I Finally Got a MacBook

Yesterday I stopped by the Apple store in Fair Oaks Shopping Center in Fairfax, VA and finally purchased a MacBook. I've been wanting one for quite a while – ever since I fell deeply in love with OS X after adopting an old 12" G4 PowerBook I've been using for the past 5 months.

I decided to get the 2.5 GHz 13" MacBook Pro. This will be my full-time machine for the next 4+ years hopefully. With specs this good and a case this sturdy, I see no reason why it shouldn't last me for years to come.

I am thoroughly pleased with the purchase so far. If you've been planning on getting a MacBook, now is the time to get one. The base line 13" Aluminum Pro model is only $1100 right now – cheaper than most of the refurbished polycarbonates with lower specs. Anyway, I'll post lists of my software choices (including TextMate Plugins and Bundles) soon for those interested. Stay tuned!

2025 Note: This post captures the Mac adoption story of many developers in 2009 - the transition from PowerPC to Intel Macs, and the appeal of OS X as a Unix-based system for development. The $1100 price point for a MacBook Pro reflects pre-inflation pricing that seems almost mythical today. The mention of TextMate plugins and the anticipation around software choices highlights how platform-specific development workflows were in 2009, before cross-platform tools became dominant. This represents a pivotal moment when Apple was successfully courting developers with powerful Unix machines in beautiful hardware.