The new iMac is really cool. No, scratch that. It’s really really cool. Like most people, I envisioned that the new flat panel iMac would be a 15″ flat panel screen with the hardware stuffed behind it. However, Steve Jobs gave some good reasons why that particular design strategy wouldn’t work. One was that the SuperDrive can work as fast in a vertical orientation. Another is that the unit just isn’t elegant.

And then he unveiled the new iMac. And when it popped out from the stage, it looked better than it did in the picture I had seen hours before on the net. To me, it looks as if Apple has taken the lessons from the Cube, both good and bad, and taken them to heart in the design for this new iMac. The base unit is small and compact like the Cube was. But instead of having a separate screen (along with the associated cables and cost), the screen is attached with a clever adjustable arm. And, correcting the Cube’s fatal flaw, the iMac comes in at a great price ranging from $1299 to 1799.

With a full speed G4 chip replacing the G3, this is a no compromise machine able to do anything you want it to do. I have no hesitation in recommending that anybody wanting to get a Mac get this one. Mom, Dad, this means you. Throw those Windows based PCs out the window and get one of these. You’ll love it. And I’ll love you for getting it so that I don’t have to answer Windows configuration questions any more.

There’s only two reasons keeping from running out and buying one right now for myself. The first is that I just got a Dual 800MHz PowerMac and OS X really likes having the raw horsepower that dual processors gives. The second is that I just bought my new machine a few months ago and can’t buy everything I want. At least not until my new book gets published and becomes a best seller.

Steve Jobs and company have hit a home run here. Only time will tell if it has lived up to the hype, but I have a good feeling about this one.

What do you think of the new iMac?