The Day I Joined the Cult of Mac.

Throughout my many years of being a PC user, I have always been "Mac Curious". After my crappy Christmas in the hospital, I thought it would be a good excuse as any to treat myself to a nice gift. So, I went to the Apple Store on December 30th, 2009 and officially became the proud owner of a MacBook Pro.

It's been 4 days since I made my purchase and all I can say is that I am in love. Can you love a computer? If they are sexy, you can... I guess, and they are sexy. There is love in every aspect of this product. Even the box is incredibly beautiful with its molded black, plastic tray and foam-lined lid. As I opened the box for the first time, I was greeted by the signature logo on the Aluminum unibody case. Lovingly wrapped in plastic by angels just for me, it was pure pleasure unwrapping this beauty.

I have never had an OOB experience like this since I was 9 years old, opening up my Millenium Falcon toy, complete with Han Solo and Chewbacca figures.

The refreshing thing about Macs is that, unlike PC notebooks, Macs are not overloaded with crapware that's supposed to make your computing experience easier. When ever I buy a notebook PC, I usually expect to spend the first couple hours uninstalling the wares that the manufacturer installs. After that, I am endlessly adjusting and tweaking Windows to my preferences, getting rid of the dashboard, taking out toolbars, deleting unnecessary shortcuts, etc... Oh yeah, they actually include the recovery dvds. You don't have to spend additional hours making your own.

I was pleased to be able to use my new MacBook Pro right out of the box with a touch of the power button. After entering my name and registering, I was greeted by a nice welcome video and I was on my way. The learning curve for this new frontier is gentle. There are a few things different about working on a Mac, but once you get the hang of it, you're good to go.

Right away, I wanted to learn how to edit video with iMovie 09 and after a couple practice sessions with some test clips, I was making some great looking video. Just in case you want to see my first iMovie edited video, check out the Happy New Year post. The graphics card and processor handle my video wonderfully, rendering my transitions and previewing my clips with ease. It's truly great to have this new tool.