I have a Windows OS computer. I am interested in buying a laptop for home use. But here comes the big question! Mac or PC? I know, I know, a question asked a million times but I have been looking at Macs and they seem interesting, but how will it go with me, a guy who has used Windows for fourteen years? Basically, I want a computer that will be reliable system wise, and damage wise, and will last me a long time. I use Mac sometimes at the library and they seem pretty easy. I know Macs aren't versitile as PCs but maybe it's worth it. I don't play games that much so that isn't a big issue. But I do have a few hardware devices that I am unsure about. I'm also worried about any additional devices I may need when I purchase an Ibook. (I would like to buy the Ibook that is on sale for $999.99) And what is this Tiger OS they are all talking about what is that? Anyways, I used to hate Macs, but they seem to interest me. So if someone can answer all of my long and boring questions, I may just buy that Ibook. Thanks for your time.
~Brad~

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

Not unless you want to lose all your email address book
and messages (I am surfing this site to try to learn one of
the complicated ways to fix this), run into unexpected
compatibility porblems (the majority of the world is still
on PC and if you are transferring an important powerpoint
presentation to someone and the images "don't work", you
can be up the creek), limited software (and whenever
there are problems, it is never apple's fault - for example
my system came packaged with a microsoft office 30-day
trial. I bought the full version, but I cannot launch any
attachments directly, because the system ALWAYS tells me
my 30 days is up. It is JUST as difficult to uninstall stuf
with mac as with a PC.), for a system that prides itself on
being user-friendly, the HELP section in apple is
completley useless - I am quite computer savvy and when
I use this section, I am looking for specific, helpful
answers. In my experience so far, Mac is unable to deliver
the useful HELP that Windows did. Very limited battery
life (what is the point of being wireless with your airport if
you need to always stay near a power outlet????). And the
plain annoyance of no right click and no scrolling mouse.
The mouse and keyboard are rather chintzy. No docking
station (once again limiting your capacity to work properly
cause you always have the damn power cord in the way.
And don't let people tell you that Mac is plug and play...
both my printer (Lexmark) and scanner do not work (I am
still trying to fix this) and whenever I plug into an
overhead projector, contrary to the F8 function that
worked so well on my Dell, I ALWAYS have to reboot.

I hope this convinces you not to make the costly error I
did.

Paul Warren, he asked for a unbiased answer.
As for help, I will let an independent 3rd party explaine
"HELP", Consumer Reports has named AppleCare, Apple's
support team #1 for 6 years running beating the nearest
comeptitor by almost 20 points every year.
As far as the rest, you have played with them.
As far as not as versitile, its a Unix based OS, so very
versitile and if you ABSOLUTLY NEED WINDOZE, VirtualPC
will run Windowze on a Mac, do that on a PC, Run Mac OS
I want to see it.
Also, there are Mac Versions of all Major apps or an
equivelent that is compatible.
Battery life is subjective, its all on your settings, so there
is a moot argument here.

Regardless of the original reply, fact is OSX is the most stable and solid consumer OS i've ever seen..being UNIX based, it equals Linux in most areas overall, but is far easier to use.
No viruses really, either...
Macs have traditionally kept their practical value for several times the other platforms have..
I have a six year old mac that i use for all my multimedia editing and animations creation, as well as for my day to day business on line, and video and TV watching, etc..it serves my purposes wonderfully (with a processor upgrade ) that a three year PC could not hope to match..and i'm still entirely satisfied with it.
Because the platform has maintained extreme backward compatibility as well as up to date innovations, i can just as easily run a 15 year old application, as i can a brand new app...
Interface consistency also means that instead of developers having to rewrite their apps to work on a new or radically different OS every few years, they can instead improve the actual functionality, leading to more powerful, and *stable*, apps.
Be forwarned, however, that this is about to change in a few years as Apple switch to an entirely new processor( the Intel of "Wintel" PC fame) and most of what i mentioned above may or may not apply with those releases...??

I really think it's best to have one PC and one Mac in the household if you're going to be a two computer home, especially if you have children (it never hurts to expose the kids to as many operating systems as possible - by the time they get jobs, the versatility might be helpful if the world hasn't merged into one giant OS by then).

I originally bought a Mac laptop to use just for writing and music (iPod). I enjoyed the easy to use interface and the stable OS, so I eventually purchased a G5 after Tiger came out to use as a home business machine. I still have my PC to do the things the Mac can't, but I've come to use the Mac on a daily basis now and rarely ever even need the PC except for certain video games.

Since you've been using a PC for 14 years, don't expect much of a learning curve for a Mac. If you buy yourself a two button mouse to attach to the laptop, you'll very likely only notice aesthetic differences. If you stick to the one button laptop set up, you may have a little bit of trouble adjusting, but otherwise everything is fairly intuitive.

Concerning your question about what Tiger is, it's just the latest version of the Mac operating system. It's not really just bells and whistles, as it added quite a few functions to the Mac OS that you may find yourself taking advantage of once you're more familiar with the system.

