{"id":89,"date":"2008-04-28T23:30:55","date_gmt":"2008-04-29T06:30:55","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/?p=89"},"modified":"2008-04-28T23:33:32","modified_gmt":"2008-04-29T06:33:32","slug":"almost-2-years-with-macbook-pro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carson.fenimorefamily.com\/?p=89","title":{"rendered":"Almost 2 Years With MacBook Pro"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have been wanting to write a bit about my experience as a computer scientist who switched to Mac about 2 years ago. \u00a0I bought a MacBook Pro after \u00a0talking with a coworker at the\u00a0INL<\/a>. \u00a0As most people, I had a bunch of misconceptions about the Macs shortcomings. \u00a0Most of all, I knew macs used PowerPCs – and although these seemed like cool chips from a nerd standpoint, I saw no compelling reason to switch. \u00a0But when Apple released its first iteration of the MacBook Pro, with the Intel Core Duo, I was thouroughly impressed with the whole package. \u00a0It was attractive – and had a whopping two cores (I am sure when my kids have 64 cores in their laptops two cores will seem a paltry amount). When I ordered one in August, 2006, I watched it ship from China – it felt like I was having a supercomputer delivered to my doorstep. \u00a0On top of that, I knew it was a good looking, quite laptop – all aesthetical\u00a0parameters that have meant much more to me as I have grown older (I hate loud fans with a passion).<\/p>\n

First some background. \u00a0I grew up as a nerd. \u00a0I tackled the most inane nerd tasks at an early age – even doing database applications in middle school (boooring). \u00a0That said, by the time I had decided to get a Mac I was not the same breed of nerd. \u00a0Fans drive me crazy – and I don’t care how powerful a computer is, I want it to have a bright screen, be quiet, powerful, and capable. \u00a0I like programming and Unix, but there are certain tasks, as a long time linux user, that I find repugnant – namely, rebuilding your kernel. \u00a0That’s a fun excercise once or twice, but when it becomes a useful skill for daily computer use in a particular OS, as it seems to be in Linux, I question whether that OS is ready for mainstream use.<\/p>\n

How has the Mac measured up? \u00a0Truth is, it has meet my high hopes for it. \u00a0Here’s a list of Pros and Cons:<\/p>\n

Pros:<\/p>\n