As I alluded to in my previous post: my goal for this migration is to minimize the downtime in my productivity. I am responsible for a number of projects and cannot afford to be “exploring/learning” for 2 weeks.

My plan is the following: use VMWare Fusion to run Windows XP with all my current software/utilities and then slowly find alternatives on Mac and leave Fusion only for Visual Studio related projects.

VMware Converter Starter Edition, available as a free download, lets you migrate existing Windows machines into virtual machines for your Mac. Will probably use that to bring my current Windows XP into MBP

I’ll let you know how this works out

This has been long time in the making: a number of friends/colleagues I respect have been suggesting (rather strongly ) that I move over to Mac. These friends come from a long history of Windows background so their experience is very relevant. I’ve hesitated for quite a bit – I am very, very productive on Windows. It took me years to perfect my software/hardware setup and it works very well for me. At the same time I am pretty sure it will be a good experience to learn OS X due to its Unix internals.

I was reluctant for a number of reasons:

Hardware: I am currently using Del D830, have a docking station at home and in the office. Dual-monitor setup in both location. At home I share my dual monitors with a home PC (pictures, videos, etc). Same keyboard (Microsoft Natural 4000), same mouse in both places. All I have to do when I get to the office/home is plug in my laptop into the docking station and (90% of the time ) I am up and running.

It took me a long time to get this setup working the way I like and after doing a bit of research it looks like reproducing the same with MacBook Pro (MBP from here on) will either be a challenge or impossible.

The other “hardware” issue is related to the keyboard: I rely a lot on keyboard shortcuts and I am somewhat “scared” of the time it will take me to be as productive as I am on Windows. The big issue with the keyboard is also the fact that Fn key is in the bottom left corner, where I expect Ctrl key to be. Mac users tell me is it less of an issue because Ctlr key is used a lot less often on Mac. (Btw, this issue with Fn key is specifically why I never purchase a ThinkPad)

From my limited research it doesn’t look like there a lot of options for ergonomic keyboards/mice and that might be an issue as I’ve been having issues with my right wrist for some time now.

Software: It took me years to collect/setup my utilities and I am very productive with them. Probably the biggest concern right now is either finding an alternative to Outlook/X1 setup or find a way to run those on Mac (I’ll post separately about this). There are a number of online discussions around Mac email clients and it looks like Entourage is the only one that supports Exchange. At the same time people are complaining about Entourage’s stability.

As you can see I gave it quite a bit of thought but at the end it was a friend/colleague that gave it the final push: we needed to get a Mac for the office anyway, so he got me an MBP for my birthday. It arrived 2 days ago, but my project load is pretty heavy these days so it will take me some time to migrate. For the time being I am just doing research online, which also takes up quite a bit of time.

My other friend keeps reminding me that I will most likely hate it for 3-4 weeks, but then will not be able to go back. We’ll see.