Where Did Spring Break Go?
Rock climbing classes for the kids start this week. My own class got pushed back to May for some reason. Oh well. Plus there’s a trip to the dentist in my future. Fortunately the dentist’s office understands about My Issues: “Tell me what you’re going to do before you do it. Keep me updated. If there is a chance of it hurting, warn me. If I lift my left hand or wave, stop and tell me what you’re doing. I find this stressful and this will make it easier for both of us.”
You know, once you start setting boundaries it just never stops. *snort*
I’m also trying out a new workspace, sitting on an exercise ball instead of cross-legged in the CHAIR. We’ll see if that ameliorates some of the pain issues I’ve been having. Changing around the workspace is a good way for me to really prove I can write whenever, wherever. So, we’ll see.
Also, I am considering a Mac for my next laptop. I hear good things about them. So, if The Great Interwebs can answer a few questions, I’d be grateful.
1. How’s the keyboard action on a Mac? I love my current Asus, but the keyboard really leaves a little to be desired.
2. Does MSOffice work okay on Mac? I love Word and Excel and don’t want to change to a new word-processing program. Specifically, does Word on Mac have trouble opening .docx files?
3. Is it worth the initial price? I mean, do they last longer than PC laptops?
4…oh, there is no 4. I guess it’s just three questions. Comments and answers appreciated.
Also, I am a bit silly from a late night last night. Nothing dire, just up chatting with a friend. Wrenching my schedule back to normality from the chaos of Spring Break (most days I slept in until *gasp* 9AM! Unheard-of, I know!) is predictably making me a little goony today. If you see me on Twitter, it’s probably going to be goofiness. You’ve been warned.
Last but not least, can I please write one short story that doesn’t require three or four effing starts thrown out before I get something usable? I’m under deadline here, Muse. Kthxbai.
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Tags: about me, not worth chewing through the leather straps, questions from the edge, short story madness, the internets they know everything
April 5th, 2010 at 10:44 am
Mac Questions
1. Keyboard – at least for me, I’ve always loved my keyboard action. My husband has one of the newer ones and it’s a little different, but very easy to use and not uncomfortable at all. Feels nice and responsive.
2. I’ve been using MS Office since I got my mac and there is absolutely no problem with it, for me at least. I have however, not yet changed to the 2008 version because they were ironing out some bugs in the system. Most of my writing buddies not only own macs but use 2008 now though, and they don’t seem to have problems anymore.
I know we all prefer using Scrivener to write with. It’s a fantastic program you can get from literature and latte I think the site is called.
But office 2008 and earlier definitely work. To open the docx files you will have to get the 2008 version, of course.
3. I’ve been using a mac for over three years now. The current macbook I’m using has just turned three. I’ve dropped it from about 3 – 4 feet around 5-8 times. It’s had orange juice spilled on it, cats and dogs climbing on it and still works damn well. I love it, would be lost without it, but because I use it around 8 – 16 hours a day, will probably need to replace it soon. I would definitely say it’s worth the price. My battery even after 3 years still lasts at least 3-4 hours. Like I said, my husband has the newer silver one, and it lasts him 6-7 hours at a full charge.
Personally, I would only own macs if I didn’t like to pc game occasionally.
I would definitely recommend it to anyone.
Good Luck!
April 5th, 2010 at 10:51 am
1. The keyboard is pretty good. If there’s a Apple Store nereby to you I would highly recommend going in to kick the tires.
2. Yes Word on a Mac will read docx files.
3. It’s worth the price. No viruses. No headaches from having a PC.
April 5th, 2010 at 10:57 am
Macs & PC are similar it’s just different programming, slightly. For example using command instead of control. Word & Excel are compatible for Mac, if it’s an older version of MSOffice you may have to buy a newer version.
Macs are pretty much worth it. They’re virus resistant. It takes a little while learning how to navigate through a mac, but after a while it’s almost easier than a PC.
Not a computer genius, but I like using macs.
April 5th, 2010 at 11:03 am
I’m completely with K.T. Hanna. If it weren’t for PC Games, I would only own a Mac.
1. I, too, love the keyboard action on my MacBook. (I have one of the black ones from a couple years ago.) The multi-touch track pad, I’m told, takes some getting used to, but it was not problem at all for me to transition once I knew the commands.
2. MS Office has always worked fine for me in the past. My current Mac does not have Office loaded on it, but I don’t think there would be any issues. Actually, last time I used a version of Office for Mac (in 2005?), there were some features on it that I desperately wanted to see port to the PC version.
3. They seem to last longer than PC laptops, but I’ve never clocked it. Also, they cost more, but they *do* more, too. And the customer support is so much better (in my experience).
4. Since you don’t have a #4, I’ll use it to second the rec for Scrivener. Love. That. Program.
April 5th, 2010 at 11:38 am
Good luck with the dentist. Boundaries should only be pushed from the inside, not the outside.
April 5th, 2010 at 12:30 pm
Pretty much everyone I know who has a mac loves it, myself included (once you go Mac, you never go back). The keyboard is quite nice (Have a laptop and a desktop. Prefer the laptop keyboard.)
There is a pretty cool chair on the market:
http://www.isokineticsinc.com/product/fb_chair
I’ve been flirting with the idea of it for a while now.
April 5th, 2010 at 12:57 pm
I love my Mac. We use them at the office I work at as well.
As far as opening .docx files, I’ve found that there is a download or something that allows older versions of Word to open them. We have several computers at work, with one of them having newer versions of Office than the others. I changed it’s settings to save things as .doc files, but sometimes they still get saved as .docx. When I tried to open one once I got a message about installing an update or something so that I could open them. It seemed to work just fine.
