My iMac is starting to get a bit long in the tooth -- it "only" has a Core 2 Duo, 256MB ATi video, and 6GB of RAM is maxed out. I run VMware Fusion and WinXP (32bit) in that for my bread & butter DataCAD work. So, I am eying the newest generation iMac (or I may wait until the next gen Intel CPU's).

There is a glaring lack of an internal optical drive in the newest iMacs (and none in the current Mac Mini, as well). I don't understand this design choice. It is almost a deal-breaker. Apple may not need optical disks, but Windows certainly does, and watching DVD's on a gorgeous 27" high def monitor would be nice, too.

I don't want to be forced to to have to dangle an external drive on an otherwise elegant machine.

Maybe you don't understand it, but DVD/Blue Ray are things of past. Instead of a huge DVD drive they make the device thinner (Macbook Air, iMac, ultrabooks) or have better cooling/battery life/more stuff inside (Macbook Air, Mac Mini etc). You can disagree with them, but that won't stop them removing DVD drives from their hardware and probably won't stop you from buying a new iMac.

DVD is pretty much gone from Apple - only Macbook Pro's without Retina and Mac Pro's have them. DVD is pretty on the way out from every other manufacturer of laptops as well - ultrabooks don't have them, the new tablets/convertibles/all-in-one's won't have them either, so they will remain probably only in the standard size laptops and desktops.

Don't torture that nice smooth screen with gritty DVD video, it's not fair man.
When does Windows need discs today? I have an external DVD drive lying around for odd uses, but other than making some music CD's last year I don't think I've really used it. But you never know, some day perhaps I'll have to service an oldere WinXP machine that can't boot from USB.

How about all the people who used software that cannot be (legally) downloaded from the internet ? You buy the software and it comes with a disc (CD or DVD) for installation; what do you do then ? I am one of the old folks who sometimes buys music CDs, how do I listen to them on my computer ?
I believe this is a marketing choice (thin and very nice looking devices) that caters to a certain audience that accepts the drawbacks of the devices. Functionality is a different issue. I'll also add that this is not an Apple only problem (favoring looks over functionality).
I did just spend $400 on a new work laptop : it does everything I want it to and some more, has a DVD player, and a comfortable keyboard. It's light enough for the few times a month I need to carry it.
I also occasionally use an iPad : some of the educational aid apps are very nice, and I'll sometimes watch videos on it (not HD)... As much as I like the tablet concept, I think it's an overpriced and over restrictive tablet ; not to mention it has a very ridiculous name for a tech gadget

It is as much a marketing choice as when they removed floppy drives, serial/paralell/PS2 ports, slow removal of PCI slots... Optical drives are simply thing of the past. Sure, there will be conservatives who dislike the move to online digital media, but that doesn't change the facts, that less and less people use CD/DVD. In last 4 years, i used my DVD only for first few OS installs if it wasn't possible using USB, and installation of Visual Studio.

Since apps are coming from the Appstore, you do not need any optical drives.
And if you need one, i'll spend 40$ once for a slim usb dvd... buy once and use for all of your PC/Mac.

Apple is not interested in Mac users having their own blue ray/DVD movies, because what you already own cannot be rented from Itunes.

No movies, no margin.

my mother bought a learn to speak german program from nuance...
there was no simple way to install and activate the program without an optical drive. i had set up a virtual drive on her computer and then copy the disc over to her virtual drive from another PC. - and btw i was told by CS that the software would no longer come with tech support if i did that...
that being said im not going to really miss the optidrive, i just hate companies that expect you to have one.

I haven't used my optical drive in ages. And I support abandoning them on mobile devices to make room for more battery. Also: even if Windows really needed disks more than OSX, which I don't agree with, one shouldn't expect Apple to consider this in their decisions.

On an iMac, there would probably be the space for it, but Apple has long been making the push for diskless media. Suits me well, since I've been doing that for, oh, I don't know, when did Bittorrent came up...

Deleting the optical drive is a three-fer for Apple:
- allows for slimmer/smaller footprint
- pushes you to the apps store/itunes rather than buying physical media
- helps with their distain of BluRay DRM/licensing

I still use optical media and don't think it'll go away soon. I still rip the occasional music CD and burn MP3 CDs for my car stereo that doesn't have iPod support. I still get s/w in optical form and am glad for it (the 6hr+ download of Guild Wars 2 Mac beta client on my MacBook is a reminder).

I'm updating my mom's old Mac Mini (Core Solo!) to the 2012 version this month and will need an optical drive for some of the added s/w. I really don't want to pay Apple $80 for an external drive. I wonder if there is a way to file share or use the old target mode to use the ODD on my MacBook as a source for the Mini?

edit: found my own answer

Yes, you can share an optical drive from windows or mac (linux, too, if you're clever enough, I imagine):
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5287

Windows can be installed from a thumbdrive. So can basically any other software you name. And even if you install from a disc, you can then put the drive away for a LONG time. I wanted one in my current laptop, but I've barely used it. Not next time.

Blu-Ray is NOT obsolete for video, but it's best reserved for home theater purposes. I'm sure it'd look pretty on an iMac 27" screen, but are you really intending to do that often? Odds are, most people with a new iMac also have a nice, much bigger TV in front of a nice couch. Not enough people use it on the desktop for it to be worth it.

I too stopped using DVDs and just buy a new 1TB drive every half year or so, or 2TB every year from now on.
It's far more efficient and then you just plug something like this to your TV.

Of course, I would never be so silly and uninformed to actually buy an Apple product..