As a die hard PC user since the original IBM XT with MS DOS, I never thought I would get a Mac. However, I bought my first iPod about 5 years ago, and fell in love with the sexy design, ease of use, and the best in its class user interface. So, naturally, my curiosity was sparked when Apple came out with the Macbook Pro.

I have to admit though, after seeing the $2000 price tag, and comparing it to all the features on my Dell laptop, I found it a bit hard to swallow. Fortunately, I lucked out and they had a close out on the 1st gen Macbook Pro when the second gen ones came out, I actually picked this up for a mere $1300 bucks, which was a steal and still is!

When I first turned the computer on, I was very impressed with the user interface, and the ease of setup, the best part of all was the fact that I didn't have to type in some cryptic license code to activate my Mac OS!

I have to admit, I felt like a complete newbie, starting all over again. All of the software you use on your PC is different on the Mac. For example, on the PC you use Nero Burning ROM or Easy CD Creator to burn CD's, but on the Mac they call it Toast (from Roxio). To copy DVD's, you have to get 2 programs, one called DVD2One and another called MacTheRipper. There is no Sony (formerly sonic foundry) SoundForge WAV editing software for the Mac, you have to get a program called Bias Peak, and to be honest, I still haven't become proficient on that the way I am with SoundForge.

Also, the Microsoft Office 2004 is horrible compared to Office 2003 or the new Office 2007. I'm really hoping when they come out with Office 2008 for Mac later this year they will make it even better then Office 2007 for the PC. Office 2004 for Mac is very slow, and takes ages to load. When I open Word, even with the 2 gig RAM upgrade I purchased it still takes almost a minute to load Word.

Also, they use a different program called Entourage for email, which is completely different then Outlook so that also takes some getting used to. I suspect one of the speed issues with Office 2004 is the fact that it was written for the PowerPC and not the new Intel Core Duo processors, so hopefully Office 2008 will perform better.

However, all that aside, the best part about these new Macs is they run a program called Parallels, which allows you to boot Windows XP or Vista inside of your Mac OS and run any of your PC software on there. I've been able to run just about everything I do on my PC. I should note that the 512 megs of RAM that comes standard with this older Macbook pro model is NOT enough, you definately need 2 gigs of RAM if you're going to run Parallels.

So, aside from the software, I LOVE the light sensitive backlit keyboard, the glowing Apple logo on the back of the display, the Magsafe power adaptor which breaks away safely from the laptop if you trip on the cord, and the trackpad. Many people complain about the trackpad, but I have no issues using it and I love the fact that you can scroll up and down or left and right when you hold 2 fingers on the pad. I also love how light and slim the Macbook Pro is. The built in webcam is nice, but I have had way too many issues connecting to people with it, it would seem unless you (and the other person) are using a Airport wireless router, you can have issues getting connected up with iChat, so I never use the built in camers. I also love the slot loading SuperDrive, it's much better then those pop out trays on other laptops that break easily. On the other hand, the Superdrive only burns DVD's at 2x, which is really slow compared to my desktop which burns at 16x.

So what don't I like about this computer? Well, for starters, the heat issue a lot of other people talk about is alive and well. When you have this on your lap, it will get nice and warm, and if you're doing any processor intensive operations like encoding audio, burning cds, etc, it will get really hot. This is not a problem for me in the winter, but in the summer I start to break out a sweat.

Also, like many others, I wish this computer had a built in media card reader, but I got an external one for like $10 bucks that works great. so, the power adapter is on the left side, it would be nice if it was on the back. Also, my spacebar on the keyboard developed an annoying squeak after only 1 month of owning my MBP, which I've heard is a common issue with these laptops. Last but not least, the laptop lacks a docking connector, which makes it pretty worthless for me to use as my "Desktop replacement" at work since I have to plug in 5 wires every time I go to and from work. I found a product called BookEndz, but it costs $300 bucks and it's very awkward the way everything snaps in, it seems to me you could quickly wear out all the connectors on your Macbook Pro if you used it every day. Last, but not least in the complaint department, the wireless antenna on the Macbook Pro definately doesn't have great reception, it drops out all the time at work, and I had to relocate my wireless router at home to the living room so I could get signal downstairs. This would probably be solved by buying a Wireless-N router, as I've heard these have better signal even though your computer has a Wireless-G card built into it.

One of the best things I like about the Mac is when a program locks up, you can still use other programs. On my Windows machine, everything stops responding, but not on the Mac. I am bringing this up to say that my Macbook pro does hang at times. I've found this is generally caused by never shutting your computer down. I usually leave all my programs open and put it to "sleep" when I'm done using it, but I've found it works a LOT better if you shut it down every time, and boot up is relatively quick so it's not too bad.

The new Mac OS Leopard is just awesome, and totally improves your Macbook Pro experience. The preview and coverflow browse features in the Finder really make your life a lot easier, especially if you have thousands of files on your computer. Also, the Time Machine is a life saver if you've ever accidentally deleted a file or changed a setting on your computer that you want to undo.

The spotlight search function is also a life saver when you need to find a file or a program on your computer, it's always there for you when you need it, and it's LIGHTNING FAST. Even my external hard drive, formatted for FAT32 on my PC, with 20,000 MP3 files will find a file in less then a minute using spotlight, which is much better then when I use the search function in Windows.

Overall, I love my Macbook Pro, and I doubt I'll ever buy another PC. I'm hoping that I can eventually learn all the ins and outs and become a Mac guru like I am with my PC. In addition, I really hope I can learn the audio software on my Mac, it seems a lot harder to use then my PC stuff was, but all in due time I'm sure I'll find it easier and more intuitive. Aside from design flaws, this is the most perfect computer you could ever own.