New Window on the World

On Friday afternoon, I finally broke down and got myself a replacement for the old Mac. (That sounds so much better than I went out and bought a new computer). The old one was getting a little hinky, working at near its capacity when running my graphic design programs, often getting weird when I started working with Javascript on Web pages. Also, I was getting near filling the hard drive, even with cleaning out the old files. I can give you lots of rationalizations for the purchase. Why I feel a need to, I'm not sure.

So here's a photo of the new machine next to the old one. It's got the 27-inch display, which is a godsend when it comes to working with the Adobe programs. They have dozens of panels, and often you need to have most or all of them open to get your work done. This gives me lots of real estate to keep the panels and still have two or three pages open at once to work on. It's really, really cool. And the computer games are giant on this one.

I don't know how the Apple design people do it, but when you purchase a new computer from them, it looks like the coolest, slickest thing you've ever seen. Then, after four or five years, it starts looking clunky next to the new machines they've produced. I can remember how 21st-century I thought my white iMac looked when I got it. Now looking at it next to the new machine, it looks somehow quaint and simple.

I haven't watched a DVD on the new machine yet. That will be for later. It also has a wireless keyboard and a wireless "magic mouse." The keyboard I'm not crazy about, since it doesn't have an expanded keypad, and I'll probably go back to the old wired one. The mouse is great, though. It's a solid white shell, like most Mac mouses, but it can tell when you're scrolling (run your finger up and down over the shell) and it also has a right-click capability, which is great for Dreamweaver and Flash, since they both has lots of right-click functions built into them.

The picture above is when I was "migrating" the old Mac to the new one. I ended up in a schizophrenic state, with two user names on the new machine, but all my information is available somewhere under one of the derivations of my name.

So, new toy; powerful toy; toy that could make me a nice piece of change. That's one of the things I like about learning Web design: I can do it at home in my robe, if I want to. Just gotta get people to pay me for it.

I have a class tomorrow, so it's up before the dawn. This means going to bed now. Now. I mean it.