NOW THAT A SLAB YAG LASER IS AVAILABLE AS A CHOICE FOR A LASER SOURCE IN THE INDUSTRIAL LASER MARKET PLACE, AN UNDERSTANDING OF THIS NEW GENERATION OF SOLID STATE LASER IS APPROPRIATE IF ITS FULL POTENTIAL IN MATERIALS PROCESSING IS TO BE REALIZED. IN THIS PAPER, BASIC SLAB LASER DESIGN IS DISCUSSED ALONG WITH THE INTRINSIC ADVANTAGES OF SLAB OVER ROD CRYSTAL GEOMETRY. THESE ADVANTAGES RESULT IN HIGH-POWER/HIGH-BRIGHTNESS BEAMS, CONSISTENT IN QUALITY OVER THE LASER'S ENTIRE POWER RANGE, AND HOW LOWER OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE COSTS QUALIFY THE SLAB LASER AS A TRUE INDUSTRIAL TOOL. THE SIMPLICITY AND FLEXIBILITY OF THE RESONATOR IS DISCUSSED AND MATERIAL PROCESSING DATA IS PRESENTED. INFORMATION ON SOME POSSIBILITIES FOR FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS WITH SLAB LASERS CONCLUDES THE PAPER.