Ahhhh.

Brand spankin' new 160 gig iPod Classic is currently chugging away. It'll be nice to have something that'll carry ALL of my music on it, allowing me to dump tunes off my laptop.

It's shiny.

Yes, yes, the new iPhone, yes.

BUT.

For Microsoft purposes, I tried a .Mac account, ages ago, when I was doing some work with a developer making Mac ports of Microsoft PC titles.

I hated it.

I hated it more when, despite having opted not to automatically renew my overpriced $100.00 .Mac account, during a software update, it decided, "Yes, you will." It also decided to not tell me this.

What followed was the worst customer service experience I've had with Apple, wherein they refused to refund the $100.00 I didn't ask to spend, on a service I actively hated and never used.

Fast forward, and Rucka showed me some of the cool things iChat can do -- some of which require a .Mac account.

Just used it (with a trial membership I intend to watch like a hawk, thank you very much) during a phone meeting to discuss the Final Crisis tie-in book we're working on, and damn if I didn't fall completely in love with it. As a collaboration tool for two writers, screensharing is unbe-flippin'-lievable.

...I need a cigarette.

Recently acquired through nefarious means (Rucka snagged me a copy) of the new OSX update, Leopard.

Aside from a reasonably long install period, and some of my applications being out of date, no real issues to report.

Apple geekery hidden beneath the cut.

( Read more... )

...so, my wife ordered me my new MacBook Pro today, which means I can retire the HP laptop we got a while back.

The HP has been a workhorse, but frankly, I find Windows irritating, and in my recent experience, I can tailor OS X to do things the way I want it to far more easily, with a variety of freeware and donationware apps and widgets.

Also: it is SHINY.

Which is double-good.