Well, I just got off the phone from someone at Apple who was curious as to why I had never received my Tiger Up-To-Date upgrade. We will ignore the Big Brother-esque part to this, and instead focus on the fact that it was at a warehouse and now they are finally going to resend it out. (This time to my work address)
So I will soon have a brand new Operating System on my Mac.
Hoorah!
It is now the third day of my Macintosh experience and I am fitting in with it all very well. Actually, it seems to be the other way around. The Mac fits me.
The question now is what is the fate of my main PC? I have only had to turn it on a couple of times so far (and only to get files I wasn’t clever enough to put on my Linux server). Seeing as it is probably about 10 times as high and about three times as deep as my Mac Mini and makes (almost) infinitely more noise I’m not quite sure what it’s purpose is any more. Currently the Sound Blaster Audigy is the only thing saving it from being re-commisioned as a Linux box.
Still, it is a good computer and it may be wise to clean it up and use it for the rare times when “only a Window box can provide”. Unfortunately, the fan noise is so extreme that it is unsuitable for use as a 24/7 server (at least in my room).
Today I am testing the portability of my Mac Mini and taking it to be able to watch videos. If it succeeds well in this test I believe it will be ready to take to uni to set up in the wireless network zones. (Still need to test whether the wireless network reaches the TV well enough to use it as a screen).
It is probably inevitable that I shall purchase a second one (with all the trimmings) further down the track so that I may have a permament placement here. If I can resolve the fan issues on my main PC it may be time to convert it to a full time server and use it to store my ever-growing collection of files.
In this, the second day of my using my Mac Mini to do a University assignment I am loving it. I am learning the keyboard shortcuts very quickly and they seem to be quite logical and consistent in nature. I have even adapted to the Command + X,C,V for copy and paste (I am an old school Shift/Ctrl Insert person).
With further use of my Mac I am discovering that it is built to work with me, not the other way around. If I think something should be done some way it typically is. My only problem with it so far is that the default applications are not very well defined. For instance, you need to open Safari to set your default browser to something else. I have not yet found out how to change program associations.
Hell, Word even has a word count in the status bar (the obvious place to put it). And it handles images so much better than the Windows version.
Plus, I’ve been running the thing for ages and not only is it quiet, but it has barely heated up.
It was as though it was Christmas. I couldn’t sleep much last night and woke up early this morning. Why? Because Today I was getting my Mac Mini. What? A Mac Mini? Why??
Well, it all started when I was doing a future scenario planning exercise on what the future of operating systems held. Researching the various operating systems, their features and strengths led me to believe the Mac OS X is truly a contender to Microsoft Windows. So why would I leave Windows? Well, the more accurate question is “why would I stay?”