Welcome to MacZealot.com! If you like UNIX with a rocking window manager (like Apple’s Aqua), then you’ve got to try Mac OS X. Certainly, it’s not as hard core as UNIX with an X11.org manager, and a little less than Linux. However, it is UNIX underneath, complete with your favorite shell (bash by default).
I’m good with Windows– love the plethora of programs, but hate the inane way they break and limit you. I’m good with Linux, and think it rocks as a backend server– but a client? Waaay too much tweaking *required* in order to get the windows manager working the way that it already should (Ubuntu and SuSE are good implementations, but they still feel a bit like they’re experimental if you want anything that’s close to commercial software). THEN I tried ten– Mac OS X, that is. Why? Because I wanted descent free video software (iMovie & GarageBand), and the new Macs could dual-boot Windows and Linux. If OS X stunk, I could always run Windows.
The story goes like this… I was somewhat hesitant, but I wanted a quality video editing platform. I admit it… I implemented Boot Camp just in case, and installed my required video apps. However, I kept using X. It feels– smooth. Like glass. You know the feeling… like it’s been cleanly installed, but I’ve been running it for months. And then I ran iPhoto and iMovie… these are FREE??? With the purchase of the Mac they are! And they Rock! I was amazed! And I didn’t have to pay Adobe $99, or buy Paint Shop. And then I found GarageBand! And it’s FREE!!!! No need to purchase SoundBooth, or the other nifty audio utils. iLife ROCKS!
MUPromo.com… purchased quite a few tools for $49. Purchased Office 2008 through my university. Installed Lightroom. And then the tech side of me, the Red Hat certified part, is very happy. I may not have Linux, but I do have ‘bash’! I just have to learn the BSD side of the house instead of the System V way of doing things. But, with my purchase of the MU Promo, I have Parallels 4.0 (and I purchased VMware Fusion prior to the MU Promo)– I can install Linux and run it any time I want!! WooHoo!
Needless to say– although the upfront cost on the low end is a little more expensive than a Wintel or Lintel box, the Mac-tel version is by far the best computing experience I’ve had. I’m now a Mac Zealot, along with a dash of UNIX pre-Geek and a smidgen of Linux Geek. Of course, although I’d like to deny it– I have a little Windows-geek still left over from the years in the industry. Who knows– maybe one day, BSD UNIX will be the behemoth, and the Mac will be the Lexus/Cadillac/Rolls Royce of the UNIX world.
Now– if I could only afford a Power Mac with Mac OS X Server…. 
