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Tuesday, May 19, 2009

DRIVING A MAC

I come from a long line of PC users. My youngest son cut his teeth sitting on his dad’s lap in front of a TRS-80. We’ve wandered through a number of different incarnations since then, each one smaller, faster, and smarter. Nowadays, we each have our own PC laptops. Mine has been a trustworthy companion and friend for four years.

A while back, though, I began talking about making a change, building my case for why I wanted to get a MacBook the next time around. Eyebrows shot up. Murmurings about going to the dark side rumbled. I held my ground, citing my reasons. Macs aren’t as prone to viruses. They are faster, giving instant gratification when you click from one app to another. If I have to learn a new system (aka the dreaded Vista), why not put my time into learning the Mac? It’s highly recommended by other writers. Did I mention no viruses? I didn’t push the envelope on this, but waited patiently, letting the idea soak in.

Then, on a recent weekend, my hubby said, “Wanna go to the mall and pick out your new Mac?” I had my shoes on and my purse dangling from my arm before he’d had time to blink.

So now I’m driving a Mac. Or at least I have a learner’s permit. It wasn’t the “snap” everyone said. When we brought it home, I managed to unpack it from its lovely designer packaging and find the power cord. Filled out the owner registration and connected to the Internet. Then, I had no idea what to do next. It looked like I’d stumbled into a foreign market and nothing on the shelves looked even remotely familiar.

Being the loyal love that he is, Max came to the rescue. He downloaded a tool to capture all my data from my sad-faced, rejected laptop, and somehow through a series of magical tricks and two glasses of wine got everything in its proper place—all my documents, my emails, my contacts, my calendars. Hallelujah!

Some things I’ve discovered. There’s a dashboard. I know I saw it once, and I betcha I could locate it again if someone told me I needed to. There’s a dock where all the things I need are nicely parked, ready for a test drive. Soon we’ll be cruising along, shifting gears, taking little side trips into places I’ve never been or even knew I wanted to go. Hairpin turns ahead? No worries. I’m driving a Mac. A zippy little thing that I hope will take my writing to new heights.

The only problem I see is that without FreeCell and Spider Solitaire as the muse I used to rely on (ahem), I now have no excuse for not writing.

And that is a very good thing.

4 comments:

Erica Vetsch said...

Giant husband points for Max, and kudos to you for being willing to jump into the great unknown world of Mac.

Life without FreeCell? The mind boggles.

Lynnette Labelle said...

I've heard a lot of good things about Macs, but I just can't part with my PC.

Lynnette Labelle

”Lynnette Labelle’s Blog”

carla stewart said...

Yes, Erica, Free Cell withdrawal is taking some getting used to. But trust me, this baby can do tricks I never imagined possible on my PC without adding expensive software.

Lynnette, I was happy, too, with my PC. It was lightweight and very reliable. My problem was that I had to add memory when my updated antivirus slowed everything down to a crawl. Also, since my computers never seem to last more than 5 years, I knew a change would be in order soon, and I just didn't want to learn Vista. A friend tried it and about tore her hair out. That said, my sons (who are much more savvy than me) do fine with Vista.

And by the way, glad that both of you stopped by.

Myra Johnson said...

Sounds like you have not been sorry about making the switch! And I think I just might know who that "friend" is who tore her hair out over Vista. I think I may still have a few bald spots a year and a half later!