Kids are crazy, work is demanding, and I just don’t have the time for high maintenance computer swag anymore, so my Apple and Microsoft devices are always behind in updates. I don’t take the time to sync or back up and when I finally do these things, it’s an all-night affair. I recently, and begrudgingly, sat my arse down and did it all. Honorable Mention goes to the iOS 8.4 update. There is a noticeable difference in data transfer speeds, the updated options are awesome. I feel like I just added a few years to my phone. My battery life has improved significantly. I don’t have to keep it on the charger overnight anymore and that is huge. (Definitely do your homework for proprietary apps that do not play well with the update. The company I work for makes the IT guys test it all before they give the users the green flag.)

At the same time, we committed to the switch from Microsoft to Apple with a MacBook Air for home office life, and that was a complete success. I was up all night playing with its functions, writing, editing photos, just creating all over the place. I felt like Mickey Mouse with the Sorcerer’s magic wand, I am an official convert. I did things with the MacBook I was never able to do as quickly with the Microsoft PC’s. For the record, I spent time with a Surface tablet and as a lifelong Microsoft supporter and user, I was excited to try it and eventually began to feel bad for it. My experience with it was like seeing the kid in school that comes back from “vacation” and you know they were in rehab. You greet them with enthusiasm and excitement, but they are so dumbed down on mind-numbing substances that you just hold them and then let them go, knowing your relationship with them will never be the same. Not saying I ever went through that with anyone, but I imagine it could be similar to that.

Moving on.

Navigating online was also a much cleaner experience. It was obvious which public sites were not maintained and did not offer the greatest options so I didn’t waste any time on them (bonus time saver). Mac’s don’t let pop-ups take over your window; they discreetly shop up as a tiny alert in the corner. This is great if you have kids who like to click on the flashy things and end up having to do virus scans. I should include the grown-a@@ adults that should know better, but don’t. This was especially great when trying to choose a company to create and order printed media, like postcards, etc. Vista Print blew everyone out of the water with the customization options and prices. Again, the Apple functions were intuitively working with the site, automatically saving to a location I easily accessed again for sharing. Just clicking a button would send it to any apple device near by. I could send it my phone and Vic’s phone a few feet away for quick viewing, approvals, etc.

Just to support the general consensus, if you are using workhorse programs, like Excel (with macros, pivot tables, and all that fancy stuff) and Access, obviously they do function more efficiently on the MS platforms. If you are one of the lucky people that never have to run reports or create tracking logs, avoid them like the plague, hire other people to do them for you. Oh the tragic hours of life wasted on such dastardly work. Otherwise, I am officially on team Apple.

Although this recent transition to Apple won’t keep the little ones from trying to suffocate each other, it will make the rest of my daily activities much less like work and maybe even a little more like one of those cool, well run, house holds I hear about.