Why it matters to me… and I suspect to some others also…
When I got my first “real” computer, a Gateway, nine years ago I was very happy and excited. I added peripherals and within a week I was having problems with it. At the time it was not known that the Kodak computer camera was incompatible with Windows 98. Tech support had me uninstall Internet Explorer, which led to a failure of Windows 98, which had to be re-installed. What should have been a time of joy for me became a nightmare of late night tech sessions.
I’m about to buy my first Mac and I want it to be a joyful experience and not a nightmare.
Yes, I know that things can go wrong… I just want to increase the odds that they will go right!
LeopardGate
First, I understand where you are coming from.
Second, I wouldn't gauge an experience with a computer in the year 2007 with an experience you had with Windows '98. Especially when it was a Gateway.
I think you are over thinking your decision.
On a side note, not sure if you've seen my other posts, but anything can happen. Even when leopard is preinstalled. When I bought my brand new santa rosa macbook, the Leopard preinstall was corrupt (although everything functioned perfectly fine) because bootcamp wasn't installed (didn't look for anything else missing). I did an erase and install and everything was fine within 2 hours...
Now if you are waiting for Leopard to be updated, that's a completely different story.
Good luck with whatever you decide. You'll find though that the mac experience will be 100% better than your Gateway experience was. At least it was/is for me. Even with the reinstall...
T