I cleared out some space on an external hard disk this past week and decided to finally start using Time Machine. I don’t know why I never bothered to turn on Time Machine before. I did some manual backups from time to time, but nowhere near enough to really be safe. Luckily it never came back and bit me in the ass.

Time Machine really works great, I’m using an external FireWire drive for it. The initial backup process took some time, but after that all consecutive backups have gone by so quickly that you don’t even notice them. I have to say it’s a real elegant solution Apple came up with when they added Time Machine to OS-X. One of the many features that make OS-X such an elegant and polished operating system.

In closing every Mac user should go out and buy a cheap FireWire drive to run as a Time Machine disk, the small price is worth the security.

I went and upgraded my iMac with the latest version of OS-X (Snow Leopard) and needless to say it went without problems. It was a bit lack luster going through the hassle of upgrading the operating system when you didn’t get any new features to play with, however I think the internal refinements will prove to be worth it. I’m especially looking forward to seeing how new versions of programs that I work in regularly, such as Aperture and Photoshop, handle the performance benefits.

Ultimately it got me thinking about what a great position Apple is currently enjoying, and the distinct advantages it has over other computer makers. Controlling both ends (hardware and software) also them to keep everything clean simple and following a clear roadmap that they’ve set forward. On the other side of the bridge things are much more complicated with multiple versions of Windows for 32 and 64-bit confusing users and software developers.