Why now?

Most guys will be able to relate to this analogy:

Ever remember having a crush on a girl in school and being totally ignored by her until you started being interested in someone else?

Now, with me typing away happily on my Mac and all but giddy (in a manly sort of way) about whatever will be announced at Macworld in a few hours, why is Microsoft suddenly interested in talking to me about a consulting position?

I entertained it. I even went to the Microsoft website to enter my information. When I came to the point where my resume could be copied and pasted into place, the instructions on the screen told me that Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V would allow that function. It also told me that if I were using a Mac, the proper keys would be Command-C, Command-V.

I found this odd from the Microsoft HR site. While technically accurate, I would hope the Microsoft site would instead instruct me to use Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V and, if filling out the Microsoft HR form from a Mac, "Screw you. This interview is over."

I suppose it is just part of some "Mac User Outreach" program Microsoft has in place. But seriously. If use of the products sold were a requirement from a software company, I doubt it could be called unfair hiring practices. If I'm supposed to enable corporations to best utilize Microsoft products to make a better IT Life for themselves, shouldn't I actually believe that to be in their best interests? Or at least possible?

Clinging to the Microsoft Corporate Volume Licensing Agreement already in place while asking them to pay Microsoft to update the systems anyway doesn't seem to avoid the possibility of harmful change. It just keeps the harmful change in a state where Microsoft continues to get paid and the user's utilization of technology continues to stagnate.

That said (and please remember I prefer the term "Mercenary" to "Whore") if they offer enough money I'd be an idiot (if a true-to-myself-and-my-core-technological-beliefs idiot) to not take the job. At least that's what I keep telling myself. As I type away happily on my Mac.

Right click? Me? For what?

Cisco Systems (according to their website, though I suspect at least a little marketing spin in this figure) provides the hardware and software support for 80% of the backbone of the internet. Their share of the Corporate VPN market is staggering, a behemoth of remote connectivity which may never truly vanish from the Earth.

The IT staff at my company can't seem to easily locate or produce a VPN client which will work from Windows Vista, much less the "Virtual Vista" I run in a window on my Mac.

The Cisco VPN client for OS X runs just fine.

I can't stress this enough: I lost more applications to compatibility issues switching from Microsoft XP to Microsoft Vista than I did by switching to a Mac. 

And whatever they announce at Macworld in a few hours will be cool. Maybe not revolutionary, maybe not Earth-Shaking, maybe not iPhone-Awesome, but "cool" is a given. Apple has cornered the market on that.