And why not…in preparation for running a VM in OS X I have been running both Windows 7 and Windows 8 VMs on a Windows 7 host using VirtualBox and I have had no problems whatsoever…this, rightfully or wrongfully, has created similar expectation in OS X.
I guess it depends on what you're running, and what your expectations exactly are. Older or less hardware intensive programs run just fine on a VM. Games or high end editors? Yeah...there's no way in hell I'd want to use those in Parallels.
And what do you mean by a little too simple and what, in your experience, do you think that I will not be able to do in OS X that I can do in Windows?
I honestly can't think of anything myself. In general, I find OSX and Windows pretty interchangeable. Anything I can do in one, I can do in the other. Though some people do prefer Windows as it offers more granular control over every little thing in the OS. This is opposed to OSX, which is more streamlined and user friendly out of the box, but doesn't give you quite as much access to the underpinnings.
In other words, if you don't like something in Windows, you can probably find a way to change it. In OSX, you're stuck with the Apple way of doing things. This isn't all that bad if you like the Apple way (which is a more than decent way of doing things), but if you don't...well...hell...
In the event that I do not like working with OS X I will be returning the MBA and getting either an Asus Zenbook or a Samsung Series 9 which to me are very good ultrabooks that cost a lot less than the MBA.
Are the Zenbooks less expensive now? I thought they were about the same price, give or take a hundred bucks or so.
I will recommend sticking with it for at least a couple of weeks to get the feel of things. You know how you hear all these people talking about how OSX is so easy? How it's immediate natural with no learning curve whatsoever? That's not really totally and complete true. It's an easy to use OS and all, but there's a transitional curve to everything new. If you're used to doing things the Windows way (lots of time in Explorer, doing things by hand, programs actually closing when you hit the X...), then OSX is going to seem clunky and limited in comparison. I hated it when I first tried it. Once I got used to the automatedness of it, I came to appreciate what Apple was going for. You don't have to spend quite as much time with background tasks as you do with Windows.
As for the rest, I'm waiting on Gen 2 of the rMBP myself. Though that new 27" iMac has been tempting the hell out of me. 99% of the power of a full on desktop, without all those cords and extra bits and pieces.
...damn, that'd be nice. Almost worth having to buy some suction cups to replace the harddrive with.