Taking a Bite of the Apple

I'm now the proud owner of a new Apple MacBook Pro. It's actually the first computer I've bought in about 8 years as I usually just use the laptop provided by work. But now that I'm doing web development work, both at home and at work, I needed something that I could rely on and a machine that wouldn't start dying after having half a dozen windows open.


It's also the first time I've used a mac. After using Windows ever since Windows 3.1 it takes a bit of getting used to because everything is different, but, in most cases I've got to admit it's better on the mac.

The macbook is expensive but I've managed to a deal with work where I get it through salary sacrifice. Doing it this way I don't have to pay GST (10%) and it gets paid out of my pre-tax salary, meaning all together a saving of approx 35%. what's more I can pay it over 3 months. This is the first company I've worked for where they have a policy where you can use your personal laptop as your work laptop (as long as it meets the security requirements) so it works out really well. They've allowed me to purchase a copy of VMware on expenses which means I can now run a copy of Windows XP in a virtual session on my mac, so I can still use the Microsoft Office applications without having to fork out for a copy of Office 2008 for the Mac. Funnily enough, Windows now runs faster on my mac with a load of Mac applications open at the same time than it ever did on my last XP laptop.

Now I'm considering the ultimate accompaniment to my mac - the iPhone 2, which was announced on Monday and is headings it way to Australia on July 11th. I watched Steve Jobs' keynote speech where he announced the worst kept secret of the year. The new iPhone does look pretty good, and finally at a reasonable price ($199).