Tag Archives: Mac OS

I Need a New Mac

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But what I really need is some advice.

As my sick dual G5’s hard disk churns away for the seventh straight day of data recovery efforts using TechTool Pro and I start work on my Leopard book, I have come to realize that I’m going to need a new desktop Mac before year-end. Probably within the next month or so.

I’m not happy about this. I bought two new computers last year (a Dell PC and a MacBook Pro, both of which will be used as “test mules”) and had to spend a small fortune on each of them. I also had a number of costly computer repairs, including a new hard disk for my old server and a new motherboard for my dual G5. Now I’m facing a new desktop computer purchase and there aren’t (m)any affordable options.

What I Need

I need a computer with the following minimum requirements:

  • A Macintosh. Don’t try to sell me on Windows; it won’t work. I’ve been a Mac user since 1989 and have never even faintly felt the desire to switch to the “dark side” of computing. (My apologies to Windows devotees.)
  • An estimated useful life of at least 3 years. I want my computer to be able to run all the latest and greatest software for the next 3 years, without having to upgrade a single hardware component. If I can get 4 years out of it, great. Five years would be asking too much.
  • A relatively fast Intel processor. Obviously. I need to be able to boot Windows and run Windows software (so maybe I can get rid of my Dell laptop before it’s worthless on eBay). I also need to take advantage of updated programs that make use of the Intel processor’s technology.
  • At least 2 GB of RAM. I have 1.5 GB now and although it’s enough for now, I don’t think it’ll be enough three years down the road.
  • At least a 250 GB hard disk. Probably not much more. My file storage needs are minimal. I archive old stuff I don’t access regularly. The rest has to be backed up regularly. The way I see it, the less I have stored, the less I have to back up.
  • A SuperDrive. I need to be able to read and write CDs and DVDs.
  • Airport Extreme. I have a wireless network at home and like it that way.
  • Bluetooth. I have a handful of Bluetooth devices and hope someday to have a Bluetooth phone. (I don’t buy a new cell phone until the old one dies a horrible death, sometimes involving water.)
  • Enough graphics capability to display in high resolution in millions of colors on my existing Sony 20″ monitor. (Or, alternately, come with its own monitor that’s 20″ or larger.) I need a big monitor to get my layout work done, especially now that I’ve got “middle aged eyes.” (Don’t worry, boys and girls. You’ll know what I’m talking about before you know it.) When my Sony monitor dies, it’ll be replaced with a 30″ Apple Studio Display, but I’m not in a big hurry to drop a wad of cash on that.

Do I need two Intel Core 2 Duo processors? No. Do I need expansion capabilities? Not really.

Apple's iMacThat tends to push me toward a 24″ iMac. But there’s this weird mental block in my head about iMacs. Traditionally, they’ve always been Apple’s low-end model of computer. While they were perfectly acceptable as test mules for my work, I never seriously considered them for my actual day-to-day production tasks. But in looking at the current iMac specs on the Apple Web site, it’s pretty clear that today’s iMac isn’t your Aunt Tillie’s iMac. It’s a pretty serious machine, which ample processing power for all but the most serious graphics/video/gaming tasks. And frankly, it would probably be able to tackle some of those tasks pretty well, too. Considering the price of the most loaded iMac, that’s to be expected. They ain’t exactly cheap these days. When I loaded one up on the Apple Store’s Web site, the price tag exceeded $2K. For an iMac. No wonder I have a mental block.

An update to a 24″ iMac would also update my monitor. It wouldn’t get me the 30″ display I’ve been yearning for since its release years ago, but 24″ is bigger than 20″, so it’s an upgrade. And that flat screen will take up a lot less space on my desk than the Sony CRT. Of course that leaves me with a perfectly functional 20″ monitor that I couldn’t sell on eBay. (The darn thing has to weigh in at at least 60 pounds.) But then again, according to the iMac specs, the computer can support a second monitor. But do I really want two monitors on my desk?

Mac ProMy greedy little mind is naturally leaning toward a Mac Pro. Now that’s a computer. I imagine two internal hard disks, two SuperDrives, 2 GB of RAM, and enough graphics power to drive the 30″ display I’ll probably never get. But when I loaded one of these up on the Apple Store’s Web site, the price tag was staggering: over $3K. I don’t have that kind of money sitting around to buy a computer. And if I did, would I want to blow it on a computer rather than, say, a two-week vacation in Hawaii?

But with a computer like that, I could do anything a Mac could do.

But do I need to do everything?

