Apple Thoughts - News & Reviews on all things Apple

What happens when you set a MacBook down in front of a lifelong Windows developer? Pure chaos.

I have been using and working with DOS and/or Windows-based computers for more than 25 years. I got my first computer during my freshman year of college and it came in the form of a Timex-Sinclair 1000. It was $99, came with 2K of RAM, required a cassette recorder to load programs and you needed a television because it did not come with a monitor. We sure have come a long way since then, haven't we?

I've only been a Mac user for two weeks, but in that short time I have come to realize exactly why most Apple users are considered "fanboys" by people looking in from the outside. It's hard not to boast about the intuitive design of the operating system, or the way applications work together seamlessly. There have been no "blue screens of death" or "fatal exception errors". Are there such things for the Mac? I guess I'll find out eventually, but right now it all works. Brilliantly.

As I opened the MacBook for the first time I had my reservations, but those reservations faded quickly and were replaced with ideas for new software. I'm a developer, and now I have the bug to develop something for the Mac. Although my day job will always require the use of a PC, I can see myself doing everything else on the Mac. I'm sure it won't be long until I am beta testing something.

When Vincent invited me to write here at Apple Thoughts, I thought he was crazy in the head, but hopefully I can bring a different perspective to the table that won't drive too many people crazy. I hope to spotlight Mac software that many of you have used for years while helping others see that not every compliment towards Apple comes from a fanboy.

One thing is for sure, after 25 years in the industry, it's weird being a newbie again.

Lita Kaufman, forced to write about herself in first person, has this to say about her Apple cred:

I am a New York based attorney and a proud Mac user for over 23 years, which means I fit into the cliché of an Apple product owner all too easily. My introduction to the world of Apple and Macintosh came in August, 1985, when as a graduate student in Medieval and Early Modern History, I volunteered to be my department's representative to the new Social Sciences computer lab. The lab, like Noah's ark, featured two each of IBM PC ATs, Osbornes, Franklins, Apple IIs and a strange looking computer called a Macintosh. The attraction was instantaneous, and since there was no version (at that time) of SPSS (Statistics Package for the Social Sciences) for the Mac, I had near exclusive use of the little computer. That situation lasted only until a Laser Writer arrived, and the half-dozen candidates working on their PhDs on the lab's other computers promptly got into fist fights over time slots to re-type their dissertations on the Macintoshes.

The first Mac I owned was the iconic 512ke, and my dearest companion through law school, and eventually replaced by a Mac SE in 1989. Ever the maverick, I elected not to have an internal hard drive, but opted to purchase a 100 MB external Jasmine hard drive. When talking was about my new computer at a cocktail party, an appalled co-worker asked me what in the world I would need all that disk space for. I shrugged and simply replied, "stuff."

My fascination with both Macs and storage is still a running joke among my friends and colleagues. I have the firm belief that an unmounted hard drive is a crime against nature. My current rig includes a 2.66 ghz quad-core Mac Pro, a pair of Apple Cinema Displays, 10 terabytes of hard drive space (just because, you know, it never hurts), a 17" MacBook Pro, an AppleTV, 180 gb iPod Classic, and an iPhone 2G. That doesn't include the layabouts that I can't bear to part with - the G5 tower, G4 iBook, 15" PowerBook, and the worst Macintosh ever made - the Performa 550.