There could be more to Apple Computer Inc’s iMac than meets the eye. According to reports on the macosrumors web site, Apple’s new consumer desktop, which hit the streets last week, includes a number of features more akin to a Network Computer than a desktop, fueling rumors that the company could have an NC in the pipeline. Apparently when an iMac boots up, if you hold down the ‘n’ key, the computer will search for a BootP server- the same device an NC would look for during its boot up process. And on the screen, the iMac actually identifies itself as MacNC, not iMac. Another user discovered that the iMac’s boot ROM contains drivers for Firewire as well as Ethernet and other busses, suggesting that the machine could network-boot off a Firewire network. But a spokesperson for Apple denied the company had any NC plans up its sleeve. He reiterated interim CEO Steve Jobs’ comments at the Mac World Expo last month in New York that Apple was concentrating on four product lines; two business machines; the PowerMac G3 desktop and the PowerBook laptop, and two consumer products; the iMac and a new portable machine due in the first quarter 1999. He added that Apple had no plans in that (NC) space. Meanwhile, stories were also circulating about a bug in the newly-released iMac. The spokesperson denied there was a bug in the traditional, software sense, but he did admit that some customers were having difficulty using the computer’s K56 Flex modem as a lot of the smaller ISPs are yet to upgrade their systems to support the technology. He added that while there was nothing Apple could do to make the ISPs use 56Kb modems, it was doing its best to encourage them to do so as quickly as possible.
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