"We've been shipping dual-processor Macs for quite some time now," he said. "So Mac OS X has been designed from the ground up to take advantage of dual processors. That was an advantage right from the beginning. A key difference is that this version of Mac OS X is native on Intel. I'm talking about the entire operating system, every [Apple] application, every utility, they are all native now.

"Developers are almost on a daily basis making announcements on their universal apps. We're obviously just trying to work with them [to release universal applications] as quickly as possible," he said. "It just takes time for the [developer] community and engineers to become familiar with the new architecture."

Until that happens, Boger said, "Rosetta, obviously, is absolutely key technology. It's the software translation technology [that] ships with every iMac and allows our customers to transition [to Intel-based Macs]. It just runs like you'd expect; there's no user interface change."

One change from the previous iMac is that Apple now recommends users who want to change their hard drive -- or make other under-the-hood upgrades -- get a qualified service provider to do the work. Owners can still easily access the iMac's RAM slots, which are located behind a small door at the base of the machine.

Note to would-be iMac owners: Spring for more RAM. Although the iMac comes with 512MB installed, adding another 512MB or even a 1GB module, will make using Apple's Mactel machine even more enjoyable.