The Subtle Knife
Thanks to the miracle of Boot Camp, I’m writing from the last virtual environment I expected to see on this monitor: Windows XP. My home iMac is pre-Intel, but this Mac Mini now has a 6-gig Windows partition on it. Installing it was seamless once I had the right disk, and switching between the two on restart couldn’t be simpler. Mac OS X can even write files to and from the Windows partition.
I won’t be spending much time here, mind you. It’s 100% Windows, right down to control-X/V instead of apple-X/V for cut and paste, and 100% Windows means actually having to worry about viruses again. But it’s good being able to use a few Windows-only tools, like the USB cable for my mobile, without having to find someone with a PC who doesn’t mind me borrowing it. For the first time since 2000, I can easily compare how web pages look in Mac and Windows; I’ve already nailed a couple of CSS bugs that were bugging me. Most importantly, I’ll be able to answer Windows questions for our students without having to phone a friend.
Now get me back to OS X, quick. Man, these fonts are ugly.