It”™s time to stop living the lie that I”™ve been living.  The struggle has been a drain on my conscience, especially since I have been living one way in secret, keeping even my wife in the dark (sort of).  It”™s time to be honest ““ it”™s time to acknowledge not merely a radical change for me, but more of an acknowledgment of who I really am-who I”™ve always really been.  I really can”™t keep it a secret anymore.

I am a . . .

Mac User!

Three weeks ago, I bought my first iMac and have been living in both the PC and Mac world since.  Two weeks of using both, I can say I”™ve been continually frustrated with my PC and continually satisfied using the Mac.  Today that all ends.  I have come out of the closet and embraced the Mac way of living.

First, a little history.  In college, I was a Mac user.  My university had two computer labs:  a PC lab that most of the students on campus used and a Mac lab in the music and art building.  Since I was a music major for a year and half I regularly used a Mac.  At that time (late 80s, early 90s), PCs were a drag to use.  I wrote all my papers and even did a substantial amount of church work on Macs.  However, as I moved into seminary, the world of Mac was simply not as compatible or suggested.  So I became a Mac hater ““ why in the world would anyone own a Macintrash?  Yet, secretly, I have always been attracted to the Mac line.

So, in short, why did I come home to my true self?

• The iPhone ““ it is the best phone I”™ve owned, and it was a compelling introduction to the Mac World.

• I appreciate Apple”™s attention to detail and excellence (check out this video on the MacBooks for an excellent example).

• I like the stability of the Mac ““ though this issue will honestly be tested over time.  I really use a computer ““ a lot!  So far, I”™ve had no compatibility issues, no stability issues.  I cannot say that with my PC.

• I like the performance of a Mac ““ programs load more quickly. Start up and shut down are quick.  The Macs I”™m using are quick, the screens are brilliant, the keyboards are excellent (though the mouse stinks ““ I”™m using a Microsft mouse).  A Mac notebook is simply the best-built and easiest to use notebook I”™ve ever used.

• I like the simplicity of the Mac operating system.  While it took me a few days to adjust, the adjustments have been simple to figure out and I find myself preferring the way the Mac world works.

• The user interface is a joy to use ““ and when you”™re on a computer for quite some time, this makes more of a difference than you may realize.

• I like that I can run Windoze and OSX simultaneously (and right now, for free).  I have two programs that I use extensively (Bible Software) that will not run on OSX.  No problem, there is free software to create a virtual machine and you can download Windoze 7 for free use for a year.

• I LOVE Keynote.  I do a presentation at least once a week.  Keynote is such a joy to use compared to PowerPoint.  iPhoto is sheer excellence and simplicity in arranging photos.  Time Machine is a brilliant back-up system.  The Finder is simply a more simple way to navigate through the computer.  I find myself working much slower when going back to my PC.  Graphics are a joy to work with on the Mac ““ out of the box.

I could say more, but . . .

In short, I transferred everything easily from my PC world to the realm of the Mac and I”™ve had no hiccups, yet at the same time, my 9 month old Toshiba laptop running 64 bit Vista has been giving me blue screens almost from the beginning.  I like the look of Vista much better (it looks more like a Mac) than XP, but I”™ve had more compatibility problems switching to Vista, or staying with XP, than I have had in the brief few weeks that I”™ve been living in the Mac World (it took me weeks to find a solution to use my printers with Vista ““ I simply plugged them into my Mac and they worked immediately).

So much for cheap technology ““ though my iMac cost less than any comparable PC-it”™s the notebooks that are more expensive.  I still use Skype, Evernote, Google ““ all free and work anywhere on any platform.  I purchased Office for Mac for less money than Office for the PC.  So, I”™m not so sure a Mac actually costs more.

So there it is ““ the change is final and complete.  I”™ve come full circle and am now of the cult of Mac.