When I bought my last G3 — it was the last beige model — I made sure it had video in/out ports. The old-fashioned, color-coded kind. I don’t know what they’re called. (I’m really not as technical as people think.) I was certain that I’d be processing video on that machine and I wanted to be prepared. I think I used it exactly twice. Once when I got the computer because I had the feature and figured I should try it. And once to actually create a video that I never finished and eventually deleted as a half-finished project. Ditto for other features I’ve loaded into past computers, thinking I would use them. The SCSI card in my recently sold G4. The 250 MB Zip drive in the same machine. (Come to think of it, that machine really was loaded. The new owner got quite a deal at only $335 plus shipping. No wonder she was so happy.)

I was hoping to put off the purchase for at least six months. Actually, what I was really hoping was that Apple would introduce a new desktop Mac in the Mac Pro line at Macworld Expo in January and drop the price of the existing model. That’s usually how I choose my computer — buy the second or third model down from the top.

Maybe that model is an iMac these days. Seems that way to me.

If only I could break my mental block against those machines. Stop thinking about the ridiculous “ET” model I had on an editorial loan for about six months. I hated that computer. It seemed to mock computing with its silly design. I was not in the least bit sorry when I was asked to return it after using it for less than 50 hours of runtime.

So I’m looking for advice from folks who have purchased a desktop Mac within the past 6 to 12 months. Which model did you buy and why? What do you use it for? Are you happy with it? Use the comments link to share your thoughts with me and other readers.

Wanted: A Few Good Feeds

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I need to feed Endo.

I’ve been trying for a while to use a feed aggregator to keep track of blog and site feeds. Although I prefer reading articles the old fashioned way (on the Web in my Web browser), I have since realized the value of using an aggregator to quickly identify and open the articles that interest me most.

A typical session with Endo (my reader of choice) works like this:

  1. I launch Endo and let it download entries from feeds I subscribe to.
  2. I open my InBox, which includes all the new entries since the last time I read them.
  3. I breeze through the entries at the alarming rate of 10-20 per minute, determining from their titles and first paragraphs whether they’re something that warrants further reading.
  4. I click the title link for an entry I want to read, thus opening it in a new tab of a Firefox window lurking in the background.
  5. I decide whether it’s worth continuing my subscription for each feed and delete the unworthy subscriptions. (Keep in mind that I sometimes try them again in the future.)
  6. I quit Endo and read the articles waiting for me in Firefox.
  7. I often link to the articles I find most interesting and want to share, either in a blog post or via del.icio.us, which automatically lists each day’s new bookmarks in my blog (see This just in…).

The topics I’m interested in most are news (real news, not celebrity news), blogging, technology (consumer and computer), Macintosh and Apple, productivity, and writing. That doesn’t mean I’m not interested in other topics — I am. I’m just not sure what they are yet.

And that’s why I’m writing this post — to get suggestions from readers about sites and feeds that might interest me.

Here’s the deal: use the Comments link to share your suggestions for RSS-published sites that might interest me or, considering the topics on this site, other site visitors. You can include your own site only if you include at least two other sites that aren’t yours that you sincerely think visitors and I might find interesting. Since SpamKarma is likely to flag posts with multiple links as spam, I’ll have to check daily (at least for a while) to retrieve messages marked as spam. So be patient if your comment does not appear immediately. I’ll leave the comments open as long as there is no abuse or until I think I have enough results.

If you recommend a site and I like it, I’m likely to link to it (formally), mention it in an article, and/or mention it in an upcoming episode of my sorely neglected podcast, Maria Speaks. If you recommend a site I think is a complete waste of time, I might mention that, too, but not in a way that would send any visitors there.

That said, please comment!

On Blogging

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Maria Speaks Episode 32: On Blogging – Looking back on three years as a blogger.

This episode covers my thoughts on blogging: why I blog, my personal history as a blogger, and the future of blogging as I see it. The transcript for this episode can be found on my Web site, www.aneclecticmind.com.

And sorry about the nasal sound of my voice. I’m just getting over a cold.

Transcript:

Last month, I celebrated my third anniversary as a blogger. Well, I didn’t really celebrate anything because I really didn’t think about it then. But I realized today that it had been more than three years since my first blog entry. A little research found that entry online in my current blog: “iBlog.”

Why I Blog

I am a writer. I’ve been a writer since I was 13 or so, in the days when I worked on stories and a novel while sitting at the desk in the room I shared with my sister. I’ve probably written billions of words by now.

