My response is you get what you pay for. Macs are better quality hardware, have the superior OSX operating system, and no virus issues. But this falls on deaf ears as a struggling attempt to come up with some rationale.
So what say ye all? Why do we love Macs over PCs, and what do you tell followers of the dark side?
And by dark side you mean Apple? You should, because Apple is much more proprietary and anti-competitive than Microsoft ever was or ever could be.
Besides that, your arguments for a Mac can be pushed from the table with the snap of a finger.
Apple uses standard PC hardware components in their computers. There is NOTHING special or "higher quality" about a Mac. Any upper middle class OEM PC from HP or Dell easily meets Apple's quality level (which, in my experience, isn't that great anyway).
It's the design that makes the difference, and it's the design that makes people buy Macs. Add to that some efficient brainwashing from Apple's marketing department and you're there.
Also, the "superior" Mac OS X operating system is of little to zero use if it does not run the software that you need. Try to imagine at least for a second that millions of people need more than just a web browser and iPhoto and the Adobe Creative Suite to satisfy their needs. And then the "superiority" of Mac OS X can be VERY short lived. Depending on the industry you work in, you will find ZERO software for OS X. Now what's superior about an operating system that cannot run your software?
Viruses. That argument is Apple FUD at its best. Imagine that: Install something like ESET NOD32 on your Windows or Linux machine and all your worries about malware are GONE. Just like that. It costs something like 30 bucks for three years and depending on the volume that you purchase the prices drop heavily.
You should also install an anti-virus software program on your Mac anyway, especially when you exchange Microsoft Office documents with the rest of the world. Maybe your Mac won't get infected, but nevertheless you will be spreading the disease and you have a responsibility.
But even without an anti-virus software, just use a little common sense, don't download pirated software, avoid russian porn pages and don't open every attachment some idiot sent to you via eMail and you will be fine. Additionally, surfing with a relatively safe browser like Firefox also helps a lot (and on Windows it even scans your downloads for viruses).
The only dangerous thing that I have ever caught in 25 years was the W32.Blaster worm -- and that thing could have worked on any other operating system with a similar security hole. For this thing to work, it was enough to hook up an unpatched Windows Server 2003 to the Internet - two minutes later, it would be infected and shut down. This beast cost me a week of work.
BUT: All operating systems have security holes, including Unixes like OS X. LAMP systems are also regularly under attack and their security holes are being exploited - PHP itself is a huge security hole. The more popular a platform is, the more it will be attacked. The community of LAMP users is also learning that fact on a daily basis.
There is no guarantee that OS X won't sooner or later be attacked in a similar way. The only difference here is that almost nobody runs OS X servers, but half of the planet runs Windows servers and the other half runs Linux, Solaris and some other systems that you won't find in a software shelf. Guess what target is more attractive to attack and hack. It's not OS X. And that's not because it is so much safer, but because no relevant company uses it.
Designer hardware and great graphics design don't automatically make for a superior system.
And please don't use "Macs run Windows, too" as an argument. It is quite the opposite, actually - it only proofs that the Mac alone is not a viable platform for most purposes.
