Thanks for the advice lil, and no offence taken. I've been browsing through other threads, and getting some wise advise, but nevertheless, I'm still unsure of what to do. (Please forgive me, a newly converted mac user, trying to make sure I made the right choice - don't worry, whatever I decide I won't be going back to a PC!).
I know that there's absolutely no danger of my iMac becoming redundant in the next few years. I chose it precisely because I knew that it would be reliable and that I would be using it for several years to come, I'm concerned that I could purchase a similar computer for which I am garunteed to be able to purchase compatible software throughout the whole of it's life, in 3-4yrs time ppc compatible software won't be available/developed and I'll be left unable to install/upgrade anything until I can afford to buy a new machine - I was hoping my mac wouldbe around for longer than that.
On the other hand, if I buy into the mac-intel cpu's now, I face running slower, emulated software and then, I guess, having to purchase it all again when the intel native versions are released - why does it have to be so confusing?!?
I suppose the best solution is to, wait a couple of days, think about it some more, read even more threads/reviews etc. on the subject and decide then. But thanks for your help, and if anyone else wants to add their thoughts, please do (it might just help).