For me, Apple wasn't interesting until Mac OS X on the PowerPC G4 arrived on the scene in the early 2000s. However, there definitely is a lot of validity to th

For me, Apple wasn't interesting until Mac OS X on the PowerPC G4 arrived on the scene in the early 2000s. However, there definitely is a lot of validity to the statement that the iMac G3 saved Apple in the late 1990s. When asked about Apple Computer at the time, Michael Dell (founder of Dell) said "I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders." Alongside the big cuts to their product lineup, the sales of the iMac G3 (which was being designed before Steve Jobs returned to Apple) was what kept them afloat until they could come out with the iPod and Mac OS X. I do remember helping a friend buy an iMac G3 back then. It was painfully slow for certain things, and still ran ancient MacOS, but it was good enough computer for what they needed (Internet, word processing, listening to music).