(FORTUNE Magazine) – CUPERTINO, Calif., Jan. 29, 2002 (Wall Street Journal)--Apple Computer says it has received a record-breaking number of pre-orders for its new iMac desktop computer, a sign that the product may be developing into a hit.

Mine was one of those pre-orders. I convinced Charlotte that she really needs one of the new iMacs so that she can make movies, choreograph horse shows, and manage her music. (I sweetened the offer by throwing in an iPod music device.) I think she probably knows that I'm using her to justify getting one of these machines for myself, even though I already have a Titanium PowerBook. But she's a great wife, so she played along with the game.

I still don't have the new computer, although it's supposed to arrive any day now. While I've been waiting not so patiently, I keep wondering, What if Apple pulls off a miracle and actually gets real office workers to start buying its computers again? (For the youngsters in the audience, Apple once had something in excess of 10% of the corporate computer market, compared with less than 2% now. Yeah, I bet you never saw the Beatles play live either.) The question is so ridiculous, so inconceivable, that when it's raised, even the most polite company changes the subject out of embarrassment.

But consider the following:

Fact No. 1. Macintosh computers have always been and are still fun to use. Despite the arrival of Windows XP, I don't have fun using Windows-based computers. You can tell that the people who build and design Windows and the computers it runs on are very serious people, dedicated to improving price performance and productivity. Even though I use a Windows-based notebook computer for all of my productive and 90% of my nonproductive activities, I try to find excuses to use my Macintosh.

Fact No. 2. Apple Computer appears to have actually developed a real, applications-based software strategy. In my 20-plus years of observing the computer industry, I've found that hardware companies don't do software well and that software companies don't do hardware well. There are a lot of conflicts between the two. The business models are antithetical, and the engineers don't understand or like each other. So it is all the more remarkable that the programs that Apple now ships with its computers are actually really good: iMovie, iDVD, iPhoto, and iTunes represent a coherent set of applications for managing digital media that doesn't exist anywhere else. The integration among the applications is at least as good as in Microsoft Office--a huge element in the success of Windows.

Fact No. 3. There is still a business in Macintosh software. My partners would laugh at me if I asked them to invest in a new Macintosh software company. But a number of firms, very large (Microsoft, Adobe, Macromedia) and very small, regularly introduce interesting new software for the Macintosh. I ordered a program for my notebook computer called Dave, which lets my Mac act like a Windows computer on the network so that I can get files from the PCs on our home network.

Fact No. 4. The explosion of the Internet over the past five years has created a set of standards for networking so widespread that it is becoming less and less important what flavor of computer you use. That's why so many computers, mostly servers, run Linux in major companies. And it's how people could get away with buying Macintoshes and using them in corporate environments.

I've been keeping an eye on this myself: What systems at our firm prevent me from using a Macintosh computer without asking our IT group for support? Microsoft has been kind enough to make its Windows products for the Macintosh, including an e-mail client that works with the Exchange server as well as a version of Internet Explorer. I can use the same Dave program that I have at home to get access to the file servers on our network. The only issue I've been able to identify is that I use a virtual private network (VPN) to get to the network when I'm not in the office; I haven't figured out how to get VPN access from the Macintosh.

Once I figure that out, I could start using the Macintosh as my one computer without even telling the IT department. The techies might notice that the computer on my desk looks a little different from the others. So I'll have to figure out how to disguise it, kind of like the guy in the back of the classroom who figured out how to stuff Playboy inside his geography textbook.

STEWART ALSOP is a partner with New Enterprise Associates, a venture capital firm. Except as noted, neither he nor his partnership has a financial interest in the companies mentioned. He can be reached at alsop_infotech@fortunemail.com. His column may be bookmarked online at www.fortune.com/technology/alsop.