I just answered a similar question. I will just paste that answer here, because it applies . Before you read the answer, you should be aware that because my answer is not 100% pro Mac it will generate alot of negative ratings from Mac users. It is not my intention to be anti-Mac, but to put things into proper perspective. It is impossible to go into any truly in depth explanations or have a debate on Answers.
Also before I paste my response to the other question, I would like to point out to all the hardcore Mac users that even Apple.com acknowledges some of what I say. In fact if you go to http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/unix/ and look under the first screenshot you will see the picture of a little devil.
Why is there a devil on an Apple web page about Mac OS X? It is there because Mac OS X is based on FreeBSD and it is acknowledging it's roots. If you go to http://www.freebsd.org/ which is FreeBSD's homepage you will see the exact same devil.
Also watch the Mac users attack me like cowardly children knowing there is no effective way to respond or defend your position on Yahoo! Answers. They would not act this way in a real forum or chat because then they could be put in their place.
I wouldn't recommend buying a Mac for several reasons. You hear alot of hype about Macs, some of it is true, some of it is very misleading. Most of the Mac users I see in Yahoo Answers obviously have very little idea how computers work and just spout off the same rhetoric they hear on commercials and from other users. Let me explain in detail.
First most Mac users will say they switched to Mac years ago, so they have never used Windows XP. Most switched from Windows 95, 98, or ME. I have yet to experience the BSoD (Blue Screen of Death) on Windows XP.
The BSoD is a crash, Mac claims it doesn't crash. I have used numerous Operating Systems (Apple II, Amiga, Commadore 64, Tandy, all versions of Windows, Unix, Xandros Linux, Debian Linux, Redhat Linux, and SuSe Linux). Let me tell you from experience all Operating Systems can and will crash. Most modern Operating Systems are very stable but all can be made to crash if you install unsupported software/hardware or remove/alter vital parts of the OS.
People will tell you Macs are better at multimedia and graphics. Windows and Linux can do everything a Mac can do, just as well as a Mac can do it. In fact Mac OS X is based on a Linux like distribution called FreeBSD. Much of the software available on a Mac comes from the Open Source Community of which Linux is a major part.
You will hear you don't need drivers on a Mac. The people telling you this have no understanding of how Operating Systems work. The very core of your OS is called the Kernel. The Kernel contains all the information necessary to make your computer function at it's most basic level. Drivers are needed as instruction manuals for the OS to use your hardware. Many drivers are included in the Kernel by default. It is easy for Mac to include all of your drivers into the Kernel because your supported hardware options are limited (if you try to install an unsupported piece of hardware things might not work right or at all). The same is not true of Linux and Windows, it is impossible to include drivers for every possible piece of hardware without bloating the Kernel and making the system sluggish.
Viruses, Spyware, and Firewalls. Many Mac users will tell you Macs can't get viruses and spyware and don't need Firewalls. They will tell you this is because it is based on Unix and Unix is superior to Windows. They tell you this because they don't understand system security or network security. Linux is also Unix based, and it has firewalls as well as programs to detect viruses, spyware, and system intrusion/tampering. You will never hear a Linux user tell you his/her system is invulnerable because it is Unix based. What they will tell you is that it is much harder to get infected with a virus that can do any real harm to the Operating System (your personal documents are not protected) or spread to other systems due to the use of a SuperUser or root password. Most Mac users don't install security software on their computers and have no idea if they are infected with bots, keyloggers, and other things that operate behind the scenes without harming the system. All Operating Systems do get viruses and spyware.
You will hear Macs can't play games. This is partially true. There are a few games made for Mac and Linux, but they aren't great. You can play some of the older Windows games on a Mac using Cider or on Linux using Cedega. However if you want to play the latest and greatest games you will have to use Windows.
You will hear Mac users tell you Macs don't need to be upgraded. The biggest reason Macs don't need to be upgraded is because they don't have all the games. Games require alot of resources to play. The more graphics intensive games become the more memory you'll need, as well as faster processors, and video cards. Multimedia and 3D programs also require the same upgrades but they don't evolve as fast as games.
As far as running your personal website, Linux has tons of free software for web development and networking.
As to your question 'Why buy a Mac if it sounds like I'm going to be doing mostly everything on Windows?' Mac users will tell you Macs retain their value better than PCs. Of coarse this is true, after all who wouldn't pay $3000 for a used system versus $4000 for a new one? In the PC world no one is going to pay close to what you paid for your old system when they could buy a better system brand new for less than what you paid. Also Mac users will say you are paying for quality, PCs come with some really poor quality components to components that are as good if not better in quality as Mac components.
