This afternoon I updated an Excel spreadsheet that I have been tracking my work hours with. Then I made a copy of an invoice (a Word document) so I could make a new invoice.

But I didn't use Excel, and I didn't use Word. I used Numbers and Pages.

I hadn't gotten around to installing Microsoft Office 2004 on my new MacBook pro yet, so when I double-clicked those documented they loaded in the iWork '08 apps instead.

But then I decided to look at Pages' templates for invoices and found a way nicer one than the Word one I was using before. It was smarter too, it automatically calculated the cost of each line item and did the tax calculations for me too. With the Word invoice template I had to enter those numbers manually.

And then it hit me: I didn't have any Microsoft software on this MacBook Pro, except for Remote Desktop Connection, which I don't need or use. So I trashed it. Cheryl has my old PowerBook G4 now, she uses it to connect to the computer at her office, but I have no use for it at all. Thankfully.

I have the Flip4Mac WMV components for QuickTime installed, but they weren't written by Microsoft.

It's a great feeling to know The Omni Group, Ranchero/NewsGator, Delicious Monster and Nintendo are the most important software companies in or near Seattle for me. (apologies if I've missed someone)

I suppose I shouldn't forget that I have an Xbox 360 and that's by Microsoft, but it's so fucking easy to forget when it's out of my house for TWO months this summer because the piece of shit is broken. It took them two months to send me a replacement for a broken piece of hardware that they had no intention to repair (the policy in Canada is to replace broken hardware).

I feel good.