Well, we've had our 24" iMac for about 2 weeks, and I'm quite happy with it. The screen is a little larger than our previous 20" model and quite a bit crisper, and it is definitely snappier. We've enjoyed using the built-in iSight camera for cross-country video calls via Skype (although why Skype works and iChat doesn't is still a source of annoyance), and the new slim keyboard is really comfortable to use.
The biggest change, however, is the iLife 09 software that came with it, which is an upgrade from iLife 08 on my previous computer. I'm having a blast with the new Faces and Places features of iPhoto. It also helps that I'm able to use it with pictures taken from my new DSLR (Nikon D60). All my pictures are better with the new camera.
The only challenges I've had with the new system are minor:
- There is only 1 Firewire port, and it's Firewire 800. I had to get an adapter cable to allow it to work with my eyeTV 200.
- iMovie 09 would not launch. I eventually figured out it was an old version of Perian (a Quicktime plug-in) that was causing the problem.
In some ways, my upgrade to this new computer feels less dramatic than the other computer upgrades I've done. After thinking about it for a while I think I've decided it's because the upgrade was so seamless and easy. I was able to plug in my Time Machine backup drive into the new computer, which it used to restore everything from my old computer. This included applications, documents, email messages and settings, even bookmarks. That process took a good 3 hours (even though the last 2 hours of that time the computer displayed "less than a minute remaining"), but it was all hands-free and I had no problems with any of that transfer after it was completed. Wonderful, but maybe a little anticlimactic for the computer nerd in me.