I’m a PC Inside a Mac

I have been a PC user for more than 20 years now. My first PC was an IBM Compatible XT and had an 8 MHZ CPU. I remember it had a “Turbo” button that would spike the CPU to a whooping 16 MHZ. This is what kids call today “overclocking”. I went pretty much through every model possible and used the PC for games, development and work. A couple of weeks ago when the new MacBooks were released I decided to go and buy myself one. I did not get a MacBook because of Apple’s TV ads and not even because of all the negative reviews about Windows Vista. Actually the first thing that I did when I got the laptop was to use BootCamp and install Windows Vista 64bit and use it as my main OS. I’ve been using Vista 64 bit on my home desktop since the day it was released and had no problems at all with it. I found all the drivers I needed and it is a great powerful desktop that I keep on 24x7 without any glitches.

I was never a fan of MacBook and OS X. I tried using it in the past but had some basic problems which are mostly due to the fact that I’ve been using Windows for so long. The first thing that drove me crazy when I first touched a Mac was the lack of a right-click menu. I think right-click menu is the best invention in user interaction and if you think “object oriented” it makes a lot of sense. In the new MacBook, Apple went even further and killed the left-click button as well. Now to click on something you click on the whole trackpad (or you can configure to tap also). This is pretty cool and you can also enable a right-click button these days. The other thing that always seemed weird to me, is the application menu. When you open an application, the menus are not part of the application window. They are docked across the screen detached from the application itself. The menus in the dock change according to the application that is in focus which can be a little confusing to someone that is used to see menus inside the window of the application. So why did I decide to join the MacCult?

Apple (or Steve Jobs) made two smart decisions that helped them boost the number of laptops sold in the last few years and reach outside their main user base, which was graphic designers and students:

1. Switch to Intel CPUs – This was the smartest thing that Apple did since they “invented” the iPod. By using the Intel platform they transformed their cool laptops and desktops to usable hardware that more people can use by simply installing Windows instead or in addition to Apple’s OS and enjoy the best of both worlds on one computer.
2. Limit Xcode to Apple OS only – I don’t know if this was done on purpose or simply because they don’t see the need to do this on Windows, but the fact that you can develop iPhone and iPod Touch applications on Apple’s OS only means that you must buy a Mac, or try installing Leopard on a PC or VM image and violate their license agreement, if you wish to develop applications for this platform.

I decided to play with the iPhone platform because I think it is a great mobile device to develop applications for, so since I can do it only on a Mac I decided to get one and enjoy running Vista on it also for the rest of the things I need to do. I must say that so far I’m happy with the laptop. The setup of Vista was easy with all the drivers that Apple provided and it’s really nice to carry this laptop on flights. It’s much lighter than my Latitude D620 and the AC adapter that comes with the MacBook is also much smaller and lighter. The 13” screen is beautiful and its a great size to work on the airplane (even in coach when I don’t get upgraded).