Day 24 #blogjune The Mac

So I have been using this MacBook Pro (MBP) as my main personal/home computer for a couple of weeks now.

I was ready for a new computer because my desktop PC was acting up. It had trouble booting up some mornings (would just hang and the restart button would have to be invoked), I had the Blue Screen of Death once or twice (it did recover but made me lose all trust for the machine), and then the final straw was when it would stop detecting the wireless network (while the trusty iPad remained connected).

Bearing in mind that I have been a PC user for decades, I am surprised how painless it has been.

1. I love the fact that it took longer to get the MBP out of its packaging than it did to set it up and get running. (Really!)
2. Going from Windows to Mac OS – no problem at all. Some things, like how to install a downloaded program, I had to stop and take three seconds to figure out, but really the process is simpler than on a Windows machine.
3. Mac OS looks so good compared to Windows. I have never given this much thought before, but I tend to be very affected by how things look. I can’t help but have a slightly negative response to things if I think they look ugly, even if they work well. I’m still using a Windows machine at work, and it seems so clunky and unattractive at the moment…
4. I can’t wait for Mac OS X Lion!
5. All the software I use is available for Mac OS so that hasn’t been a problem. I don’t have an aversion to trying new software either, so going from Word to Pages has been fine, for instance. Games would possibly be the only problem area, if a game I want to play is not available for the Mac, but the reality is, I am playing very few games at the moment, and when I do they tend to be on the iPad!
6. The keyboard? Well, I thought I would have way more trouble with the Mac keyboard, but it’s quite telling that when I use my work PC now I sometimes get mildly flummoxed when I try to use the Mac Command key and then realise it’s the CTRL key on the PC. That didn’t take long!
7. I have not been a heavy user of laptops and have developed a heavy reliance on the mouse over the years – currently I am forcing myself to learn how to use the trackpad, as there are going to be instances when I take this MBP somewhere and it won’t be practical to use a mouse.
8. I do find myself wishing the MBP was a touch screen device! (In fact, the first morning I fired it up I got fingerprints all over the pristine screen because I automatically went to fondle it. On another point, the MBP is looking faintly grimy already, as I like to eat and drink while keyboarding…)
9. There are tools available to me now that I didn’t have – like the built-in camera and the great tools for manipulating photos and video… (I want to video blog but need to get over the fact that I tend to blog in my pyjamas and a supremely messy room, first. Or get changed, and tidy the room.)
10. I can now take my computer into any room of the house. Desktop machines are so… desk-bound!

In short, I am a very happy MBP user, and am well on my way to being converted to the Cult of Mac.