I would almost bet that if I had become an Apple Crisper instead of a DOS Loyalist I would have saved myself bunches on a gazillion upgrades to peripherals, a new monitor here and there and so on!

Oh well. I'm stuck with all the experience I gained (and patience) from years of trial and error. It used to bug me before Windows 95 came out we windows users actually had to manually configure all the add-on boards and cards with IRQ (interupt settings). There were always lots of conflicts and you just had to (well this is how I did it) try all possible combinations until you were granted a rest.

I don't like to get into the debates because what it all basically comes down to in my opinion is that you get what you pay for. I could spend $5000 on either a stylin fully loaded windows machine or an amazing Apple with all the extras. I think that both machines have very similar applications and the people that use them are equally as talented in what they do greatly on their systems. An application is only a shell to capture your creativity into. That part is priceless! But there are many small differences. I won't go into choosing favorites because I know if I would have become an Apple Puncher I would probably be just as satisfied and happy with my box with a million tweaks or computer. Half the joy is paying all the extra cash for the extra fancy upgrades and peripherals, and the designer software. I think it was almost a year ago now I got a primo video capture card and an 18 inch black NEC LCD display. I never go outside anymore! It is a joy to look at an LCD after years of CRTs burning my retinas! And my machine kept in good shape runs like a fox still. I will add one thing that windows has way big over Apple and that is the price of a system built in a local shop from the latest boards and chips etc.

Just take a look at the prices (in Canadian dollars too!) at this store down the street from me
www.ncix.com
You can get a starter system now that is over twice the CPU speed of my still fast PC! And for $560 CDN for everything but monitor.

AMD ATHLON XP 1700+ 1.
ECS L7VMM MATX KM266 S
PC2100 256MB DDR 266MH
MAXTOR DIAMONDMAX PLUS
1.44 MB HIGH DENSITY F
TSUNAMI 3 IN 1 DESK MA
NETLINK 18IN 300W ATX
LG CRD-8521B 52X MAX E
1 YEAR PARTS & 3 YEARS
$560 CDN

I just cannot find Apple prices that come close. This leaves you good money left over to spend on other things like retirement etc.

If I had a bunch of money come my way I would switch to Apple just to shake up my life's familiarity and to be better versed with the other half of the top two.

(DON'T BUG ME I AM TWEAKING WINDOWS!!)

Tinker