Thomas Nicholson

I bought my first Mac back on the 4th of July.  I’ve wanted one for a while but couldn’t justify the money for just a “computer.”  After Apple made the recent price cuts it was actually cheaper for me to buy my 13” MacBook Pro then the Lenovo T400s I was looking at with the same spec’s and with my educational discount.

I can do everything on my Mac that I did on my PC, so with the exception of buying all new software for my Mac its been a wash.  I’ve made the decided to reevaluate some of the software I was using and have tried some new programs.  I try to go “native” when possible.  For example I don’t run Office for Mac, I run Works.  I can do all the same Office stuff I did before, including collaborating on files, without missing a beat.  Also since I’m not an Office “power user” Works has all the features I need.

With respect to the hardware it’s pretty damn good.  I wanted something bigger than my 8.9” netbook but still portable.  I thought about getting the 15” MBP but couldn’t justify the extra money when I have a 22” LCD at home.  The 17” has some nice features like the matte screen and ExpressCard slot but I would never spend that much for a laptop even if I had it.  The battery life is pretty awesome but I think any laptop with LiPoly batteries would be great too.  I get about 6 hrs of battery life running multiple VM’s and driving a projector.  The only upgrade I have pending is to swap out the HD.  It came with a 250GB 5400RPM drive and I’m upgrading to a 500GB 7200RPM.  Knowing that soon as any drive gets to >51% capacity starts to get really slow really fast.

OS X has been a learning experience for me.  I’ve used Mac’s for years even pre-OSX but never owned one, so it’s been fun to be in the “newbie” seat.  I can say that Mac’s do crash.  For me OS X is as stable as Vista has been for me.  Maybe 2 crashes in a month if I’m really being careless.  Over all I do like how “smart” the Mac seems to be.  The flow of the experience is much different than on Windows.  I can see whey Windows users feel that Mac users are snobs.  We are, we have it good and can see all the wrong that is Windows.

I wasn’t planning on using my Mac as much as I am, but it really has made me switch.  I still have several Windows computers that I use.  I even have several Windows VM’s installed on my Mac.  But when I just need a computer that works, I grab my Mac.  I’m not going to say that it’s a Zen like experience, but my blood pressure does go down when I’m on my Mac.

The point of this post was to share my experience switching.  I’m not trying to sell anyone and I really don’t care if you like Mac’s or hate them.  My only advise is use what works for you and never be afraid to try something new.  If Mac’s aren’t for you try Linux.  Ubuntu rocks!