Our marketing and PR Manager, Dom has just made the graduation from being a PC (Sony Vaio laptop) user to “cruising” on a Macbook Pro. Here, he offers his thoughts…
Well. I thought it was about time. I mean, the opportunity was there and it seemed like the right time to take advantage. It honestly had nothing to do with wanting to look cool while working in coffee shops. Honestly.
It’s interesting for me because despite all the buzz, in truth, after a few days of using my shiny new Mac, I still find the PC a lot less “daunting” to use.
I know, it’s supposed to be a lot simpler to use (Mac) and it seems like it’s going to become so, but I guess it’s difficult to let go of something (the PC) that I have trusted with every aspect of my personal and professional life for around four years (over that time a lot of really important stuff has happened to me too – the PC has seen me through two print issues of Soundsphere magazine, the launch of The Creative Condition and numerous school-based journalism workshops…ah, good times.
Thing is, I am getting into more design as the years go on – or rather, I am going to have to get more into it. Currently, I’m very lucky to have such a great network of people who want to help what I am doing through the medium of video and digital design particularly, but I acknowledge that might not be around forever.
Having a Mac allows me to access up-to-date programs and great learning resources. It also looks very nice, and is a lot quicker than the PC in terms of browsing, opening and closing; that’s cool too. Indeed, being able to have multiple programs and windows open, without fearing “the great crash” that happened quite frequently to me using the PC, is a great relief.
So yeah, right now. I am very pleased with it (the Mac). I am still getting used to the whole transition though. And it really does take a lot of getting used to (for me at least). The Mac is head over heels better than the PC when considering its speed and agility (obviously, you’re reading this post as if you’re at the Olympics) – it’s definitely smoother all-round, and everything appears more organised to work from (at first glance).
One of the most interesting attributes of the Macbook Pro is its ability to let you have multiple desktops (a sure-fire way to help any user organise their thoughts around multiple projects). To be honest though, I still haven’t managed to suss this feature out! It’s very confusing to get used to. That being said, the most infuriating thing about the Mac machine is how easy it is to move pages around with the stroke of a finger; I mean, for the seasoned Mac user, this is nothing. Having the ability to move screens and change all manner of things with just one or two finger strokes can be really useful, unless you’ve been using a PC throughout your whole working lifetime (yep, like me). I am sure I’ll get used to it…? I’m looking forward to the challenge.
Any thoughts from a more confident Mac user? Or even a Mac hater? What are your favourite things about the Mac? What do you love about the PC? Bring it on.
Thanks for reading.
Dom Smith