But, if money isn’t too much of a concern, then a Mac seems the way to go simply for the fact that it’s two operating systems in one. Especially if you’re out of your video game phase.

If you’ve still got your XP install disks, then you wouldn’t have to buy a new version of the Windows OS.

Oh, and the networking thing too. I don’t know if there are two computers in your house, but Dawn’s got an old iBook and I often use that to access files on my mini. She also prints through a network printer. Setting it all up is incredibly painless on the Mac, and from all accounts, it’s even easier on Leopard.

My biggest concern about Leopard is that Dawn’s iBook processor is the extreme low end of the system requirements, and my mini’s RAM is too. The iBook’s got more RAM than my mini, but the mini has a faster processor. Anyway, I’m kind of nervous about how the comps will handle Leopard’s new skills.

But as I mentioned in the post, I don’t really have a choice. Because of my disk errors, I have to upgrade.

RE: Bootcamp it’s a great option to be able to run MS Windows if needed but just so Justin and others are clear, you’ll still need to buy a copy of Vista or XP to install as well.

How Leopard Will Improve Your Security.

As far as I am aware — I pay semi-close attention — there hasn’t been a single real virus to infect Mac OS X, thanks mostly to the way UNIX protects the system from the user. As of last October, Will Shipley (who runs a relatively popular blog) had found three possible viruses for the Mac, but he had some reservations about even calling them viruses, so…

Put simply: Theoretically, there can viruses. But as Kevin Costner once said, “Theoretical physics can also prove that an elephant can hang off a cliff with its tail tied to a daisy.”

As for using Word and Powerpoint…not only does iWork ‘08 convert those files, but Microsoft Office exists for the Mac. I use Microsoft Word every day on my Mac. And I’ll tell you what else: Mac Office is about a hundreds time better than the PC version (though it’s not as robust). Microsoft has a Mac-specific division, the Macintosh Business Unit, and its developers all work on Macs, keep close ties to Apple, and seem to do everything they can to make the best Mac applications possible.

Word for Mac is not the same as Word for Windows. The MacBU folks don’t just recompile the code to run on a Mac. They design from the ground up.

As far as the stock goes…when they do their next stock split, be sure you buy a few shares, ’cause from what Steve Jobs said the other day, the future of Apple looks bright.

Now because I am mostly past my gaming phase of life I am not to concerned about not being able to play the latest games, I guess my main concern would be if I needed to do work that had to be done on MS word or PowerPoint is there a conversion from Iwork that can be used or would I be shit out of luck. I suppose from what you are telling me I could just install MS office.

I am 70/30 regualr/mac but I am warming up to your commie computer and their growth, in 2001 you could of bought Apple stock for 6 bucks its trading for 185 today. Then again Google is trading for 670+ and if their gamble in black fiber works out then watch out.

2) No viruses, trojans, spyware, etc. And I mean, none. Seriously. I’ve been running a Mac since 1992, and I download crap off the Internet dozens of times a day, and I’ve never had one virus issue. Theoretically, they exist, but I’ve never run into ‘em. On the Windows machine I used to run at the office, we got hit by a major virus at least twice a year.

3) The ease-of-use is simply incomparable. I worked on a Windows machine every weekday for three years before I became a telecommuter. The level of efficiency I have on my Mac compared to Windows is ridiculous. It’s not just getting done what I need to get done, because you can pretty much do anything on Windows. The difference is that doing it on a Mac is fun. So, because working with my computer is fun, rather than frustrating, I’m inspired to do more.

That’s more than a hundred words, obviously, but without knowing how or why you use your computer, I thought it best to scatter shoot a little bit.