Showing off
I have used a MacBook for over a week. From Windows to Linux to Macintosh, I have learned a few lessons.
Anyone can use Windows, Linux, and Mac. The interface is the same: A desktop with files, folders, launchers, and a wallpaper. Applications use windows. Tools like Launchy, Deskbar, and Quicksilver can find files and programs. Yahoo widgets, GDesklets, and the Dashboard are pretty much the same. The major browsers (Internet Exploder, Firefox, AOL, Safari) function alike, even if some have more flair than others.
Mac heads game, too. The first game I have installed is Halo. It works fine. Soon I plan to take a trip to Best Buy and get a solid FPS for Macs, like Star Wars Battlefront or Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six. Two of my friends are trying to WoW me. My favorite free game is still Digital Paintball, which works in Windows and Linux. Wormux even has a live CD, the perfect LAN party tool.
Windows is stale. The search dog needs to be put down, while Spotlight takes center stage. The graphical experience of a Mac is amazing. Windows is ugly, stupid, and bug-ridden. Want to join a secured wireless network? The windows wireless network viewer is slow and requires protocol specifications that no average user would understand. TKIP? WEP? 128 or 64 bits? I joined a friend’s WiFi on my Mac. The type of encryption was already given. I just needed to enter the password. No hexadecimals required. Third party apps for Mac are very cool. MacSaber, iAlarm, Virtue Desktops. Heck, the first party apps are neat as well. Macs come with Garage band. Free. TextEdit is fully functional, whereas Notepad has only one undo. The Linux community is cloning Mac features like the desktop cube faster than Microsoft, and innovating like nothing else. You can search not only files and folders, but IM conversations. Bookmarks. Contacts. Google Desktop, step up to the challenge: port to Linux and Mac.
You get what you pay for. When you pay $300 for an eMachine with Windows XP, you don’t get a VGA slot. Alienware is the exception. My Sentia laptop cost $2000 and burned itself out in a year. My MacBook cost $1100 and already I’m noticing the little things. The keyboard keys that aren’t made small or cheap. The iSight built in. The ports all on the left side. The brilliant AC adapter that can attach to a longer cord and doesn’t require a hot, heavy brick to hang off the edge of the table. I have found a balance between numbingly stable and newly smelted software: Mac OS X. Unix based, of course.
