November 16, 2012

Adios PC

Filed under: Main — admin @ 12:01 am

For the first time since I began writing, I no longer have a dedicated PC, one that I use only for writing.

Some history: Back when I got my first computer, it was my only computer. Duh.

Eventually, I had a second computer, a Macintosh. I used the Mac as my graphics workstation, but I also did my outline on the Mac because the PC lacked good outlining software. (My Mac outline was a program called ACTA.)

As I wrote more and more books, it eventually dawned on my to sport a “test computer.” That’s because it was too risky to run beta software on my main writing computer. Even with a multitasking utility like DESQview, it was near impossible to write about software or hardware without a second PC.

Since that time — about 1989 or so — I’ve always had two PCs: One for writing and another as a test. Normally I would use my older computer as the testbed, and the newer one for writing.

That setup changed this past week.

Generally speaking, I like to retire PCs after five years. Some of them last longer. My writing computer “Ming” was purchased in 1998 and lasted until 2008. That’s a long time for a PC, but then again I just ran Microsoft Word on that system — no games, no Internet, nothing but Word.

I purchased Boxer to replace Ming. Both systems were IBM/Lenovo, and very reliable, though Boxer did have some issues: IBM came out and replaced his motherboard due to a manufacturer’s defect. (Ob-site service is one reason I buy Lenovo.) Its graphics adapter also took a dump and was replaced.

Recently, Boxer was experiencing major glitches, random crashes, and software woe that caused me concern. So I new that even though he was just five years old — and I’d like to push a PC as far as I can — it was time to buy a new system.

But I didn’t!

Instead of buying a new PC, I purchased Parallels software for the Mac.

Parallels allows you to run a Windows virtual machine on your Mac. I simply sucked the life (Windows and Word) out of Boxer and installed it on my Mac using Parallels. Works like a charm. Even includes some of the glitches on the Windows machine, such as the damn Spooler SubSystem App error that prevents Windows Vista from printing to any HP printer. Love that.

Oh, and I expanded my Mac with a second Apple monitor. Boxer’s old keyboard and mouse are used with the second monitor so it’s kind of like I have two systems, but only one computer.

It’s a Mac! It’s a PC! It’s both! Parallels “Windows PC” on the right.

I may write something specific to using Parallels in the future. Until then, adios PC.

No Comments

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post.

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.


Powered by WordPress