For years, I had used Windows computers and laptops, in fact I was practically raised on them. When Apple computers were fazed out in schools and replaced by Windows PCs, we shed no tears. With the rise of the Mac and the iProduct craze, I eventually grew to have an inexplicable loathing towards Apple and its smug legion of users, and I disliked the few occasions that I was forced to use a Mac and its unfamiliar keyboard commands. Then one day, I purchased a Mac.
Upgrading the PC
My relationship with Windows PCs was love-hate. Granted, I was using an older generation Dell laptop running Windows 7, but I had patiently upgraded its components so that it could handle the operating system. I swapped out the solid state drive (SSD) with a larger one, and upgraded the memory to the admittedly pathetic limit of 4 gigabytes (GB). On the way, the battery was replaced twice, and I even purchased a slice battery to extend its usefulness on the road.
However, there were times when the laptop was slow, and then there were the times when the system completely crashed. I searched far and wide for ways to upgrade further, but alas the laptop had reached the end of its upgradeable life. It was time for a new computer.
Looking for Windows, Finding Mac
To find the machine that could replace my beloved laptop PC, I began in the usual places. Checking refurbished deals on PC websites, along with deals on Amazon and Ebay. I deliberately steered clear of Apple computers, with their non-user-upgradeable parts and reputation of overpricing. However, something bothered me as I searched. The computer configuration that I was looking for, 512 GB SSD with 8GB of RAM memory (to handle all the open tabs on my browser), was conspicuously unavailable for the most part. Specifically, the Ebay search kept returning results full of Mac laptops, which I specifically did not want. Or didn't I? It intrigued me that there was an abundant market for buying and selling higher-end Macs where the same could not be said of PCs.
I traced this back to the Apple online store. There, I found that MacBooks were configured at the higher specs by default. I also realized later that many Apple customers opt for upgrades when they purchase, making more upgraded machines available on the second-hand market.
Something else that dawned on me was how harrowing the experience of sifting through endless iterations of the Windows PC was. Mind you, I was quite familiar with PCs and how to do the basic upgrades. But to get the PC I wanted at the price point I needed, I had to purchase a used laptop along with an SSD drive, and do the upgrade myself - hoping that the SSD I purchased would be compatible with the laptop. All the calculations needed for this kind of purchase really left me feeling drained.
Adjusting to OSX
Leaping over to the Mac with its OSX platform was not easy. Although I felt compelled by the dynamics of the hardware market to purchase this machine, I had trepidations about the differences with Windows. Perhaps OSX was different enough to get in the way of being productive. Or maybe OSX was really all hype and no performance.
Initially, the differences were tough to handle. At one point, I almost gave up and resolved to sell the Mac and buy a Windows PC. However, I gradually came to adjust to the system, and I learned how to navigate the OSX keyboard shortcuts and programs.
One of the advantages that I found in the Mac is a little third party program that makes the trackpad much more useful, called "BetterTouchTool." With it, one is able to program the gestures on the multitouch trackpad to allow for window resizing, jumping to other spaces, and performing tasks within programs. It was a revelation.
There are still some quirks of the OSX system, and sometimes I find myself serving the Mac in odd ways that I wouldn't have in the past with a PC, such as purchasing extra power cords to use in my two offices and at home. Yes, the battery life on the MacBook Air is not long. But the knowledge that Apple is pushing the envelope with its hardware - made evident by the nascent and resource-heavy Retina system on the MacBook - along with the assurance that Mac hardware can be readily resold on the second-hand market to finance an upgraded machine in the future - I am at ease with having made the leap to "The Apple Side."
