So, is there really a stark contrast difference between PC and Mac, or is there more of a gray scale in between. For example, if my machine was in one of Mac's commercials, it would be like:

"HI, I'm a Mac."
"Hello, I'm a PC."
"Hello, I'm a collection of computer components purchased from different web sites, such as Newegg, TigerDirect, ZipZoomFly, and Woot, penta-booting among XP, Vista, Fedora Linux, LinuxLime, and Ubuntu Linux, and running a host of free and open source programs that replace (and are generally better then) their expensive counterparts (Gimp, OpenOffice, etc.), all of which costs less than a MacBook with 1/4 my processong power or a PC with 1/2 my processing power fo the same price."

Granted, by this point, the given time for the comercial would be gone, but you see what I'm saying? Aren't they really just talking about a small section of the general computer industry, specifically targeted at people who are capable of pushing the power button and surfing the web, but not necessarily much more than that (not that I'm saying that's a bad thing)?

If your lazy to upgrade your PC and want to spend a lot for just another Mac(another computer) that has the upgrade when you can just buy the card/harddrive and install it to your PC then your a Mac.

As far as I know Macs are PCs, or Personal Computers. You got a monitor, box full of different hardware, OS, keyboard + mouse, etc. As a matter of fact Mac machines can run other operating systems through a boot-control such as Bootcamp.

That's what I always thought, Bjossi. A Mac is just a specific brand of computers, just as HP is a specific brand of computers. The only difference is that Macs have a proprietary OS that you cannot install on any other computer and comes with its own set of programs, which makes it worthless for my needs. Not that I'm saying Macs are a bad choice for everyone...

Is it really true that you cannot upgrade Mac hardware? Not even the hard drive or RAM?

Well, did a Google search on "Mac components" and found surprisingly little... Didn't notice any online stores for them, and most of the sites I saw were for "components" to software...

I'm sure upgrades are possible, but it doesn't exactly look like you'd have nearly as much freedom of choice as you would with a regular PC.

EDIT: Noticed one "store" called Mac Heaven. It had no results in their RAM Upgrade section, no results in their Sound Card section, and 12 results in their Graphics Card section. 3 Radeon cards, 1 of them a mac version of my card, which means a Radeon 9200 128MB, while another was a 9800 128MB. Stellar.

I didn't check the other sections.

So um... maybe it was just a lousy store...?

Well, buying a Mac for gaming is like buying Alienware for browsing the web; you are spending far more money than you have to.

Though I find it hard to believe Macs are completely un-upgradeable... What if some piece of hardware malfunctions or you need a faster processor for the next generation of apps you use for work? It would make little sense to buy a whole new computer when you just need a better processor.

Mac is a PC in a sense, but it's hardware is very specific for the Mac OS's. Although they have started bringing out their OS for Intel machines now, to try and increase their user base.

Mac's are historical more powerful than PC's, but these days thats not the case any more.

Here in South Africa, there's not many around, due mainly to cost. Those that have macs, is mainly the people involved in publishing and graphic design. It seems in the past the Mac overpowered the PC by a long way in those fields...

Yeah, I hear for multimedia they got a lot better programs or something. Got a friend who mixes and records his band with a Mac or something, said something about that.

I've used Apple computers all of my life, and also booted Windows natively(meaning without emulation) on my mac for a year. It worked without any problems and i loved it for quite a bit, but after a year it just got kind of old... using OSX is a lot easier and has a lot less issues to deal with than using windows XP. The virus thing is also nice, and yes getting viruses is probably something only windows users get that look at porn all day. but anyone can get a virus on the web at almost any web site.

Macs are upgradeable, but you have to buy a mac that is upgradeable to upgrade it. My mac is just a monitor, theres no box where all of the hardware goes or anything like that. I have my mouse, monitor, and keyboard. I cant upgrade my mac, but o well i guess. I dont really play video games much these days anyways.

Statements like those are subjective. With 7 years of experience I don't find XP to be problematic in the least.

i dont find windows problematic either, i just dont like having things more complicated than they need to be(even in the least minor ways). Its just a personal preference really.

Ok, you guys convinced me to to some Googling.

http://www.macvswindows.com/index.php?t ... omparisons

http://compreviews.about.com/od/general/ss/MacXP.htm

http://www.macvswindows.com/index.php?title=Main_Page

After skimming through, picking at parts here and there, I really do ge the impression that it really does come down to personal preference. Is there ahy way for a Windows or linux machine to emulate a OSX operating system? For example, in VrtualBox, I can make a virtual machine running different Linux distros to quickly get a feel for what I like and don't like. However, I have not found any sort of Mac operating systems...

It boils down to preference and what you intend to do. This is why Mac vs. Windows goes in circles just like Intel vs. AMD or ATi vs. nVidia; one option is not better than the other.

exactly, just personal choice

I'd also like to add that I find it funny how Apple is bashing Vista becasue some people would ahve to spend upwards of $400 to get sufficient hardware upgrade, but I would have to spend $1,400 to get a machine capable of running OSX (in other words a Mac).