one month into my new mac life, and i'm feeling much more at home. i can't say i'm fluent in os x "mannerisms" yet, but in terms of learning a foreign language i'd say i'm roughly conversational. for those of you who don't know what i'm talking about, here's the situation: i recently switched from a windows laptop to a apple macbook 13-inch (see "switching from windows to mac, part i" or listen to robyn on pcmag radio).

after my last column, loads of you had something to say. your notes to me boiled down to this:

• "i'm in the same boat!"
  it seems a lot of people are now seriously thinking about buying a mac instead of a windows machine. macs are everywhere (even at the new york times). many of you welcomed me aboard. we're becoming a plentiful lot.

• "you should try using [insert application name]."
  you inundated my inbox with loads of great suggestions, tips, and help. i'll include some of them in this and future columns. helpfulness is not a quality that's lacking among the mac adepts, and that makes conversions, like this, much easier.

• "you're crazy. don't you know that?"
  it's hard to argue with that one—either i am or i'm not. chances are if i were truly crazy, i wouldn't know it. so i'll always say that i'm sane. hence, there's no point in asking me as i'll always have the same predictable response. but i digress.

last week, on a tip from a colleague, i installed quicksilver, a free application that's designed to streamline the os x interface with shortcuts as well as automate some repetitive tasks. quicksilver converts preach that it's mind-altering and life-changing, but i'll hold onto my judgment until i've taken it out for a full test drive.—continue reading >