The newness of the MacBook- after 8 days has not rubbed off. In fact, it still has that figurative "new car smell." I find the MacBook to be well engineered. From the keys, to the mousepad, to the magnet sticking power-cord, to the battery life and quick "wake-up", to the great selection of applications that come preloaded. It's sorta like my wife's Honda Pilot. Well designed. Well built. And comfortable.
Regarding that last statement, I mean that sincerely. I'm a Windows guy, and I never thought I could get comfortable with a Mac. But other than a few minor quirks (e.g., no [end] key, no [backspace] key - but I did find the [fn] [delete] key combo!)- it's not so bad. In fact, the MacBook has not stalled, crashed or burned yet. Unfortunately, I can't say that for my Windows box. In fact, if you compare the last 8 days of the MacBook with the last 8 days of the Windows box - MacBook wins hands down. Compare this.
Windows 7 Dell Notebook:
- # Outlook App "Not Responding" hour glass moments = 10 x (at least)
- # Outlook App Crashes = 4 x
- # Sleep wake ups that resulted in an undesired full "reboot" = 2 x
- Time it takes to come out "sleep" = 12 seconds
- Time it takes to fully boot up and load firefox = 2+ minutes
MacBook Pro:
- # Apps "Not Responding" hour glass moments = 0
- # App Crashes = 0
- # Sleep wake ups that resulted in an undesired full reboot = 0
- Time it takes to come out of sleep = 2 seconds (some times instantaneously)
- Time it takes to full boot up and load safari = don't know yet - I haven't shut it down complete yet.
Now, is this a fair comparison? Maybe not yet. Keep in mind my Windows PC is a few months older, and has a lot more data and apps on it. Plus, in the past week I have used my Windows PC maybe 50% more than my MacBook (because of the data and apps and sheer necessity). But let's also be honest on the apps. Even though I don't have Office for the MacBook, I still have the ability to check my mail, write (and view) Word, PPT and Excel documents - using the stuff built into Mac or provided with my $50 version of iWorks. On my PC I also use Altova's XMLSpy, which is a Windows app. But I'm sure I will venture out one day and try Parallels for Mac virtualization software to see how it performs. My preference though, would be for Altova and others to develop Java apps, which would run on Windows or the Mac OS. I think Java and Browser based applications, which results in platform neutrality, are the smart path for any development shop -- especially as the numbers of Mac users increase. Why limit yourself to just PCs.
My experiences with the PC and Mac over the last 8 days, may best personified in the PC verses Mac commercials that have played out over the last few years, which have all made us laugh at one time or another. They are funny, because we can relate to the quirks of PC -- especially if you are a Windows user. (ironic isn't it?).
But I'm experiencing first hand that character of Mac isn't far from the truth either. Have you ever noticed he's usually the first one on the scene -- fully awake from any sleep - together - ready to go. In fact, he's always the one that introduces himself first. He's genuinely interested in what's going on. And while PC exposes some of his quirks, Mac shares about a feature in a sorta non-challant way and usually offers help. Mac doesn't try to bolster his ego. PC, meanwhile, always wants to have the last word - and often exposes his frustration. Mac, on the other hand, is never frustrated.
That, I think, captures the essence of what I've experienced so far. Frustrated? At times with Windows - yes. With the Mac -- I haven't really had a reason to get frustrated -- at least not yet. But, then, there's more to discover! And I'm not sure how it will really end.
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