Viruses, blue screen of death and day after day of little quirks are finally behind me. In recent months, a friend of mine, Jeff Turner, President of Real Estate Shows, had encouraged me to “leave the dark side” and make the switch from my PC to a Mac.

I had been considering this switch for a while and had some concerns in doing so. First of all I am a creature of habit and a change this big was a little unsettling to me. I had always been a PC user and had never even tried a Mac before.

After numerous emails back and forth with Jeff, combined with my own extensive research, I came to the realization that making the move to a Mac could only enhance the way I work on the computer as the Mac had so much to offer. I knew however, that this would take a lot of commitment on my part to familiarize myself with all the new processes, but I was up for the challenge and extremely excited about it.

A second concern arose for me as I became aware that as a Real Estate Virtual Assistant I work with a number of programs that are not Mac compatible. This was ultimately going to be the deciding factor for me and whether or not to make the switch. I was pleased to find out that there was an easy way to overcome this obstacle. I was introduced to a program called Parallels Desktop 3.0 that allows you to run Windows (Linux and more) side-by-side on the Mac. This was the answer I was looking for. I could now run all the non Mac compatible real estate programs simultaneously via Parallels Desktop 3.0.

I should also mention that the new Mac OS X Leopard comes with a program called Bootcamp that will allow you to do the same thing, however it is not without its limitations (for me). With the Bootcamp program you are forced to shut down the Mac system and reboot in Windows in order to use the Windows system. They can not be run side-by-side through Bootcamp. Although this would be a viable option for some people, I decided that spending the $89 CDN for Parallels Desktop 3.0 to run Mac and Windows simultaneously was well worth the investment to maintain a steady, uninterrupted flow of work.

So if you are a Realtor and have considered switching to a Mac, and have had the same concerns about running your real estate programs; know that there is a way.

I am happy to say that after months of research and sitting on the fence, I have officially left the dark side. I am now a “beginner” Mac user and the proud owner of a fabulous new iMac desktop system (Mac OS X Leopard).

In the coming weeks I am going to chronicle my experiences with my new Mac through tips, tricks and tutorials about the things I have learned (and am still learning) and how to make a seamless switch from a PC to a Mac.

If you are a new Mac user or are considering making the switch and have any specific tutorial suggestions, please let me know and I would be happy to try and work them in.

Stay tuned!