Reader Question: Mac vs. PC

The other day, I received an email from a reader asking which type of computer I prefer: 

I just want to say that I love your blog! I just have a question for you. I was wondering what type of computer do you currently us to blog? I see you have a Mac and PC. I am a new blogger and I am also in the market for a new computer, I am contemplating a MAC. Thanks so much for your input.

I use both types of computers, but I prefer a PC for blogging; a Mac for everything else.

When I first started blogging, I bought a brand new 13-inch MacBook. I absolutely loved it, but it wasn?t ideal for creating blog posts with a lot of photos because uploading them to WordPress (or Blogger) took forver. Eventually, someone told me about a blogging program called Ecto. At first, I thought Ecto was the answer to all of my problems. I could quickly upload photos, change their sizes, and blog offline. After awhile, however, Ecto was no longer a reliable friend to me. There were many times that I spent well over an hour composing a post, only to hit publish, and have it totally erase. It was the most frustrating thing ever! Basically, I wasted a lot of time with Ecto, and I couldn?t trust it.

Eventually, I learned how to fix Ecto, which sort of solved my problems at least temporarily. But, after awhile, I just got sick of taking the time to uninstall and reinstall it. Around this same time, I really wanted to buy a desktop computer, so I could more effectively separate my blogging life from my real life. With my laptop, my work just followed me around the house and cut into valuable family time.

I considered buying a Mac desktop, but I really didn?t need all of the bells and whistles that came with it, especially for the price that I was going to pay. I hadn?t purchased a PC since the late 1990?s, but I figured by 2011, they improved quite a bit, so I bought a much cheaper HP desktop computer with everything that I needed. Overall, it?s been a great computer, especially for blogging.

The reason it?s been such a great computer is because I can use Windows Live Writer (WLW) with it! (You can also use WLW on Macs; you just need to get Parallels.) Windows Live Writer is a kick-ass blogging software, and it has changed the way I blog–  for the better! To put it bluntly, Ecto is crap compared to Windows Live Writer. With WLW you can blog offline, save drafts, upload multiple photos at once, drag and drop photos, use keyboard shortcuts, auto link keywords, not have your posts erased, and much more!

So, in conclusion, I prefer a PC for blogging, but I will always be a Mac gal at heart.

Lunch was kind of random today. I wasn?t really in the mood for anything specific, so I ended up just throwing some of my favorite foods together and called it a meal. I had a Bagel Thin with peanut butter, pitted dates, and almonds. It hit the spot.

Busy evening ahead!