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Switching to Mac – Two Years Later

February 2, 2010 By 2 Comments
wintomac

It's now the two year mark for my switch from Windows to Mac. Over the last two years I've gone from a Windows developer exploring the Mac as a compliment to my Windows and Linux machines to a full time Mac user that spends the vast majority of my time in OS X. I didn't wake up one day and say "Wow, I hate Windows. I'm going to switch to Mac". I bought a little white MacBook, put it on the desk next to my primary Windows machine and started playing with it. Though technically underpowered … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Parallel Desktops Tagged With: mac, switching to mac, tips

Two tips for Tabbing your way through a Mac

April 15, 2009 By Leave a Comment

When I switched to Mac from Windows I had an adjustment period. The window model is a bit different, the menu is in a different location, the Dock Bar != the Start menu, etc. Those all took a little adjustment period but I quickly overcame them as obstacles to productivity. By far the longest adjustment period involved the use of the keyboard and more specifically the use of the Tab key. For all of the keyboard power of a Mac (shortcuts are virtually everywhere) the Tab key seems to be … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Parallel Desktops Tagged With: apple, mac, safari-tabbing, switching to mac, windows

Switching from Windows to Mac – Power users can also play

March 24, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Lately I've been thinking about why I enjoy working with Macs so much. Since switching to Macs from Windows a little over a year ago I've tried as much as possible to approach it objectively, calling out both the good and bad as I learned my way around OS X, and recording my findings here in this blog.It's easy to cite the UI consistency I enjoy with Mac based applications. As a software developer that obsesses with user interface design I have a deep appreciation for disparate applications … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Parallel Desktops Tagged With: application, mac, skype, switching to mac

A new Mac Mini rounds out the house

March 16, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Well, it finally happened. Late last week my 16 year old son came to me and said "Dad, my HP Laptop won't boot up". Wonderful. I went to his room to check it out and sure enough the machine was just continually cycling on startup. It would get to the Windows logo and display the progress bar, suddenly show the briefest flashes of a blue screen (so fast it was unreadable), then the reboot and start the process over. I tried doing a safe boot with each of the types available in the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Parallel Desktops Tagged With: laptop, mac, switching to mac

Reflections on my first Mac

January 26, 2009 By 1 Comment

With all the talk of the 25th anniversary of the Mac I started to wax nostalgic about my original Mac experience.Though my blog got a lot of page views last year because of my switch from Windows to Mac, the reality is the little white MacBook I bought in February of 2008 was not actually my first Mac. From '83-'84 I worked at a small retail computer chain in Southern California named Sun Computers (not Sun Microsystems). We sold IBMs, Compaqs, DECs and Apples.When the Mac was introduced Apple … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Parallel Desktops Tagged With: apple, linux, mac, presentation, switching to mac, windows

First Impressions: Picasa for Mac

January 5, 2009 By Leave a Comment

When I switched from Windows to Mac nearly a year ago the only thing that I really missed from Windows was Picasa, Google's free photo management software. I've struggled getting iPhoto to work the way I wanted it to. I had used it for years and since I take a LOT of digital photos I have a pretty extensive photo library for a non-professional (25K photos, 55GB of disk space that span the past 8 years). Today Google released the beta version of Picasa for Mac and I immediately set about … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Parallel Desktops Tagged With: mac, switching to mac

Anti-virus software and Macs

December 2, 2008 By 2 Comments

Yesterday's Washington Post Security Fix disclosed that on November 21st of this year Apple put out a technical note where they recommend the widespread use of anti-virus software for Macs, including specific recommendations for Mac AV utilities. I've never believed the "Macs cannot get a virus" mantra that some people spread. The reality is that any computer where the user has the ability to write to the hard drive or install applications is subject to a program doing evil deeds … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Parallel Desktops Tagged With: apple, mac, switching to mac

RegistryScan.cc tells my Mac I have a Windows Malware infection

November 19, 2008 By Leave a Comment

I was happily working along this afternoon when suddenly I received a Skype pop-up text message. I rarely use Skype for text messaging, sticking with Adium for that. It's usually some Skype SPAM asking me to come to some lonely woman's web page to see pictures of her. This time the message looked pretty ominous: Obviously this is just a SPAM attempt to get someone to jump over to a web site. Kind of tough for my Mac running Leopard to get a Registry hack installed. At the bottom of the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Parallel Desktops Tagged With: mac, microsoft, skype, switching to mac

Making the Logitech Harmony 620 remote work with a Mac

November 16, 2008 By Leave a Comment

I was buying a couple of items at my local Costco yesterday and saw the Logitech Harmony 620 sitting in a display for $99. I had been wanting a decent all-in-one remote that would help me integrate my primary entertainment set up down in my basement. The equipment is a bit dated but works very well, the only problem being the plethora of remotes that I need in order to make it all work properly. What looked interesting about this particular device was that it had a USB connector on it and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Parallel Desktops Tagged With: harmony, mac, microsoft, remote, switching to mac

Getting the most out of Spaces on a dual monitor Mac Pro

November 14, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Ever since I switched from Windows to Mac over 9 months ago I've been obsessed with making myself as productive as possible in OS X. Without question one of my favorite features is Spaces, the multi-desktop feature for Leopard. Here is how I've set up my environment to make the most out of it. Hardware First My primary workstation is a Mac Pro with 12GB of RAM and several TB of disk space. In addition I have two monitors attached (Samsung SyncMaster 204B), which gives me an effective … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Parallel Desktops Tagged With: iPhone, remote, switching to mac