No, I’m not becoming a Republican.
Last night, after nearly twenty years of supporting Windows on the PC platform, I finally had a come-to-Jesus moment and bought a Mac: a sleek, sexy MacBook Pro to be exact.
What caused this paradigm shift in my computing universe? To be honest, it was a combination of things. Until about a month or so ago I was extremely excited about the new version of Windows that officially went on sale a few days ago. I’d been running various iterations of it on my Dell Inspiron laptop since the first public beta was available, and my initial reaction was that Microsoft had finally gotten it right. But one Sunday afternoon, all of a sudden it simply stopped displaying my chosen wallpaper. An admittedly small issue, but it was nonetheless profoundly annoying. After extensive troubleshooting and finding no answers through the Google, I wiped the drive, pulled out the RC-1 installation CD and began reinstalling. Immediately after typing in my license number (taken directly from my email from Microsoft) it refused to proceed. “Invalid Registration Key” or some crap. I double-checked the number and typed it in again. Same thing.
Fuck me.
This was the straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back. I turned to Ben and said, “This is bullshit. I’ve had enough. I’m getting a Mac!”
“Yay,” he said! “My first convert!” (He’s had a Macbook since 2008.)
My first impulse was to get an iMac to replace my rapidly aging Dell GX270 desktop unit, and after playing with a one of them at the Mac Store, I fell in love. (In the interest of complete disclosure, we were actually in the Mac Store because Ben had to take his MacBook for service because of a power problem.) But as the days drew on, the more I realized how foolish buying a desktop unit would be. 90% of my computing time was now happening wirelessly in the living room, and if I got a Mac desktop unit I’d be glued to it (and away from my Bubba) way more than I think either of us would like. So deciding on a laptop was a no-brainer.
I’m still getting rid of the GX270. It’s way beyond its expiration date, and my laptop is a much better unit to keep around until I can figure out how to remote desktop from my work PC to the new Mac.
So what do I think of the new machine?
Love it. I know that Macs are not trouble-free, and when they crash they tend to crash spectacularly, but it’s worth living with that risk for the sheer joy that has returned to my online life. It’s sort of like how I viewed living in San Francisco near the major fault line in the United States for 16 years. The earth could shake at any moment, but until that time…damn what a ride.
Welcome to the dark side, we have cookies!
I just replaced my 6 year old ibook with the MacBook Pro – LOVE IT. Especially the under the key lighting and the 7 hr battery life. Would love an update after you’ve had time to adjust.
Welcome to the fold… Now that we got you, we’re ain’t gonna let you go… ever…
Congratulations and welcome to the club! My new iMac is has made it from Shanghai to Hong Kong and is now on it’s way to Auckland. Since Monday is a holiday in NZ (Labour Day) I’m hoping that it shows up on my door step on Tuesday. It’s been three and half years since my last upgrade so I’m really looking forward to a speed bump.
Ah ha! So you finally spill the beans on the force behind the change. And here the whole time I thought it was the arsnic that Ben was putting in your bowl of Stupid-Os every morning. You look very happy in that photo, and I hope that smile stays on your face for a good long while. I posted a new Apple ad on Facebook yesterday, it’s only two days old, so you might not have seen it yet. I love it, especially since they mention Windows 2.0.
I love it because I love mine. ONE OF US! ONE OF US! ONE OF US!
You should have a Leopard Party! My partner got a MacBook Pro a few months ago and loves it. Of course he’s now trying to get me hooked on his old MacBook… I’m not a convert – yet.
Welcome, brother. May the Mac be with you *smirk*
You will absolutely love your new “Mac” we made the change a year ago, and would NEVER go back to a “Windows” based PC.
Welcome to the real world.
If you need more stuff, you now get to go to the Apple Store and check out, what I refer to as “The Apple Hotties”. Welcome. Have a canape. LOL
Oh you lucky guy. Now your photos will be even more annoyingly fantastic.;) Good for you.
oh noez!
I love my Mac Mini. I’ve had it over 4 years, and it still works.
awesome! i’m so jealous. my macbook pro is about 4 years old now and while it works great it kinda gets too hot and laggy whilst i warcraft. but it’s still awesome. i use the remote desktop connection program combined with a vpn connection to my work desktop pc and it works great. and because it’s a mac it is super easy to set up!
enjoy!
welcome to the mac side.
Whee! open it open it! i want to see! how are you enjoying it?