One Year Appleversary
It was a year ago last week that I made my first blog entry from my new Apple PowerMac. I made “The Switch” that week and haven’t looked back since. My e-mail switched over with only minor hassles — my Perl skills came in handy there, as I recall. My photos, contacts, and calendar have never been more organized. iTunes was nice, at first, but became invaluable with the iPod I got for Christmas. The update to the operating system, Tiger, was very smooth with only one casualty - Audacity would no longer record audio. Thankfully, Garage Band filled the gap nicely, and I could still go back to Audacity for editing purposes.
The only thing I really wanted to pick up with the Apple that I haven’t in the past year is more Illustrator skills. I’ve picked at it here and there, but haven’t really devoted the time to it that I wanted.
The only thing I had to get used to was the new keyboard. Beyond the new control-type keys, it felt tighter, like the keys were jammed together too closely. I still go back and forth from that keyboard to a Windows-oriented keyboard at work everyday, but I barely notice the difference anymore.
In the end, the Mac has given me everything I wanted from Linux (stability, usability, upside potential, *NIX command line, GUI goodness), but without any of the hassles. I can’t imagine switching back.
September 28th, 2005 at 2:09 pm
Darn…
I really have to upgrade from my old pre-OS X Mac one of these months!
I’m kind of on the fence right now because of the Intel announcement.
It also seems the code for the Intel chips OS X-compatibility was distributed illegally over the Internet and some guys have already figured out how to get OS X to work on regular vanilla PCs.
I tell ya — Apple will probably get out of the computer hardware when it figures out the only profitable hardware it has is the iPod and that it can challenge MS’s dominance with a more stable OS-platform that can run on two different chipsets. Assuming the rumors about Intel-compatibility and its impact on OS X functionality are true.
The rumors were saying that OS X was also running FASTER on the Intel chipset!
September 28th, 2005 at 3:58 pm
I’ve thought about making The Switch, since all the software I use — Firefox, World of Warcraft, Word, Thunderbird, Dreamweaver, iTunes — is all Mac-compatible. But I’d need to spend some time with the new OS, because we’re still using OS 9.2 here at work (don’t ask) and, let me tell ya, it’s a great advertisement for Windows.
But more stable, more secure, faster … unless I start buying and playing a lot more PC games than I’ve played for several years, I’m running out of arguments to stay with Windows. (Well … is City of Heroes Mac-compatible?)
September 30th, 2005 at 11:44 am
Beau - Don’t know about CITY OF HEROES. I’l have to keep an eye out for it on my next trip to the Apple Store. Otherwise, I was in the same boat as you — my main programs were Thunderbird for e-mail and Firefox for web browsing. Heck, I was even using OpenOffice instead of Word at the time. (Sadly, the OO for Mac stinks on ice, so I went back to Word.) That was a big part of making the transition so easy. OS 9.2? Ouchie. That’s like using Win95 these days.
George — the Intel computers are scheduled for June or July 2006 right now, according to the rumor mills. We’ll see what Apple uses to enforce its hardware monopoly on the OS. Those are a whole ‘nother set of rumors. For now, I’ll stick with my PowerPC chip. It’s only a year old. I know I’ll have to switch eventually, but hopefully that won’t be for awhile.
Another thing I’ve noticed about the Apple - I don’t feel the need to be constantly upgrading its hardware. I did upgrade a few parts in the past year, but I’m fine with it right now. I’m not trying to figure out what the next generational shift is going to be — video card? Sound card? etc. In my PC days, I was always searching through the new Best Buy circulars for new parts. Now, I’m just happy with my computer and the way it works. Feels good.