My Mac Dreams About to Come True?
I was completely taken aback by something my wife said this evening: “Wanna buy a Mac?”
(To know why this is so surprising, you need to understand that my wife is the type who usually stops listening whenever anything even remotely related to computing crops up in conversation.)
What’s more, she was even making specific suggestions. “The eMac is a pretty good deal,” she said, “and I think you can even get one that allows you to burn DVDs…”
Picture me, flat on my back, on the floor—because that’s exactly what I was, floored by this unexpected proposal. Apparently the idea struck her when she saw a Mac advertisement on the same page as this news story:
Microsoft warns of a score of security holes
Microsoft released on Tuesday fixes that cover at least 20 Windows flaws, several of which could make versions of the operating system vulnerable to new worms or viruses.
If you ask me, this sort of thing is not really news (when isn’t Microsoft releasing critical patches by the truckload?), but why look a gift horse in the mouth, right?
Although I was never a big fan of Macs in the past, OS X really changed everything. Combining UNIX reliability with Apple’s ease of use was a real triumph. I’ve been longing for one ever since.
Anyway, now that I’m seriously looking into buying a Mac, I need to tap all of my Mac-using friends for advice. For example, how useful is AppleCare? Are the .Mac services worth paying for? I can probably do without the AirMac Extreme card and the internal Bluetooth module, right? These things aside, what are the must-have software titles and other accoutrements that no self-respecting Mac user should be without?
Oh, and while you’re at it, ply me with assurances that Mac OS upgrades are not as perilous as Zeldman makes them seem.
