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Hi there. My name is Jack Franklin and I literally purchased my first Mac five days ago. I’ve not even had it a week and I’m already compelled to write this article. So I’m going to be bold with my next statement.

I will never buy another Windows computer for myself.

Told you it would be pretty bold, didn’t I? And after only five days of working on it, I’m already in a position to say that. Just to let you know, I’m not even on a brand new Mac. I’m typing on a G5 PowerPC iMac from late 2005, with a 150GB Hard drive and 2GB of RAM. So it’s by no means a new Mac. But I love it. So this is my Mac diary from the first five days of bliss…

Speed

The first thing I noticed immediately is speed. Before purchasing this I had a Windows laptop for nine months, with better stats than this Mac, and running *shudder* Windows Vista. It’s a pretty decent spec laptop with a good, powerful processor, large hard-drive, and 2GB of RAM, but yet I’ve found, honestly, the Mac is quicker, despite being three years older than the laptop. I’m not joking. The Mac loads quicker, generally runs programs quicker, and shuts down quicker.

Not just speed in terms of loading, the Mac comes with an outstanding app called “Quicksilver” which is possibly one of the best applications ever. And it’s free. It runs in the background, and springs to action when I hit Command+Space. I can then type the first few letters of an application or folder I want to open, hit enter, and voila. I’ve launched a program or folder without touching the mouse once. This means I don’t have to move my hands as much to use the mouse and it means I can access things a lot quicker.

Apps

Although the range of programs on a Mac is smaller than those for Windows, the old saying “quality not quantity” comes into play. Every program I download has a fantastic GUI, one that fits the Mac interface and it generally means all programs are much easier to get used to and have a smaller learning curve. Windows programs are not like that. They all go with their own layout, and a lack of consistency across apps means it’s harder to jump from one to the other.

Dock

I’ve also noticed the Dock. How could I not? I use it every day, constantly! And it’s superb. I know you will say that you can get similar programs on Windows, which you can. But none are as good. I tried loads of different apps on Windows, but none were quite how I wanted them. The Mac dock, unsurprisingly does exactly what I want. Because it’s part of Mac OS X and not an additional app like the Windows emulators, it does not take additional time to start up, which I found all the Windows apps do. The Dock is, when you think about it, such a simple addition but such a worthwhile one. As they say, it’s the little touches that make all the difference.

Application management

By this I mean how I interact with applications when they are open. In Windows it’s weird. You get used to it, but it’s weird. Applications should be draggable all the time, but in Windows they are not. Once maximized you have to restore the window before you can drag it. That’s an additional one or two clicks before you can move your application. Might not sound like much, but over the course of an eight hour day, it happens a lot, so I’m saving a lot of clicks.

Exposé

Exposé is another stunning feature. Either by pressing F12 or the side button on my Mighty Mouse, all my apps shrink and are all displayed as small rectangles on my screen. Not only is this damn cool, it also allows me to quickly switch between applications with one press of a button. Pressing F11 also moves all open windows to the edges of my screen, allowing me to see my desktop.

Conclusion

All of the above I’ve noted over a five day period. Before this I had used a Mac for five days while on a work experience, and had only been apart from Windows for that one week. I reckon that’s about eight to ten years of solid use of Windows. And I never really felt 100% comfortable with it. There was always some random error message. But, after five days with my Mac, I feel like I’ve been using one all my life. I hope you enjoyed Part 1 of my Mac diary, and I will see you soon for Part 2!

About The Author

Jack Franklin

Jack is a 17 year old web designer and developer who lives in the beautiful area of Cornwall, England. Off the computer, Jack enjoys playing snooker, tennis, football and badminton. He is currently attending college and doing A-Levels in Maths, Further Maths, English and Computing.