The way I see it, there are two kinds of writers. Well, three:

  • The first is the person who writes because of that need to write. The person who, like me, started at a young age and got hooked on it. But for whatever reason, they did not pursue a career in writing.
  • The second is the person who doesn’t have that need to write but writes for a living. Copywriters, business people who spend much of their time writing reports, tech writers — those might be some examples.
  • The third is the person who needs to write and writes for a living.

Through hard work, an understanding of the writing business, and a good dose of luck, I’ve managed to join that third group of writers: I write because I need to write and I’m fortunate enough to get paid for it.

Writing is like an addiction for the people who need to write. They can’t go more than a day or two without writing something. And that’s where blogging comes in. It’s the perfect outlet for writing whatever you want, whether it’s a description of how you spent your weekend (Days in My Life), your view on current politics (Deep Thoughts), a narrative about your hobbies (Flying for Pleasure, Writing for Pleasure), or a discussion of your work (Flying for Hire, Writing for a Living).

And that’s why I’m a blogger. It gives me the opportunity to vent (so to speak) the words and thoughts that are in my mind.

My History as a Blogger

Back in October 2003, I got started as a blogger using a blogging client called iBlog. It was an interesting tool that was very easy to use and didn’t require a bit of HTML or programming knowledge. I’d create blog entries on my computer, using a WYSIWYG format. When I was ready to publish, the software would create all the pages and links and upload them to a Web server. They were static pages — that means they existed in plain old HTML on the server until I replaced them with new pages.

I liked the software, but as technology moved forward, I ran into its limitations. The author of the program — it’s shareware — was busy with work and couldn’t spend the time needed to rework his creation and add features. I decided that it was time to find another solution.

I played with Blogger and actually built two podcasts that used it for an engine. (I even wrote an eBook about it.) But Blogger had a lot of limitations, too. I wanted something I could get under the hood to change, something I could tweak forever, fine-tuning the appearance and functionality all the time.

The answer was WordPress. I decided to install it on a Mac OS X server in my office. It was a chore and a real learning experience. But I always get a certain feeling of satisfaction when I work my way through a tough task and succeed.

The first big challenge (after getting WordPress up and running on the server) was to import my 300+ iBlog entries to my new WordPress site. That required exporting all entries as an RSS feed, modifying the entries to be WordPress compatible, and importing them into the new blog. I did this over time, in batches. I still have about 50 entries to import, but they include photos and require a lot of work. Frankly, I’ve been too lazy to do it.

Once the content was online, I reworked the blog to merge it with my personal site and my book support site. That posed some organizational challenges: to keep my work separate from my blog but both of them in the same place. I’ve gotten complements on the site’s organization from several people, so I think I may have done a good job.

Now, with the work mostly done — other than the tweaking, which I do occasionally to fine-tune the site — I’m free to write. I never stopped, of course. The site has been building itself slowly but surely, with 5 to 20 new entries a week, depending on my schedule. These days I’ve been pretty busy, so I’m not writing as much. But I still try to get a post in each morning, as I sit drinking my coffee, listening to my parrot run through his repertoire of words, phrases, and weird sounds.

The Future of Blogging

Over the past few years, I’ve seen blogging change from its original purpose — a personal online journal — to a commercial phenomena. People are blogging for money, splashing advertisements all over their sites. Companies are starting blogs to advertise their own products and services.

Although I will be the first to admit that I talk about my books and articles and flying services on this site, those topics are not my primary focus. They’re part of my life and, like most of my life, they become blogging topics. But I just can’t bring myself to splash all those Google ads all over my sites. I’m not in this for the money. The little ads that appear at the bottom of some pages on my sites are just my attempt to raise cash to pay for this blogging habit of mine. (Please feel free to click one or two on every visit. ;-) )

But it saddens me that blogging has become so commercialized. That some bloggers are using this form of communication solely to gain wealth and fame — or try to. That some bloggers are irresponsibly spreading inaccurate information in an attempt to sway public opinion. That the media is spreading falsehoods by quoting blogs as news sources. That some blogs (like some podcasts) are simply another form of advertising to sell products and services in a world that’s already so full of advertising that it invades every part of our lives.

I don’t know what the future of blogging will bring. But I do know the future of my blogging activities: the same as the past.

I blog because I like to blog. I need to blog. And whether my words are appreciated or scorned, I’ll just keep blogging.

New Computer Diary: The Computer Arrives

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It’s here in record time.

