Having recently bought a Mac Powerbook Pro, I had to come to grips with using a new operating system. I have used Windows XP since it was a beta in 2001. This being the end of summer in 2009, you could say that I’m a tad set in my ways when it comes to my computing tasks.
The Mac Powerbook Pro was so enticing a piece of hardware though, that I was willing to look at Mac OSX. I was no stranger to Macs having used them since my roommate bought an original Macintosh back before time began. Though at the time I liked my Tandy 1000 better, the Mac was pretty darn cool too.
Still, having one around and using one as my primary mobile computing platform were two different issues. I’m a working consultant, so I need my laptop to work – period. I also need to not be trying to figure out how to use my computer while charging my client by the hour. That’s just bad form.
My first issue was the fact that I have many XP-only pieces of software. The thumbnailer program that I use for my photos is Windows-only, and I like it so much that I will forever keep a windows machine around to use it. Luckily with the Mac, there’s a better way.
In the apple store, one of the salespeople showed me Apple Parallels, which allows Windows XP (or most other operating systems) to run in a virtual instance at the same time as OSX. Think VM-Ware if you know what that is. In fact VM-Ware has a similar product called Fusion that many people prefer.
While Parallels looked cool, I wondered about moving files back and forth between OSX and XP. I was then shown how files can be dragged between OSX and XP windows and my jaw hit the floor. I told them to wrap it up. Fusion is also capable of this type of integration.
Once I had the safety net of being able to run XP within my OSX environment, I knew that I could install my normal XP software and just boot XP when and if I needed it. There was no no danger of needing to figure something out at a client site.
I then moved onto trying to get myself to a point where I wouldn’t need XP. Sure certain things like thumbnailer needed XP, but I only use that stuff when I’m on big trips. I usually do all my 
My biggest needs on a portable computer are:
- Writing – both personal and business
- SSH and terminal
- Visio
- Web browsing
Business writing and Visio both demand Microsoft Office. I was willing to buy a Mac version of office, but from all the reviews I’d read, the latest version sucked, and the old version was for power-PCs. While the older version would work with my Intel processors, I’m not a fan of paying for old versions. I’ve relegated business writing to XP using Parallels. It works, I have the license, and I’m not messing with it.
With Visio there is no choice. It simply does not exist on the Mac. Yes I know there are other packages that do the same thing, but my clients use Visio, and I am expected to give them Visio files. The easy fix for me is to use MS Office under Parallels, so that’s what I do, and it works without incident.
For personal writing, I don’t need MS Office, so I set about finding something else. I tried the demo version of iWork and hated it. I tried Open Office and had stability problems. I then discovered Neo Office, which is an OSX-specific port of Open Office. I love it. I’m using it to write my book and have had zero problems with it over the past two months.
SSH is a big deal to me since I primarily use PINE for email. Call me old school, but it works, and it’s impossible to get a virus, worm, trojan horse or anything other than offensive words with PINE. I’m using Alpine now on Ubuntu, but still, I need a nice SSH app to get to my servers.
In XP I use Secure CRT and love it. There is, as of yet, no OSX version of Secure CRT though. Luckily, for 95% of my needs, I don’t need it. OSX is UNIX, and it inherently contains SSH. Once I got my terminal window to look the way I liked, I was set.
While I use PINE for my text based email, I do occasionally need a graphical client. I prefer Thunderbird, and I tunnel the connection through SSH to my server. Works like a charm just the way I like it to.
Web browsing was similarly solved with Firefox, though I’m sad to say that since version 3.0, Firefox has been irritating me in a fairly regular basis. I find that Safari is a surprisingly good and stable browser, which I use about 75% of the time while on the Mac.
Some things are still mildly bothersome as a long-time XP user. For example:
- I dislike the fact that I can only resize a window from the bottom right corner
- I dislike the fact that with most apps, I cannot maximize the window
- I dislike the fact that there does not seem to be the idea of an insert key, even with a 101-key keyboard
- I dislike that there are no dedicated pg-up/pg-down keys on the Mackbook
I’ve found that I can reproduce the Page-up and Page-down functionality by using the spacebar and shift-spacebar in every app I’ve tried so far.
Many people worry or complain that there is no right-click on a Mac. They’re wrong. Not only is right-click supported if you get a third-party mouse, but the included trackpad has a right-click button. For some reason it’s disabled by default! Turn that on and you’re golden.
It took me a lot less time than I expected to become proficient in OSX. Sure I still might need to hunt for some odd feature here and there, but overall I’m thrilled with the experience so far. I like it so much that when my kid’s PCs expire, I’ll likely replace them with Macs.
By the way, in the few months since I’ve owned my Powerbook, I have never once had to find or load a driver. I’ve not had issues installing or removing any software. I’ve not seen a conflict of any kind. I hate to repeat hackneyed sayings, but this thing just works. Oh wait! I did have it lock up on me – twice! Each time XP had consumed all the memory and was stuck in a race condition within Parallels. I got into terminal and killed the process and got it working again. I love Unix.
GAD
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The mac beats my laptop for sure!