I'm not the only one who thinks that Apple Computer's prime asset is its software. That gorgeous user interface the company has developed for its OS X operating system is more of a selling point than the hip design of its iMacs and PowerBooks. And if Apple would rework its software to run on Intel chips, I suspect quite a few PC users would consider OS X an alternative on their Windows-based PCs.

Until this happens, getting Apple's market share to rise means persuading Windows users to buy entirely new hardware. Steve Jobs surely hopes to do just that, announcing new Power Macs at the company's annual developer conference in San Francisco. Intriguingly, the high-end Power Mac G5s are to be built around an IBM chip called the PowerPC 970. They're fast , though whether they're as fast as Jobs says is debatable.

For just as soon as Apple's leader announced that his new machines were faster than any Intel-based PC, a battle broke out among techies as to the benchmarks Apple used to make the claim. Benchmarks, using tests developed by the Standard Performance Evaluation Corp. , depend crucially on how competing machines are set up. Apple says the G5 runs some programs twice as fast as a Dell Pentium 4, but Intel points to tests showing the opposite.

I think the debate is pointless. No one would deny that the new G5s, available in 1.6 GHz, 1.8 GHz and a dual-processor 2 GHz model, are screamers. And the real gain for Apple, benchmarks or no, is that these Power Macs deflect the criticism that its hardware lags rival Intel designs in speed and performance. Apple has also injected a note of optimism into the debate over its future. We're still innovative, Apple can say, and we've still got OS X.

The chip that drives the G5 processes data in 64-bit increments, and would be at home in a high-end server. Today's PCs use 32-bit chips, so in terms of raw performance, a G5 ought to be able to outrun Intel machines running at higher clock speeds. The catch is that both the operating system and any applications running on it must be re-written to take advantage of the 64-bit architecture. For now, desktop software still lives in a 32-bit world.

But Apple's software gives it plenty to boast about. OS X is being upgraded to a version called Panther, which will include more than 100 new features, including some that allow it to work more smoothly on Windows-based networks. Apple's iChat instant messaging software has been upgraded for both audio and video conferencing, and the company is providing useful updates to its e-mail program.

All this means we'll have a lively winter season, when Panther is expected to be shipped. Late 2003 will also see Intel's Prescott chip, a Pentium 4 tweaked for multimedia, and a 64-bit chip from Advanced Micro Devices. The range of choice for consumers will remain robust, and in the midst of that, Apple's iTunes continues to demonstrate that people will indeed pay for music when given good choices and reasonable prices. Jobs announced at the conference that iTunes had now reached 5 million downloads.

All of which sounds promising for Apple, but storm clouds unexpectedly gathered with recent projections that Linux would pass Apple in market share for desktop computers in 2004. Wal-Mart is now selling ready-to-use Linux-based computers for $248. Linux will run on Intel-based PCs (and Macs, for that matter). Apple would be smart to counter it with an Intel version of OS X, for all those who don't want to buy a new computer just now but would welcome the chance to try a less demanding Windows alternative.

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