You forgot one:
If you want a computer that can be easily upgraded by yourself, buy a PC. My P3 is essentially just an old 386 that I added onto over the years. Sort of like that old joke about George Washington’s hatchet: it’s had three new heads and five new handles but it’s his hatchet.
Sigh.
How many times do I have to repeat this? It cannot run OS X, and it cannot run Final Cut Pro, among other apps. It cannot do the same thing as well. Unless you think you can make a PC run OS X–I welcome you to try! 
Do you see a PC mentioned anywhere on Final Cut Pro’s system requirements? No? There’s a reason for that. Apple owns FCP, and it has no intention of making a Windows version. I think the only iApp that it is going to port over to the PC is iTunes, since that ties in with the Apple Music Store.
Don’t think that just because there is some other DVD burning software, or video editing software, that it’s “the same” as the Apple apps. It’s not. Just like other image editing software is not the “same” as Photoshop. There’s only one Photoshop, and a lot of people pay a lot of money to use it, and not something cheaper. Same with Final Cut Pro–except in FCP’s case, it only runs on Macs.
MS and other Windows software companies have tried to make similar apps but so far, according to the reports I’ve heard, they haven’t come close.
Mac owners: shhhhhh. Chill.
The Mac experience is about elegance and style and power. I, for one, am perfectly happy that we are a small market. If we were the dominant platform, we would have to embrace Microsoft. Now that Apple has made a better browser than IE, there is no need to have any Microsoft products on your Mac.
It is just not for everyone. The Ferrari is not for everyone. Ford makes cars for the masses.
Most people don’t understand why simplicity and functionality are keys to happy computing. OS X would be lost on them. That is how it should be.
Most people won’t see why the Cube, the Titanium Powerbook or the G5 case are works of art.
Right now, the average PC user is scratching their head, wondering how an “operation” can be “illegal.” Shhhhhhh. Chill. And enjoy.
wakimika: you are right! 
And RickJay, I see your point too. I definitely think that there are things the PC can do better (the course I am taking uses Windows-only software, so I have a PC) but obviously I think Macs do a lot of things better too.
I tire of people arguing with me and telling me that my choice is probably not “retarded” (but close). Or that I can’t do “real work” on my Mac (I hear that a lot too).
But I don’t care to try to persuade every PC user to switch to a Mac, or to be convinced that my preference to Macs should be their preference too. If they are happy with PC-only, that’s fine. Just stop trying to insult me and telling me that I don’t have a “real” computer.
Oh yeah?! Well, I made my own Renn Faire costume, and I can build a PC, so there! 
I like PCs because they are incrementally upgradeable. But then, I just like tinkering with things in general. I don’t have anything against Macs or Mac users, I just like to take a more hands on approach to my gam- uh, serious graphical and mathematical applications.
Macs work for some people, Win PCs work for others - not much more to be said.
The marketplace seems to indicate that PCs work for more people.
No, the present stuation is a result of the failure of the market. Hence Microsoft was found guilty of abusing their monopoly position. As for those who like to tinker, they should take into account what they like to tinker with. If you’re interested in the harware side of things then PCs are the way to go. Software; well you’ve either got OSX with it’s open source basis or Linux or a BSD flavour if you want a non-PowerPC architecture. Even here, OSX has the edge with Objective C.
Which pretty much sums up the intellectual heft of the remainder of the post.
I used to use Windows. I am still something of a Windows expert… the guy all my friends turn to when they need their Windows machines fixed.
But I will never own a Windows machine again. I prefer my Mac, which doesn’t give me the sort of headaches I used to get with my Windows machines, which looks better both outside and on the screen.
Plus, no Windows box will run Final Cut Pro, software I would live and die for.
**
I have far too much of a life to care about computer games. And all the Windows software in the world doesn’t matter when the apps I want (Office, InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat) run as good if not better on a Mac as on Windows, or (Final Cut, iMovie, iDVD, Safari, Watson) run only on Macs at all.
In what was is the Power Macintosh G5 that will be delivered to my doorstep in a few weeks not a “powerhouse of a computer”?
I have never seen a “Startup Items” folder on my OS X Mac… where would that be?
Oh spectrum! You are getting a G5??? Oh, how I envy you!!! Which model is it? Huh? Huh? How much hard drive, RAM, etc.? Are you having anything added? Spill it! I love to live vicariously through other people’s computer purchases!
I was going to do some serious upgrading on my G4, but I think now I will have to just leave it as-is for probably another year, and hopefully by that time I’ll afford a really spiffy G5 with tons of RAM and hard drive. (I have a serious hard drive problem–I’m a terrible HD hog. I can easily make 300-500MB Photoshop files, and a lot of them–I have a feeling you are probably not unfamiliar with this phenomenon!)
You are my new hero! Wicked, but definitely my new hero!
The file system is far more logically laid out. Virtually all files that an end user will have to deal with are named so as to be easily discerned.
