Not only has it has been more than two weeks since I last booted up my PC but we have made our semiannual migration Arizona to Minnesota and the PC did not make the trip. In other words I cut the cord and completely migrated to my MacBook Air.  If one were inclined to hyperbole you could say the metamorphosis complete! For some I suspect this is not a big deal, but this from someone that has had a Microsoft DOS or Windows machine since the first IBM PC in 1981, it is something that I would not have forecast. I suspect the first question that comes to mind is why? The answer to that question is actually fairly simple – The MacBook Air.  I have found the 13″ MacBook Air to be the best computer I have ever owned or used. What’s not to like.  At 3 pounds with a sharp display, fast with an i7 processor and because of the 256 GB Solid State Drive comes up from hibernate almost instantly, the package is complete. Add to that a great backlit keyboard and silky smooth track pad and the decision becomes even easier.

By way of disclosure, I have not completely gone away from Windows.  Because there are a few applications that I use that are not available in the Mac format I run Windows under Parallels on the MacBook Air. One in particular, Sperry Software’s Send Individually, is invaluable as it allows me to send emails to a much larger group than my ISP will otherwise let through. Sperry has no plans to port the Microsoft Outlook add-in to Outlook for the Mac but have indicated that a Gmail version might be on the horizon. As I noted in an earlier post, one can run Windows on the Mac using Boot Camp, a part of the Mac operating system, but Boot Camp requires a reboot to switch between the Mac and Windows operating systems.  However the convenience of running both operating systems side-by-side under Parallels to me more than justifies the $80.00 expense for Parallels. Having said that, for the most part I run Mac programs, including Microsoft Office and Outlook.  I have to maintain Outlook for Windows as noted above.  On the PC Google’s Chrome was my favorite, and day-to-day, web browser and continues it’s rein on the Mac.

So in five months I will know for sure whether or not I am a convert.  With no PC to default to I will have to use the Apple tools to accomplish, and complete, all of the challenges that arise. Having said that, I seriously doubt there will be any problems as I tried everything that seemed relevant before departing Arizona. But as I go through the summer I will post any issues as well as how things are going generally. By the way this post was composed while on the road on my “New” iPad and Pages but more about that later.