I write for several true crime shows on cable TV, and I spend 12 and 14-hours at a time cuffed to my computer.

Recently, I went searching for a new notebook. I didn?t set out to buy a Mac, but I soon discovered that all the PC notebooks felt like plastic milk crates. Then I happened on the PowerBook, and thought to myself that this was a machine designed to be lived with.

Mac OS X was not a factor in my purchase, but I soon discovered it was a huge unanticipated bonus; it gets out of your way and lets you do your work. I?d rather sit on tacks than go back to Windows.

PowerBooks are a little more expensive, but so is a good pair of shoes ? and you wouldn?t tolerate blisters with every step just because the boots were marked down 25%. I?m convinced that anyone who lived with a Mac for a week would fight to keep it.

After writing my first true crime episode on this new Mac, I arrested my two PC notebooks. Then I booked them on charges: of poor build quality and assault with an operating system.

- Apple.com real switcher story