It depends on your requirements. I can say, for me, I switched to Mac OS X a couple years ago and I couldn't be happier. I do have Boot Camp and VM Ware with Windows 7 on my Mac Pro and Boot Camp with Parallels and Windows XP. I have the ability to use a MS product, but I almost never boot into the MS side or even into the VM. I use to build a new PC about every 6 months or clean my Windows system (fresh install or program/registry cleanup). Bottom line, I spend less time maintaining my computer since going Mac. I spend less down time due to disk defrag, installing updates, virus scanning, malware scanning, etc. As a support contractor (my old private business), I was fixing my customer's PCs constantly. Most of my family and clients went to Macs (part of the reason I decided to give it a shot) and my call volume and subsequently the client visits dropped off to next to nothing. It just works.
By comparison, my Macs spend more time up and they are just as fast as they were the day I bought them. No slowdowns due to program installation, no blue screens, little to no software/OS maintenance. I've heard the entire range of reasons why not to get a Mac, but all of those positions are flawed or rooted in old and outdated justifications. "You can't update the hardware because it's Apple proprietary", false. I have bought upgrades
through Newegg and other sources, like RAM, hard drives, disk drives, graphics cards, etc. Side note: Don't by Apple RAM, get RAM from another source for pennies on the dollar compared to Apple RAM. "Apple has only one button on the mouse", false. Apple products haven't had a one button mouse for years. Some of the laptops did have a single button on them, but holding a Ctrl key and pressing the button is the same as a right click. The mice delivered with the units have two buttons on them and have been that way for years. "It's more expensive than a Dell/HP/Compaq/etc", true and false. While the initial purchase is a little more expensive, when you look at the package deal it's much cheaper and you get more for your dollar. I've done dozens of Cost-Benefit Analyses for people and you save in the long run. No additional programs/software to
buy, the amount of powerful software that comes resident with the system is more than enough for most people and intuitive enough to use without reading a stack of manuals or going to classes for it. The level of support, either at an Apple store or over the phone, far exceeds anything you'll get from Microsoft.
Simply put, the synergy and forethought in the system become apparent after using a Mac. The combination of hardware and software working together is an accepted benefit. I was one of the biggest Windows fanboys for years and it took me a couple of weeks to get "comfortable" with the look and feel of the OS. After that, it's smooth sailing. The important thing to remember is the correlation between MS and OS X. You can do the same things, just some minor key changes. Instead of Ctrl+c/v/x it's +c/v/x to do the same thing.
