Edible Apple

Windows guru and Computerworld writer Preston Gralla recently spent 2 weeks using a MacBook Air as part of some cool assignment I wish I could partake in —  “Here, use this cool computer for 2 weeks and let us know what ya think!”  Sure thing, boss.

Well, after 2 weeks with the Air, Gralla was impressed with what OS X had to offer.  His final impressions include the following observations:

What did I learn after several weeks of living with the Mac?

First off, I had expected there to be a longer learning curve, and had thought that in the long run there wouldn’t be much of a difference between the Mac and a PC. After all, an operating system is just an operating system.

To a certain extent that’s true. When you use productivity applications themselves, there’s not a great deal of difference between using them on a Mac versus using them on a PC. However, when it came to the operating system itself, there’s certainly a difference, and a substantial one. Mac OS X is simpler to use and easier to configure, yet has more bells, whistles and “eye candy.” And much of that eye candy, such as Exposé, is not just elegantly designed and entertaining, but quite useful as well.

That’s not to say that Gralla had no complaints, or that Windows has no advantages of its own, but its still quite telling.  You can read all about Gralla’s experience of crossing over to the dark side over here.  It’s a pretty interesting read, and will give all you Mac readers out there an interesting perspective on what its like to be a Mac newbie.