Let me just say up front that I think Mac hardware is nice but overpriced, particularly if you want to customize or upgrade anything beyond the RAM.  And I think the OS is good, preferable to Windows in some ways and less so in others.

So why do I own two Macs (and a Macbook Pro as soon as I can afford it)?

Because of the software, much of it made by Apple.  I got back into Macs for one and only one application: Final Cut Pro.  Which is awesome.  Most of the rest of the suite is great as well with the notable and unfortunate exception of Soundtrack Pro.

But along with the Mac comes free software we all know, like Comiclife, iTunes, iWeb, iDVD, iMovie, et al.  I can take or leave much of it but it’s a great starting point and offers enough features that most users will find something useful there.

What prompted this post was iWork.  My wife was getting ready to send out a Christmas letter and wanted me to proof it.  I read it and suggested to her that she try Pages in order to turn her letter into a nice colorful newsletter with pics of our daughter, sections for her “milestones” and updates about what we’ve been doing.

We used the family newsletter template and it turned out great.  She had been up to that point a Mac user but, like me, an agnostic one.  When I asked her what she thought after using it awhile, she politely responded, “meh.” But she was thrilled with Pages.

Now, I’m not one of those people who argues that Apple is either a) a hardware company that makes software or b) a software company that makes hardware.  It’s a silly distinction; Apple clearly makes both.

But where Apple really stands out, IMO, is its software design, particularly the templates.

I started by importing her letter into the Family Newsletter template, then making some adjustments so it fit neatly over two pages.  I deleted the Recipe segment completely and used the side bar to list “milestones” for our daughter’s development.

I topped the whole thing off by printing it double-sided on our duplex printer, a Canon Pixma ip4200.  Her words to me after looking at the stack, “Everyone is going to want the same thing next year.  I guess I could be sold on this Mac thing after all.”