When Apple held it’s quarterly financial conference with analysts earlier this month, its executives said they’d have trouble filling all the orders for the new MacBook Pro before the end of the present quarter. Independent reports, from American Technology Research and other industry analysts, suggested strong sales for both the new iMac and MacBook Pro. And then there’s, of course, Amazon, where the new iMac and forthcoming MacBook Pro sit at or near the top of the list.

Still another report, one that didn’t cite any source, said that Intel-based iMac sales were lagging. A few online commentators went with it, trying to explain just what might have gone wrong with Apple’s sudden move to Intel chips, months ahead of schedule.

Now I don’t know about you, but I find it difficult to seriously consider both possibilities in the same breath. On the other hand, I have good reason for optimism, and it’s not just because of the sales figures at Amazon. One is that statement during that conference call from Peter Oppenheimer, CFO, that the company “is very pleased with customer and analyst response to our new Intel based Macs.” Understand that Apple can get in an awful lot of trouble if it fudges numbers and other information when it meets with the financial community. The other is that report from American Technology Research, which appears to confirm Oppenheimer’s statement.

Now I can well understand if the situation at an Apple dealer these days is a little confusing, especially if both the new and previous versions of the iMac are on display. You can’t just put up a couple of signs and explain what’s so different about the Intel Core Duo or why Apple switched from its previous latest and greatest chip, the PowerPC G5. Sure, you and I are reasonably well-connected, and I’ve written a whole bunch of articles on the subject. Other technology sites have done their part, and, although some of the information is a little off in a few cases, you can find all the details you need if you look.

But consider a normal buyer, who sees that the previous iMac had a 2.1GHz, and the new one has a 2GHz Core Duo processor and, not understanding dual processors, wonders why Apple made it slower. Of course, it’s also true that the older iMac will soon disappear from the store shelves, so the confusion won’t last long. At least you’ll get the straight scoop from Apple’s own stores and independent retailers. But, I’m not sanguine about, say, a CompUSA, unless an Apple person is on the front lines to answer questions.

There’s another dilemma facing the potential buyer, and that’s whether to consider the new architecture, or buy a Mac with PowerPC. If you’re in tune mostly with the stuff that comes with the MacIntel version of the iMac, there’s not a lot to worry about. iLife ‘06 is getting great early reviews, and the extra $79 you’ll have to shell out for a user license to make the demo version of iWork ‘06 fully enabled is also a good value. Microsoft Office runs well enough so you don’t have to fret over the fact that it’ll be months before a Universal binary version is out.

The situation isn’t so clear if you use professional applications from Adobe and others that will also not be updated for a while. Adobe Photoshop performance under Rosetta, to be fair, is passable. Benchmarks vary, but it seems to run at about half the speed of the native version on the previous iMac. But you may be upgrading from an older Mac with a G4 or even a G3, so even in emulation, Photoshop will seem tremendously improved. Of course, if you still need Classic apps, well, there may be a third party solution, but otherwise you still might want a legacy Mac if you need to upgrade systems.

Such considerations aren’t necessarily part of the way reviewers examine the machines, because they are comparing last year’s iMac with this year’s version, or other current Macs. The picture with Rosetta emulation isn’t as bleak as you may think. In addition, if you follow the suggestion from Transitive Corporation, the company that supplied Apple with at least some of the technology it uses to translate PowerPC apps to run on a MacIntel, a RAM upgrade could help maximize performance.

The good news is there are literally hundreds of Universal applications available now. As I write this article, it was closing in on 400 at the VersionTracker Universal Application Resource Center. This despite the fact that Apple caught developers off guard by getting its first Intel-based Macs out months earlier than it promised. It won’t be long before that figure exceeds 1,000 and bigger and bigger developers get their updates ready.

