Hey guys:)
i have another question for you. I am considering buying an Imac for the house. Would like to know from personal experiences because its just not the same reading reviews online. Which do you prefer and why?
thanks in advance:) 

I've used windows all my life until about 2 years ago. We ought our first apple/ iMac. It was the best decision ever!! We are total Apple people now! We now have the 27" iMac, MacBook pro, iPhone, ipad2, iPod touch,and both apple tvs. Sould have bought stock in apple huh?

Anyway, we love all our products and the only thing I found difficult at first was I over thought how to use it. I find it to be so much more simplistic than windows. 

Mac vs PC really depends on what you are going to do.

Do you plan on playing video games and just surfing the internet? Then get a PC.

Do you plan on editing music, software, photos and video? Get a Mac. 

we switched to Mac a few years ago and I haven't regretted it. Having PCs made me learn to troubleshoot PCs -- recovering data, reinstalling windows etc etc I haven't had to do much with the macs - not that we haven't had problems but they weren't ones that I could fix and have generally been fixed under our applecare plans. 

We are a Mac family. It's easy for the kids to do all of their schoolwork and play on it. Also, I am able to do all of my college school as well - there are now apps and programs that help me fill in the gaps for what was once strictly for PC. I can open word documents & utilize pretty much anything from my virtual classroom. Our TV/Internet is run via the Mac and we wouldn't go any other way with it. All of our computers & iPhones "talk" to each other wirelessly so we've become quite the little Mac family. If you have specific questions please message me. 

Hey guys thanks for all the responses, it seems like the mac is a good choice:) i just had a question, i have heard people have had problems with macs overheating because the harddrive is so close to the screen, is this true? have you had to get it fixed regularly?
thanks in advance:) 

I have never had a problem with any mac I owned. I've had 5 so far. 

We own everything Mac...we have never had an overheating problem ever with our iMac or MacBooks. 

We've had 6 Macs (desktop/laptops) and never had an overheating issue, although one of our laptops currently rests on a fan/stand device if it's being used for long-term (you can get at the BX). Like what was said above - applecare has always covered the few minor issues that we've had. 

I've used windows all my life until about 2 years ago. We ought our first apple/ iMac. It was the best decision ever!! We are total Apple people now

In your experience, what is the main difference for you? What were the challenges going from PC to MAC? I've always been a PC person myself but I always hear MAC people saying they don't have to deal with all the "crap" that we have to deal with and I just need to know exactly what that means? I know MAC/Apple products are "sleeker" but I need something that's functional vs. just looking nice. But if MAC is both, then I may be ready to jump ship too! 

I know someone is going to get all bent out of shape over this, but...

Why do people insist on using Windows with a PC? Windows is a choice people make because often they don't know any better.

If you want a computer that will rarely, if ever have a problem, try Umbuntu. Not only is it pretty much bullet proof, but it is far better than any OS Apple has, IMO.

Having PCs made me learn to troubleshoot PCs -- recovering data, reinstalling windows etc etc

This is what I am talking about. Were you troubleshooting the PC, or troubleshooting Windows?

People can have a Linux PC for way less. Umbuntu is FREE! This means you can buy a PC without the Windows OS and save a lot of money. And, Ubuntu uses a GUI (graphical user interface), just like Windows, so you can keep the Windows familiarity without keeping the headaches. 

dipthong, how about comparability with windows based products. i've never used umbuntu but i'm guessing it runs on a unix kernel. does open office work with umbuntu? one big catch is the amount of software, especially games, is available for umbuntu? you have to remember most people use their pc for games, web surfing, and e-mail. if there are no games available then you won't get people away from windows.

to address the question. i used a windows based pc for a long time. i found it to be a pain in some ways but it worked. i switched to a mac just to try something new. granted, it is more stable, and there are far fewer viruses and even fewer "critical security updates" but all in all it's windows by a different name. i'm not sure these differences make up for the difference in cost. 

Thanks for all the feedback guys :) Another thing, i have to ask, i was reading the specs of the Imac that i want and it says there is only 1GB of RAM wouldnt that make the computer run really slow? I know it is upgradable but until i bought the memory upgrade how fast does it run?
thanks 

an imac with only 1gb of ram???? that sounds completely wrong. the macbooks normally come with at least 4gb. i just checked the web and unless the exchange is selling a wierd version all the imacs come with 4gb of ram. the only thing i saw is the 27" imac with the 3.1ghz processor has 1gb of video memory. that will help if you run a lot of the high end games that eat up a lot of video processing. 

yes it was the 21 inch aluminum model 

Our Mac gives us no problems! -Because it sits in the box!

Hate Macs and their interface, have been using Windows for years without problems and does everything I need it to do, from jailbreaking all my Apple products to writing code on. Have Windows on my HTPC's and they "talk" to all my other products.

You can find a similar spec'd laptop for about $1000 less that will be all that and a bag of hot cheetos. 

Ubuntu is a very simple OS. I liked it, but the learning curve, for a normal user who is not an IT person, is a little bigger. About the same as switching from a Windows-based OS to a Mac, I'd figure.

It's not pretty. It's simple, it's clean and very, very basic.

However, it's hard when you need to troubleshoot, because it's not as widely used as the other two main OS's. I also had a hard time getting the right drivers installed at first, took a little bit of wrangling to get my old vaio to work right with it. Once it was set up right, everything worked like a champ, and it was so, so much faster. 

JustM4E,

The biggest challenge for me was over thinking the mac. For example, when I used to burn cd's on my PC I needed to do quite a few steps in order to do so. With the imac you put a blank CD in drag songs in itunes to your playlist and click burn. Yup, it was that simple. Now, I don't really burn cds a lot since we have ipods and iphones. Also we've taken a lot of video of our travels since being here and my husband edits them on the mac and makes home movies for us and our fam. It's super easy and dare I say even, idiot proof?!

IMO, it is easier to use than a PC. That is my personal opinion, and I'm sure some others would disagree.
I've also never had a problem with any of my mac/apple products mysteriously & unexpectedly shutting down. I've had that problem with my last PC. 

Compatibility with Windows applications is not an issue 99% of the time.

As for ease of use, it is a GUI, just like Windows.

I installed it on three computers at my house and did not have to locate a single driver. Sounds like Mojo had some bad luck.

Even my mother was able to pickup on using Umbuntu within a day or two, and if she can do it, ANYONE can do it. 

The computer I installed it on was pretty old, and I think that was the main problem.

But I had no issue with it.