The Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg has a provocative review of Dell‚Äôs XPS One desktop today, saying that “has the guts, design to compete with iMac.”

He explains:

“This new Dell is no mere iMac clone. It makes its own style statement, even though it shares the same 20-inch widescreen display and a similar Intel dual-core processor with the base-model iMac. Where the iMac is squarish and silver, the XPS One is all black and rectangular, with speakers attached to the sides and a wide glass base. It looks more like a small TV set than a computer and, in fact, comes with a built-in TV tuner.

The Dell XPS One is the first Windows all-in-one desktop I’ve tested that I believe matches or exceeds the iMac in hardware design. That’s no small feat, especially coming from Dell.

Unlike the Apple, for example, the Dell has a built-in slot for camera memory cards. It comes standard with a wireless keyboard and mouse, which cost extra on the iMac. Its screen can be turned off with the touch of a button without turning off the computer itself. Its USB and headphone ports are arrayed conveniently on the side, instead of mainly at the rear, as on the iMac.”

It’s great to see Dell coming out with hardware that can give Apple some competition.

There’s no competition, though, when it comes to deciding what’s the best platform for new media.

Macs Own New Media

Apple is on the rise because they have a great operating system and because they are perfectly positioned to capitalize on the growth of new media. Macs ship with software for making audio and video, and their integrated cameras make creating Internet videos a no-brainer. Macs tend to be more stable, too, because of the Unix-based operating system and Apple’s tendency to use high-quality components in its computers.

As a result, it’s becoming more and more common to go into a coffee shop and see a wall of Mac laptops. Go to a conference, and you’ll see a wall of Macs. Hit the beach, and you’re likely to see someone updating their blog on a Mac.

In fact, it’s getting harder and harder to “Think Different”, when when everybody’s blogging, podcasting and vlogging from a Mac.

While Mossberg liked the new Dell’s hardware, he still recommends going with a Mac. He offers a few reasons why:

• Apple‚Äôs operating system, Leopard, is superior to the new Windows Vista operating system, the only choice on the XPS One.
• Apple‚Äôs built-in software, especially the iLife multimedia suite, is superior to the Dell‚Äôs built-in software.
• The XPS One, unlike the iMac, came with a bunch of craplets ‚Äî trial software like Yahoo Music and come-ons for online services like NetZero.
• The iMac, unlike the Dell, is immune to the vast majority of malicious software floating around, so you don‚Äôt have to run annoying, memory-hogging security programs. Mossberg notes that “The first time I turned on the beautiful Dell I was met with a warning that I had “multiple security problems,” and was led to install a security suite in a complex and tedious process.”
• The iMac costs less than the XPS One.

For people working in new media, Macs are especially compelling. The iLife suite is free and offers great tools for getting started with podcasting and video podcasting. And two of the best audio and video apps, Logic and Final Cut, are Mac-only.

Dell has a problem. It’s got great hardware, but it’s stuck with Windows Vista, a mishmash of third-party apps and craplets.

And you can’t do new media on crapware.

Image: j2dread