The "Eternal" Debate, Part MCMLXXVI

This really isn't the 1,976th part of the "eternal" debate, but I so rarely get to use Roman numerals, I thought I'd give it a go. The number has significance, too. Can anyone guess? Correct guesses will win the prize of an honorable mention on this very blog! Think of it! Tens of people may see your name on the internet! TENS!

After much extraneous and self-indulgent background, I shall proceed to make a few comments on the Mac vs. PC question:

1) Mac's are sexier. Sorry, but the ID at Apple is second to none, and PC's just aren't there. The GUI is gorgeous, and the computer itself begs to be displayed as if it were a piece of furniture.
2) PC's are cheaper. And by "cheaper," I mean waaayyyy cheaper. I could have bought 2-3 new PC's for the price of my iMac.
3) Mac's are frozen. What I mean here is that if you're an upgrade addict, ever lusting after the latest nVidia-spawn, buying a Mac is like going cold-turkey. All I could upgrade on my iMac was the RAM. This can be evocative of a "yawn," "sigh," or "whew," depending on your tastes.
4) Mac's are game-free. If you're in to PC-gaming, avoid Mac's like you avoid the ghost monsters in Pac-Man. Mac's aren't not exactly "game-free," but the available software out there is severely lacking compared to PC's.
5) Mac's can pretend to be PC's. With either Boot Camp (included with Mac's), or a cost-effective VM like Parallels ($80 and excellent) you can run Windows as if your Mac was a PC. And it runs very well. So, if you're like me and have a $400 license for BibleWorks that only runs on PC's, you'll want one of these.
6) Mac's tend to have everything you want. ...and nothing you don't. 90% of all the hardware and software that you'll need or want is already there, and there aren't fifty icons for stupid AOL offers, service plans, trial versions of corny software, etc., on your desktop.
7) Mac's work. You'll have to mess around with them a lot less, and won't need an degree in IS to get them humming. And they do hum, by the way. Since they're gone Intel, they outrun most PC's. I've read that the fastest laptop to run Windows is a powerMac. Weird.

Anyway, my bottom line is to consider what you do with your home computer. If you're like me, you do the following:

(1) Word processing
(2) Music management/playing (e.g., iTunes)
(3) Personal photos
(4) E-mail
(5) Internet

If that's about it, then get a Mac. With the exception of (1), Mac does all of those tasks way better and sexier than PC's, and it's tons more stable. As for word-processing, most folks out there are MS-Word junkies. You can get openoffice.org (for very short money, or no money at all if you're cheap) to fill that need and it'll be nearly seamless. I haven't played with Mac's "iWork" software, so I can't make a call there. My first impression is that it's too "template-y" in that it tries to do too much for you, not unlike the stupid MS-Office paperclip: "It looks like you're writing a letter..." Yes. It does. Now get off my desktop.

If you do CAD work (OrCAD, Pro-E, etc.), love PC games, or some other hard-core business-ish stuff at home, skip the Mac. The only exception is in graphical design/publishing. Mac's rule that space, too. Oh, and recording. Mac's rule musical recording, too. Even the rookie stuff like GarageBand rules.

In all, I'm very happy with my pricey purchase. It's fun (yes, fun), easy to use, stable, and has nearly everything you want ready and auto-configured at first power-up. What's more, I won't have to mess with it until it dies, or I come into money and want to blow it on a faster processor. A final caveat would be to remember that if you're a PC-user, you will have to travel up a learning curve of sorts with a Mac. Just expect that going in. It's easy, and the provided tutorials are great, but you'll have to learn some things again.