My initial reaction upon reading Timmer’s post in re. switching to Apple was to discount the post and what I assumed would be numerous polarized comments. The axiom was established in my mind years ago that I am a Wintel guy (starting with an IBM 5150 PC in 1984 – two floppies and no hard drive). It was even more firmly established when my sister got an Apple several years ago and I made a derisive comment regarding the one button mouse, which resulted in what I believed to be a completely asymmetric response on her part – my first exposure to the passion of Apple users (she was equally defensive during her period as a Mormon – interestingly, she is no longer a Mormon and now owns an HP laptop).

But it did get me to thinking. The business world will always, at least in my lifetime, be Wintel – too many legacy programs and files along with an inherent mistrust of Mac Guy and his ilk on the part of management. At home though, the whole raison d’être of owning a computer is changing – and no matter how much Microsoft tries, they are not making it any easier. I now download lots of music both from download sites and from streaming on-line content, and I expect to do the same with video going forward. Is it going to really get that much easier with Vista? Maybe, but Apple seems to have a considerable head start in the intuitive ease-of-use department (although I still don’t get the single button mouse thing).

And then there are my home IT manager responsibilities. Real Wife has a pretty good handle on how not to make my life miserable (don’t change ANY settings, don’t install ANY software without my approval, etc.). Then there’s Red Haired Girl, whose ministrations would kill – not crash, but kill – PC Guy within seconds. Despite the best efforts of Norton Internet Security and my constant chiding about don’t do this and don’t do that, her computer has become a completely unstable virus ridden wreck. Moreover, she is fascinated with constantly changing display and other settings, resulting in entire range of other problems.

For the past six months her computer is unable to maintain a wireless connection for more than two or three minutes at a time. It isn’t the adapter because I’ve swapped it with real Wife’s and the problem stays. It isn’t location because a) the location and surrounding environment hasn’t changed in the two years I’ve had a wireless network, and b) it is actually much closer to the router than Real Wife’s, which works great. Compounding the problem is that she and her friends have discovered Instant Messaging, so now she is a squatter on Real Wife’s computer – bringing all of her Typhoid Mary tendencies with her. Last night she asked if she could install some other messaging software on her mom’s computer. I said no, she said too late. I checked said computer and lo and behold there was a warning screen for the Norton software informing me that a program was attempting to change the home page.

While uninstalling everything that looked suspicious (and listening to wife and daughter complaining – from different points of view), my mind wandered back to Timmer’s post.

Next stop – the Apple web site. I was kind of blown away by the newest Apple Mac Mini. It looks like it could do everything that RHG would want to do, and the size is awesome (6.5″x6.5″x2″). My sense is that I could turn her loose on one of those and not lose so much sleep over trying to figure out if the latest debilitating problem is a) a virus/Trojan horse/worm, b) something she did to Windows, or c) a genuine malfunction caused by i) a Windows bug, or ii) hardware. Yes, life would be good.

At $599 it seems reasonably priced (for an Apple) and it has a real high “cool” coefficient (important at her age – she is still dinging at me because the mp3 player she got last Christmas is clunky compared to an iPod), but I am concerned about all of her existing software. Does anyone out there know anything about Windows emulation software? In particular, she has an extensive collection of Sims software (a whole other thing I don’t get, although from what she tells me it is a great way to vicariously f*** with people). Also, is the included iworks at all useful for word processing and can the files be read and edited in a Windows environment? And what about freeware/shareware? Any other comments would be helpful. I don’t have to make an immediate decision – the plan all along was a new computer for her for Christmas.

If I go that route and it works out, I might even consider phasing in Apple replacements as the other computers are retired. I’ll likely keep a Wintel machine on the home net for running software that I cannot/will not replace and for work related stuff.

I can’t believe I am even considering this. On the other hand, I bought Apple shares two years ago at $22 and lost my nerve and sold at $25 (despite the chart, could I really trust a computer company that only built on-button mice). Had I taken a chill pill and hung on, I would be sitting on a gain of about 360% and a little closer to retirement. So, I’m gonna go home, don some jeans and a T-shirt (not tucked in) and just mellow out. I’ll probably pass on the O’Reilly factor tonight as well.