To me a PC desktop or notebook is simply a tool, it is not a style of fashion statement. I tend to keep these things for extended periods just becasue there is s new model does not mean the one I am using no longer works. When I look at tools I am looking for the tool that gives the best value for the task required. In my opinion the price points of mac's do not provide the best value. This is not to say it is a bad tool it is just does not represent the best value to me. For example I can buy a Snap on Screw driver with a life time warranty or I can buy a crafsman screw driver with a life time warranty. THe second costs about 1/2 or less than the first and the screw does not care what one I am using. For general purpose business and casual use the PC due to its price points with the included software represent the crafsman screw driver to me. You can ge a fine machine running XP and microsoft office for very good prices. And if you do not like Internet Explorer get FireFox it is also free. I am not a fan of open office or neo office while free in my experience do not work well with others. What I mean is if I create a presentation in open office and sent it to someone who is also running open office (but maybe a different service level) most of the time the presentation formatting is affected such as font sizes. BTW, I work for a company that pushes Open Office hard but I use MS Office even on my mac.