New and Noteworthy: iMac beauty skin-deep; iTunes Affiliates; MSN Music; iMac for business

New iMac beauty skin-deep In his latest "Byte of the Apple" column for Business Week, Alex Salkever writes that the new iMac "falls short": "You're not getting the most bang for the buck on what's inside. Apple included only 256 megabytes of RAM...The policy follows a trend in Apple's standard configurations to skimp on components, such as lower-end graphics cards or memory, in order to preserve profit margins...Trying to sell form over function, ultimately, could prove a losing proposition for Apple." More.

Apple launches iTunes Affiliate Program Apple has announced a new iTunes Affiliate Program, making it the first download music store to offer direct links to a la carte singles and albums that generate paid commissions to affiliate websites." More and more.

Microsoft launches preview of Music Service A Microsoft press release announces a preview release of the new MSN Music service, which aims to battle Apple's iTunes Music Service for paid music downloads: "MSN Music allows people to download music for 99 cents per song and listen to music on their choice of more than 70 Windows Media-compatible devices. MSN Music also provides rich discovery tools to connect people with the music they love, including simple, comprehensive music search tools, online streaming capabilities via MSN Radio, and features for easily sharing recommendations with friends." More.

New iMac better for business In an eWeek article, David Coursey writes that the new iMac models are more at home on a business desktop: "For most of its history, back to the original Mac, Apple has offered a one-piece. This year's redesign replaces something odd-looking with something that looks like it actually belongs on a desk." More.

Previously on MacFixIt:

• Apple releases AirPort Driver Update 2004-08-31
• Apple releases Fibre Channel Utility Update for OS X Server
• Disappearing cursor in Safari, Classic (#4): more suggested solutions
• Odds and Ends: OS X 10.3 Finder scrolling bug; Knowledge Base updates
• Utilities Updates: Tex-Edit Plus; Jiggler; iPaste; PSR; Fax Status
• New and Noteworthy: No PowerBook G5; Apple's missed opportunity; iMac supply limited; more

Resources