Off By One

begins today.

Well, yesterday.

Okay, actually, the first time I did it with the laptop. No, not that it, the other it.

Heh.

What I’m trying, scatteredly, to convey is that as of today I’ve bid Windows farewell. Barring a need to install it for games (which MAY happen) at some time in the future, it’s history. I am using a nice, clean install of a linux, now, and I like it.

Of course, it has issues, not least of which is the 3D support. Which doesn’t really exist, at least as far as I can see. However, that might change. I’m sure you’re all fascinated by it, so I’ll keep you all posted.

It’s been trickling its way through my consciousness for a while now that I want an Apple computer.

Yes, yes… New toys, etc…

(Warning! Geek talk ahead!)

The fact of the matter is, especially as I use Linux on my laptop more and more, I’m feeling more comfortable with the Unix/Linux OS setup for day to day use. I’ve even been wondering how well it would work on my desktop, which is — for those that don’t know my preferences as well — a revolutionary event. Still, I’m finding fewer and fewer issues with it that I am unable to handle, and those that are concerns are becoming less important.

Still, with regards to my main desktop, due to its ubiquity there’s certainly good reason to keep a Windows box running around the house. Also, I just spent a stupid amount of money on it, so it’d be awfully foolish to just up and toss it.

However, when it comes to mobility, I haven’t been running windows since December, and frankly I don’t miss it. Char does, but I think I may have worked around the last major objection she had to the Linux by getting MS Office working on the box. It’s amazing what some people can code up if they try. The thing is, though, that I’d like to give Char this laptop full time — put Windows back on it, tune it and make it hum, and then just leave it completely. The problem with that is that having a laptop makes school phenomenally easier. The school lab systems are alright, but they’re… dirty, a lot of the time, and they’re often occupied. I’m not a fan. Having a laptop makes it possible, if not always easy, to work at school.

So, in that vein, I intend to save up for an Apple Powerbook. Not the ultra-high-end one, because I just don’t need that in a laptop. But the 15” powerbook is reasonably-powered and, if not cheap, plausibly attainable with some scrimping. In a year or so, anyway. I don’t expect this to happen overnight. And I have commitments to honour with regards to saving up a down payment on a house. But I’m putting this on the table as a savings goal so that I can prod myself with it every once in a while.