So I've been following the rumors for the past month+. At first it seemed like only a far off hope. Then Apple announced an... announcement on the 7th just as the rumors had said. Soon images of possible new iMacs popped up everywhere on the internet. All of which ended up being fake... yet very sexy in their own ways. Until today when Apple released the new iMacs , a year after the last revision (i think its been a year); along with updates to .mac and iLife. At first I wasn't sure how I felt about the black border, but after seeing more official pictures and the specs I am looking forward to owning, and making love to one. If only Leopard would come out now I would buy one tomorrow.
5am edit: After looking at more videos and pictures I'm slowly starting to like the new iMacs. There is still something about them that upsets me esthetically. Apple knows how to write software, they know how to build computers and more importantly they know how to make it all look good. Did you know the dimensions of the iPod are pretty damn close to the golden ratio? Yet with this newest incarnation of their consumer flagship computer the iMac, they seemed to have fumbled if only slightly. Tomorrow I will go and check one out in person, but from all the pictures Ive seen I'm going to say I can make an educated assessment of the iMac, from a visual stand point.
Visually the brushed aluminum of the past Powerbooks (i own one and its pretty), Macbook Pros, Cinema displays, Mac Mini and Mac Pros is very appealing to the eye. It gives a clean, upscale not plasticy and therefore cheap look. And it holds up to scratches... dents are another thing. Regardless Apple hit it big with wrapping their computers in good old AI [aluminum]. And they almost got it right again with the new iMacs. But what in gods name were they thinking with that black border around the monitor? Ive heard people saying it gives a little bit of "pop" to the screen, which I can understand. With the Mac Mini the mixture of white plastic and aluminum seemed to have worked. The white didn't contrast with the gray of the aluminum as the black does so strikingly with the new iMacs. Or maybe it's just the ratio of aluminum to black plastic that makes it slightly less appealing. The behind of the new iMac is prettier than its facade. With a larger ratio of black to the silver lining of aluminum around the border, a bold clean look is presented in the back. I feel if Apple would just pull down the black to cover the silver chin of the iMac it would look more 10x more appealing. We will just have to see how consumers approach this glass and aluminum generation of iMacs.
I'm liking how it's turning out. New Thunderbird, Vienna (rss reader), Firefox, Safari, iChat, WoW, iPhoto icons and Download + Document Stack overlays. As well as a new icon for the Mac HD but i cant edit to "Untitled" partition that contains Windows Xp. I may down the road delete it and reformat in FAT32 so I can edit it or at least rename it sheesh. So far the MacBook Pro has been running like a dream. There have been a few hang ups in applications that brought forth the spinning beach ball of death. Yet unlike Windows its easy to force quit them and reopen. In XP Ive been forced to power down the system via the power button after waiting 5 mins for a frozen application to "End Now". I had a few issues with replacing icons but I think it was mostly in part to being unfamiliar with using PNG files and ICNS files. Luckily Apple includes a plethora of developer tools right on the Leopard install dvd. One of which converts image files into the appropriate sized icon files. And finally there was one instance where I logged out and the cursor locked up, it may have been my Logitech mouse or any number of other things, but a quick press of the power button and a hit of the enter key and I was rebooted and everything was working again. 
