Mac v. Windows – Contemplating the old Switch-a-roo?
It seems as time rolls on, the folks up in Cupertino (that’s “Apple” for the non-techies out there) continue trying to make computers less of “work machines” and more like “life machines” – works of art that become the hubs of your digital lives (and occasionally allow you to type up a document or do “business” stuff). While I hardly concede that one should purchase a computer on looks alone, it is hard to deny the insane amount of positive reviews the Mac hardware seems to amass. While I agree that the subject of this blog is predominantly “Windows-based,” I do like to remain open minded and throw out an occasional post about interesting things in the Mac and Linux world.
One of the things that generally held me back from making a switch to Mac was application compatibility. In my mind, many of the programs I ran on Windows never seemed to have worthwhile Mac counterparts. Many times, a software company either didn’t write a Mac-compatible version at all, or wrote a version that included basic functionality (and wasn’t a feature-to-feature equivalent). I’ll admit that has started changing (case in point – MS Office:Mac, and Quicken Essentials for Mac) due to the greater overall adoption of Mac hardware platform (yay for Intel processors!) and positive acceptance of OS X. One of the things I’ve been reading up on is the idea of virtualization within OS X. While Windows OS’s have had this for years with programs such as VMWare and Virtual PC (and we can’t forget Linux with the “Wine” project), it seems that virtualization is something new on the block with OS X. What is “Virtualization” you ask? Basically, it’s running an Operating System (such as Windows) within another Operating System (Such as OS X). Think of it as “Picture-in-Picture” for your computer.
Sidenote: Macs have supported “Dual-Boot” (by way of Boot Camp) since Intel processors joined the Mac hardware. However, I personally think it would be annoying to reboot back and forth between OS’s when trying to accomplish different tasks.
If you’re like me and are worried about application compatibility on a Mac, then the following few links (noted from the Twitter-verse) may give you some new food for thought. As you will see below, not only does the Mac have a number of merits on its own, but if you combine it with Virtualization (the ability to run the Windows-based everything else as though it’s a program within your Mac), you may just have everything you need.
- 10 Things I Love About My Macbook Pro – Mike Afford
- Virtualization Performance Testing – Macworld
- Windows on a Mac – Infoworld
- Side-by-Side Windows and Mac OS with Parallels – LifeHacker
As I said, this is just a little food for thought I wanted to share for any of you who may be contemplating the switch to a Mac. As always, I welcome commentary on your own experiences switching to Mac and/or using some type of Virtualization software (Parallels, VMWare, etc) on a Mac. If you have questions, feel free to Contact Me directly!
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Social Lending with LendingClub – Your Thoughts?
As you all probably know by now, personal finance is one of my interests. I read quite a few RSS feeds (and books when I can make the time) on the subject. While I am in no way an expert, some posts in one of the feeds I follow has been catching my eye. The subject of these posts is a website called “LendingClub” – basically it allows folks to apply for micro-loans which are socially funded by the Internet populous ($20 from you, $30 from me, etc). From a borrower perspective, you can generally get a better rate than you may get from a bank (as well as the ability to “plead your case” to potential lenders). From a lending perspective, the potential exists to get a much higher return than you would get from a typical high-yield savings account.
While I’ve found myself in more of a “save money and pay off debt” mode lately (thanks to the many posts I’m reading and lessons learned from the recent economic downturn), I’ve been mulling the idea of jumping into LendingClub. I’ve held a “high-yield” savings account for years, but as most bank-related things have done with the downturn, the “high-yield” isn’t so high. I was thinking of using LendingClub as a new way to build some savings through interest. One of the bloggers I follow, FiveCentNickel, recently published a post on his own loan selection criteria that seems to be working for him. He’s written a post that provides an overview of LendingClub, with instructions on how to create an account.
Have any of you looked into LendingClub and/or joined the social lending game? What have your experiences been thus far?