Not bad for free shipping. I just placed the order on Wednesday. That’s less than a week. I think that the more you spend at the Apple Store, the more likely they are to get it delivered to you quickly.

The computer I ordered is a 15″ MacBook Pro. Here are the specs, right from the confirmation e-mail I received moments after placing the order.

MacBook Pro, 15-inch, 2.16GHz Intel Core Duo
1GB 667 DDR2 – 1 SO-DIMM
100GB Serial ATA drive @ 5400 rpm
SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW)
MacBook Pro 15-inch Widescreen Display
Apple USB Modem
Backlit Keyboard/Mac OS – U.S. English
AirPort Extreme Card & Bluetooth
AppleCare Protection

This is my latest Mac test mule, destined to a life of leisure, sitting quietly, powered off, waiting for me to call it into action to run software while I write a Mac book or article.

Although the more I think about it, the more I think I might want to use it a tiny bit more often. Heck, when I spend that kind of money on a computer, I want to get my money’s worth.

It arrived in a brown box that was surprisingly lightweight. The FedEx Ground guy brought it to my office, even though it was addressed to me at my house. This is Wickenburg and there’s just one FedEx Ground guy. If he knows where you’ll be during the day, that’s where he’ll bring brown boxes from computer companies. Oddly enough, he wasn’t quite sure where I’d be and seemed relieved when I opened the door and he recognized me.

“I couldn’t remember which apartment you were in,” he admitted.

This didn’t surprise me. I don’t use FedEx Ground very often because they usually can’t find my house. I think this guy had been tipped off about my apartment-based office by the FedEx overnight guy. Neither of them like taking their trucks down the road to get to my house. And they like making a U-Turn in my driveway even less. UPS is the same, although I had to put a stop to them delivering my stuff to the airport.

“If there’s a red vehicle in spot number 18, I’m here,” I told him.

I signed for the computer and he went on his way. Then I left it by the door so I wouldn’t forget to take it home with me.

Yes, that’s right. I didn’t open it right up. That shouldn’t surprise you too much. It took me a whole week to open my PC laptop when I bought it two months ago or so.

Why? Well, I’m busy. Today I revised Chapter 8, the last chapter, of my Excel 2007 Visual QuickProject Guide. I had a bad headache all day and it was hard enough to keep my mind on my work without being distracted by a brand new Mac.

When the chapter was done and I called it quits for the day, I carried the computer out to the Jeep with a few other things that needed to go home. Jack the dog was with me. He jumped in and we started out. I had to stop at the post office on the way home. And then pay a visit to Dr. Saxby.

Dr. Saxby is a chiropractor. But unlike the chiropractor I once visited regularly back in New Jersey for my sciatica, when Dr. Saxby adjusts you, you don’t need to visit three times a week. You go once and he cracks you all over the place, leaving you feeling like … well, like shit. The next day, though, you feel great. He put me on the roller table, where the rollers rolled up my back. Then, on the adjustment table, he cracked every joint in my body — including my toes. Another patient, who had taken my place on the roller table, let her dogs wander around the office. A third patient, a man, was holding one of the dogs on his lap when I emerged, sweating and exhausted.

Jack the Dog and the new computer were still in the Jeep when I came out.

We went home. I picked up the mail along the way — our mailbox is about 1/4 mile from the house. My royalty statement from Peachpit was among the big envelopes. All 67 pages of it. Sheesh. Wouldn’t it be nice if all the books in the statement earned money at once?

Finally, I could wait no longer. I went back outside and got the computer box. I opened the box and found a smaller box, wrapped in plastic, nestled in foam corners. I pulled it out and stowed the foam corners back in the brown box.

Apple has incredible packaging. It makes you want what’s in the box. That in itself is odd when you consider that the boxes are never displayed where the computers are available for sale. So that beautiful packaging is obviously intended for the end user, a kind of gift that’s meant to be opened and kept. I guess that’s why I still have the boxes for all the Apple equipment I still own. They take up a lot of space in the back corner of my hangar.

Nestled inside, in custom-carved white foam, was the computer and it’s accessories, including the power supply, video adapter, external USB modem, and Front Row remote control. There was also a flat square box that had a tiny manual, Restore DVD, and a bunch of warranty stuff I’m sure I’ll never read.

The computer looks remarkably like my 12″ PowerBook. It’s just a lot bigger. That’s unfortunate. What I really wanted was another 12″ PowerBook with the new processor and a bigger hard disk. I found the 13″ MacBook tempting because of its size, but was completely turned off by the cheesy feel of its case.

