Andy Milk Interactive

It’s been a long time coming but I’ve finally made the switch to Mac.  For now, I have a white MacBook and I am ecstatic with the results so far.

I was nervous to make the switch with several projects going at once.  I was worried that my productivity would slow and I’d have to spend extra hours installing tons of software, configuring the Mac, and moving all my files and settings over.  There were a few hiccups, but otherwise it’s been a very smooth experience.  The increase in my productivity has definitely made up for the hiccups and I’m now more productive than if I had stuck with the PC.

The funny thing about this is the reason I made the switch.  My wireless router went on the fritz and my internet connection became very spotty.  The Mac seemed to be handling it fine and zipping through sites and files.  I banged around on my PC for a while and then jumped out of the plane.  I wasn’t 100% sure that there was something wrong with the PC but I figured now was as good of a time as any to switch.  After using the Mac for a little while, the same internet issues cropped up.  I checked out my modem and router and heard a high pitched noise coming from the $50 router.  Pressed for time, I hit up my local Radio Shack for a new router.  Installed it and had it up and running in a few minutes, with both the Mac and PC screaming along.  Looks like it was the router!  Well, thank you router for crapping out so I could make the switch.

It took me a couple days to get used to Command-[insert shortcut here] rather than CTRL-[command].  I absolutely LOVE Spotlight, getting me to programs, FTP sites, SSH, and documents as fast as I can type them.  (It’s kind of ironic how much I’m “typing” on this Mac given the fact that the company differentiated itself early on with a snazzy GUI rather than a DOS prompt.  AND it’s ironic that I make fun of, nearly to the point of anger, movies and TV shows that show the “computer nerd” typing a bunch of stuff, without any visual feedback while he/she is typing, and then hitting a loud Enter key and having the screen change drastically.  What, no one makes typos in the movies?)

ANYWAY, I’m very happy so far.  All my projects in SVN were quickly checked out and setup, many of them Linux-based, which is tucked neatly under the stunning Leopard GUI.  It’s so much more efficient than the faked-out Linux I had running on my PC.  Ruby and mySQL are 10 times faster, and this machine’s specs aren’t as powerful as my PC.  Go figure.

My PC is sitting on a shelf now.  I got VMWare up and running with a solid copy of Windows XP, with any Windows software I need to reach back to.  One of which is Send Personally, which I use for emailing a big group of people (who know me well).

Another small detail I love:  I open up the Mac and I’m ready to work/play in 3 seconds.  My PC required at least 30-60 seconds to start back up from hibernation and if I had to restart?  Forget about it.  I usually would go make coffee, take out the recycling, or pick up the guitar.

So if you’re a developer thinking about taking the plunge, go for it.  Microsoft Office was not enough to keep me around.  I’ve got it on VMWare anyway and try to use Google Docs as often as I can.

We recently launched a new Facebook application for PersonalPowerPath.com.  It’s integrated into the live web site, thus utilizing pieces of functionality and data from the web application.

It displays a Motivational Moment of the Day and allows users to post it on their profile or send it to a friend.  There are also 2 free video previews that give an introduction on what a paid PersonalPowerPath.com member will have access to with a membership.

Here’s the app:

http://apps.facebook.com/personalpowerpath/