PC user says: not a bad little copmuter

I am a lifetime PC user.  I was told recently I would be getting a Mac as a part of my job.  Knowing a little about Macs from when I was in college, I wasn't afraid, but I was curious as to how well I would adapt.

First, let me get the keyboard out of the way.  Its feel and key shape is totally diferent from any other I have ever used.  And while some people love it, I hate it wil a passion.  It looks nice, but I make way too many typos when using it.  Fortunately I have a keyboard I use at my desk.

I also don't like the "no right click" mentality of the Mac OS.  I rely on the right click a lot when using my PC.  If I don't have a mouse, using the pad on the laptop means losing that button (unless I hit the Apple button with it.) 

The pad does work extremely well, however.  Placing one finger on it and moving a second finger up and down will scroll on a page.  And it tracks true. 

There are only two USB ports, and one Firewire (which I have yet to find use for, and wish it was a USB.  I do have a USB port I use to expand this to 5 ports, but any computer is always looking for more porst.  I was just disapointed that one port was firewire instead of USB.

When I got the laptop it had been used by someone else.  It came with a completely dead battery, a problem with this model I am told.  Took it to the Apple store and got it replaced under the warranty.  My "genius" was fast, friendly and got me on my way with little hassle.

The overall feel of the laptop is great.  I'm not sure I like white, prefering something darker to mask the eventual fingerprints, etc.  But the hinge looks and feels sturdy.  The ports are all placed in a good spot on the left.  The CD/DVD drive is a little noisy when inserting and ejecting a disk, which is not on a platter, but a slot.  That's pretty fancy, but expected from a high end manufacturer like Apple.

Now, about Mac OS X as related to this laptop.  It is slow to start, although I have several programs running at startup (iTunes, Thunderbird, Adium, Viscosity, Growl).  Once started it runs fast and smooth.  I have had a few hangups, a couple times when it locked up, but I lack experience to figure out if it is me running too many programs, the programs I use, or something else. 

I love the OS, however.  It wasn't hard for me to get used to.  Using Expose and Spaces is one of my favorite things about it.  You can have severa desktops (I use 4) and switch between them as you need.  One desktop has my email and Adium Messenger, another my browser, another my calendar.  Switching between is a breeze by either putting my pointer in a designated corner (mine is the upper right) or hitting Apple and the associated number.

Most programs I use on PC are either also on Mac, or have related programs.  I'm all bout free, so having Neo Office (built on pen Office) is a plus.  Adium, Thunderbird, Firefox, Sunbird are my other everyday use programs.

All in all this is a really good laptop.  Sturdy, good looking, and it runs the heck out of everything.  If it were a PC, it would be perfect to me (and I'm sure if I really felt like it I could install Windows.)  If you love the Mac OS X, you can't go wrong finding one of these.