Apple iMac - Intel Core Duo

Apple turbo-charges it's all-in-one desktop PC.

This latest iMac is a good example of why people are in two minds about Apple computers. In many ways a brilliant machine, the presence of its most hyped feature - the all-new Intel Core Duo processor - is horribly revealing about the company's ethics.

Wasn't it only a year or so ago that Apple was trumpeting the undoubted superiority of their G5 Power PC chips? And wasn't it a piffling four months ago that they put out a new iMac with just such a chip in? Now everyone knows that in the Darwinian world of PCs, this year's super-computer is next year's doorstop, but three frigging months? How can anyone take Apple's commitment to supporting its current user base seriously again?

Still, if you weren't suckered into buying the last iMac model, this computer is still an absolute beaut. That's the thing with Apple - like a cruel mistress, you hate it, but you can't help lusting after its products.

Super-chip aside, this appears to be identical to the last iMac. That means it's a high-performance monster entirely housed in a gorgeous, snow-white casing that's barely bigger than some TFT monitors. It looks like an angel and burns through most apps like a demon, although ironically applications that aren't optimised for the Intel chip (which at time of writing includes high-end pro apps like Adobe's Photoshop) may actually run slower than on a G5 Mac.

As well as the now-standard Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections, there's a high-quality, built-in "iSight" webcam that - along with Apple's excellent, bundled iChat software, makes video conferencing a doddle. More market-leading-yet-free software is on board too, including iTunes for organising your tunes, iMovie for organising and editing your home movies and iPhoto for - well, you can probably work out what iPhoto is for...

Somewhat less substantial, but still undeniably sexy, are the iMac's "multi-media" capabilities. Via Apple's typically fat-free remote control and their Front Row software, you can now remote control your iTunes, DVDs and digital videos and photos from across the room.

It's well implemented, but leaves you wanting more. For starters, although the iMac's screen is brilliant by PC monitor standards, today's multi-media junkies, sated on 42-inch plasmas and 6.1 surrounds, aren't going to be impressed by a piffling 20-inch screen and a pair of really quite feeble built -in speakers. The lack of a Freeview tuner is a bit of a killer as well.

Still, while you wait for Apple to develop Front Row into something more useful than a source of streamed movie trailers, you can congratulate yourself on purchasing probably the best desktop computer Apple has ever produced. The only problem is, something better might be along in another three months time...