For years I have been growing increasingly frustrated with Windows computers. (I discussed my history with computers back to the year 1980 in this post.)
Wanting to stay in touch with my email and keep my calendar and contact information available while I'm away from my desk, I have used many various wireless Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) including Windows Mobile, Blackberries, Palm, and other smart phones. Over the years I have used the programs, Outlook and Act! on my desktop as contact and datebook managers and attempted to synchronize the databases from those programs with whichever PDA I was using at the time. Although the devices and the software improved over the years, a single combination never really satisfied all of my needs.
Beside contacts and calendar items, there was other information that I wanted to have available on my PDA. For years, I have kept databases of business as well as other personal information that I would like to access not only at my desktop but at times I was away from my office. I found that a Blackberry was best for mobile email, but for other applications (apps,) Palm or Windows Mobile had better solutions.
When the first iPhone appeared in June, 2007, I was extremely interested. I made several trips to AT&T stores, and spent several hours playing with the first generation iPhone. I performed a great deal of research on Apple's first combination of phone, PDA, and media device. I decided to wait.
Then, in 2008, a new and improved iPhone was released. Again, I did a lot of research, but decided to wait. Finally, in June, 2009, Apple announced its third iPhone, the 3G[S.] I was one of the first to order one!
To make a short not-too-long story shorter, I loved it! However, synchronizing the iPhone with my Windows applications while better than my previous experiences, wasn't perfect. The more research I did, the more I was convinced that an Apple desktop computer (Mac) would be the perfect place to maintain all of my data, media, contacts, datebook, and other information. I had already been using Apple's iTunes application on my PC. It would be a simple matter to move my music over to the Mac. With an optical data cable, I could now get the benefit of music in 5.1 sound from my Logitech Z-5500 speaker system.
So, I bought a Mac.
To replace Act! my contact-relationship management software on the PC, I bought Daylite for the Mac. I installed their iPhone App, Daylite Touch on my iPhone. What a wonderful combination! After all the years and frustrations of trying to get Act! to synch well with my Blackberries, Palms, Windows Mobile, etc, the Daylite solution was far better on so many levels.
For my various databases, I tried Bento and installed the Bento iPhone application. I imported my various databases into Bento and synched the Bento Mac and iPhone databases. Success! That combination works far better than any of my previous PC to PDA systems.
As well as working better, I have found that Mac software tends to be less expensive than Windows programs. Also, most if not all Mac programs have Free-Trial Versions available. Even after reading many reviews, nothing beats trying out a program for yourself before you pay for it.
Other Mac software that I find extremely useful are Shovebox, Acorn, and Things. Of course, it should go without saying that the Mac/iPhone combination truly excels for media applications such as music, photos, videos, and podcasts.
I still have a PC as well as the Mac at my desk. As a tax preparer, I will have to continue using a PC for professional tax preparation. I still have my personal and business accounting applications on the PC. Several other programs remain on the PC such as postage-printing with Stamps.com and my genealogy program. However, over the next couple of years, I will gradually migrate all except the tax preparation software to the Mac. I plan to use MoneyDance for my personal accounting. I haven't decided yet which business accounting software to use for my business. I am currently using Quickbooks, but will probably use MoneyWorks or MYOB on the Mac.
If anyone would like to discuss the move from Windows to Mac, please be sure to let me know. I will be happy to share the results of my research and talk about my experiences. In my opinion, the time, expense, and trouble of moving to a Mac is well worth it.
One of my PC-user friends recently asked me what I liked better about the Mac. My short answer was "everything just works on the Mac." Everything works well! A Mac doesn't require the higher maintenance time and costs of a PC! And, a Mac is fun to use!
Allen W. Forrest, December 19, 2009
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