My partner came up with what I thought was a good test. He installed XP on on a 24" IMac we just got and configured a PC using that price tag. (It's since had Leopard put back on it)

For $2,400 (roughly) the IMac came out with a 2.8Ghz Core2 Duo, 4GB RAM 800, 1TB SATA drive and an 256MB ATI Radeon HD 2600 with a 24" Monitor and a single DVDRW drive.

For the same price he configured a 2.66Ghz Quadcore PC, 4GB RAM 1333, 2 x 1TB SATA drives, a 1GB GTX280 graphics card, DVD RW lightscribe and a BlueRay DVDRW along with a 24" Monitor.

(Yes, XP doesn't recognize the full 4GB, but the memory were all 2GB sticks. XP was using 3.2GB of the 4 on both hardware platforms. Hes correcting me as I write this.)

At which point he benchmarked them - surprisingly (not) the PC kicked the holy crap out of the Mac. I mean, it wasn't even in the same ballpark.

Not only that, the CPU, RAM and hard drive are not manufactured by Apple, leaving basically the chassis and mainboard as Apple specific products. So much for the vaunted superiority of Mac hardware. They're pretty PCs at this point in their lives and frankly, not very powerful ones for the price.

As an Apple certified tech and MCSE/A+, he's worked on both systems extensively. According to him, hardware failure rates and servicing between the two platforms are not miles apart.

As for the OS, he gives the Mac a slight edge for the average home user, a big plus for graphics and entertainment industries (along with a few others), but when it comes to business and enterprise situations Mac OS blows monkey chunks.

If you want the cachet of paying more for a home system, knock yourself out. But what little gain you get in the OS is more than mitigated by the inflated hardware costs of a Mac. If you're a graphic artist, a publisher, in the recording or film industry, etc., get a Mac. If you do anything else, don't go Mac.

By the way, he wants to me point out that the argument is basically stupid in nearly all incarnations since most people use pretty much antecdotal evidence based on wholly subjective criteria, rendering the conlusion applicable to the individual only. Hardly an objective comparison since in most cases it's a back end justification for buying either. The spurned lover syndrome he calls it. Whichever platform one has migrated from gets remembered in the most negative light while the new love interest can do no wrong.

Overall, both are acceptable platforms, with their respective disadvantages and pluses within certain areas dictating the wisdom of the purchase decision.

__________________
Toodley-doo,
Maggie.