I have been in the Apple corner for over a decade, I guess when you have been using a solution for that long you kind of get used to it and maybe even take it for granted.

Just over a year ago, work took me in a direction away from my Apple roots, to a very reputable PC company called HP.

Being a Mac person for so long I thought this would be a great opportunity to check out the grass on the other side of the fence so to speak...

I have to say HP is a gigantic company with a massive reach into the consumer and business retail market. Their product lineup is also very full covering everything from Computers, PDA's, Printers, Scanners, Cameras, Monitors, TV's and more.

I worked for HP for just under a year, in this time I did my best to embrace Windows and use it for not only my work related tasks but also my personal Digital Lifestyle.

Companies like HP offer a good selection of pre-installed programs for your Digital Lifestyle but what I quickly discovered is that the Integration from one program to the other just wasn't there. Because each program came from completely different companies I had to learn an entirely different mindset for each program which of course took time and in some cases deterred me from using these programs.

For these programs Navigation, Compatibility of Files and Integration was nothing like what I was used to on my Mac!

So why is it such a different experience on the Mac? Apple has always focused on Creativity and Simplicity, that is why so many Professional Desktop Publishers, Graphic Designers, Web Publisher, Music and Video Professionals and Photographers all seem to gravitate towards the Mac.

For instance, let's focus on Apples iLife 06 Application geared for everyday people. Here is a breakdown of what you get with iLife 06:
- iTunes for Music and audio playback
- Garageband for creating your own music and even Podcasts
- iPhoto for organizing and editing all of your Digital pictures.
- iMovie HD for making Movies and Photo Slideshows.
- iDVD for taking all of this digital content and making it DVD player friendly to share with everyone!

The best part is that all of these programs verge on Pro-summer as far as how much you can do with them.

Because Apple is in the drivers seat for aspects like Navigation, Compatibility of Files and Integration, it all just works and everything in your Digital Life is right at your fingertips just waiting for you! Once you learn one of these great programs you are already on your way to learning the rest because they all share the same mindset.

I have used several Professional Programs that do many of the same things that iLife will do for you and at the end of the day I find myself using iLife for all of my creative needs because it's just so easy, I get stuff done with Apple's iLife!

I am gladly back working in the Apple related field, I am however glad I got the opportunity of experiencing the PC side, it definitely made me appreciate my Mac even more.

I like to use this analogy when asked about my time working with HP...and PC computers... It's kind of like renovating your house, your glad you did it but don't really want to go through it again any time soon!

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