Originally Posted by Phester

I went from PC to Mac. I bought a 12inch Powerbook (subsequently upgraded with a gig memory and I had to buy an external harddrive to hold all my music files).

The operating system is amazing - it is much better and much more well integrated than the PC laptops I have had.

I have always had problems installing new software or new hardware on any PC I have had - there is always some problem. But on the Mac, everything is totally integrated. Everything works perfectly out of the box.

BUT!!! BIG BUT!!.... I am getting rid of my Mac - however much I love it, I mustget rid of it and get a PC.

Unfortunately, as a CPA, all of my business software is only available for PC. Don't let anyone tell you that Virtual PC will run everything. It may, but it is soooooo slow - basically worthless. In order to properly work from home and out of the office in meetings, I need a PC for all my tax and accounting software.

I use my Mac for purely entertainment / word processing stuff. It has my photos, browser and email, all my 20+gigs of music on itunes, and my writings. But for business and making sure that no matter what you buy it will run - then you have to go PC.

I have never had a problem with files going from PC to Mac and back.

If Mac was able to run every program - it would be a no-brainer. It is smoother and the physical package is put together so slick and compact.

And chatting with iChat is amazing. Much better than any other IM program I have ever seen. and the quality of the video chatting is amazing.

Good luck!