Gene and I will be part of Seattle Public Library's month-long Comixtravangaza series of comics-related events. Specifically, we'll be part of a panel called "Getting Into Comics" on January 26th at 3:30 pm in at the Central Branch's Microsoft Auditorium. I'm guessing we'll be discussing how we got into comics. It's a sordid tale, but one we feel we responsible for telling. Joining us will be Ellen Forney and other local comics luminaries. We'll probably give out stuff if you ask a good question, so be there and be inquisitive.

Monday's strip was the first one to be drawn on a Mac. Hooray, the switch has begun!

I've blogged previously about my intentions to go Mac. When I quit my job, my beloved Fujitsu ultraportable laptop went with it. I'm currently working on a programming contract and when the agency asked me what kind of laptop I wanted, I opted for a MacBook. I installed VMWare Fusion, which is doing a bang-up job running Windows (which I need to do for the job). But I started using Mac OS X to do personal mail, web surfing, writing, iTunes, and movie watching.

After a month I decided I was enjoying the Mac enough to start switching the drawing side over too. So I downloaded a 30-day trial of Photoshop CS3, and the rest is history.

Impressions after a month:

• What I miss most about Windows: better cursor-movement keyboarding. Maybe I'll get used to it. But I see some customization on the horizon.
• What I miss least about Windows: different hotkey for pausing movies whether you're watching an AVI (spacebar) or DVD (ctrl-P) in the same application (Media Player).
• Favorite Mac feature: Time Machine. Effortless, mindless backup.
• Least favorite Mac feature: OS crashes most every time I put a DVD in. (Gene is experiencing the same bug). But I trust it will be fixed soon.

By far the biggest transition has been to Photoshop CS3, which is a full four versions newer than what I had been using. I can see that I'll be loving almost everything, but it's different, and combined with the OS change my drawing productivity is about 1/4 of what it was. That should improve quickly.

The MacBook itself is okay. It's sleek and pretty, and I got used to the keyboard almost instantly, but for the size I find it heavy and the screen resolution low. I also find that the screen is hard to see from any angle except straight-on. But it's a loaner, so the price is right. With 4GB ($160 from Crucial.com) it is wicked fast. In January I expect I'll spring for one of the new generation of MacBook Pros that everyone is expecting.

Is this a backlash from working at Microsoft for a cumulative 11.5 years? Not at all. I have a soft spot in my heart for Windows, and I love programming Microsoft's asp.net web server platform almost more than life itself. But I started out as a Mac guy (first Mac: original 128k edition in 1985) and now that Apple has gotten their software and hardware act together it's just too much fun not to use as my every day work machine.