Dan Chiappini22 May 2006, 1:13 AM
Those new MacBooks are mighty appealing. But before I'd subject my copy of Windows to one, I'd still need to find a work-around for that pesky one-button mouse problem without having to carry around a USB mouse or resort to un-natural multi key hold click combinations.
I’ve always been a PC guy. It’s not that I fear the unknown, I’ve dabbled in the dark mystic ways of Linux and even dipped a few toes in the Mac OS pond; but I’ve always come back for the warming and familiar glow of Windows because it’s what I’m used to. Sure like every Windows user I know, there are things I hate about the platform: viruses, security update after security update and the knowledge of (but ever hopeful prayer against) system crashes while I’m trying to get work done or play a game. I periodically go through a Linux fever and install a distro and then when I’m done realise it’s just as much work to maintain as the alternative. Like several of the guys here in the office, I run two systems, one for access to the corporate network, Word and Outlook and another for the occasional Linux play and that cool Pac man screensaver I could probably get under Windows if I looked around.
I’ve been looking at upgrading and getting myself a new notebook for some time now, but I’ve been thoroughly under-whelmed by my options. Ideally what I’d like is something small and light, around 12”-13” but with some rather specific hardware requirements. I have a capable home PC for gaming, but I do like the idea of playing a few rounds on the go, so something with integrated graphics is out straight away. Despite the Intel ‘Extreme’ branding, they’ve never had the up and go to play much more than solitaire or Windows Media Player visualisations. Even their latest generation of graphics acceleration - the GMA 950 isn’t going to be grunty enough for the kind of playing I want to do. On the flip side, there’s the 15”+ models that all have mid to high range graphics; exactly what I’m after. While you may argue that an extra inch or two here and there isn’t a lot and I should probably just stop having a whinge and get over it, I’ve lugged around my fair share of 15” models and while an inch of display isn’t a lot more, the associated footprint and bag space is considerable.
So it was with great interest that this week Apple announced their new MacBook and pulled a little on my heart strings. I had the chance to play around with the 15.4” MacBook Pro a few months back and was thoroughly impressed, and while the size was a little big for my tastes, the feature set was impressive to say the least. Shortly after the mag went on sale Boot Camp was announced for the new Intel-based Macs and my interest only grew further. Apple design and style, Windows functionality, together at last! This new smaller Mac is exactly the size I’d like, but unfortunately is crippled in the one key area of my interest. While I understand the acoustic and thermal envelope constrictions of chassis design, I still want something small with a decent GPU under the hood. Is that too much to ask? Looking around at the current models available, it would seem so.
I’ll open this one up to you guys, but I still haven’t made up my mind if there’s something wrong with buying a MacBook to solely run Windows. Either way; I’d still need to find a work-around for that pesky one-button mouse problem without having to carry around a USB mouse or resort to un-natural multi key hold click combinations.