Of course now that I’ve shot my load on a 15″ MacBook Pro, Apple will probably release the computer I really wanted to buy. My luck, you see.

I opened the lid and pushed the power button. The computer bonged to life. It then went through the video thing it does right after you install Mac OS X. When it was finished welcoming me in every language known to man, I went through the configuration process. From power on to running and connecting to the ‘Net took all of three minutes — most of which was spent on that silly welcome video stuff.

The computer appears to be loaded with iLife and iWork software. I expected iLife, which I already have on disk, but not iWork. There are some demos, too. And an app called Photo Booth, which I’d never seen before. This is the first Front Row-compatible computer I’ve bought (timing is everything) and it’s a good thing I bought it. When I revise my Mac OS X book for Leopard, I can include coverage of Front Row. I guess I’ll have to learn how to use that remote.

Mike came home as I was taking a photo using the built-in iSight camera. He got in the picture. It’s now my icon throughout the system. Oddly enough, I can’t figure out where it’s stored on the hard disk, although I do know how to change it.

Software Update popped up, telling me I needed about 700 MB worth of upgrades. Later on, after dinner, I plugged in the computer — I really do like that magnetically attached power cord — and let it suck updates off the Internet. It was still working on it when I went to sleep.

New Computer Diary – Prelude

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Why I need to order a new Mac.

I write books about computers for a living. That’s a blessing and a curse.

It’s a blessing because I get to buy new computers and related hardware (like cameras and scanners and printers) and software to keep up with technology. I can write most of this stuff off as business expenses because I actually need them to get my work done. Some of this stuff is really cool, so using them is almost like playing with new toys. I also often get prerelease software, so I can work with it before anyone else.

It’s a curse because I have to buy new computers and related hardware. I don’t get most stuff for free. And because I often have to buy new hardware right after it comes out — when the prices are highest and their problems haven’t been identified yet — they’re costly and sometimes problematic. My goal is always to buy a computer that’ll last at least three years so I don’t have to do this too often.

And if you think working with beta software is fun, try running Office 2007 on Windows Vista four months before the scheduled release dates. Not only did I have to buy an expensive computer just to run this software on — Vista has some pretty serious system requirements for all those pretty graphics — but I have to struggle to work around bugs and incompatibilities caused mostly by unavailable driver software updates.

I have three computers I use for work, as well as a laptop for business and home use:

  • Dual Processor G5My production Mac, which is currently a 2-year-old Dual G5 tower, is the computer I sit at when I’m writing. It has a 21″ Sony monitor (the old, heavy CRT type) which is really great when I’m doing layout on Visual QuickStart Guides and Visual QuickProject Guides. It also has all the built-in and attached equipment I need to get my job done, including three printers, a scanner, and numerous mobile devices like cameras, digital video cameras, iSight cameras, external hard disks, and more.
  • G4 eMacMy Macintosh test mule, which is currently a 3- or 4-year-old G4 eMac, is the computer I run software on when I’m writing Mac books and articles. I like the all-in-one design of the eMac and the price when I bought it was within reason. When I bought it, it had the bare minimum I needed to get the job done: a G4 processor (at the time, G5 had just come out), a SuperDrive (because I often need to write about creating CDs and DVDs), built-in modem, networking capabilities, and adjustable screen resolution. When I went wireless last year, I installed an AirPort card. This computer was the machine I used to run beta Mac OS software for my Panther, Tiger, Word 2004, Excel 2004, WordPress 2, and QuickBooks 2006 books. Maybe even my Jaguar book, although I admit I can’t remember that far back.
  • Dell LatitudeMy PC test mule, which is currently a Dell Latitude D820 laptop, is the computer I run Windows software on when I’m writing Windows books. (The computer recently replaced a 4-year-old Dell Dimension tower, which was really showing its age.) This computer is loaded and it isn’t by choice. As mentioned earlier in this entry, I needed souped up graphics and a fast, modern processor (or two?) to run Vista with the Aero Glass effects. It has a CD writer but not a DVD writer, although it will read both. (This became a rather ironic thing when I downloaded the Vista beta from Microsoft’s Web site and had to use my Mac to create the DVD I needed to install Vista on my PC. It worked. Of course.) I’m hoping this computer, which cost me a small fortune, will last at least four years.
  • imageMy business/personal laptop, which is currently a 12″ PowerBook G4, is the machine I keep at home and take on the road with me. It’s used for e-mail and blogging these days, although I sometimes use it for podcasting. And, every once in a while when I need to do a presentation, I plug it into a projection monitor and do demos. I love the size and configuration of the computer, although I admit that the 40GB (really 37 GB, but who’s counting?) hard disk is a bit small. I recently had to offload a bunch of music and podcasts just to make room for some other stuff. And with only 640 MB of RAM and 867 MHz of processing power, it sometimes slows to a crawl when taking on heavy-duty tasks like sound conversion and iMovie visual effects. I also noticed that its fan starts more frequently than usual these days, like its always hot and bothered.

