Trying a Mac for a month

I'm a developer who is comfortable using Windows & Linux, but I've shied away from using a Mac.

There are several reasons.

The first is that I'm fairly happy with what I've got in an operating system.
A close second is that it it would cost additional money and time to retrain myself.
There's also the simple desire to buck the trend and stay away from what's "hip".

Addressing these points:

1. I'm not going to lie, life isn't perfect under Windows or Linux, or even a dual boot hybrid with cygwin, gnu tools, msys/mingw, putty, WINE, rdesktop, etc.

I don't think OS X is the solution to all my usability woes -- in fact, I think the UI for Macs is terrible.  But I know several people who love their Mac, and it has overall positive feedback.  This will be my honest attempt to "get it".

2. I happen to have a MacBook Pro sitting around.  I bought it for an employee who is gone.  It's been literally sitting on the shelf since January.  Regarding the time factor, I do have some limited experience with Macs.

I also have a Mac Mini that I use occasionally, for cross-platform testing and iOS development experimentation.  Also, when my other computer needs a rest (installing new software, etc.) or when I need to lay down because of my bad back, I switch to the Mac Mini.  But I'm not comfortable using it as a full time operating system.

I think it 's worth a try.

3. Hipsters and Grandmas are a pretty big intersection in this Venn diagram.  So I think it's safe to say using a Mac isn't "cool" anymore.