Arg. So. I've been wrestling with coming back to Mac for weeks... nay, months now. Losing sleep. MWSF was a really exciting event (just read the coverage) that I think has pushed me back to this point. Also need a good home system. The NT system at work seems very stable and way more so than my last mac which ran 7.x (which featured the then-apple equivilent of the blue screen of death: the system freeze-up/slow down).
This question is somthing of a combo-software/hardware query. The choice is down to: In the PC world - a dell PWS 650 with a mid 2.xeon (good: 3 yr. warranty, account assigned rep., 8x AGP, can upgrade the processor / add a second, Win. XP seems stable and fine, usual compatibility) or 1.42 power mac (a little less scalable than the dell, 4x agp, have to pay extra $249 for 3 yr. coverage, it seems more limited use of optical drive capabilities). I know folks love macs. But setting aside strong emotional feelings - why would the Apple be a better choice than the Dell WS? Also - is OS X really better than XP? Macworld magazine seems filed with software fixes for OS X and I see a good deal of advice on this board too. Reasons either way from folks who've had some experiences with similar systems would be really helpful and may help pin this one down. Help! Many, many thanks for your advice in advance.
This question is somthing of a combo-software/hardware query. The choice is down to: In the PC world - a dell PWS 650 with a mid 2.xeon (good: 3 yr. warranty, account assigned rep., 8x AGP, can upgrade the processor / add a second, Win. XP seems stable and fine, usual compatibility) or 1.42 power mac (a little less scalable than the dell, 4x agp, have to pay extra $249 for 3 yr. coverage, it seems more limited use of optical drive capabilities). I know folks love macs. But setting aside strong emotional feelings - why would the Apple be a better choice than the Dell WS? Also - is OS X really better than XP? Macworld magazine seems filed with software fixes for OS X and I see a good deal of advice on this board too. Reasons either way from folks who've had some experiences with similar systems would be really helpful and may help pin this one down. Help! Many, many thanks for your advice in advance.