April 5th, 2010 at 1:17 pm
I’m in the market for a macbook myself; been in kicking tires a bit. Couple of things:
1. Solid state hard drives are more durable, run cooler — and are more expensive. I personally think they’re worth the extra money. YMMV.
2. Do not be lulled into a false sense of security. Keep your firewalls and virus protections updated, daily if possible. I am an utter mac-head (my IT manager boyfriend despairs of ever pulling me away from Apple) but NO computer, no software, no OS is “resistant” to viruses. Ever single computer, phone and software tested at the hacker’s convention this spring got cracked open, often within minutes.
3. Never used an Asus, so I can’t compare keyboards. I have always liked the touch-and-feel of Macs, myself. I echo whoever suggested you go in and try the various machines at a Apple store–they have the software installed so you can play with Word for Mac, too. There’s one at Bridgeport Village (Durham exit.)
April 5th, 2010 at 3:21 pm
I fix computers, including Macs. Note that they are virus _resistant_, not virus proof – it’s a good idea to have a scanner, especially if you’re exchanging files with anyone on a Windows computer (not nice being Typhoid Mary!).
I have one client who is being forced to upgrade. Her Mac laptop, some 5 years old, is still on 10.3.9 and can’t be physically upgraded to get any later version of OSX. There are now (a _lot_ of) programs and functions that won’t work at all on 10.3.9 – like, the latest version of Flash (so she can’t watch Hulu), a lot of printer drivers, drivers for external disks… The computer itself is working OK (starting to die in some directions – various freezeups) but it’s no longer really usable in a connected world. Think a computer running Win98 nowadays – or worse, WinME. In my experience, the timeline of that computer puts her right in the middle of the scale of lifespan of Windows computers – I have one laptop that’s older but was able to take WinXP so is still functional, and one that’s younger, is on XP, and is still functional but annoyingly slow. So Macs aren’t a magic bullet for lasting longer, but it’s difficult (unless you buy used) to get less than the latest greatest Mac when you buy; so it will last a quite reasonably long time.
April 5th, 2010 at 3:57 pm
One other thing you might ask around about: What is Apple’s customer service like? Having been through Dell Hell, I will never buy another, even if I like the product.
April 6th, 2010 at 5:49 pm
I lurve my MacBook. It’s maybe 3 years old and I’ve had no problems. I like the keyboard (I’m a bit particular about that, too). Like some of the other commenters, I write in Scrivener and LOVE it – definitely worth checking out. Scrivener exports to .rtf so you can read them in Word or whatever. I have Office 2008 for Windows and I use VM Ware to boot into Windows for it. I would prefer to have them for the Mac side, but I was a die hard PC person when I bought the Mac and thought I couldn’t live without my Windows (not so, my friend, no so at all).
Speaking of which, I will warn you that it did take me a little while to transition from PC head to Mac head. I say it that way because it really is all in your mind. The Mac is actually much more intuitive to use but if you grew up on Windows like I did, you will be conditioned that way and feel like it’s So Weird.
But once you figure everything out, you’re golden. I can’t see myself ever going back. Superfast start up and shut down, no viruses (knock wood), super long battery life, I could go on and on. 
April 6th, 2010 at 11:13 pm
I see the technical things have been covered by others so I will just say that to me, my Mac is chocolate in a world of dishwater. I doubt you will disagree when you experience all its nifty delights. Two finger scrolling … “Sigh”.
Btw, Thank You for you being you. Your blog has given me strength and your books are devourably awesome!
Love to have you come to Vancouver BC for a signing.
April 8th, 2010 at 8:20 am
Mostly I’ve used many types of PC, but a few years ago I took over my daughter’s used MacBook. After all the approvals from Mac fans, I was expecting something more “wow” than it was.
The keyboard was OK, but not quite up to the heavy use of college years. Some of the keys had worn so much that the letters were gone, something I hadn’t seen on any PC. I believe the newer Macs have a better keyboard, but I still prefer a good PC keyboard over any of the Macs.
The MacBook itself had been repaired after a major soup spill — don’t ask! — but was still working even though the screen looked like it would come off at any moment. I had a difficult time using the single touchpad button, and it bugged me to have to hold down a key to get alternate functions when clicking the button. I missed having the second button a lot, but I realize I could get used to the Mac style if needed.
Some of the functions I needed on the PC were well hidden in the Mac operating system. I knew about the single window bar across the top of the screen, but it was not intuitive to have to give focus to another window before I could see what functions it had. And forget trying to see two windows at once, because the window bar was only valid for one of them at a time.
The underlying operating system for Macs is Unix. Unix was designed to be more secure from the beginning, so that’s why it is virus-resistant. Also, because corporations are heavily PC-biased — banks don’t use Macs — most hacking has been aimed at Windows because it’s more profitable.
Before any Mac-lovers get all defensive, I have to say that the latest Macs and software are really getting to that “wow” stage. But so are PCs and Windows, and new versions of Unix are creeping up there as well. In my opinion, you can’t go wrong with either Macs or PCs — it’s mostly a matter of how you like your computer to respond to you. And after a few months, any lingering doubts will have been swept away as the computer “trains” you how to behave to get what you want.
(Credentials: 40+ years working in the computer industry, software side; experienced user of PCs since the first IBM Personal Computer came out; many Mac-loving relatives; extensive knowledge of the underlying software for all computers; known far and wide as the person to call when “My computer isn’t working!”.)
April 8th, 2010 at 10:41 pm
I *used* to be a hardcore PC person — macs were doorstops and all that. And then I got one o,0 and I LOVE it. LOVE. IT. Will not EVER go back to a PC for my own use. My mac takes about 30 seconds to boot, has never had any of the issues my other computers have had, and is shiny. SHINY.
<3