Yep, you're right. I'm a sheep that keeps using Windows despite the fact that a Mac is a better computer. I do this because I'm ignorant, lazy, and myopic.

Like I said: "The common Mac-user assumption is that most people don't own a Mac because they are ignorant is just plain wrong." Most of us have tried Macs and we're not convinced they are better computers. Stating otherwise just doesn't make it so. PCs are more popular because they are judged to be better by most users.

If I thought a Mac was better, the next time I needed to buy a computer, I'd switch.

I used to make my living off PCs. Then I was sick of them and didn't touch a keyboard for five years. And now I have a Mac. Couldn't have done it any other way. I had files no program available for Mac (or Linux) could read. Software I didn't want to buy a second time. Only a five-year lapse could make all of that worthless. A computer is cheap compared to the value of what we put in them. And we don't want to throw all of that away because a Mac looks better, or sells better, or even works better.

That's why Microsoft never really worried about OS X, or Linux, or any other operating system. People are hooked. The indirect costs of switching are enormous.

...that so many of the Mac promoters here are arguing against straw men rather than the specific points that PC defenders are saying, based on actual experience. But I do take back that the only programs I use frequently are Word, Power Point, and AviSys. I also use Photoshop (I've edited tens of thousands of photos since I had a job writing a birding blog) Cool Edit (it still works just peachy so I refuse to buy the upgraded Adobe version) and Dreamweaver. I produce a daily radio spot which I edit on my PC and then upload to my webpage and podcast. And as I said, I've never had a crash yet on the PC that I've had for four years. My laptop has crashed exactly twice in two and a half years, and I ALWAYS have too many windows open. (Right now I see that I have 9 windows open.)

Today I applied for a job. The requirements include "Proficiency in Microsoft office applications required."

As I said, the main thing that makes one or the other superior is what you're used to. But I also like that part of the money I spend on a computer goes to research and protecting people from malaria. Bill Gates is stinking rich, but at least he knows how to spend it.

My god, what century on you in? I run os 9 on my mac with os x. Have had that since os x came out. I have programs on my machine that are over 15 years old and counting. Backward compatibility, my ass. Duh. And as for business apps, I have multiple databases, word processing, page layout, apps from on my mac and have had for years, plus multiple web development apps, graphics, including coding development, etc., etc. I've always been able to find CHEAP software that covers doing anything I want on my mac. I also have bought multiple peripherals for the same cost as you would buy for a Windows, so don't give me that crap. In addition, I can crossplatform most of my documents and open 90% of docs from a Windows on my mac WITHOUT crossplatform software for the past 10 years and counting! The problem is always the other way around, Windows apps that don't recognize anything except their own docs let alone a compatible one from a mac. Sorry, all of those myths are bogus!

The real problem is all the bullshit people believe and have sold about macs. Fine, keep believing your dinosaur is doing what you think it is as it crashes. My high flying mac zooms along and just keeps going and just keeps going and going.

I just installed Leopard. Took 48 minutes from the first insertion of the DVD to the final reboot under 10.5.

My 2-year-old machine runs better than it did before, and I had to spend exactly squat on anything other than the software.

That's all I need to know.

Anyone remember those TV commercials showing someone with a black eye saying "Us Tareyton smokers would rather fight than switch!"? That's pretty much us, whether we're PC or Mac people. Because it IS hard to switch, unless you have a cool mental ambidextrousness.

that the real goal of this column was to try to get mentioned in the blog of the Fake Steve Jobs.

You said, "Since Macs are primarily for home users and graphics professionals, the Mac appdev community is really small. Backward compatibility is not much of an issue."

Your ignorance on this subject apparently knows no bounds.

Okay, let me get this right. First, in a single sentence, you dismissed the user who builds their machine from scratch. With this machine, they are welcome to run Windows, FreeBSD, Linux, Frankly, whatever they choose. If they are unix users, I promise you this machine will be in use much longer than your latest Leopard Mac, and at half the cost. To make matters worse, low end macs are particularly low end. Skimping on the cheapest of parts (RAM, HD, and processor specifically) and asking what I believe to be a premium on upgrade (RAM being particularly abused). Geeks do not buy a computer with the idea "what will I get for this on EBay a year from now!?" Perhaps we should, but we don't. To say that "Mac has won" though, is a pretty high statement, especially considering all you have is EBay to back you up. This argument is thin at best.

Note, I am writing this on a macbook pro 2.66. Literally, the single most inhibited, unconfigurable machine running it's native OS I have ever used. There is so much I cannot do on this machine to appease myself perhaps I should place it on Ebay according to the author's ideal circumstance.

Mac will win under a single condition as far as I am concerned. 1) If they can prove life if MS decides to nix office (of which they have Iwork and non-native OO to replace), or if they can survive without Parallels or Boot Camp. Plus, spare me the "artistic" side of mac, windows has possessed greater third party tools for years (see fruityloops, the greatest amateur music production software in history). MS screwed up for certain releasing Vista in it's current state, but to say Mac won based on resale? Then you call it a Ford and not a Honda?

You sir, are an idiot.