Shiny....

As if this week hadn't already been tough enough on me, but my laptop decided to die on me as well. Maybe not completely. That thing has been doing that for several weeks now. Works just fine and the next day it just decides not to start anymore. Running the repair routine always shows the same result. One major component is missing or can't be extracted from the the backup. 1 or 2 days later it runes the repair correctly and the laptop works for a another couple of days, just to act up the same way again. Even resetting it to factory default settings doesn't change that weird behavior. Reinstalling Windows 8 completely from scratch doesn't really solve the problem either.
And today I really had it with that thing. So I decided to go back to a Mac. It was pretty clear that a MacBook Air just doesn't fit my requirements. Therefore the processor is too weak as far as I'm concerned. So it was clear that I would be getting a MacBook Pro. By the time I made that decision I wasn't exactly sure which MacBook I was going to get exactly. I was sure that I would most likely go for one with a Retina Display. So I checked online I found the one that seemed to fit my needs and my budget. Right after work I went to one of the local Apple retailers, since Vienna doesn't have an Apple Store. Checked if they had what I was looking for and they did.
Here are the major specs:

• 13" MacBook Pro
• Intel Dual Core i5, 2.6 GHz processor with Retina Display
• 8 GB RAM
• 256 GB PCle-based flash storage
• Intel Iris Graphics

And I spent about 1500 bucks on it. Just call that an early XMAS present for myself. Got home and unwrapped the shiny package right away. Wasn't expecting any difficulties getting the thing running. But that's where I was slightly mistaken. First of all the install script runs an English keyboard and mine is of course in German. This akes some getting used to. And with the basic installer script you have to get used to using the "command" keys as well since the keypad isn't quite installed yet. That as well takes some getting used to.
My next problem was my Apple-ID. I knew I had set up one and I even knew the eMail address I did it with, but I had not the slightest clue about my password. So I used my phone to reset the password and get access to my Apple-ID again. After that it was all smooth sailing. And I do remember why I was a big Mac fan. The install routine is quick and mostly painless. The system runs quick without any hang ups. And I love having lots of my favorite Apps back without having to start up my old iMac. There are things that amazed me the most. First of all it is the speed. There is no difference in the processor speed between my old laptop and my MacBook Pro. But boy is that MacBook Pro fast. absolutely love that. And the second thing that's absolutely amazing is the battery life. I mean 9 hour battery life for continued use is not bad at all. The battery of my old laptop usually didn't last for more that 2 1/2 hours. And that was really sucky. Looking at my old big fat laptop I can't believe how thin the MacBook Pro is. And it is absolutely silent. No idea how they do that, but it's really amazing.  So I'm definitely going to have lot's of fun with my new MacBook for the a long time.