Notes on Switching to a Mac for Business Applications

My laptop finally died yesterday (I don’t recommend Toshiba – I’ve had a host of problems with my former laptop from Day 1, and apparently there are a lot of known issues with my model) so I was left with the challenge of deciding how to replace it. The timing wasn’t optimal, as I’ve been dealing with some other expenses – and what small business owner does have the budget sitting around to replace a laptop when it goes down? For me, though, it’s essential to have a laptop for work, in addition to my desktop, so I headed to the local retail outlets to see what was available.

My criteria ranged from simple to relatively demanding. First: No Toshiba laptops. I’m still too unhappy about the long range of problems I’ve had. After that, I wanted a laptop that wouldn’t get too hot on my lap, which is a problem with a lot of metal cases and low-end laptop manufacturers. I needed a decent processor and hardware combination. I also had some more specific criteria, such as a keyboard that gives good tactile feedback and seems capable of withstanding the pounding a full-time writer gives it on a daily basis. (This criteria alone eliminates a surprising amount of laptops – the next time you’re laptop hunting, try typing and looking for keyboards that bow as you type, or whose keys simply don’t provide satisfactory tactile feedback.) With just this simple criteria, I managed to eliminate 70% to 80% of laptops.

This left me with a small number of laptops, another large portion of which had to be eliminated because they were simply too large for me. I prefer a 13 to 14 inch profile; the 15-inch widescreen laptops are just too big for me to use and carry around comfortably. In this size range, with decent keyboards, good cooling and my minimum hardware requirements, I was left with a few Hewlett Packard laptops in the $700 to $800 price range, and some Samsung and Sony laptops in the $800+ price range.

And then there’s Mac. Entry level Mac laptops start at $1,000. But my friends are primarily creative professionals who use Macs, and I’ll admit to growing Mac envy over the past few years as I’ve watched them utilize their pretty software that does exactly what I think Windows software should do, only prettier, simpler and better. So when my significant other suggested switching to Mac, I was definitely eager to consider it, but the price tag gives me pause.

An entry level Mac laptop has hardware roughly comparable to a $600 or less Windows laptop. For $400 more. However, the Mac OS X isn’t as resource-hungry as Windows, so less hardware doesn’t necessarily equate to a performance compromise. I’ve watched my SO sitting on the couch playing with a Mac laptop with no problems; lots of browsing (an insane number of open windows, including some video), music, email and running random applications. Never any performance issues. And that with an entry-level Mac laptop.

So I went to the Mac store and played with their entry-level Mac laptops. The applications were very pretty. I was concerned about compatibility, but it turns out there’s software to address most of my compatibility issues (although I still haven’t gotten my expensive all-in-one business printer/scanner/copier working with my new Mac laptop). And the Mac software is generally less expensive. And the functionality is simple and pretty, although there is a learning curve coming over from using Windows for the past 15+ years.

In the end, I opted to get the Mac, in spite of the higher price tag, because I wanted it. I really like the way Mac apps are designed, and I rationalized that I’d get more functionality out of it.

After a day and a half of using it, pretty much non-stop, for business applications – I’m extremely happy with my purchase.

I’m running both Pages and Microsoft Word for Mac for word processing. Honestly, I like Pages better, but I’m keeping Microsoft Word for those things I just don’t know how to do in Pages (primarily advanced formatting and Word functionality). Pages has a cleaner design, and things just seem to look better on a Mac; it’s been a joy to work today in a way it’s never been on my Windows machines.

I’ve also been looking at a lot of Mac apps to handle my other business needs, including invoicing, blogging, social media management and other elements of my business operation. I’m extremely happy with the functionality and design of the software I’ve tried so far. I really like Pages, and I’ve tried ViJournal for things like journaling and blogging (although it doesn’t handle WP, and both of my professional blogs are WP) and like the interface and look of the app quite a bit.

I’m leaning toward iBiz for time tracking and billing. I haven’t gotten into Numbers or Keynote yet, but I’m eager to try them – the UI looks beautiful, and I suspect those applications are going to be just as much of a joy to use as the other apps I’ve been using. For the first time, I’ve got all of my contacts synced in one place (the Address Book – I’ve pulled data from my label software, my phone, my email client and random VCard files I’ve been saving). I have all of my music installed and organized, which has made a surprising impact on my productivity.

In the end, though, I’m finding that using my MacBook is simply more FUN than using my old Windows PCs. The user interfaces of Mac software are much more beautiful than Windows apps, and the features I need and want are easy to access while maintaining clean, simple designs. Even the fonts are more attractive. In general, I just enjoy using this MacBook, which has made a huge impact in my productivity today. And I expect, as I get more accustomed to using a Mac, I’ll find even more apps that can enhance my productivity and automate tasks I was doing by hand on my Windows machine.

In short: I highly recommend switching to a Mac for business applications. There has been a slight learning curve, but my increase in productivity has compensated for time spent hunting around in an app for specific features. And there are plenty of apps designed to do a task and look pretty while doing it, unlike Windows apps. I’m a convert. The MacBook is worth every penny of the price difference.