In an expceptionally shrewd move Apple today launched a raft of new kit only 2 days before Microsofts release of Windows 7 including new iMacs, a new entry level Macbook, a new multi-touch wireless mouse and redesigned Mac Mini’s including one with Snow Leopard server !

Of most interest to the majority of people will be the Magic Mouse and the astounding new 27″ LED iMac. The Magic Mouse extends Apples multi-touch technology to the mouse, disposing of the roller ball for scrolling in favour of a mouse surface that is a multi-touch trackpad able to respond to most of the gestures possible on the MacBooks trackpad. Mac haters will no doubt love the fact that the device still sports no obvious buttons and will no doubt gloat over the apparent inability of the mouse to allow right mouse clicks, everyone else will quietly configure it to work exactly how they wish and revel in the usual Apple design beauty. Of course even amongst Mac fans the mouse has traditionally been something you either love or hate but personally I think this latest revision looks stunning and sets off the look of the iMac to perfection.

The new iMacs take the Apple desktop range to new heights and push the Power Mac further into a niche corner by delivering superb 21.5″ and a huge 27″ LED backlit screens, Core 2 Duo and Quad processors including the option of Intel i7 and the option to install a huge 16Gb of RAM. Apart from the internal specs the design of the iMac is largely unchanged from previous models apart from minor tweaks including a slight thinning of the aluminium stand, though you could clearly argue that the current design is still very much of the moment and therefore Apple have rightly not felt it necessary to mess with it.

The Mac Mini has received a performance hike with two new models sporting beefier processors and expanded memory and at the same time a DVD-less model complete with Snow Leopard Server has been launched, clearly an attempt to tempt smaller companies away from Windows server solutions. Finally a slightly slimmer and lighter white Macbook now receives a unibody casing ( ala MacBook Pro line ), LED backlight, a glass multi-touch trackpad and a 7 hour battery life wrapping off an impressive list of upgrades.

There is no doubt that the timing of these updates was planned to detract some media attention away from this weeks launch of Windows 7, though even the most fervent Mac supporter will have to admit that this week will inevitably be remembered for Microsoft’s new product launch ( though time will tell which is ultimately the most successful ! )