As a graphic artist who started out in the early nineties, I'm a fan of Macs, but cannot back it up with the specific reasons you guys give. Maybe I'm a sucker.
On the other hand, all I've had access to in recent years (aside from at school lately) is a Dell pentuim IV PC. Things have changed in the last decade or so, in that I can now do most modest graphic arts tasks on a regular home PC. The thing that I'm intrigued by, as we are now looking for another home computer that I can also do graphic design work on, is the supposed vastly superior tech. support available through Apple. Not to step on any toes out there, but I really hate dealing with tech support guys - they usually sport such a "I know stuff you don't and I have the answers you need, so I don't have to be nice to you, (and I don't get out into the open air much and thus have few soical skills) attitude. Supposedly, and confirmed by Chuck, a call/email/visit to the Apple store can net us interaction with fluent English speakers with good social skills and real solutions. That's what I need. Thoughts on this, and the value provided by the more expensive Mac and its software? How about reliability? Brian No, that's not quite what an Apple Store is like... If I need some help and there's warranty or extended warranty, I can log onto apple.com and make an appointment w/a "genius" in my local Store in Chandler, AZ... Take laptop/desktop in and they will generally take care of it even if I screwed it up. I did that w/IPhoto and voila!, fixed..... I signed up for $99/year for mac.com and get storage/ synch/etc., ,,,,,,,,/ FWIW, I've got an iBook G4 PowerPC w/OS 10.4.8 and an Emac (at home) w/Classic Environment....... Would never go back to PC..... But, if I need to, I can log onto mac.com on a PC and get my mail, etc..... And let's not forget........MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND ALL WHOM YOU LOVE....!!! Take care, Chuck Phoenix AZ