Hi Mac!

Time for a change.

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It’s been a few days since I got my new iMac, which might explain why it’s been quiet around here this week. I’ve been spending as many waking moments as I can getting used an entirely new OS. I haven’t used a mac regularly for a long time and I thought it was time to come back for a few reasons…

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• Most of my development work is now targeted toward Linux/Apache/MySQL/PHP, and OS X is unix, which feels more and more like home. I spend most of my productive time in a terminal using VIM or Mutt or Firefox, which all run lovely on OS X.



• The software is getting better. There are an awful lot of Ubergeeks using OS X. Those are the folks that make tools which make life on a computer better. Not only that, but many of the cool things that run on Linux are easily portable to the Mac.



• Most importantly, I was simply getting bored with Windows.

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So after a few days getting to know this thing….

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Hardware

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• The iMac is georgeous. I didn’t like the new flat-looking things at first. Thought they were boring. After having it on my desk for a bit, I now think it’s the best looking most elegant computer I’ve ever used.



• The screen is fab. 20” of bright, sharp beauty. I could stare at this thing all day, and probably will.



• I can’t believe Apple won’t admit that a 1-button mouse is a bad idea.

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Software

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• Two things: Expose and Quicksilver. These two alone make it worth dumping Windows. I spent about 20 minutes just making my windows disappear and reappear in all sorts of interesting ways. “Hey Jess, watch this!” I then went into an epileptic fit and had to stop.



• Installing apps is really too easy. I spent a while trying to find what I must have missed. There’s no way you just drag an icon to your Applications folder, is there?



• Why can’t I resize windows using all sides. Hitting that little corner on the lower right is sucking up valuable minutes of my life.



• When I close all of the windows of an app, the app still hangs around doing nothing but eating RAM. Command-Q is becoming the keyboard shortcut of choice.



• The Finder kinda sucks. I’m so used to using Directory Opus on Windows that the anemic, slow and goofy Finder interface is more trouble than it’s worth. I hope I either get used to it or someone writes a worthy replacement.



• The applications are, for the most part, wonderful. Someone has been improving things while I was gone. Even the little freeware utilities feel polished and professional.

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I’m hooked. My PCs are soon to be moved to an unused corner of my desk for use only when I need to do some SQLServer work or for testing web apps in IE. Good riddance.

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I tend to get a little, uh, involved when I find something new, so this particular blog might get a tad Mac-centric for a bit. I’ll get over it soon enough.