MacNoob

I’m here to share my experiences as I encounter my first mac.  I’m a long-time Windows user, developer and administrator.  I started working on HP-3000 mainframes and SCADA systems over 20 years ago, moved to clustered DECNet minis and micros, and my first PC was an original IBM 8086. (You guessed it, I’m OLD!)  I’ve worked on all sorts of systems professionally, but DOS and Windows boxes are all I’ve ever owned personally.

Currently, I’m an IT manager at a 120 workstation site that’s part of a multi-national corporation with thousands of users.  I’m a MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer) and manage a mixed Novell/Windows environment that includes 5 Windows servers, a Domino 6 server and a multi-language Novell server.  The whole point of all this background stuff is to point out that in all the systems I’ve ever worked with, serviced, or administered, I’ve never owned or even used a Mac…until now.

I started listening to podcasts about two years ago shortly after purchasing my first Apple product, a 30 Gig video iPod. I (and ~ 75 million other Windows users) quickly fell in love with the whole iPod experience. A year later I was recording, producing and syndicating a weekly podcast for my church (Messages of Grace). I’m kinda proud of the effort, and figure I need to do everything I can for my church to make up for the activities of my youth.

Am I the only one that’s noticed there’s an inordinate number of Mac podcasts? Maybe I’ve spent too much time listening to Leo LaPorte, but it seems like even on the Windows Weekly podcast he does with Paul Thurrott they spend a disproportionate amount of time talking about Apple stuff…WTF?

Maybe I drank some Cupertino kool-aid, but after a while I really started to feel like I was missing something cool. Previously, I thought of Mac users as people who weren’t sophisticated enough to use more than one mouse button and they really needed Mr. Jobs to dictate every facet of their computing experience. Being the gearhead I am, I mistakenly thought Macs were computers for people who don’t like “real” computing. My mind was changed after watching an episode of Systm where the hosts were programming roms for a homemade Digg button using a Macbook and Terminal. I know. I’m starting to geek out…

So, a few months back when we couldn’t escape from all the Leopard hype, I decided it was time to take the plunge and bought a 17” Macbook Pro. Every checkbox on the order form was checked. I’m not one to do anything half-assed.  Remember, I’m a PC guy.  The sticker shock was substantial, but my techno-lust overcame it.

So, here we are. I’m an old (51) Windows guy with a new Mac trying to understand what all the hubbub is about and hopefully I’ll make most of the mistakes so you don’t have to. I hope I can stay on message while offering a little entertainment along the way. At the end of the day, all of these machines boil down to a bunch of 1s and 0s and after 24+ years of working with computers, I’ve yet to find one that 1) didn’t piss me off now and then and 2) couldn’t be mastered with a little effort. Episode #1 of “The MacNoob” podcast (for the rest of us new Mac users) is in the works. As soon as I figure out how to syndicate with this new environment I’ll get it posted.

Enjoy!