What I would recommend instead of wasting your money on a Mac is to buy a Windows PC and install Linux . If you really want to try a different OS I would dual boot a Linux distribution on your Windows PC. Linux can be extremely easy to use (some people claim certain distros are easier to learn than Mac because they feel like Windows) to extremely difficult to even install. You can make Linux look and feel like a Mac or like Windows, or like something entirely different. Linux has more flexibility than Mac or Windows because you can do anything you want with it, all you have to do is take the time to look things up, ask questions, and play with the system.
You have 2 major desktop environments in Linux: Gnome and KDE. Gnome is alot like the Mac OS X desktop while KDE is more like the Windows desktop. These are not the only 2 desktop environments available.
The distros that are recommended for beginners are:
Ubuntu - the OS is Free and uses Gnome
Kubuntu- Free and uses KDE
Xandros- about $60, uses KDE, has a 4 click install that takes about 20min, looks and feels alot like XP
Mandriva - about $80
To check out the distros just type www.(distroname).com All Linux distros have their own website. If you have any questions feel free to e-mail me. I can explain things in more detail or walk you through setting up a dual boot.
Edit: this is in reply to Dias' claims that my information is false.
==============================...
"People will tell you Macs are better at multimedia and graphics. Windows and Linux can do everything a Mac can do, just as well as a Mac can do it. In fact Mac OS X is based on a Linux like distribution called FreeBSD."
I guess people in the publishing and design business have no reason to mostly use macs, huh? Also very funny that you claim the Mac OS is based on an OS whose development started about 20 years after the first Mac OS was developed.
RESPONSE: The following are excerpts from the following Mac sites.
http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/uni...
1. UNIX users will feel at home in Darwin, the robust BSD environment that underlies Mac OS X.
2. The most widely-sold UNIX-based operating system, Mac OS X offers a unique combination of technical elements to the discerning geek, such as fine-grained multithreading, Mach 3.0 microkernel, FreeBSD services, tight hardware integration and SMP-safe drivers, as well as zero configuration networking.
Wikipedia excerpt on the Mach Kernel.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/mach_kernel...
Mach is an operating system microkernel developed at Carnegie Mellon University to support operating system research, primarily distributed and parallel computation. It is one of the earliest examples of a microkernel, and still the standard by which similar projects are measured.
The project at Carnegie Mellon ran from 1985 to 1994, ending with Mach 3.0. A number of other efforts have continued Mach research, including the University of Utah's Mach 4. Mach was developed as a replacement for the kernel in the BSD version of Unix, so no new operating system would have to be designed around it. Today further experimental research on Mach appears ended, although Mach and its derivatives are in use in a number of commercial operating systems, such as NEXTSTEP and OPENSTEP, and most notably Mac OS X (using the XNU kernel). The Mach VM system was also adopted by the BSD developers at CSRG, and appears in modern BSD-derived UNIX systems, such as FreeBSD. Neither Mac OS X nor FreeBSD maintain the microkernel structure pioneered in Mach, although Mac OS X continues to offer microkernel Inter-Process Communication and control primitives for use directly by applications.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/mac_os_x...
History
Main article: History of Mac OS X
Despite its branding as simply "version 10" of the Mac OS, Mac OS X has a history that is almost completely independent of the earlier Mac OS releases.
Mac OS X is based on the Mach kernel and is derived from the BSD implementation of Unix in NEXTSTEP. NEXTSTEP was the object-oriented operating system developed by Steve Jobs' NeXT company after he left Apple in 1985
==============================...
" Linux has tons of free software for web development and networking."
So does Mac.
Response: If you had read what I said thoroughly, which you would have seen that I said 'Much of the software available on a Mac comes from the Open Source Community of which Linux is a major part.'
Excerpt from http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/uni...
Visit the Open Source page for more Open Source utilities in Mac OS X.
Also if you look at the site http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/uni... which is an official Mac site you will see a picture of a little devil just under the first screen shot. If you do your research, read thoroughly, and comprehend what you are reading, you will discover the devil you see is the logo for FreeBSD just like the apple with a bite out of it is the logo for Mac. Why would Mac to use the logo of something that it isn't based on?
==============================...
"It is easy for Mac to include all of your drivers into the Kernel because your supported hardware options are limited (if you try to install an unsupported piece of hardware things might not work right or at all)".
It of course depends on what kinda hardware you are talking about, but I've been able to interchange a lot of hardware on my desktop machine to my macbook. Everything works just fine. Even my old Microsoft mouse works hoooked up on the laptop.
RESPONSE: To make the statement you just made shows your lack understanding of how Kernels and Drivers work. Things like mice, keyboards, IDE hard drives, SCSI hard drives, floppy drives, optical drives (CD and DVD ROMS), and monitors are all used pretty much the same way regardless of manufacturer or Operating System and are included in the OS Kernel by default (kind of hard to install a new OS if you can't see, input, access, or store new data). Where you can and most likely will run into problems if you don't use supported hardware/drivers are things like printers, scanners, digital cameras, SATA hard drives, web cams, video cards, sound cards, and rare peripheral devices.
