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Macintosh

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From Windows to Mac: A Switcher’s Story

You’ll notice soon that we’re adding a number of new contributors to our humble abode. We start this week with DJ Rizzo, a frequent commenter and Windows to Mac convert, a story he tells in his first post. Owing to Wordpress weirdness, some of you already got to read it via RSS, but it just won’t appear on the main page, so I’m providing a link. Enjoy.

Read David’s story.

Written by Pete Mortensen on February 26th, 2008 with no comments.
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From Windows to Mac: a Switcher’s Story

Or, “How I Learned to Stop Stressing and Love Mac OS X”
In an effort to help bruised and battered Windows users into the kinder world of Macs, I’ll be posting tips and stories garnered from my own switching experience. This first post is my own switcher’s story. And it all begins with I, your humble narrator, with my ears utterly closed to the Apple praise of a friend…

“No viruses, dude!” “UNIX underpinnings”“Stability!”… yada yada yada…
My impassioned roommate is ranting again that Apple’s Macintosh computers are so much better than the PCs I’ve used for over 9 years. It’s 2002, and my friend is testing my patience with his sermon. At heart, it’s a simple argument: He’s enlightened, and I’m a lemming with putty-colored Windows XP desktop. I get defensive (after all, I picked out the audio and graphics cards myself!) and throw up the usual Windows arguments: more applications, more users, and “I looked at Macs but they are so much more expensive for the same thing.” He jabbed. I jabbed. He jabbed again.

“We’re looking for a graphic designer who owns Photoshop and can create professional looking work for us.”
It’s the summer of 2005. My boss wants to upgrade the quality of our marketing materials. Up until now, it has been my responsibility to create flyers, ads, and posters for the firm. Up until this moment I thought my Microsoft Publisher creations were pretty good. But the message has come down that we need to really look professional. I’ll be damned if someone else is going to do it. I tell my boss I can be the designer that raises the bar - all I need is his support, and I’ll be ready to dive in. After some consultation, with other leaders, he agrees, giving me a small raise to help pay for a new notebook and Adobe software. Now. What notebook to buy? I immediately thought of the reputation Apple computers had for being the choice of creative professionals. I remembered the ex-girlfriend who worked at a printing press where all the designers used Macs, I thought of a visit to Hollywood where I watched a friend edit a TV show on a Mac, and of course I thought of my old roommate – the enlightened one. I couldn’t help but think that if I wanted to be serious about a creative career I had to consider making the move to a Mac.

But what exactly would switching to the Mac entail? I had to learn more. So I did what any Internet-savvy person with questions would do: I went to a bookstore. I browsed the shelves of the “Computers” section – you know, full of paperback texts as thick as phonebooks. It was there I found “Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual” by David Pogue and Adam Goldstein. I skimmed it and realized I had found was I was looking for: a book that clearly explained the differences between a Mac and a PC. I bought it right away and started reading it that night. I think I was three chapters in when I decided I’d get a Mac. As I read the book, I kept finding myself thinking, “Now that makes a LOT more sense!” Soon I was on Apple.com ordering a PowerBook G4. My new best friend arrived in late November of 2005.

Since then, using computers has changed for me. When I’m on my Mac I smile more and frequently think to myself, “I love this thing!” When I’m on a PC I am more annoyed than ever with its frequent problems and annoying interface. I liken it to driving a BMW but occasionally having to jump in a Kia. Being in the creative field has nothing to do with it, I now think the Mac is better for users of all types. In just two years I have become a certified “Mac addict” who reads more Mac news than “real” news. When people ask me how I like the Mac I answer, “the best decision I ever made” (please don’t tell my fiancé I say that). Through these posts, I hope that my little obsession will help you, the recent or potential switcher. I’m still learning. In fact, while writing this post I discovered something new that I’ll feature in the future.

For those put off by Macintosh “fan boys,” I promise I’ll be fair. Yes, I do prefer Apple’s products to Microsoft’s but I don’t think Apple does no wrong and Microsoft is pure evil. And I still know my way around Windows – I am tech support to a small business that runs XP computers, as well as to my fiancée and her Dell laptop. Her parents gave it to her for Christmas in 2006. They knew I thought she should get a Mac, so the first thing they said to me afterward was, “We looked at Apple but it was so much more expensive for the same thing.”

Well, you can’t win them all. I’ll work on them after the wedding.

Written by DJRizzo on February 25th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Macintosh and Apple and switch.

America’s Best Independent Mac Store

Greatest of all time.
I just got back from visiting a friend in San Luis Obispo, California, and he pointed me towards the Mac Superstore. I’d never heard of the place, and Apple has so thoroughly eradicated all unofficial Mac retailers that I didn’t think there were many left (sadly). But I decided to give the place a close look from the inside. What follows, here and on the jump, is a photo-tour to the coolest Apple store that the company doesn’t own - and maybe ever.

Best Doorstops Ever.
The experience at the MacSuperstore, founded in 1998 by Shane Williams, a graduate of Cal-Poly San Luis Obispo, begins before you even walk in the door. Since the weather is almost always sunny and calm in SLO, Williams and staff use vintage all-in-one Macs to hold the doors open to the faithful. I checked closely, and one door is propped by a Mac Plus while the others are SE/30s. The effect is inviting - and a bit disturbing. I last used an SE/30 in mid-1999, and it seemed pretty far from a doorstop then.

All the most interesting stuff is inside, however, so please read on.

(more…)

Written by Petemortensen on February 11th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Macintosh and Vintage Tech.

MacBook Air: The Laptop As Fashion Accessory

Picture: Malabooboo

The tech press is missing the boat with the MacBook Air.

All the grumbling about the price, the absence of an optical drive, the irreplaceable battery, shows that the technical minded misunderstand the machine.

Of course it’s not practical, it’s a fashion computer.

But it seems the target audience — fashionistas — are taking note. A quick Google shows that fashion blogs are raving about the Air.

Coquette, a blog about ‘digital fashion and style by natalie zee drieu, raves about the Air’s potential as an accessory: “This little thing is ready to tote around in your Balenciaga or Gucci bag,” it says. “I’m so getting one!!!!!”

Judging from the comments on those blogs, lots of their readers are bonkers for it too.

Compared to a $1,800 Prada handbag, the MacBook Air is a steal.

Expect long lines at the NYC Soho and Meatpacking stores.

Via Carl Howe at Blackfriars: The MacBook Air is an ideal product — in the right market

Written by Leander Kahney on January 23rd, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Macintosh and Hardware and Apple and Macworld.

MacBook Pro Hacked With 64GB SSD

In case you don’t speak Geeky Acronym, the gibberish above means that someone (in this case, Ryan Block of Engadget) has dropped a 64-gigabyte solid-state drive into a MacBook Pro. The incredible drives, which are still extremely expensive compared to conventional hard drives, use flash, not platters for storage, and as a result, have no noticeably moving parts. They’re virtually silent, and they’ve been claimed to up battery life to unheard of levels (I’ve heard 11 hours on a Toshiba subnotebook). Block hasn’t provided a battery life figure yet, but I’m kind of drooling. In two years, virtually all laptops will have moved in this direction…