Ok...If you are just reading this...pay attention to the dates of when some of these have posted. I own an iMac G3 that has been in service since 2001, and has survived every OS9 and OS X upgrade since then. It has been used every day since it first booted and is still going strong. In less than half the time I have used this machine, I went through 2 PCs that ran win 98 and XP SP1fine, but once XP SP2 came out they turned to garbage. Many people claim that Apples are more expensive. That is totally not true. Other companies may have lower entry points, but compare an Apple with a similarly equipped Dell or whatever...Apple is definitely cheaper. And think about it... you also have to pay more for software...the Mac comes with iLife and iWork is a really good alternative to Office for general Word processing , spreadsheets and presentations. And think about what youll have to pay for antivirus and spam blocker software...and if you want good photo editing management, video, dvd authoring, etc etc...not the crap that comes with windoze...you'll pay extra for that too. Save the extra couple hundred bucks and get a computer that will last you a lot longer and provide more benefits. Apples give you more bang for the buck.