11/16/98 AT LONG LAST, APPLE GETS IT RIGHT

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AT LONG LAST, APPLE GETS IT RIGHT
Finally, die-hard Mac users have a reason to feel vindicated

THE iMAC HOME PC
Photoillustration by Richard Michiel

Macintosh loyalists deserve a medal. Since the early 1990s, they have been white-knuckling it through bungled and inferior product launches, diminishing computer software options, and, worst of all, Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL) management's frightful pantomime of rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
These days, though, Mac lovers are sporting that same twitchy, satisfied little smile as Apple uberdad Steven P. Jobs. The Mac is back. Apple is churning out innovative speed-demon computers for the home, office, and road. Jobs has reinvigorated the company with a ''computers-for-the-rest-of-us'' zest, and he's providing not just sizzle, but steak--notably Apple's burly G3 chip, which handily beats out the Pentium II in some applications. ''I sit down at any other computer, and it's like, 'Wow, what's wrong with this thing?''' says Kate Dore, a Quincy (Calif.) graphic designer who uses a G3 Power Mac desktop machine.
SLIMMED DOWN. Persuading graphic designers such as Dore to buy Macs has always been a cinch. It has been harder to get third-party software developers to turn out more Mac titles across-the-board. But that gets easier with Mac sales back onto solid ground. Credit Apple's aggressive design, performance boosts, and pricing moves in laptops, and its spiffy, new iMac home machine.
After I spent a year with a boxy, inflexible 1400-series Mac laptop computer with a mediocre screen, testing the 266-MHz PowerBook G3 with a 14.1-inch active-matrix screen was like changing out of Dockers and into an Armani tuxedo. The slimmed-down G3 line has won raves everywhere for its exceptionally large screen, its speed, and its standard features across all models--including Ethernet ports, internal modems, and video-output connectors that enable presentations.
Interestingly, the G3's rounded forms and soft, grippable textures make this not-so-small laptop look and feel smaller than boxier models. Prices for the units with 14-inch active-matrix screens range from $2,799 to $4,999. That's not cheap, but it's competitive with Windows laptops.
For the past few months, the big story is the $1,299 iMac, Apple's consumer entry, which was designed to snag home Internet surfers with a colorful retro design and Apple's vaunted ease-of-use. I challenged my 9-year-old daughter, Marie--who would take soccer and the Spice Girls over computers any day--to take an iMac from box to book report. In 21 minutes, she had conquered cords and the registration process, found a word-processing program, launched a new document, and typed ''The Hidden Starecase.'' Tack on 10 more seconds to find the spell-checker and fix the title.
Marie never opened a manual or even read the simple instruction card. Just a few minutes more, and we found a Nancy Drew mystery page on the Internet and purloined a graphic to use on her report cover. Apple's new software upgrade, Mac OS 8.5, has a nifty ''Sherlock'' program that scopes out the machine you load it on, finds stuff you are looking for, and fetches material you request from the Net without firing up a browser.
A few drawbacks: iMac's keyboard feels a bit cramped. And while kids seem to like its round mouse, I found it awkward. Also, before buying any Mac computer, do a critical and unemotional assessment of your software and system needs. There's plenty of good software for personal and family use. But offices are a different story. Many systems managers don't like supporting both Windows and Mac computers, and third-party software makers can be slow with upgrades on existing programs.
Apple, to its credit, makes it easy to research the availability of software through a dedicated Web page: www.macsoftware.apple.com. The good news is, buying a Mac actually makes you feel hopeful again.
By Joan O'C. Hamilton in Menlo Park, Calif.

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