We are in 2005 and using technology is supposed to be easier. I have really been through the technology wringer this year, buying a new Windows XP system, bringing up SUSE Linux on an extra hard drive that I installed in that Dell XP system, and finally buying a new dual G5 OS X Macintosh.
In theory getting the Macintosh going should have been the easiest. I bought the system from a mail order vendor, partially because of a free additional memory offer. Of course sometimes you really do get what you pay for in computers.
It took me nearly eight hours of very hard trouble shooting to finally figure out what was wrong with my new Mac. The free additional memory was bad.
Unfortunately Apple's tools are so simplified that determining something like this is really very hard. On top of that re-installing OS X requires starting from the beginning each time it fails. In my opinion Linux has much better recovery tools.
So does all of this change my recommendation of what computers people should consider. Fortunately I have enough experience over the years with Macs to know what I faced is rather rare. What did I learn from my problem. Buy your system from a manufacturer. Introducing a reseller into the equation adds some variables that might lead to problems especially if you are dealing with someone by mail. With a Mac you often only have the choice of buying by mail. If you can still find a good local reseller and need that kind of head, it is probably worth the difference in cost.
Would my problem have happened if I had dealt directly with Apple. A similar problem can't be completely ruled out. Things happen to memory.
Of course dealing with Apple can be challenge as even the most fanatical Mac supporters will often admit. If you get a DOA system from Apple, you might have to have it repaired instead of replaced unless the rules have changed recently.
Fortunately companies like Dell and Apple sell systems that the vast majority of the time work right out of the box with few challenges other than all the updates that are required.
No one should forget that computers are still complex, and making everything work is harder than it should be even in 2005. The good news is that most of the current machines work very well once you get them going, and sometimes that can even be almost "easy."
Even new systems have to go through a lot of updates right out of the box unless miraculously you have bought a system just after a major OS release. Even then, it will only be a matter of weeks before updating your system cannot be ignored. These large updates are a huge challenge without high speed internet connectivity.
My recommendations stand, if you want to do digital photography, movies, web, or print media work, buy a Mac especially if you spend a lot of time on the web and get a lot of e-mail.
If you do word processing and spreadsheets and spent a minimal amount of time on the web, you will be fine with a Windows machine especially if you already have Windows experience. You're fine on the web with a Windows machine if you take extra precaustions like using Firefox and making certain you stay current on your virus defintions and operate behind a firewall. Expect more spam and viruses than on a Mac or Linux machine.
If you really like the wide variety of hardware available in the Intel world and spend a lot of time on the web and are not afraid of technology, give Linux a try. You will likely be surpirsed at the power and the similarity to the Windows world will make it a relatively painless migration. As a bonus you will get lots of free software and a very stable system.
If games are important, buy a Windows machine. If scientifc applications and MS Office are critical, buy a Mac. If there are some very specific devices important to you, check with other users. GPS devices apparently do not accept map uploads from Macs and there are many custom business applications that work only on Windows.
The really good news is that all these machines work much better together on a network than they did just a few years ago. Often the same replacement hard drives, keyboards, mice, printers, scanners, even many PCI cards, and displays will work with all of the modern operating systems.
If you have an old system and can afford it, a new computer system will make your life simpler, eventually. :-)
Windows XP Professional, Mac OS X, and Linux are all operating systems with pluses and minuses, there will likely never be one OS that is right for everyone, and we should be happy about that instead of wasting time arguing which is the best OS.
Personally I would rather have some choice in what I use so I can make a decision as to what is the best product for me. I have never worried about being out in front in trying new technology even when it was farm equipment instead of computers.
