Having done technical support on both PCs and Macs, I can tell you that they have the exact same problems.
Broken machines suck, no matter what OS is on them.
Stupid customers suck, no matter how friendly an OS is. They can, and will, figure out how to fuck up the easiest thing.
And I hate those commericals. I was told many, many times by the pissed off people with broken Macs that if they were going to have a fucked up machine that didn’t run, they were going to at least pay less for it.
Those commercial amuse me in a way only stupid, contrived anecdotes can.
“Bill Gates used black magic coding to turn me into a butter-faced, dimwitted, bed wetter, but buying a Macintosh made me smart and attractive to the opposite sex. My programs run 37.5 times as fast, and I have become a wealthy tycoon while my Windows using friends have died painful, gruesome deaths as penniless paupers. Jesus would use a Macintosh, and scripture says you cannot reach heaven without OS X.”
Can anyone tell me why my name was mentioned in this thread?
Anyone?
I’m guessing that Darth Nader was mistaken for you. Put it down to a typo.
I understand where you are coming from and I don’t disagree. And you see, the kind of behavior you are describing is exactly what I have endured since I got my first Mac. And, I hasten to add, I wasn’t condescending or hostile to Windows with other people. I started as a Windows person, and while I sometimes found my experiences on Windows to be frustrating, it wasn’t as if I ever despised them. I still don’t. (I keep on saying I want to get a new PC, and one of these days, I will!) I never started any serious PC bashing. But I got a LOT of crap about Macs. And it was the “only a poopiehead with cooties would have one of those” kind of abuse, too.
But I suppose that was your point all along, right? That it is a never-ending battle, and a never-ending pissing contest. But in my case, I didn’t start it. All I do (and all many Mac users do) is have the audacity to mention that we own Macs. And then the “poopyhead” crap starts.
And as far as the ads go, a lot of them are just enthusiastic recommendations and endorsements from people who are enjoying this particular product very much. Since there is so much of the “Mac users are poopyheads” attitude flying around (I know about this first hand) I must say that I think that PC users can weather a few ads featuring enthusiastic Mac users.
But it only runs on Windows! 
So you’d have laughed at the nail-biting I did when my Dad, an IT person, installed more RAM into my computer for me. What if something broke? My PC is a very loyal pet, and it was hard to watch the surgery on it; actually doing it myself is unthinkable.
Nothin’ to it. RAM installation is especially easy…you just have to make sure your hands are good and clean, preferably by rubbing them vigorously on a wool cloth before starting. 
Seriously, though…I fried more than my share of components in the learning process, but like any other hobby it can be rewarding when things go right. Again, assuming it’s what you’re into…
I trembled and almost hyperventilated when I added some RAM to my G4 recently. Some of us don’t naturally enjoy opening up the case and tinkering around. I hope to overcome this phobia (I did feel a great deal of “empowerment” after I upgraded the RAM). But to be honest I doubt I’ll ever be a great “tinkerer” of computers.
Next project: replacing the internal CD-ROM drive with either a DVD or DVD-CD-RW drive. I am told it is easy, just a matter of sliding out the existing CD-ROM drive and putting the new one in. And attaching a ribbon cable and unscrewing something?
Please convince me that I can do this. My Mac Guru friend is going to talk me through it, but I’m still pretty shaky about the whole thing.
ahem
…
[looking around]
Well, one o’ you Mac people reassure the Lady, willya?
Macs are better-made than PCs: Macs have handles, so you can more easily toss 'em out the window when you get frustrated with 'em. 
Oh, come on! My G4 takes IDE drives, just like PCs. My G4 is a tower (not an iMac or all-in-one). I am assuming that installing a CD (or DVD) drive into my G4 will not be that radically different than installing a drive into a PC.
Then that is a feature that all PCs need as well, eh? (That was your point, right?)
Maybe not, but I’m sure as hell not gonna be the one to say it.
I haven’t touched an Apple since my ][e died, way back in the Olden Days[sup]TM[/sup]. I’m ill-equipped to advise on what’s what in the current fruitPuter lineup.
Eh. To each his own. Some people buy a brand-new car to avoid hassles of fixing an engine… other people buy an old El Camino and fix it up into a powerhouse.
Besides, you can save a couple hundred bucks if you Do It Yourself…
First piece of advice: Stop treating the hardware like it’s made out of eggshells and fine china. The days of ultra-fragile hardware were left back in the '80s. Now, that doesn’t mean you should throw hardware pieces around the room, but you can be a little rough on 'em.
Second: It is quite simple. Just look at your current CD-ROM drive in the case, and look at how the ribbon and power cable is attached. In case you forget, remember… plug things in where they fit. After that, you just remove the screws along the side of the drive, slide it out, slide in the new one, screw it back into place, and then plug the ribbon and power cable back in. I’m betting OS-X will automatically set up the new drive (hey, if WinXP can do it…).
Derleth– Sorry about that. I think I had another thread open that you did post to.
apotheosis does have it right. You will be a far more competent user if you really know how the thing works. The best way is by building the thing yourself.
When my kids wanted computers, they got them, in parts.
My daughter got hers for her 9th birthday and my son got his on his 8th birthday.
They had to read the instructions, ask the right questions and do all of the work. At the end of they day they had fully functioning machines they could use.
Both of them, three years later are making additional money helping out their friends parents that are two timid to take a screwdriver to their machines.
Kal, my Etch-a-Sketch could kick your Speak N Spell’s ass.
Bring it on! HunH!
Just try and draw a circle with it. Not to mention that the slightest jolt will wipe your data.
By connecting my Speak and Spell to a Magna Doodle, I have the ultimate multimedia machine.
Sorry Dan, no amount of tender words will get you to play with my Gypsy love charm.
No way, not the slightest jolt - you gotta shake it.
Besides, I’ll use the Zooper Sounds Etch-a-Sketch, and with my vast array and arsenal of sounds, I’ll overcome anything you can spell at me.
Is this true anymore? I knew it was once, but I had heard and believed that the PC manufacturers now get the parts so much cheaper in volume and price their machines at such razor-thin margins that it more than makes up for the cost of manufacturing, and it was actually a little more expensive to make a PC yourself with the same quality components these days. Has anyone done a comparison lately to confirm or deny this? Actually, I think I’ll make a General Questions thread about this.
Too easy…Must resist…