So as I might have mentioned on my previous post, I might have slipped that I’m looking into buying an Apple Macbook. Those of you who have eagle-eyes might have noticed as well that I’ve put a Paypal donation on my site too (on the left where the comments are).
Why a mac though?
This is the question that quite a few people are asking, and although I haven’t 100% decided yet, I’ve got some good reasons, I think why I’d prefer to go with a mac than a laptop from another manufacturer running on Windows Vista.
First up, the speed and ease of use. When I popped in to my local Apple store the first thing that I noticed was the incredible speed and ease of use when first booting it up. No waiting around at all, not even any real loading screen. It just pops up pretty much straight away with the login screen. I’ve also used Amey’s (my girlfriend) iMac quite a bit lately and I’ve constantly been impressed by its speed and ease of use. The one-button mouse got me annoyed for the first few times in using it, but I got used to it quite quickly. By clicking the Ctrl button on the keyboard and clicking with the mac mouse emulates the right-click of a regular PC which was nice to know. On a macbook, things are improved further since you can just use two fingers on the touchpad to emulate a right-click. Surprisingly this works very well indeed and I got used to it quickly.
The design and style is, of course, probably the main thing that stands out with every Apple product they make. Granted, the iPhone isn’t the best phone in the world, but just look at it. Its slick, slim and sexy.
The same goes with their range of iPods. Their Macbooks, Macbook Pros, iMacs. The list goes on. In this department, the Macbook doesn’t disappoint. There’s two colours to choose from when buying a Macbook, a simple black or white. For me, I think black looks too corporate and to "normal", if I’m getting a mac then I want to let people know its a mac. This might sound stupid to some people, for example, it makes the laptop an easy object to see from a distance and a very attractive thing for thieves to steal, but I don’t intend to leave it around unattended at all.
Another thing is when you say about macs a lot of people say that you’ll have problems getting the software for them. Really? Well everything I use is available for macs with ease and the software is only marginally more expensive than the same software for Windows. What’s more, 80% of the software I use is now made by Adobe who work closely with Apple anyway so its quids-in for me.
But what happens if you can’t find a particular piece of software for the mac? No problem at all. I introduce you to Boot Camp. Since Apple are just, well, plain awesome, they’ve developed something called Boot Camp which is included for free in the new Mac OS X Leopard. Boot Camp allows you to run any version of any other operating system at the same time as running Mac OS. This means that I could, if I needed, to have XP or Vista running at the same time as Mac OS. I can then install software as I wish on the Windows OS. How sweet is that
Anyway, I think that pretty much concludes my thoughts on the Macbook at the moment. I haven’t completely decided about "going Apple" yet, but the more and more I read about their operating system and products, then the more I am getting swayed into buying one. Their fast, easy to use, look stunning and, as they say, "Just work".
I switched to Mac after 14 years supporting, developing for and working in Windows environments and I haven’t looked back.
For running those Windows apps that you just can’t get for OS X, you’d be better off looking at VMWare Fusion than BootCamp IMO. Although bootcamp is free and VMWF isn’t (£40), I’ve been able to completely migrate to Mac including running my work laptop (XP image taken from a live Dell laptop with A2V) on it in VM at the same time.
There’s also a snazzy bit called Unity which takes the Windows apps (i.e Outlook) and runs them as if they are native OSX apps.
On the whole it saves having to restart to get access to XP.
If you’re new to virtualisation just check out the VMWare Fusion site which explains that stuff well.
There’s also Parallels as well but i’ve not used that so can’t comment.
IIRC I pointed you in the direction of a mac!
You blatantly have to get one..
Hi Macca and thank you very much for your comments. When, or if, the time comes I’ll definatly take a look into the software you are talking about. Although, to be honest, I am hoping that I won’t have to go back to Windows at all!
No worries!
TBH, if I didn’t use Windows for work I probably wouldn’t go back either!
I switched a year ago and will never look back. If I wasn’t required to use a windows only 3dCAD package i wouldn’t even have a windows partition.
any questions just drop me an email
Sam J
So did you bit the bullet and make the switch then? I got my MacBook before Christmas (despite UPS’s best efforts to keep it from me). It’s fantastic. I’m a complete convert. Similar to Macca above, I’d worked with Windows for more years than I care to remember. Other than still using it in work however, I won’t be going back.
If you haven’t already, go get your Mac. You won’t regret it.