mac switch

So, a few miscellaneous impressions after switching to a mac a few weeks ago.

1. Everything is aesthetically more pleasing — user interface, hardware, fonts, etc. Love it.
2. I haven’t really been ‘into’ my computer like this before, this thing’s like my baby now.
3. Keynote (Apple’s ppt equivalent) is brilliant, I don’t see myself using powerpoint again. The keynote animation feature already helped me effectively illustrate some things in a research presentation.
4. Love all the little apps, spotlight’s fantastic (no need for google desktop, though I was a big fan of it).
5. Apple has nicely cornered the K through 12 educational market, so my daughters have also been helpful in orienting me to the mac. (They are now begging my wife that we switch to a mac at home as well.)
6. Haven’t tried Scrivener yet, JC sent me an email just yesterday raving about it — I’ll try it soon.
7. No problems yet with software compatibility (e.g., exchanging files with pc-using co-authors).
8. I now have more friends, macs are real conversation pieces — mac users routinely stop and talk to each other. (Also more enemies, including former graduate students of mine who work for Microsoft; and, the Microsoft executive I ran into last weekend: I accidentally raved to him about my Apple phone — didn’t know that was such a sore spot. Apparently there’s quite a war for marketshare brewing.)
9. The costs of the switch (time-wise) have been less than I expected, though it could be that I’m just giddy about the machine.
10. A minor downside — Safari has given me constant grief, but FireFox runs just fine (except I can’t use the gestures with it).
11. Everything’s faster.
12. And, yes, Kieran, given the switch to a mac I do now “dress better, sparkle in conversation and [to my wife’s chagrin I have] become more attractive to women and the envy of other men.”