Starting in 2004 , we inaugurate our Readers ’ Choice Awards . grant alongside the Eddys , the reader laurels give you the chance to pick your favorite hardware and software of the year .
More often than not , those favorites arrive courtesy of Cupertino . In 2004 , the iMac G5 took home the ironware prize while Final Cut Pro HD 4.5 win the software awarding . In 2005 , hardware and software system honors went to the Mac mini and Mac OS X 10.4 , respectively . Last year , Parallels Desktop for Mac broke Apple ’s winning bar on the software program side , while the 24 - in iMac Core 2 Duo keep the hardware prize in Apple ’s grasp .
So our readers like Apple ’s products — that ’s not really a surprise . But ground on feedback we ’ve receive , our readers would like the chance to recognize other heavy Mac offerings as well .
After last year ’s awards , we asked for your suggestions on style to meliorate the Readers ’ Choice Awards . We received a mess of constructive feedback . But perhaps the two most common suggestions could be summarized thusly :
Well , you ’ve got it . For 2007 , we ’re doubling the number of reader honor to four . And we ’re introducing some new family which , ideally , will give more developer a shot at realize some accolades .
Apple Product of the Year : Obviously , the biggest maker of Mac products gets an award all to itself . Any and all products eject by a certain Cupertino - base company in the preceding year — hardware or software , Mac , iPod or iPhone — are eligible for this honor .
Third - Party Hardware of the twelvemonth : printing machine , image scanner , photographic camera , digital devices , and any other computer hardware vie for this honour .
Third - Party Software of the Year : Any program across the wide array of software category — audio , video , digital imaging , utilities , game , and more — can be make here .
Mac Gem of the Year : As our Mac Gems weblog illustrates every week , great software does n’t necessarily have to come from giant company ; sometimes , the best apps out there appear with little fanfare . We ’d care to avail those program get a little more recognition , so rent us hear about your favorite under-$50 apps .
We ’re reckon for nominee in all four categories . Any production released after November 1 , 2006 is eligible for consideration . So give us your picks in the meeting place train of thought linked to below . We ’re accept nomination over the next two week . You ’ll get your chance to vote on the finalists in early November .
