Mac Mini
October 17, 2008
In the web design and development industry, many people use computers that run Apple’s OS X operating system (“Macs”) instead of computers that run Microsoft’s Windows XP operating system (“PCs”). I have long been a PC user with a desire to try out a Mac: people rave about how much easier they are to use, and I found some good software that I would like to try that only runs on a Mac. When it was time to get a new laptop back in January, and I made the switch and bought a Macbook.
I should clarify: I tried to make the switch. I found lots of things to like about the Macbook. The hardware and the operating system both have a sleek design that it enjoyable to use. Apple’s operating system appears very well-thought and intuitive: there were quite a few features that struck me as the obviously correct way to design an operating system. However, there was one insurmountable flaw: the keyboard mapping. Let me explain the most significant example. The dominant helper key in Windows is the Control key (paste, copy, cut, and undo, for example, are CTRL+V, +C, +X, +Z respectively), which you press with your left pinky; the dominant helper key on the Mac, on the other hand, is the Command key, which you press with your left thumb.
This may not seem like a big deal, but for me it was huge. I have become a very efficient typist through the use of keyboards shortcuts. The difference in keyboard mapping (this pinky/thumb issue and a handful of others) considerably slowed down my typing speed. I had to divert some mental power from thinking about the content I was writing to thinking about the mechanics of typing instead. After a couple of months of this frustration, I sold my Macbook to a friend and bought a Windows laptop from Dell. (Note: at the time, I could still get Windows XP; I’m not sure what I would have done if this had happened today, when I could only get Windows Vista.)
I did enjoy having a Mac around the house to test the web sites I was developing in Apple’s Safari web browser. When I discovered a co-worker was selling his first-generation Mac Mini this summer, I jumped at the opportunity. I set up the Mac Mini alongside my regular Windows desktop with a KVM switch so that I can use it whenever I need to, although this is primarily just for testing. If I had it to do all over again, I would probably have bought a new Mac Mini last December and tried to switch to that as my primary home computer. But it has all worked out just fine. I’m still thoroughly impressed with Apple’s operating system and hope for a chance to use it more extensibely in the future.