This is dedicated to all of the die-hard Mac-lovers out there. You have converted me.

I just got my Macbook Pro this past weekend, after contemplating buying one literally all summer. I had surfed the Apple website and compared all the versions of MacBooks. I “built” my own and added little extra’s to see how many thousands of dollars this piece of technology would set me back. I made a trip to the Apple store in the mall and spoke with one of the hundreds of “blue-shirt guys”. Of course it was the first day that the new 15-inch Macbook with retina display came out and he had me hooked. After I saw that stunning screen and he opened hundreds of applications on the computer all at the same time in a matter of seconds, I couldn’t possibly consider something else–at least not that day. So I went home empty handed and kept comparing. I asked friends what they recommended and I even chatted online with an Apple rep.

I wanted a new computer, but my old one was technically still working. Technically, I didn’t need one. But then I got my internship and they told me to bring a laptop. And I realized I would be lugging a 20-pound piece of ancient history that took half a lifetime to boot up and the other half to shut down. This artifact couldn’t hold a charge long enough to turn on and had to be plugged into an outlet 100% of the time. When it was finally on, you might start looking around the room or out the window, looking for the helicopter that was landing–that’s how loud the fan was trying to cool it down. I was afraid to turn the computer off though, or even close the screen because sometimes it wouldn’t shut down properly, or restart properly. I was walking on eggshells with this PC but I wanted to make it last as long as possible. And now, its time had run out. 

The coolest thing about buying a new computer and switching from a PC to a Mac was how easy it all was. I decided on a simple, 13-inch MacBook Pro with more memory and a better processor. The blue-shirt guys were very helpful and made me feel confident about my decision, which was especially reassuring since this is one of the biggest purchases I’ve made in my life thus far. And they took it from there. With the One-to-One membership, they took my old computer and transferred all my documents, pictures and files to the new one. They walked me through the steps of setting up accounts and explained how I now can sign up for any one-on-one classes where they’ll teach me anything I need to know. Not that I’m a complete idiot when it comes to computers. Macs are pretty simple.

When the blue-shirt guy was getting ready to take my PC for the transfer, he asked whether it had Windows Vista or Windows 7. I didn’t know. He asked what the password was to get on the computer, I didn’t even know that because I always used the finger-swipe feature. I’d had this computer for over four years and I couldn’t remember how it had been set up for me. I just wanted to keep my files and start fresh. I was tired of having someone to clean up the 76 viruses found on the computer, and the random toolbars that pop up from downloading certain software. I wanted a Mac.

And now I have this beautiful, pretty little computer that’s light and small and silent. It’s sleek and functional. It doesn’t have extra crap on it that I don’t use and I know the password to log onto it. It has a 7-hour battery life, if I’m not watching videos at the highest screen brightness. And it’s super fast.

When I was sitting in the Apple store waiting to transfer the files, I was eavesdropping a little bit on people’s conversations about the problems they were having. I wanted to know what I was getting into. One girl said something about her Facebook and Twitter accounts not working on her iPhone. The Apple genius did something really simple to it and restarted the phone and voila, it worked. Another older woman was telling an Apple genius that her Macbook had a very short battery life. He calmly pointed out that she was using her Mac with the screen brightness set permanently at its highest. He told her to turn the brightness down and she’d add a few hours of battery life. Another woman said her iPhone battery was also very short and the genius said that it was because the battery had suffered damage when she dropped it without a case.

So lessons learned–don’t keep the screen at full brightness, don’t drop my Mac (duh), and don’t be an idiot. This is not to say that there are never ever any problems with Macs, because I’m sure someone will argue that they actually were in the 1% who had a legitimate problem, but for the most part, it seemed that Mac problems were easy to fix, or not really problems at all, as long as you’re careful with expensive technology.

So far, I’ve been having fun playing with the multi-finger swipe trackpad and updating the calendar app, and using FaceTime and iPhoto and Stickies. I forgot how much fun it is figuring out new technology. I might take advantage of a few one-to-one sessions just to make my life easier and make use of all the apps.

People are so polar about computers. They either love or hate Macs. There’s always a Mac vs. PC discussion. I never got it. I had a PC and I’d always had a PC. I knew I didn’t love it, but I didn’t know any different. But as I got to use Macs more for school and with my friends, I realized these Mac people might have a point. And so I finally gave up the old clunker. I’m a convert, and I love my Mac.