the advice I gave John and Casey? Would you have recommended something different? Join our discussion in the Photography Forum to get more hot tips on shopping for the perfect computer for your needs!
Mike Wilmer is a Brooks Institute of Photography graduate, has been a professional photographer for over 3 decades, and established the Photography Forum on CompuServe in 1987.