Taking another look at Ulysses

Posted by MadaboutDana
May 18, 2014 at 10:26 AM

Switching to Macs… well, I’ve got a few reasons:

a) Macs run Windows really well (even Windows 8, although MacBook users would be well-advised to invest in PowerPlan and Trackpad++). My son’s iMac runs Windows faster than any PC I’ve ever seen (boots Windows 7 in less than 10 seconds! And that’s despite the fact that Windows doesn’t make use of the Fusion drive’s SSD, or so I’m told).

b) The MacBook Air - despite its age - is vastly superior to any other Windows ultrabook. Journalists like to insist that Windows ultrabooks have left the MacBook Air far behind, but actually, that’s wishful thinking - a kind of concatenation of all the features offered by many different Windows ultrabooks. No single Windows ultrabook that costs less than twice as much as a MacBook Air combines:
- outstanding battery life (12 hours+, and in actual use, more like 14-15 hours. Yes, that’s more than an iPad)
- outstanding light weight (less than 3 lbs, and that’s the 13.3” version)
- outstandingly robust (all alumin(i)um, so really very, very tough indeed)
- outstandingly quick to boot up (10 secs) or wake from sleep (less than one sec)
(I have to laugh when I read about how expensive MacBooks are. Have you looked at ultrabook prices? And the 2013 MacBook is available at hugely discounted prices (in my case, more than £200 less than the 2014 version, for very little difference in specs, performance etc.)

I travel quite a bit, and even in the office, like to move around while I’m working. The MacBook Air is, well, just the most obvious tool to use.

c) Most of the software I use is cross-platform nowadays. Having analysed what I really have to have, I realised that I can do everything I currently do in Windows in MacOS X. No need to compromise at all!

d) Lots of nice, shiny new software ;-) (viz. Ulysses III, Notational Velocity, Metanota, Tree Outliner etc.) = CRIMPing heaven!

e) Much better mail client (most Windows mail clients are the pits, to be honest, and I won’t touch Outlook), plus some exceptional alternatives (e.g. Mail Pilot)

f) Much more compatible with my iPad and iPhone (sorry, I’ve abandoned Android almost completely, because of the grisly permissions issue that has been growing steadily more and more problematic over the past couple of years: so many apps - even the most basic ones - require deep-system access, to contacts, web behaviour, account creation, calls/texting etc. etc. It’s very bothering. Having said that, I did convert my Samsung Galaxy Note to CyanogenMod, and it’s been a much happier bunny since! But permissions remain an issue, so I use it very rarely)

Having watched my daughter coexist happily with, first, an old MacBook (the white one) and now, a MacBook Pro 13 Retina, it’s also become apparent to me that MacBooks just go on, and on, and on, and on. Even when - like my daughter’s white MacBook - they have cracks and holes in the casing. I’ve got a couple of elderly HPs that are like that, but my current Lenovo - nice though it is - is already showing signs of disintegrating. What with the price drop on 2013 models, the opportunity just seemed too good to miss.