So is Apple really going to have trouble moving Macs during this transition period? There doesn’t seem to be evidence that the new models are languishing, although I can see that sales of PowerPC Macs may suffer. That’s the fate of the lame duck model, and Apple’s conservative estimates for the current quarter are based this expectation. But I see no evidence to indicate that Apple is having any trouble at all moving its new line of MacIntels.

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No doubt loose lips spoiled the big surprise about the $7.4 billion merger between Steve Jobs’ “other” company and Disney. Regardless, if the counterculture atmosphere at Pixar can remain intact, it augers well for the company’s future. But I’m not writing this column to deliver still another analysis on whether this high-profile marriage will succeed, or whether Steve Jobs will somehow find a way to wrest the CEO’s chair from its present occupant, Robert Iger. In fact, I have a different idea.

Instead, I’m wondering whether any of this has anything to do with people who use Apple’s products, whether iPod or Mac-related. That, my friends, may present the biggest question of all.

On the practical side, I don’t see Disney acquiring Apple or even that such a merger would somehow be appropriate, although some have suggested it from time to time. It may seem logical, of course, that more Disney content will show up at the iTunes Music Store, and that’s already beginning to happen. Up until now, however, Apple has managed to persuade other entertainment companies, such as NBC/Universal, to provide content as well. But there are potential pitfalls, particularly in light of Steve Jobs’ upcoming position as a non-independent member of Disney, of which he will become the largest shareholder.

First of all, Disney has content agreements with other companies too, and that is not going to change, because it would raise serious antitrust considerations. Imagine Jobs having to sit by in silence as Disney continues to make deals with Microsoft and other companies. Of course that isn’t going to affect Disney’s content in iTunes, so it’s only a matter Disney need to concerned about.

On the other hand, what will happen if Steve Jobs or someone else at Apple rings up, say, CBS, and asks whether episodes of its most popular show, CSI, will become available at the music/video store? Consider this request is coming from someone who is involved with the company that present’s CSI’s biggest rival on the small screen, Desperate Housewives. From a practical point of view, CBS stands to make a big profit from downloads of its most popular shows. But consider the comfort level of the executives on all sides brokering such a content deal.

In the end, it might give Apple’s rivals a chance to take advantage of the situation. They will continue to remind those other entertainment companies who provides most of Jobs’ net worth. This doesn’t, of course, mean that iTunes will be shut out, because it is still one huge enterprise with a large customer base, and the profit motive may override such concerns. Add to that the expected assurances that Jobs isn’t going to allow his new status at Disney to interfere with Apple’s independence.

Now as to iPods and Macs, I can see where Apple might just exploit the Disney brand with specialty products. Just as there was a U2 edition of the iPod, you can see where Disney characters might be featured on a special line of low-cost music players earmarked strictly for the kids. A Mickey Mouse iPod? Sure, why not? And what about Apple’s computers? These days, the very young begin to master personal computers as quickly as they learn to read and write. There would well be a Disney version of a low-end Mac that automatically boots with a family safe configuration of Mac OS X. Of course, this is something you can already do with the Tiger’s Parental Controls feature, but add a few kid safe games to the mix, and you can see the potential of these products.

Yes, sign up children as beginning Mac users and they may stick with the platform well into adulthood.

As to my “different” idea: Let’s not forget that Steve Jobs only spent a small amount of his workday at Pixar. He never micromanaged Pixar in the same way as he does Apple. Instead, the day-to-day operations were handled by company President Ed Catmull and Pixar’s creative genius, Executive Vice President John Lasseter, both of whom will gain wide authority at Disney when the merger is finalized this summer.

While it’s very possible Jobs will take a big role at Disney, it may also be true that he’ll just want to make sure that Pixar’s new owners are treating the company with the appropriate level of respect for its creative independence. Once the merger’s success is assured, Jobs might just cash in his chips, move on and devote all of his attention to Apple. He’d still have tremendous influence in the halls of power in Hollywood, but his potential departure from Disney would eliminate even the appearance of a conflict of interest.

