PC user no more…

I have officially abandoned my trusty HP laptop for a MacBook Pro. Millions of you will cry, “BLASPHEMER!” Yet, I have some reasons I will list here to justify my decision.

• Mac OS X is what Windows has always tried to me and blows away any operating system Microsoft has ever produced. When I saw Vista I couldn’t help but laugh and think: Dude, I’ve been using that for months now. It is called Mac OS. Since Windows 95, Microsoft has tried to make a “better Mac OS” and has failed at every turn.
• My MacBook Pro runs Windows XP apps in Mac OS using Parallels. No, I’m not talking about booting up Windows in a virtual machine. I am talking about the revolutionary Coherence mode of the current Parallels Release Candidate (not the current retail version) which allows you to actually run Windows apps in Mac OS transparently. You never have to even look at Windows again. I am an SAP Netweaver Enterprise Portal consultant so I need Windows to code J2EE for the Portal. SAP hasn’t released its tools for Mac OS yet but, frankly, they don’t have to. I run Netweaver Developer Studio for Windows in Mac OS flawlessly. I could go on forever about this but to sum it up: I have all the power of Mac OS and Windows XP at the same time. Truly, the best of both worlds in every sense of the phrase.
• The elegance and sleek design of the MacBook Pro is unparalleled by even the smoothest Sony VAIO. There has been criticism about design flaws with the first generation of MacBooks (Duh! Never go with first generation of anything), but those flaws are no longer found in the second generation of the Core 2 Duo MacBooks.

In all fairness I must say that my brother and I purchased our MacBook Pros at the same time. So far my brother has had to send back two successive laptops due to a fauly latch and warped case in both instances. Recently, my power button has sunk lopsided from being level with the case. It still works properly, but, dude, I paid a lot of money for this. I shouldn’t have a problem like that. Nonetheless, I’ve had top of the line VAIO’s which were plagued with problems and Sony’s support is probably the worst on planet earth. HP’s support is probably the best on planet earth. So far Apple’s support has been satisfactory but not great. My brother had to fight with them to get the laptop fixed.

I never thought that as an SAP consultant I’d be coding out of Mac OS, albeit using Windows in Parallels. At work everyone was thrilled to see the MacBook Pro in action running both Mac OS and Windows apps simultaneously. My department is now buying a couple to see how they fare in our environment. The future is promising for Macs in the IT workplace, an arena where they were previously shunned due to “low software support”. That claim of the PC enthusiasts is now a thing of the past and, for me at least, Apple holds the key to the future.