I’m enjoying my new Powerbook G4. Really. I’m not finding it magical or worthy of religious veneration, but it’s been running continuously since I got it, it feels good, and I’m not done discovering all its nice touches. Nevertheless, when I go to Europe next week, I’m taking my Thinkpad X40 with me instead of the PB (assuming my ThinkPad is back from the shop — ulp). I’m sorry to do it, which is an indication of the bond I’m forming with my Mac, but when you put it all in the balance, the TP wins — given my idiosyncratic needs.

Here’s why:

Most important, I just installed Powerpoint 2004 and the Mac version doesn’t have features that I count on in Windows. In particular, it doesn’t have motion path animation and it doesn’t have an animation timeline. It plays path animations created under Windows, but you can’t create them or edit them on the Mac. Since I’m going to Europe to give presentations (5 in 4 days, 3 cities, and 2 countries), and my presentations rely on those features, that’s a killer for me. (Keynote seems to be a totally lovely piece of software, but it also doesn’t do path animation or have a timeline.)

Then there’s the fact that the PB is heavier than my TP and seems to get less than the TP’s 5+ hours of battery. I have an extra PB battery on order, but I have a bad back and adding weight makes a difference to me. If I were shopping for a new Windows laptop, I would not consider one as heavy as the PB or with its battery life. So, that’s a trade-off. Not a killer, though: If Mac Powerpoint were up to Windows’ Powerpoint’s snuff, I’d be taking the Mac with me.

Here’s the part that makes me really sad. Because I have a big, powerful PC desktop machine for work when I’m at home, I use my laptop almost entirely for travel. Much of the travel that I get paid for involves giving presentations. I know how I work and know that I will tinker with the presentation up to the last minute. So I’m afraid I’m regretfully going to have to go back to a Windows laptop.

Microsoft wins because it defeatured Office on the Mac. Sigh.

I am nevertheless going to hold onto the PB for a while because it’s fun, I’d like to learn more, and maybe there’s a way out of this that I don’t know about. [Tags: mac macintosh]

But wait! The Mac has a late surge! IBM received my broken ThinkPad on Nov. 17 but has to wait until Nov 30 to get in a newhard drive. So I’m taking my Mac with me to Europe after all.

That is totally sucky service from IBM. It used to be actually good. Is this an isolated incident or are they headed the way of Dell?

Categories: Uncategorized dw