This may seem the opposite of what many expect, but it makes a lot of sense. Of course, it’s anyone’s guess where he might take Apple in the years to come.

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Way back when, when the first Power Macs hit the streets, I found performance with older Mac apps to be perfectly awful. It seemed as if I had gone back two generations in chip design, from the PowerPC to the 68030, and that was being generous. So when another emulation scheme was announced, Rosetta, which allows Intel-based Macs to run PowerPC software, you had reason to be concerned.

Although they are being coy on the details, Apple’s Rosetta technology is based on QuickTransit, an emulation method from Transitive Corporation. When I taped an interview with Transitive CEO Bob Wiederhold for this week’s episode of The Tech Night Owl LIVE, I had to forgive him if he danced around a few key details because of the company’s deal with Apple.

But here are the basics: When you launch a PowerPC application on a MacIntel, Rosetta translates chunks of code into memory. The code is reused as needed when various application features are run. How much memory? Well, in general, according to Wiederhold, their technology will exact a 50% overhead. So, as an example, if a PowerPC app needs 128MB to run, another 64MB will be required for emulation. You’ll need to think about this overhead carefully when you decide how much memory you need to get the best performance for your new MacIntel.

Now Transitive’s own presentation materials on their technology estimates that Rosetta will run at sixty to seventy percent of full processor speed. The tests published so far by Macworld and others are less optimistic, putting the speed hit at fifty percent. So why the disparity? Is Transitive fudging its numbers just a little bit?

Well, the magic bullet may very well be RAM, and most of the new iMacs tested so far appear to come with the default 512MB allotment. What if it was increased to, say, 1GB? Good question, and I’ll be interested in seeing the comparisons as testing of the new products continues. Now in normal circumstances, particularly if you stick with Apple’s own applications that have been ported to Universal status, and older apps with modest memory needs, performance should be pretty decent with the stock configuration.

When it comes to Adobe Photoshop and other high powered software, things get muddy. Photoshop, for example, loads an entire image into memory, large color illustrations, for example, could suck up RAM with abandon. You might just want to open Mac OS X’s Activity Monitor, which is located in the Utilities folder, and monitor the requirements of different applications as you move from one to the other. This will help you decide whether to max out the memory of your new MacIntel.

Now in the end you can’t expect miracles. Whether Rosetta runs at half the speed of the native processor or up to seventy percent, as Transitive claims, isn’t all that significant in the scheme of things. Mac OS X for Intel seems to be pretty snappy, and it’ll do its thing at a pretty good pace. Sure, Photoshop rendering functions won’t be so swift, but if you’re upgrading from a very old Mac, it’ll still be a lot faster than what you’re used to. Bear that in mind when you look at the reviews of the MacIntel version of the iMac. Remember that the comparisons are usually being done against current hardware, so you have to be realistic as to how those results will impact you.

As I said, the Intel-based Macs are among those rare personal computers that will continue to become faster over time, as more and more developers make Universal versions of their software, and continue to optimize their code. Already well over 300 applications have made the voyage, and more are added every single day. It won’t be long before the total will exceed 1,000.

However, the sprawling productivity applications with ancient code bases will require lots and lots of work to bring across the finish line. Quark Inc. has already done a lot of the heavy-lifting, which is why a public beta of a Universal version of QuarkXPress 7.0 will be available real soon. However, I don’t expect to see native versions of Adobe’s Creative Suite until this fall at the earliest, if then. Adobe not only has to update its software in Universal form, but it’ll need to be compatible with the forthcoming Windows Vista, and what that may require is anyone’s guess at this point.

Microsoft will no doubt face a similar dilemma. Months and months of work, and one only hopes that next version of Office will also sport a generous selection of new features to justify the upgrade price you’re going to pay.

For now, however, if you’re interested in buying a new iMac or ordering the MacBook Pro, you’ll want to approach the process realistically. Don’t shortchange yourself on RAM, especially if you have a bunch of PowerPC applications that will keep Rosetta real busy.

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