The screen is smaller, but due to the higher pixel density I'm really only losing 180 pixels vertically. I don't mind because I figure the native 1080p resolution of the screen will work better for Airplay anyway. (Not that I had Airplay on my 24" iMac ...yet another thing it was too old to handle.) I can't wait to test the new one out with my AppleTV.
I went ahead and decided to ignore Apple's Migration Assistant this time. You have no idea how nice that piece of software is until you start transferring things the old-fashioned way—ugh. The main reason I decided to start fresh was because I wanted to use multiple accounts this time instead of just one. With all of the social customization in Mavericks, it's really feels necessary. The kiddos are getting into computers and would love their own accounts, and my wife has always been a digital hoarder. It'll be nice being able to hang out in a nice clean/zen space going forward! Clutter out of sight, clutter out of mind!
Favorite thing so far... the SSD. Holy hell did Apple really pump up the speed with these latest Macs. When I was looking for my first SSD I remember the speed of the high-end drives being around 250MB/s ....now the high-end SATA III drives are around 500-550MB/s. I was hoping Apple's implementation was going to end up in that range too. Needless to say, when I saw write speeds over 650MB/s and read speeds over 700MB/s pop up, I did a double-take. Hot damn!
Least favorite thing so far... my dumbass decision to go for the wireless keyboard. This nubby little bastard is killing me. The eff'd up fn key location is really cramping my control+[x] shortcuts and I never realized how much I use the other delete and arrow keys. (Yeah, I know about fn+delete. It's just lame.) I'm also upset about the loss of the two easy-access USB ports. The only nice thing will be the fact that I won't be getting my daily dose of electro-shock therapy. Apple's wired keyboards eat static electricity like nobody's business. I imagine that's a healthy meal for a USB port.
All in all, I'm happy as can be. *knocking on wood* It feels great being back in tomorrow-land. I just hope this iMac will be as hassle-free as the last.
Thanks for the great Xmas gift honey. ;)