I know that Born Again Christians go through a major life transformation and I am about to embark on something similar. I'm not exactly getting re-baptisized and it has nothing to do with religion - although I do sort of worship computers and all things cyber. Yesterday I went shopping with the big boss - Mark, the owner of the company I work for. He recently decided that he needs to know more about Macs and seeing that I'm his graphic designer, he thought I would be a good guinea pig to venture into this big unknown world. I was certainly game.
So we set out yesterday to the computer store. I thought this was an information gathering process and went prepared with a bulleted list of questions. I had no idea that I would be walking out of the store with a shiny new MacBook Pro . . . and a slew of goodies on order to go along with it.
The best part was me asking if I can use dual monitors with this new laptop and more importantly, can I use my huge Dell monitor. The sales girl answered that yes, indeed I could. But the boss said, "Paula, don't you want one of these new, gigantic, high definition monitors instead?" Not much arm twisting was needed there! The sales pitch went on for an hour and this definitely exceeded the attention span of the boss. As the sales girl was explaining more features, Mark reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He slipped me his credit card and excused himself because he could no longer stand the fact that the motorcycle accessories store was right next door calling to him. He tells me to get whatever I want and heads over to get himself a new helmet, jacket, etc for his upcoming awesome trek across the country on his new BMW GS. That trip, by the way, was all my idea and now we are not even going with him. Uuugh.
But back to my new computer. So now I have this shiny new toy and I don't even know where to begin. I know this is going to be a very hard transition - a "Mac attack" for sure. I am definitely an old dog and learning new tricks is not always easy. I am excited to join the Mac world, if I could just get over the difficult transition.
4 comments:
COPYCAT!!
It's not difficult - you'll love it. Everything on a Mac is smooth and easy and also so well-designed and pretty.
I heart my MacBook Pro and wish I could replace my clunky (only 3 yr old) PC with an iMac. Last night trying to download podcasts in iTunes and open Firefox to check my mail at the same time, my PC nearly had a stroke. Things like this are a piece of cake for the Mac.
You're going to be a happy Mac-lover very soon, I promise. Do you still have that credit card, cause now you have to go buy the Mac version of CS3!
now why couldn't this get done last week before i came over :)
Hey cuz,
Just remember, the more keyboard commands you can learn, the better...
for example:
Apple+x = Cut
Apple+c = Copy
Apple+v = Paste
Apple+o = Open (application, document, etc)
Apple+w = Close window/document/etc.
Apple+q = Quit application
One you should really get familiar with is:
Apple+Spacebar, that activates Spotlight - which helps you find files, programs, etc. on your Mac. I use this to quickly Launch programs.... so - to run Microsoft Word, I hit Apple+Spacebar and type Word when it comes up in the "Top Hit", highlight the applicaition and type Apple+O top open that program.
It sure beats having to keep going back and forth between the keyboard and mouse!
Oooh, yeah - I forgot - try this:
Go to System Preferences,, and then go to Speech.
Now, go to Text To Speech...
Select the System Voice you want to use... I use Alex...
Click the Checkbox for "Speak selected text when the key is pressed and then go to Set Key...
I use Apple+Option+Control+R to read text back to me.
So, for example, if there's a particularly long blog entry that I'm not wanting to sit there and read, I'll select the text then press Apple+Option+Control+R and the computer will read the selected text to me!
I used Alex because that voice is the closest to real voice.
Have Fun!
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