Hi Craig,
I felt compelled to respond to you (my first post too!) as I think you and I are alike (I'm sure others too)with regard to this Mac business. Like you, I am a long time PC user, I started out on the 1st generation PC's back in the very early 80's. I have since then been for the most part a very happy and satisfied PC user. I was a young'un back in the day when Apple 2e's were sitting beside the 4mhz IBM PC's.. Naturally, no one touched the 2e's because we were all intimidated by them.. The DOS software back then was the "in thing", I never recalled ever seeing any usable software for the 2e's. Hence, for me it left a lasting impression of "why would I want an expensive, crappy apple with an ugly green screen that doesn't run anything!".. I have often wondered if that has been the feeling for a lot of us PC folks in my 80's generation. So here we are, happy and content PC users, just doing what we've always done.. Then, Steve Jobs lays the Mini before us. Computer enthusiasts like you and I and many others are curious and quite intrigued by such a thing, especially with the price tag being a bit more in line with what we would be willing to fork over for one. Once we do a bit more research, we find that hey, those days of green screens and 5.25 floppy drives are outa here, and what we have is a computer that is capable of doing a lot more things than we imagined! About a month ago Craig, I was in your shoes. I sat back and repeatedly asked myself "OK, what am I going to do with this Mini once I get it?".. I kindly resisted the change too, I really didn't want to have to deal with repeating the learning curve on a new operating system. However, I was absolutely determined to get a Mini and as others have said, to test the waters just to see what all this OS X business is about. What I found was a very pleasant surprise. I have to tell you Craig that my experience was as predicted, the first week was quite frustrating. After I began to find out how the Mac guys did various functions that were similar to the PC, this Mini began to grow on me. Three weeks later, I find myself at work during the day with this Mini on my mind and planning the new things that I want to try when I get home. Everyone at work looks at me funny talking about Macs and hauling "Switching to the Mac" books around at lunch! If you get nothing else out of it, the fun factor is there that will keep you busy for hours just playing with it. Now, am I going to make the massive leap and abandon my PC for this?? Heavens no. There are specific things that I do on my PC that the Mac doesn't have support for, and you're going to find the same thing. Therefore, I have to run a dual system. What I have found Craig, is that the Mac makes for a splendid companion to my PC, the desktop graphics alone make it worth the purchase, and I do sit back and wonder what have I done without it. The Mini makes my computing experience an absolute pleasure and I'm grateful to be a part of the family now. The bottom line Craig, is that if you have a deep interest in computers, even as a hobby, add the Mini to your desktop. I purchased a 2 port DVI kvm switch for my setup, so I could easily go between systems. It works great and lasts a long time. Good luck on your pursuits!
Regards,
Steve
1.42Ghz Mac Mini
3Ghz Intel P4