First Impressions on the Macbook

Awesome.

After a far-too-typical-for-a-small-business-owner 14-hour day, I stayed up far too late unpacking my new Macbook laptop.

So far, I have nothing but praise. A few observations:

1. Fast setup.

When I set up my second Windows desktop computer last year, I was somewhat impressed with the speed of the setup. It only took me about 1-2 hours to get everything up and running. My biggest fight was getting the computer to recognize the wireless network in my office.

The setup on the Macbook simply blows that experience away. I've never seen a computer get set up faster. I took it out of the box, plugged it in and was off and running ... in minutes!

The Macbook recognized my wireless network immediately (it took me about 10 minutes to find the encryption key code for the network, but that has nothing to do with the Macbook).

Fast, fast, fast set-up. No fighting with computers.

I'm very impressed with the ease of setting up the Macbook.


2. Easily software installation

I purchased a copy of iWorks with the computer, and the disks came with the Macbook. The software installed very easily. Granted most Windows software installs fairly easily these days, too.

The difference for me on the Macbook was there were only two screens before I could get to the program: one that asked for the serial # and one that asked me to register (and imported my information so I only had to click, "yes."). I've installed some Windows programs that had several more screens popping up before I could get to the program.

I'll give the edge to Apple here, too.

3. Nice "feel"
As I previously mentioned, I preferred the feel of the Macbook Pro keyboard better than the Macbook, but couldn't justify the added expense for my business.

I was a bit concerned about how I would like the "chicklet" typing keys on the Macbook, but so far, I've been pleased with the feel of the Macbook keyboard.

The key spacing is a bit different than a typical IBM QWERTY keyboard, but my fingers seem to be adjusting quickly.



Bottom line, my initial impressions of the Macbook are very, very positive.