Macs are a pain in the ass a lot of the time
if you try to do anything _apart_ from basic word processing, graphics/video stuff with them. Games won't work, there's no Stereoscope support, you can't get drivers for all sorts of kit.

Plus the hardware's exactly the same but the software is more tightly controlled. So you're paying a significant premium for exactly the same hardware and a limited choice of software. And yes, it does look nicer but the basic WIMP elements are exactly the same and won't change until we get rid of the keyboard-and-mouse concept.

Anyway, I run XP. I poke about with it pretty often. I still have very, very few problems that I didn't cause. It doesn't hang, I've not had a BSOD since SP2 was installed and I've not suffered a hardware conflict that I had to do anything with since I got rid of my last ISA card... my ~1990 Amstrad Alt386SX (Dos6.22 and Win3.11! Woo!) is running my flat automation kit flawlessly and has been for quite a while now.

Buying a Mac is ONLY a good thing if you're looking for a stylish computer rather than a functional one. It's closer to buying a Fiat 500 rather than a Panda, or an Jaguar S-type over a Ford Mondeo- it's more expensive and looks better but has the same mechanicals underneath.
Just for my $0.02, Linux would be the whole range of Ford-based Kit Cars. Using the same mechanicals but you end up with a surprisingly wide variety of performance levels, body shapes, equipment levels, etc.
( uberdeity Wondered why Owen Lars knew of the term "hell" on, Sun 27 Sep 2009, 1:15, Reply)