If you are interested in using a Mac, you're considering getting a laptop, and you already have a PC, a Mac might be a natural fit for both curiousity and (once you've become comfortable with it) function. I'm not saying you'll eventually wonder how you ever lived without a Mac - that's not very likely - but it will serve as a great portable computer.

I've been able to do most anything I needed with MacOS X,
including running MS-Windows programs by remote using
Terminal Services. I hear people talk about lack of
applications, and I suppose there are some specialty
applications which are developed only on one platform or
another, but you can solve anything you need with a good
app on MacOS X. A recent development is NeoOffice, an
OpenOffice version running on MacOS X. The movement
of freeware developed for Unix-like operating systems to
MacOS X is beginning to add substantial value to the
system. Backup software, for example, is readily available
from the world of Unix, and surprisingly expensive and
limited on Microsoft operating systems.

I know several people who use VirtualPC ... I used to be
one myself. Slowly, I began to use it less and less, and it
hasn't been run on my machines for over a year now.
Let's hear it for web standards -- no more loading up
Internet Exploder :-)

In the future, Macintels will be an interesting answer to
the Mac v PC argument: people will have one Macintel and
when they think they have to can boot into the other OS.
However, given the ability of many businesses and
governments to migrate to GNU/Linux, there's not much
argument to be made that most people have a real barrier
to going to MacOS X (or another Unix).

The reason I left Microsoft is simple: I cannot afford to
keep trying to make their products do what I need, when I
have business to attend to. A colleague just got bitten by
that: hiring a MS "expert" to "solve" a computer problem
left her with a machine that still wasn't usable, though it
"booted", and both a $300+ bill and a few days of
software re-installations. Perl scripts are free and do an
excellent and fact job of replacing both your data and
your applications. This sort of nonsense isn't my
experience on MacOS X, though it is definitely my
experience with Microsoft products. I bailed on MS
because of quality.

I haven't regretted it a minute.

I have used and maintained or upgraded PC systems at home for years as a hobby. I got tired of the service pack crashes, incompatability failures and incompatabilities with Windows software. Windows tries to be all things to all people and fails for that reason. Compaq was one of the few companies that built a solid machine that lasted.
I recently purchased an iMac G5 and actually was able to edit pictures and create DVDs with the iLife suite that comes with it. It took less time and actually worked. It was also designed to easily create beautiful projects easily. There are rumored to be very few hiccups in the Mac but they do happen and Apple is quick to deal with it. Some of the software I have bought or tried from third parties is awesome and relatively inexpensive. the stuff just works.
I can't speak for the Mac Laptops, but Steve Jobs is switching to Intel Processors because of the power usage issues between Mac Laptops and the Power PC processors they have used for so long. The laptops are way behind the desktops. Moving to Intel proboably won't mean a Mac OS on a PC for a while. Apple has a proprietary BIOS in their motherboards. The OS is written for the Power PC Processor. I do expect to see rock solid stability and smooth innovation continue with their products. The .Mac membership and extended service plan has been a nice substitute for the thin Help files which I have rarely needed. I also got to attend a few seminars for free at the store I bough it from. THEY SPOILED ME!
Tiger is like the toppings on a Sundae. It adds innovative features for finding things on the Mac quickly and easily, automating tasks, video conferencing and a lot of things people would just add on for creature comfort and personalization.
You have likely not even seen anything to truly appreciate by using the Mac at the library. OS X (pronounced Oh Ess Ten) itself is so much more personable than Win XP once you get used to it. My PC laptop would collect dust if it didn't have wireless@the couch and my desktop PCs are now storage devices on my network.

Paul Warren claims that "It is JUST as difficult to uninstall
stuf
with mac as with a PC."

Hmmmm... I totally disagree! The Mac operating system
has no registry. When you uninstall something you simply
drag and drop it into the recycle bin - its as simple as
that.

However, the MS office that there are problems with
comes with an uninstaller (typical of MS), so this needs to
be used, and his pl list (preference list) needs to be
deleted. That complication is the fault of MS, not the Mac
as most if not all other programs are simply dragged and
dropped into the recycle bin to uninstall, what could be
simpler?

I have both Windows and Mac machines. If you are
unsure, why not buy an inexpensive Mac Mini and use a
KVM switch to attach it to your windows monitor so that
both are connected to the same monitor.

Make sure you get a RAM upgrade (easy to do yourself if
you are confident). This will allow you to assess the Mac
whilst still keeping your Wintel system.

Then if you don't like it, you can sell it on ebay with very
minimal loss (Macs keep their value better than standard
PCs). If you do like it then you can still sell it on ebay with
very little loss and put the money to getting an ibook.

As for battery life, it is purely dependant on what you are
doing, but battery life is around 4 to 6 hours with average
use. If you are playing a game then your battery is going
to run down very quickly, if you are surfing the net, then
you will get more juice out of it.

The more processor/memory intense the application you
are using, the quicker the battery will run down. Also, if
your backlight brightness etc is set on high, then this will
also affect your battery life. The same can be said of PC
laptops.

Whatever you decide, it is totally your decision, but
starting off with a mac mini and then selling it will ensure
that you do not loose out too much financially. :)