Apple Mac is workflow-tastic

I’m in the middle of moving from PC to Mac.

I bought a MacBook Pro a fortnight ago as part of an effort to streamline my workflow, speed up my output and increase efficiency.

I can see how the integration within the Mac suite of applications (yes, including MS Office for Mac) will help me get there, but the effort to learn the new system has really slowed me down.

That muscle memory for shortcuts on the PC, especially the CTRL Z, X, C,V etc, is hard to shake after all those years on PCs. So, I’m learning a slightly new keyboard layout, a new operating system (Mac OS X, snow leopard), a new windows explorer…in the Finder, thinking about new folder structures, blah blah blah.

And then I think about all the PC-based software I bought over the years: my favourite Pamela (I use it for recording Skype phone calls for the podcasts I make for Woodend Barn), my precious Sony Vegas Studio (I love that), the anti-virus, the art software (Art Rage with the Bamboo tablet) and on and on.

I’m not a geek for tech stuff, I really just want it to be able to do the things I need to do. So far, despite the slowdown in pace, and the extra learning, I can feel things are getting lighter.

And one of the biggest changes is no longer being tied to a desktop. This MacBook Pro is so powerful I can take it on the road and do any audio or video editing I need. At the moment, I spend so much time in my back office, I’m rarely in my living room – it’ll be nice to work in there for a change.