MacBook Pro and Me

I have recently purchased a MacBook Pro.  It is my first Apple product.  I have been involved with Microsoft products continuously for about 20 years and this is a big change for me!  I believe this technical change compliments my overall change in this phase of my life in retirement...to let go of what absolutely made sense to what feels right.  It is the right time for personal growth and I found the right product to get me there.

Microsoft products are very compatible with the constant changes in business. It is more conventional and institutional with its conformity.  It gets the job done.  Many times I would feel as if I was serving the machine instead of it serving me to get what I wanted or where I wanted to progress.  I became trained the more I used it and it became effective for my purposes...most of which were job related.  When I did use it for personal business, I became mentally exhausted in a couple hours and have to step away.  It seemed more like work than pleasure.  Social networking and media outlets became more of an escape and never a satisfying challenge for creativity.

Apple products are very intuitive and allows one to grow with undefined boundaries.  I am just beginning to see the potential!  I believe the people at Apple are constantly working to remove any boundaries once they are reached.  This outlook is very progressive.  It feels like the machine is serving my needs.  Now my time on social networking and media outlets are limited to just catching up on new events and my minimal contributions.  My time is well spent exploring all the potential for creativity that Apple has to offer.  I am delighted that I can search and find so many new ways to grow.

To begin with, I talked to other Apple-users and all agreed that Microsoft's Office program is the best product available for basic business applications.  A few years ago, it cost several hundred dollars to adapt Microsoft Office to an Apple computer.  I was told that Apple realized this was happening so they adapted their current computers to a partial acceptance of Microsoft Office and for one hundred dollars, Microsoft Office can completely be added to any Apple computer.  Now I can use Word, Excel, Power Point, and Outlook in my MacBook Pro just as I was use to it in a Microsoft computer.  I noticed that in each of these products, Apple has expanded options and offers many useful templates and tools that Microsoft did not.  I am just beginning to see all the useful office applications!  I have already updated all my spreadsheets and lists into much better formats and had fun doing it.

In the next few weeks, I will explore all the potential MacBook Pro has to offer as I begin my genealogy and digital photo album projects.  Soon I will purchase the newest version of Family Tree Maker and transfer all the work I have done on the old version.  As I become familiar with the new program, I will get ready to purchase membership in Ancestry.com to expand my research worldwide.  Since that membership is about $300 a year, I may wait until late fall when I can spend more time indoors again and get the most use out of such an expensive membership service.  In the meantime, I can expand my narratives in the new Family Tree Maker program.

I am also looking forward soon to scanning the photos I have carefully preserved in hard copy albums into digital scrapbooks.  For 40 years, I have kept photos in chronological order.  They are mounted on acid free paper in archive plastic sleeves in three-ring albums by year.  I would like to expand the narratives on each photo as well as use the tools available to create a memorable and interesting product.  I expect this project will take many years.  I believe I have the right equipment to allow my creativity to bloom.

While I'm enjoying my genealogy and photo projects, I see the potential for expansion of my music collection and the ease of making play lists available.  Right now, a 40-year music collection from personal CD's is on the Microsoft computer with many play lists on personal MP3 players.  I will rearrange and add new music easier now with Apple products.  So much more can be stored now with the use of iCloud.  I'm just beginning to see the potential!

MacBook Pro and Me are growing a wonderful friendship.  I am already making new friends with other Apple users and the support system is so much more than what I had before.  I have an 800 number that makes technical help available 24/7.  I also have The Geek Squad available by phone locally as well as in person at Best Buy in Springfield, MO as the closest Apple Store is in Kansas City.    The help available to me seems endless.  So far, I have done so much without the typical 'hand-holding' and step-by-step instruction usually needed as I learned Microsoft.  Apple is so much easier to learn because the information is presented in an intuitive way.  It is not a struggle but a simple path presentation.  It is all but done for you if you accept the ease in which it is presented.  It is an intuitive family.

To learn more about the MacBook Pro go to:  apple.com/macbook-pro
then scroll down to "OS X Mountain Lion - The world's most advanced desktop operating system"