Any well written program outside of some system utilities (like Norton) can be uninstalled by throwing the icon for the program away - no uninstallers, no DLL hell, none of that nonsense.
Many native Mac OS X programs are only one icon… not a folder full of dozens of icons.
Unlike Windows, the Mac supports finely-tuned color management, making it the only ideal platform for print graphics work. The Mac also flows text in the print standard way – Windows documents have to be reflowed in most professional printing environments, because Microsoft has never done type flowing properly.
Little details like having dialogue buttons be verbs like “Save/Don’t Save” instead of “Yes/No” makes the purpose of a dialogue clear even without having to read the text in the dialogue to determine exactly what you’re being asked to do.
Or the fact that the Close, Minimize and Zoom buttons are organized in that order, which is more logical than on Windows, where Close and Maximize are right next to each other, even though they serve exact opposite functions. So if you try to hit a button but miss by one spot, on Mac you’re going to get a response that’s at least close to what you sought initially.
Little details like that add up… fast.
Keyboard shortcuts are often more logical (Cmd-Q to quit a program… whereas Windows uses Alt-F4, a shortcut unlike any other shortcut, which is bizarre and bad design).
So on and so forth.
Graphic design for the Web is great, but where the Mac shines is print graphic design, which requires color matching and text flowing that Windows can’t match.
Hmm…
1.8 GHz G5, 900 MHz FSB, 3 PCI-X slots
512 MB PC3200 RAM
160 GB Serial ATA HDD
nVidia GeForce FX 5200 graphics card
AirPort Extreme
Bluetooth thingy
SuperDrive
17" Studio Display LCD
I think I’m going to name it Jupiter. 
So AMD chips (well, the Athlon at least) run faster than Intel chips of the same relative speed… do Apple’s processors do the same thing? (not that 1.8 GHz isn’t more than you’ll ever need for anything except playing Need for Speed 61), but given the “most powerful computer in the universe, ever” hyperbole that Apple is rolling out for the G5 I expected a bigger number…
spectrum: Oh my! ::drool drool:: That is a nice setup you’re going to have there. And the Studio Display–wow, I do envy you! I have some simple NEC LCD monitors (not nearly as nice as the Studio Display but good enough for now) and I think LCD is where it’s at. It’s LCD for me from now on…
Jupiter, eh? That sounds quite appropriate. Me, I always name my computers “Ambrose” (or some variation thereof). Long story.
I suggest that taking loyalists of one camp to task for needlessly insulting tone and then getting ha-ha-dreamy-moony-eyed over needlessly insulting tone of loyalists of the other camp is a little…counterproductive.
The gaming market lag on the Mac side is actually showing signs of beginning to narrow. Still a large gap there, but even a few years ago almost no PC titles were ported over for Mac release; these days, increasing numbers of titles are. I’d be happy to see that trend continue–games being a product so locked-in to a single platform probably hasn’t done their development any favors due to lack of platform-competition.
I would say I have far too much of a life to get into digital image and film manipulation as a hobby, but primarily it’s a lack of disposable income. If I had enough cashflow, I’d be running both a gaming PC and a Mac at home.
Dutchboy: yes, the IBM processors Apple uses, specifically the PowerPC 970 in the case of the G5, run much faster per clock cycle than a comparable Intel-based computer. The only thing Intel has going for it is its amazing ability to ramp up the clock speeds.
The specific computer Apple is touting as “the fastest personal computer in the world” is a Dual 2.0 GHz processor system… it has two processors, each running at 2.0 GHz, as the designation implies. Macs are quite adept at making use of multiple processors. It’s an inherent benefit of the non-G3 PowerPC design.
yoseomitebabe: I try to “theme” the names of my computers. My new theme is going to be Roman gods (with disks named after Greek gods). I think I’ll rename my iPod Mercury and my iBook Mars to match.
I was mainly bullshitting (and I did call you wicked! ;)) but I do have to say that I tire of being told that PCs are great at games, as if that will mean something to me. It doesn’t mean anything to me. It is not a perk, it isn’t a selling point, it isn’t anything. “Selling” the fact that PCs are more for games works well for people who care about games, but why do some people keep bleating the “games” mantra to me, after I’ve repeatedly told them that I do not, nor never will, care about games?
While I suspect the OP is a case of “let’s you and them fight!” (I can barely believe anyone, in this day and age, can honestly expect a Mac/PC topic to be anything but), I think people “bleat” the “games” “mantra” because it is a differential factor between the two platforms.
My cynical side (again!) also suspects they also do so because they know it inspires equally kneejerk snideness and Mac-loyalist high-fiving about having more/better “lives” than people who weigh the gaming thing more as a choice factor. And presumably (giving the OP the benefit of the doubt), those people–those seeking differential factors to weigh as a platform choice–is what the thread was supposed to be about. In other words–it’s not about you.