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First things first, some credentials. I'm not an IT guru. I'm a computer user, not a computer geek. I've been using Windows for going on ten years now, and while I've been aware that Macs existed, I've never really contemplated switching, until now.

What caused the switch wasn't anything traumatic with my computer; it wasn't any kind of Steve Jobs reality distortion field, or mind control rays from Apple. It was that I'd looked at what I actually do on a notebook computer, as opposed to all the things I could theoretically do, and I could do them all on a Mac, and the MacBook Pro was a pretty sweet piece of hardware.

First, let's be honest. None of us are going to be upgrading parts of our laptops. The appeal of a PC is that you can upgrade incrementally; my main desktop machine (now relegated as a gaming platform, rather than a serious workstation) has had parts upgraded on it since I first built it in the late '90s. I think the floppy drive cable might be the only thing left of the original machine, maybe some screws. You're not going to do that with a laptop. A laptop, you'll use for three years, never open the chassis once, and count yourself lucky if you can give it as a hand me down to some cousin before they go off to school.

I just got myself a MacBook Pro 2.2 GHz model with a 17" screen - I'd been wanting a 17" screen laptop for a while. I do a lot of writing and remote work with page layout software, so the wide screen is great for having InDesign open and a word processing app or a spreadsheet. The other reason for getting the MacBook pro was that Adobe had just launched their latest versions of the Creative Suite software, all recompiled to work on the Intel processors; since I was going to upgrade anyway, well...

Now, there are lots of gewgaws on the MacBook Pro. The ambient light sensor is pretty sweet. There's a light sensor (a couple of them, actually) that will automatically adjust the backlighting on your MacBook's screen to maximize contrast, while minimizing the amount of battery power used. Similarly, there's a backlight for the keyboard, which I found really annoying at first, but it kind of grows on you.

With the new Intel optimized software, performance is pretty solid. The graphics card is underclocked for heat management (and since MacBooks are passively cooled, that's kind of important - more on that later), but since there aren't many games for OS X, that's not a major issue. (Besides, if I'm going to play a game, I want a bigger monitor, a real mouse and more keyboard space.)

The connection ports are OK. While some people bitch about the lack of a PC card slot, I haven't used a PC card in a laptop since Clinton was President. I do wish there were more USB ports; I've taken to carrying a USB hub in my laptop bag. The Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity are excellent, and Apple has put in some really nice touches - if you plug it into an external monitor, it just works. (In fact, most everything I tried with the MacBook Pro just worked. No configuration, no hassle, no fuss. On the other hand, there wasn't as much variety of stuff to hook up, but the stuff that was available was very high quality.)

The biggest gripe I have with the MacBook Pro is two fold - the first is that passive cooling. You will roast your legs if you actually use it on your lap. It's just damned hot on the undercarriage. The second, oddly enough, was OS X, particularly the Dock. The Dock is like the Windows Task Bar, if the Windows Task Bar had been designed by a hyperactive five year old living on pixie sticks. It leaps at you with big flashy animations, which make it hard to actually tell what's going on; it vanishes on you. Most of the other user interface differences tend to be "different for the sake of being different" in my opinion, though I was pleasantly surprised to be able to 'right click' with the touch pad.

Although I already have a Dell Inspiron 640m as reviewed here, overall, I like my MacBook Pro too; it's a good piece of machinery, but it's not a cult object of reverence.

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