Why all these computers? Well, I’ve found that the best way to write about a software product is to run two computers side by side. The test mule runs the software I’m writing about. My production Mac runs the software I’m using to write — normally InDesign or Word. I perform a step on the test mule, take a screenshot if necessary (which is automatically dumped over the network to my production Mac), and write about what I see on my production Mac. Not only do I have the benefit of seeing what I’m writing about as I write, but I can keep that test mule in pristine condition. In fact, it’s common for me to reformat the hard disk and reinstall all system and application software I need to write about each time I start a new project. I really do use those two computers just for work.

I used to buy a new production Mac every two years and a new personal laptop every three years. Earlier this year, however, when my production Mac was only a year and a half old, the motherboard went on it. I faced a tough decision: fix it (at a cost of about $700) or put that money into a brand new Mac and throw this one away. But it still had a lot of life in it and there wasn’t anything really better to trade up to. So I fixed it. And life went on. It’s still serving me faithfully, running all the software I need to run. Keep in mind that I don’t update software unless I need to — for example, I’m still using Photoshop 7 (don’t laugh!) and InDesign CS (not CS2).

I can usually get 3 to 4 years out of a test mule. My old PC test mule lasted about 4 years (at least). I think the G4 might be close to 4 years old now, too. I basically keep using them until I have to upgrade — in other words, until the software I need to run needs more processing power than an old mule has.

Every once in a while, the moon and stars align in such a way that I need to buy two (or, heaven forbid) three computers all around the same time. This is one of those years. I absolutely had to get a new PC to run Vista with the Aero Glass effects. I went with a laptop because I’m trying hard to downsize my office and make it something I can take on the road. A laptop test mule is just the thing. Close it and stick it on a shelf when I’m not using it. Throw it in a bag when I decide to get some work done on the road. Why the hell didn’t I think about that before?

Of course, I do hate the keyboard on the Dell PC — it’s so awkward after years of typing on the PowerBook’s wide open keyboard. And I had to buy a wireless mouse for it, mostly because I can’t seem to find the right track pad drivers for use with Vista and the track pad tracks very slowly, no matter how I set it. But I don’t use the computer every day (and hope I never need to) so it really isn’t such a hardship. And the video on that machine really is incredible. It should be, considering it’s the newest in my stable.

As for the Dell Dimension tower…well, I still have it. It runs Windows XP and as soon as I’m done with these two Windows books I’m working on, I’ll use the laptop’s restore disk to bring it back to factory settings. That’s when I’ll be donating the PC tower, along with its ancient Gateway monitor, to my local library.

And the stars have also told me that I need a new Mac test mule. Why? I’ll need to run Leopard, the upcoming version of Mac OS X, pretty soon now. While I’m not sure whether it’ll run on a G5, I’m pretty sure it won’t run on a G4. And besides, I have to write about Boot Camp and that’s going to require an Intel processor Mac.

So that’s why I need to buy a new Mac — to run the upcoming new stuff.

imageIn keeping with my downsizing plan, I decided that I wanted to get a Mac laptop. After struggling and finally succeeding in understanding the differences between a MacBook and a MacBook Pro, I decided on a MacBook Pro. 15″ monitor, 1 GB RAM, SuperDrive (need to write about iDVD a bit), 100 GB hard disk. This is going to be one hot computer.

Which makes me wonder…will it replace the 12″ PowerBook G4?

Part of me says no: a test mule is a test mule. It sits in my office, turned off, waiting to run software I’m writing a book or article about. It doesn’t get personal data files; its hard disk is often reformatted and restored to factory settings — or at least the current OS.

But I admit that it’s going to be hard to keep using this G4 when I have Core Duo (is that right?) processor laptop with almost twice the RAM and more than twice the hard disk space and processor power sitting around, waiting for me to tickle its keys. I’m actually kind of hoping that I don’t like its keyboard, so I won’t want to use it more than I have to.

But there’s no way in hell that I’m buying two new Mac laptops this year.

We’ll see what happens. Need to make the big purchase first.