==============================...
"Most Mac users don't install security software on their computers and have no idea if they are infected with bots, keyloggers, and other things that operate behind the scenes without harming the system."
On a mac the default setting of the OS is that you have to enter an admin password for ANY kind of install on the system or the execution of scripts. That makes it a lot harder to unknowingly have crap installed on your machine. Unless you don't know what you are doing and authorize everything and anything. Also do a basic search on virus statistics and see the hard truth on how there simply are way less virusses that can infect Mac OS. (98% are for Windows).
RESPONSE: Once again you prove you did not read what I said thoroughly and comprehend what was stated. You also demonstrate perfectly the Mac user mentality I have been talking about as well as your lack of knowledge of system administration/security and network security.
This is what I said: 'You will never hear a Linux user tell you his/her system is invulnerable because it is Unix based. What they will tell you is that it is much harder to get infected with a virus that can do any real harm to the Operating System (your personal documents are not protected) or spread to other systems due to the use of a SuperUser or root password.'
I will explain this in detail since you obviously do not understand how and to what extent the administrator/Super User/root password protects you. Everything on an OS requires permissions. These permissions determine who is allowed to make what changes, and how much control, access, an ability to execute programs/scripts is allowed.
By default Windows users are the System Administrator, so they have complete access and control of everything, there are no limitations. Most computer users know little about security or permissions so they don't know how to fix this themselves. For a knowledgeable user this is not a problem, if you know how you can lock a Windows machine down so tight that only the Administrator can change the Wallpaper.
In Mac, Linux, and other Unix based Operating Systems you are a restricted user by default and must type in a Administrator/Super User/Root password to make system wide changes. What this means is a virus or malicious script can only do what you have permission to do at the time of attack. If you are logged in as the Super User and a virus, script, or other malicious code gets executed somehow it will be able to make system wide changes because the OS thinks it is the Super User and has permission to do so. If you happen to execute a virus, script, or malicious code while you are logged in as a restricted user it will be able to do anything you can do because the OS thinks it is you. For example if you have permission to change your Wallpaper so can the malicious code if it was written to do so If you don't have permission do do what the code was written to do, it is possible (depending on how it was written) for it to wait quietly in the background until you have permission that it requires to complete it's task.
Most malicious code is designed to create havoc, attack other computers, and steal data. It normally operates in the background without the user ever being aware it is there. The idea is to be able to infect and control as many computers as possible, also hackers like thieves look for the least secure target possible. Windows fits these requirements perfectly. It is the most widely used OS in the world, allowing for millions of potential targets. Also due to the fact that users are Administrators/Super Users by default it is the same as leaving the front door to your house unlocked. Unix based systems at least lock the door, but if someone is truly determined not even a locked door will keep them out.
Also scripts do run in both Linux and Mac. Java scripts are usually not allowed because they are high risk. However, you will find many websites and programs require scripts to work right.
==============================...
You advice her to try out Linux. In her question she says one of the main reasons she is leaning towards a Windows machine is because she wants to use Adobe CS2. How hard do you think it is to get CS2 running on a Linux machine by a complete novice to that OS?
RESPONSE: What I said if you had been reading carefully was: If you really want to try a different OS I would dual boot a Linux distribution on your Windows PC. Linux can be extremely easy to use (some people claim certain distros are easier to learn than Mac because they feel like Windows) to extremely difficult to even install. You can make Linux look and feel like a Mac or like Windows, or like something entirely different. Linux has more flexibility than Mac or Windows because you can do anything you want with it, all you have to do is take the time to look things up, ask questions, and play with the system.
Anytime you try a new OS you are behind a learning curve and should not attempt to do advanced things until your are comfortable with the basics. This is why I suggested to her to dual boot Linux. She can save the extra money that a Mac would cost and still be able to experiment/learn an alternate OS while still being able to do everything she wants in an environment she is familiar with at little to no extra cost. All it cost me to install Debian Linux was a blank CD.
==============================...
Well I could keep going and continue to explain what I clarified above in even greater detail as well as explain the other things that Dias and undoubtedly other Mac Fanatics 'believe' to be errors in my facts, but I fear this post is too long already. Besides, I think I have more than effectively proven my point.
By the way in case you didn't know the A+ and Network+ Certifications I sited as my source mean that I went to school spent months of study, thousands of dollars, and took tests to show that I understand hardware, OS, and networking basics. Also I am using Debian GNU/Linux which is not a Linux distro for beginners.
If anyone has any questions, comments, or would like to discuss this in greater detail feel free to e-mail me.