I am iMac lover

I have set up a lot of computers in my day. But this iMac stuff just takes the cake! Peter's office computer is old -- in fact, neither of us can remember when we bought it. I am sure that I personally have had several in that span of time. Unlike me, Peter will sit for ten minutes waiting for the internet to load up. Me? I scream and smash and rant and rave until Peter comes in and says "Do you need a new computer?"

Why yes, now that you mention it!

That actually didn't happen this time. My iMac has never let me down. Not one crash, not one unhappy face, not one virus, etc. etc. I would have been perfectly happy continuing on. BUT. If there is a new computer to be had, well, it shouldn't be wasted on someone who doesn't really care. Right? :P

So. In keeping with tradition, Peter almost always gets my old computers, unless of course they are really old (which I tend not to let happen.) And the one he has now is not one of my old ones ... I can remember going out and buying it specifically for him. (He claims this isn't so -- but it is.) But it does need to be replaced. And I have been telling him that Mac is the ONLY way to go. His office is not exactly very nice. It is dusty and cold and let's just say he doesn't have a cleaning person. And he's not much into that himself. So I could not bear to see a sleek piece of equipment be destined to live in that environment. (Yes, I am doing it for the computer.)

And, when I worked at the newspaper, whenever a new computer needed to be had for whatever purpose, I always swung it so that I got the new one and my old one went to where ever there was that need. My father would say, how come I never get a new computer? And I would say, oh, you don't want one. This one has been GREAT for me, you'll love it. As a result, I became quite spoiled in terms of never actually dealing with an older model. I ALWAYS had the best of the best.

Is that wrong?

When I stopped working I left with my good laptop, but eventually that needed to be replaced and I had to come up with an equally as good scheme to keep myself on top of technology. So I told Peter he needed the best of the best laptop to take with him during meetings to show his portfolio. Oh. And when he didn't use it, I would. :)

Yeah, you can guess how that turned out. In my defense, I did load up all of his pictures and create a wonderful portfolio, but he thought it was boring to sit there and watch them with the people, so he would just give them a disk so they could watch it without him. Hey ... no point in lugging a laptop around if you're not going to use it.

He says I am evil.

Calculating, perhaps.

Devious.

But not evil.

ANYWAY ... we had made the decision that we were going to make this move, but he wasn't in any hurry (and since I still had a marvelous, wondrous computer, neither was I). Then yesterday he just wanted to go do it. Buy it, get it done. Okay. So off we went to Best Buy and bought it. Now, I haven't even begun to deal with all the stuff on my (now) old one, and I have to switch all the stuff from Peter's computer to that one as well. And yesterday I didn't even want to begin. But of course we had to see what it looked like on my desk. So we plugged it in, and seriously. THAT IS ALL YOU DO! The keyboard and mouse are wireless and it comes with nothing, no manual, no disks ... nothing! Oh, there is a small piece of paper that tells you how to turn it on. As in press this button. I think, because I didn't read it.

This morning I loaded up Microsoft Office and then spent about 20 minutes going through my drawers (of my desk thank you very much!) looking for the printer software disk. Can't find it. When I plugged in the printer, the computer didn't say anything, like "new software found." It acted like it didn't notice. So I thought it needed software. Then I decided to see what was going on in the printer file on the computer, and lo and behold, it HAD recognized the printer ... it had it all loaded up and ready to go. Crazy, huh? (Though personally I think it should be less coy and let me know. But if that is the way it's going to roll, then fine. Now I know.)

Going from 24 inches to 27 is really huge. I mean, three inches in the grand scheme of things shouldn't be monumental -- but it is. The new design has it stretched out and instead of having six inches of white space on the bottom like the 24-inch, it has about half that. The edges are also black (instead of white) so they blur, making the screen seem even bigger. (No boundaries baby!)

My only complaint is the keyboard. It is TEENY. About six inches long (which is absurd when you consider it is paired with a 27-incher!) and not extended (no numbers on the right hand side) it is taking me time to get used to. I am still making loads of mistakes and not happy. If it doesn't get better soon, I am getting a normal one.

The mouse, however, is a dream. I LOVE IT! It is very flat and instead of having a ball that you turn to get things to scroll, you just rub your finger on the smooth flatness of the top. LOVE IT! The fact that they are both wireless just adds to the beauty. No wires!

When we were at Best Buy picking it up (the Concord store had been sold out, so we had actually purchased it there, then went to pick it up in Manchester) we were at the service desk and saw several boxes that contained iMacs in them. We had been told in Concord that there was only ONE left in Manchester, so Peter asked what those were. And the girl said that they were returned. Returned iMacs? WHY?

She said that it was because people didn't know how to use them. Seriously? SERIOUSLY? If you can't figure out how to plug something in and push the on button, then you must be a moron. SERIOUSLY! I said as much, and she said that she didn't know how to use them either. I am so confused. What is so hard? Am I missing something?

I am a (former) diehard PC person. Was for years. I was about as anti-Mac as you can get. I also hated Windows with a passion and cursed Bill Gates on a daily basis. I used computers pre-Windows and there was no crashing and bashing. I often dismissed Windows in the beginning, but as time went on, software was no longer as willing to let you inside. But I thought Macs were for morons! LOL I mean, they were so SLOW and tedious and if you thought you couldn't get behind the scenes in Windows, well, Macs were hermetically sealed in that regard. And back then there was next to no software that ran on it. Macs were stupid. But hard to use? Umm, no.

The only reason I purchased my first Mac was because I walked into Best Buy and there it was -- beautiful, huge and no big damn box that you needed to find a place for. It was all in the screen. Oh joy! Oh wonder! And it ran all the software a PC did. What was stopping me? Well, nothing! I was an instant Mac convert. I have always had a PC laptop, and still do, but if a laptop was going to be my only computer, it would have to be a Mac.

I don't really think there is a huge difference between the two platforms. I don't even think about it when I am on one or the other. I mean, Windows has been trying to mimic Mac for quite some time now. Not know how to use one?

Geesh.

So today I am throwing away a lifetime's worth of disks that I have been saving "in case." I have every operating system disk for every computer that I've ever owned. And I just bought a computer that comes with no disks at all.

PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE! My drawers (in my desk thank you very much) are now empty.

So cool.

So big.

Wow.