Sure, there are still plenty of hurdles for Apple to overcome if the Mac is ever to secure greater acceptance as a viable platform choice, but sometimes it's worthwhile to step back and consider how far things have progressed in such a short time. In particular, we're thinking about the age-old argument that "there's no software for the Mac." While it's certainly true that there's a lot more software available for DOS and Windows, we at AtAT can honestly say that we've never had any real trouble getting Mac software that lets us work and play the way we want to. Of course there have been occasional game titles that we would have liked to play, but what games are available for the Mac provide more than enough time-sucking distraction. In fact, we keep the boxes for any software we buy-- and we have a lot of boxes. (Trust us. Lugging all of them across town into our new studios really drove home just how much Mac-compatible software is really out there. It's just not as easy to spot on the shelves.)

While most of the software in our collection was bought before the iMac debuted, there's no doubt that Apple's funky blue consumer powerhouse really started to lure back the developers. But even as Apple's fond of crowing about the thousands of new software products announced since the iMac's introduction, Mac software buyers like you and us know that Mac software still isn't exactly overflowing the aisles in the local CompUSA. But the software development process takes time, and the iMac's only been shipping for just over a year now, so we're hoping to see the software situation continue to improve dramatically over the next couple of years as the developers actually ship all those titles dreamed up when the iMac's sales numbers first made the dollar signs pop up in their eyes.

Wanna hear how we know there's still a wait ahead? Perhaps you remember early last year when Intuit announced it was dropping development of further Mac versions of Quicken-- a move especially painful since Intuit's CEO, Bill Campbell, was a member of Apple's board of directors. About a week later, though, Campbell announced that Intuit had reversed its decision, due entirely to some secret project Steve Jobs had shown him which convinced him that Apple would soon be back in the consumer game in a big way. That project, of course, was the soon-to-be-unveiled iMac. And it's only just now that Intuit's recommitment to the Mac platform is bearing fruit; a MacCentral article notes that some customers are now receiving their upgrade copies of the brand new Quicken 2000. (The product apparently won't start showing up on store shelves until next month, however.) So there you have it-- new Mac software inspired by the iMac's consumer appeal is finally starting to appear. It just takes time.