All in with Apple

Well actually more like 98%, but close enough.  Nearly two weeks ago I started the journey of being a 'Mac Guy' (whatever that means).  I certainly don't need rimmed glasses or trendier clothes, but I feel cooler.  

I am currently utilizing all Apple products in both my professional and personal lives.  (I have a desktop PC in my office at the house, but it isn't utilized.)  The purpose of this post is to share my experience, document my rationale for the change, and the benifts / drawbacks. 

Why did I go Apple?  A handful of reasons, but for the professional world it was fairly simple.  I work in an environment where I am fairly mobile.  Throughout the day I am traveling between meetings, between buildings, and have various roles throughout the day.  Sometimes I am presenting, sometimes I am documenting, and sometimes I am collaborating.  Because of the transient nature of my job, I was constantly shutting down, restarting, closing, opening my PC.  The time it took to login, boot up, reconnect to the wireless, etc. was detrimental especially during a day that was filled with back-to-back meetings and visits.  I needed a device that met the demand of my job from a time standpoint.  One that had an almost immediate on, quick shut down, connects the network seamlessly, and is able to access the tools I need to perform my duties.  You might ask yourself, doesn't that sound like an iPad?  It does and I tried that for a bit.  While the iPad met my need when I was simply consuming or collaborating, it struggled where I was leading.  I needed a fully functioning device, with a keyboard, and the iPad was not the device for me 100% of the time. 

Enter the MacBook Air.  Wow.  Meeting all of the criteria that I outlined above.  The only flaw I have found to this point has been my inability to fully utilize SharePoint.  A decent portion of our intranet is within SP, and my MacAir with Safari and Firefox have limited capabilities.  (Thanks MSFT)  I am unable to check out documents and edit without IE, and that requires me to occasionally utilize the old desktop PC to complete work.  (hence the 98%)  I'm hoping for a virtual Windows boot in a couple of weeks, which will eliminate the need for the PC all together. 

What have I found most intriguing about this device?  Pretty much everything.  It is fast.  It handles my applications.  It is light and very portable.  It is trendy.  (ok, that doesn't really matter to me)  The biggest factor has been the portability and increased up-time during my work day.  I find myself still using the iPad, and iPhone throughout the day for various tasks, but the MacBook Air has been a nice addition to the arsenal.  I know Steve Jobs is looking down and smiling. 

JDS