Goodbye Windows!


I bought my first desktop computer for home use back in 1996. AOL was the rage. Other than AOL, the only other program I used was Microsoft Money. Like AOL, it came preloaded on the computer.

Fast forward to about 2006. I was on my third or fourth home desktop–a machine that occupied a ton of space on and below the desk in my home office. As before, I used it mostly to keep up with my vast fortune and to visit gay chatrooms on the Internet via either Netscape or Explorer. Instead of Microsoft Money, I believe by then I’d switched to Quicken. We didn’t have wireless so I had to pick between playing on the computer and watching television.

I forget when my employer first provided me with a laptop. At first, I used it only for work-related tasks. Then we got wireless at home which put an end to having to pick between television and the computer. With my laptop and wireless, I could play on the computer while watching television. I hardly used my desktop at all.

When my home desktop finally died, I decided not to replace it. I loaded Quicken onto my work-provided laptop and used it for everything. By then, I had the ability to access not only my work e-mail at home, but also my office desktop and network. If I was awake, that little laptop was on.

Two months ago, my work-provided laptop bit the dust. I’m not sure if it was all the crumbs that had fallen into the keyboard or overuse. I barely managed to get all my files off before it quit booting up. Although I have another work-provided laptop, I decided the time had come to again invest in my very own computer for use at home.

I researched my options and bought a MacBook Air. I absolutely love it. Yes, it cost a bit more than I really wanted to pay. But now I have no regrets. My only complaint is the difficulty I have switching between the Macbook Air that I use at home and the big honking Dell in my office.

My work computer is ancient by today’s technology standards. Since I only use it for word processing, creating powerpoint presentations, sending & receiving e-mail, and accessing the internet, that it’s not all that new really doesn’t matter. In fact, switching office computers is such a pain that until now, for the last few years I’ve turned down opportunities to upgrade.

You can’t miss what you haven’t had. Now that I have my Macbook at home, I’ve come to hate my big clunky Dell. So I asked my partner (aka Mr. Technology at our house) what I should replace it with. He sent me an e-mail message with specs that may as well have been written in Chinese. I copied them out of the message and sent my request to our tech people at work.

A week or two later, a giant Apple box appeared in my office. When I got home, I told my partner my new computer had arrived. When he asked what I ended up getting, I told him it was whatever he’d told me to request. He was shocked. Turns out, he’d sent me the specs for a top-of-the-line iMac as a joke. Obviously, the joke went right over my head. The techies never questioned my request, so I’m now the proud owner of the most awesome computer I’ve ever seen.

The monitor is twenty-four inches wide and eighteen inches tall. There is no tower or box connected to it. Everything is inside the monitor. The only cord runs to the power outlet. The keyboard and mouse are wireless. Have I mentioned how cool it is?

I’ve spent my spare time over the last two weeks moving the files I need to keep from my old clunker to the new streamlined machine. I still have a few more things to move and then I’ll be ready to get rid of the old desktop. I can’t wait!

I’m using thumb drives to move stuff and  like to have never found the USB ports. They’re on the back of the monitor. To keep me from having to get up and walk around behind the monitor to plug in a thumb drive, today I ordered a little thingamajig with a short cord and more USB ports. The only other thing I need to complete the set-up is a wireless printer.

The contract for my Android cell phone (now called Google Play) runs out in May. When it does, I’m high-tailing it to the Verizon store to trade it in for an iPhone. Then I’ll be a total Mac Daddy, living large here in…

My Glass House