Applepeels on those times we're glad we got a Mac
David Sobotta has a new post up about a topic close to my heart - those times when we're all glad we have a Mac.
The two key points Sobotta references as shining Mac moments are the ability for Mac OS X to create PDFs out of the box, with no additional software required, and the OS X Migration Assistant which helped him recover from a mistake that had left his G5 unbootable and resistant to all the usual tricks. Catastrophes and problems are not unique to Windows users. We Mac users have our share of problems. One of the things that sets us apart from our Windows brethren is the ability to get ourselves out of a jam somewhat gracefully with most, if not all, of our data and working environment intact. I am reminded of these niceties more and more every day as I spend more and more time supporting Mac users who are now running Windows via Parallels or BootCamp alongside their OS X environment. Somehow I'm supposed to find Windows less painful just because it's running on Apple hardware, but I'm not really finding that to be the case.
Just the other day I had an "aha!" Mac moment myself. In one of the cross-platform corporate environments I help support, a Windows user needed to get some images off her camera and onto her PC. I was the only one around so instead of finding someone far more proficient in Windows to help this person I opted to help her myself. How hard could it be? Well after 10 minutes of trying to suppress the Windows dialog boxes telling me that the camera I just plugged in wasn't recognized and needed some unknown driver from an unknown location and the having it say the same thing about the CF card reader I'd plugged in instead, I told the user that I could get her the images she needed much more quickly if I took the card, popped it into the card reader that was already attached to my Mac (no drivers required) and plopped them onto the file server for her to access at her leisure. And about 90 seconds later I'd done exactly that, saving us both what would probably have been 10 or more excruciating minutes of trying to accomplish the same task on her Windows PC.
Have you had one of those moments lately when you've been reminded why you chose the Mac? Tell us about it in the comments.
