Systura Where information becomes knowledge...

I have a work computer and I have tried very hard to seperate my personal computing from my work computing. For work, I have a Dell Latitude D620 running Windows 7, and for personal, I have a 15" Mac Book Pro.

This morning I faced a delema as I walked out the door for a trip, "how do I take both my personal and work computers with me?". I have done it before by sliding my Mac inside my backpack with my work computer. It is not optimal, but it is workable. In thinking about it, I realized there must be a better way. Especially with going through airport security. So, I have been thinking about a better way.

First, why do I have two notebooks? I wanted to have true seperation between the stuff I did for work and the stuff I did personally at a computing level. Initially, I had everything on my work computer - work and personal. I did not think that was a good idea - why should my personal music and pictures be on my work computer. What if I was let go, or decided to leave?

Second, why do I have a Mac for personal use? The Mac is a beautiful computer! The OS is very good - a bit different from the Windows OSes I have used mostly. And, the command line is very useful! I love the Unix command line. I used to run Linux, but it was not as easy to make things work, though I did get them to work. Sometimes you just want things to work.

Third, why not use a Mac for work? The main reason is that I can not natively run all the applications that I need in OS X. The main application is Outlook. When I ran Linux, I like Evolution but at the time Evolution did not support shared calendars which is very important to my job.

Fourth, why would I need both computers on a trip?  I used iTunes with my iPhone and listen to a lot of Pod Casts and I can only update them when I am on my Mac.  Also, I like to tinker with software in my spare time and do that mostly on my Mac.  While traveling, I sometimes have some free time to tinker, sometimes more than I have when I am at home.

So, what are my options?

Carry two notebooks. This is pretty heavy, but doable. I would need to find a bag that supports it and a quicker way to get through airport security with the notebooks.

Carry just my Mac with a virtual image of my work machine. I like this idea, but it would be a non-standard device that I would need to connect to the corportate network. I do like the idea as it does keep work and personal separate for the most part.

Carry just my work system and run my personal stuff in a virtual image.  This is almost as good as carrying the Mac with my work stuff in a virtual image, but it is not standard to run OS X within a virtual image.  I also loose the cool factor of having a Mac.  I do not think it is the same running OS X in a virtual image on a PC.

I could dual boot a Mac or PC with both operating systems.  I know this is possible on a Mac with boot camp.  I have a nephew who has a Mac and seems to run Windows 7 more often than OS X.  I do not understand it, but it works for him.  I do not really like this idea because this is an either or solution and I like being able to have both systems at the same time.

Go back to running my personal stuff on my work system. I really do not like this option. I just came from this and do not want to go back.

Right now, the best option seems to be to carry my Mac and run my work computer in a virtual machine.