Speaking of killer iApps, if we harbored any doubts that Apple would be able to sell a boatload of iMacs based solely on the existence of iPhoto, consider them long gone. Since we're not the type to turn down free software (or free just-about-anything-else, for that matter), we downloaded and installed iPhoto 1.0 last night, and what little we saw of it made us drool. Suddenly we're looking at our Canon Digital Elph in a whole new light.

To clarify, we're all digital-hubbed in, baby-- we automatically sync our iPod with iTunes, we use iMovie to edit footage from our camcorder, and we hotsync a Handspring Visor (in Classic, still, until there are AvantGo and Vindigo conduits available for Mac OS X). We watch DVDs, and soon we expect to burn our own. In short, we're kind of like that guy in "Middle Seat," only with better taste in music and a tad more consideration for those around us.

However, until now, plugging in our digital camera just fired up Image Capture-- which, don't get us wrong, is a nice little app. It transfers our photos natively, supports rotating the images, and can even build a web page of them. But then we still have to run Photoshop (in Classic, natch) to crop the pictures, fix red-eye, and all that fun stuff, and our photo files were always lumped together in the Pictures folder with cryptic filenames, which was a drag. iPhoto changes all that. And while we personally like to keep our snapshots digital, we know that most of the world is still craving prints-- so the ability to order Kodak prints of digital photos without ever leaving iPhoto is, in itself, going to sell a slew of consumer Macs.

Best of all, we've got great news for those of you with shoeboxes full of old snapshots and access to a scanner: not that it's any real surprise, but iPhoto lets you import existing picture files, so it's a terrific piece of software even for people without digital cameras. You'll be able to scan in your pictures however you normally do that, suck them right into iPhoto, and then take advantage of all those great features like being able to order a hardcover picture book of your scans. Finally, something to do with all those proofs from the Great AtAT Wedding of 2001!

If you haven't given iPhoto a try yet, we suggest you go for it-- but it's probably worth noting that iPhoto, like iDVD 2, runs only under Mac OS X. That's right; there is no joy in Mac OS 9ville. In fact, some of you might even suspect that iPhoto is being dangled as a carrot (or wielded as a club) to get people to upgrade, or buy new systems. (Gee, ya think?) But hey, you wanted one of those new LCD iMacs anyway, right?