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My New Macintosh

I bought an Apple MacBook Pro the other day.

I've had it with Windows computers. System 7 is fraught with all sorts of problems. My ASUS laptop has had two hardware failures which have scared me, wondering if my data would be lost. Windows is just not a good user experience. I no longer care how many people use it.

It was only at Schwab that I ceased to use a Macintosh and migrated to Windows. I became so familiar with them that I ended up buying one for home use. I remember when I did this. I was at Best Buy and hesitated, thinking that I would rather have a Macintosh. But I caved and bought the ASUS. It was less expensive after all. Ugh.

For most of my career I used Macintoshes and even programmed applications for them. I loved using a Macintosh and became an expert for it. I made 8-bit sub-netting availabile for it at Berkeley in the 80's. I created "popper", a POP3 protocol server during that time to enable  a Macintosh to communicate using email in the client/server model. I wrote the first departmental memo on my new Macintosh when they first showed up on our desks! I continued to use my expertise in Sweden and after I returned to Berkeley in the 90's. Even at Schwab I was hired to port their trader application to the Macintosh. But things changed there and I found myself compelled to use Windows.

I have come home. I was a little leery about spending $3000 for it at the Apple store. I was worried that it would take me a lot of time and hassle to come up to speed on it. But these problems have evaporated. It's like riding a bicycle. It all came back to me. Using a Macintosh has proven to be as easy as ever. I write this two days after having brought my new toy home and have had only minor bumps along the way. I feel like I am fully up to speed again.

It's been fun customizing my system. I ran into some small problems but managed to work them out. I even had Finder hang on me and was compelled to consult the manual for the only time to find out how to solve this problem. I was and my system hummed along. I was even able to restore my vast iTunes library. I learned to video chat with my wife (she bought a new iPad at the sam time I bought my computer). All this was was so much fun that I spend all of yesterday playing with my Macintosh.

I decided to use the built-in Internet and other productivity applications. I use the provided email application to read my mail instead of Gmail in a browser. I have imported and edited my contacts into the provided address book. I can synchronize these things with Goggle at any time. I am also going to use the provided calendar application despite the fact that it cannot be synchronized with my Google calendar. It took a while but I even managed to change the desktop to that I have always used-a beautiful picture of a man falling from the clouds. My God it's been fun.

I have a feeling that my fun will go on. I am anchored to it and will probably stay that way today. I so look forward to using it in the days and months to come.

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