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I've owned and purchased so many Apple computers for myself and the companies I've worked for over the years that I got a call from someone in Cupertino thanking me for all the business.
Now that I am running my own show and need to see what's going on with websites in Windows browsers it's time to stick my toes into the Windows world. I was using BrowserShots to view screenshots of websites but that doesn't always work very well. Some of my online friends have been good enough to forward me IE Windows browser screen shots or tell me what's going on with the websites from a PC perspective. This is going to get old for these good people soon and I don't want to push my luck. I'll just do what everyone else has already done, get the PC. Personally I wish they would just ban IE6, 7, & 8, from the Internet but that isn't going to happen anytime soon.
So this is where the fun begins. What's the best way to approach this? My Intel based Mac can run Windows using Boot Camp. I had another brilliant idea, simply buy a refurbished PC with Windows already installed on it. So I started looking at the ads, there's millions of used PCs out there. Some of them are dirt cheap. The specs on them are all over the place however and I am dizzy looking at the configurations. I was warned that I should only get name brand hardware because the machine failure rate will be lower. Before I pulled the trigger on any of them someone showed me a used laptop that had really good technical specs and could be upgraded to Windows 7 at a reasonable cost. I thought this was the one until I was told the price of $1,350.00. Forget it, I'd rather buy a new Mac Mini and install Windows on it for that price.
Windows comes in a couple of different price points. The handy chart on the Microsoft website helped me decide which one I need. It's going to be Windows 7 Pro, I don't need Ultimate, and Home Premium doesn't cut it. What's premium about their Home version anyway? I think Apple's approach is much better by only offering one operating system for their computers. I guess all their users get the 'ultimate' version.
So off I go looking for the best price that I can find for Windows 7 Pro. I see Windows 7 Pro at Staples for $329.95. Yipes! I recently bought Snow Leopard for the Mac for $29. My wife puled out a flyer that got stuffed in our mailbox this weekend. A local vendor is selling the full version of Windows 7 Pro for $189. I called him to see if he still had any in stock. He does have them but he says I can't just buy the Windows 7 Pro full OS. I have to buy some sort of windows hardware. I asked him what the cheapest thing I can buy in order to get the Windows 7 software. He says they have a $10 mouse I can buy to qualify for the purchase. Why do I feel like I am at a carnival? Sticking my toes into Windows is proving to be an adventure. I can't wait to see what I am going to be in for when I go to install this.
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