Just over a week ago, I got a new computer. Rather than buy another PC, I decided it was time I got a Mac.

As is always the case when you get a brand new computer, with the pace of technological development being what it is (and Moores Law still holding true) that the first thing I notice is how slow my old computer(s) were running. But it definitely feels like there's an added level of polish with Mac OS X…

So, will I be becoming one of those evangelical Mac users who insists that every computer problem that anyone ever has is the fault of Microsoft? Well, probably— given that the reason I decided a few years ago that as long as I could help it, I would never buy another Microsoft software product again, and that I already regularly berate friends, family and colleagues for using Internet Explorer instead of the far superior any-other-browser-ever-created, I'm already there. When I've had problems with the Internet, I've blamed my Virgin broadband. When I've had problems with Keynote, I've blamed Microsoft for the PowerPoint files I'm importing. (Although I've had problems with corrupt Word documents that my work PC wouldn't open which my Mac dealt with OK, which was an interesting if unexpected outcome…)

It's not that Apple are turning me into one of the kind of smug, self-satisfied people- I think I'm already pretty much there. Apple just give me something shiny to talk about (and easier to set up and use than Linux.)

Actually, the main reason I decided to go down the Apple path was the iPhone- not because of it's shinyness selling me in on the Apple way, but because the only way you can develop iPhone applications is on Mac OS X. (The shinyness and smugness is just an added extra that comes with it.) It's kind of ironic how I've been drawn into the Linux world by the appeal of open source, then fallen into the Apple world because of their integrated but locked down platform.

So, my new personal project is learning my way around the Xcode application, C and Objective-C and the iPhone application framework.

Should be interesting to see what comes out of it all… But what I've discovered so far;

• The Mac OS is something that computer nerds get excited about for a reason; it helps you do some interesting stuff. When you get a PC, the first thing you do is install a bunch of software you want to use. It feels like half of the time I spend on a PC, I'm doing administrative tasks (ie. admin.) With a Mac, the first thing you do is play with the software that's already there. And with things like GarageBand, iMovie and iPhoto, there's plenty to play with. Either the admin stuff is taking less time, I'm noticing it less, or there's simply less of it. Whatever, it feels better…
• A big part of the reason Macs seem expensive is because of the cost of upgrades. If you're happy with the base model, then look for a refurbished one- a 13" Macbook Pro compares pretty reasonably to a high end Dell (or whatever an equivalent brand is)— considering what you're also getting in terms of software. If you want a faster CPU, more memory, a bigger hard drive etc. then look at the cost of upgrading it yourself; it will be cheaper. But if you want something like a larger screen, then you'll have to take a faster CPU etc. along with it. At an Apple premium price…
• Think about the future. I wanted a laptop that I was going to be able to use for 5 years or so, that would be fast enough to last that long, robust enough that it wouldn't be falling apart, and have any features that I would want. So the Macbook Pro made sense; the metal body and the multitouch trackpad were the selling points for me.
• For some reason, it seems that there is more software for the Mac that I want to buy than there was for Windows. Not sure if this is just because I want to do more things with it, because it's easier to market in the smaller, less business-focussed userbase, or just because I'm looking in different places
• The honeymoon is already coming to a close. I've tried two applications, the basic uploader and the Flash uploader, and I can't get my photos to upload to Flickr consistently. I was finding it hard to blame anyone/thing but the Mac for this (although on trying the same thing on my work wifi it worked fine, so I'm starting to suspect that my Virgin Media broadband connection may be the problem…) But I'm also slightly bothered by the way that iPhoto's Flickr uploader asks for permission to delete my Flickr photos, which really isn't something I want to be able to accidentally do if I happen to be clearing some hard drive space or reorganising some files...

But overall, so far, I'm loving it. So forgive me if I go on about it a bit here in the future as I find my way around the ins and outs of OSX. I'll try to make anything I post useful to anyone else finding their way with a new shiny system…