You know, Witeshark, I really want to know why you hate Microsoft so much. I'm a natural-born Mac user, but I've used the newest PCs, running Windows XP, and they're VERY fast and VERY good! Also, in just about every non-Apple test between a G5 and some other PC running Windows, the PC wins.
http://spl.haxial.net/apple-powermac-G5/ (This was actually written by a Mac-user, believe it or not)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/06/24/apple_accused_of_cheating_over/
But, this doesn't mean that this is true, either. It's just more convincing than Apple's comparisons. But, if you don't believe this page, then you probably don't believe anything that's shown by benchmarks, period. That would mean that you shouldn't believe Apple either on the benchmarks. However, I did read something interesting somewhere about "the only way to do a fair comparison between a PC and a Mac is for them both to run Linux, as software written for both Windows and the Mac OS may be differently written, so that the performance of one appears to be better".
As for hating Microsoft...Well, they provide Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Entourage, Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player, and MSN Messenger for your Mac (as well as a few other minor applications, such as Remote Desktop Client). Word is far superior to Appleworks or Textedit (with all of its cool features, like the ability to change case, grammar corrector, superior linguistic corrections, etc.), and it's the same with Excel (being superior to Appleworks). Excel is better due to the "reference" system (which REALLY adds convenience) and the bigger supply of functions. Powerpoint actually might not be better than Keynote, though, from what I've heard. I have Keynote in addition to Powerpoint, but because I'm more used to Powerpoint I don't know if I'll ever use Keynote). Entourage is superior to Mail. I've tried Mail, and it's simply got less features. I know I might seem kinda silly not to name them, but I'm almost positive Entourage has more features. And Windows Media Player? Well, what else are you gonna use to play .wsf files, .wmv files, .wma files, and .asx files? Internet Explorer for Mac may be inferior to Safari, but before Safari Explorer was great. If you didn't use Microsoft's web browser, you would have to use something inferior like Netscape Navigator. As for MSN Messenger....While the Mac version may be inferior to iChat, how else are you gonna talk to the people who USE MSN? Well, you could use MSN clones, but don't forget that they all connect to the .net service, which was created by Microsoft. Also, Witeshark, you often use stability as an argument to flame Windows. But the thing is, XP is very stable. It seems to be about the same as OS X, actually. So, in terms of stability, the newest operating systems seem to be very stable, no matter what company makes it.
Also, you've got to admit that Microsoft wins in both the gaming field and the business field. I mean, there are not only have thousands of games written for Windows, but Microsoft itself made the X-Box in addition to Halo, which I've heard is an unbelievable game. As for business? Well, does Apple COME with Office? No, you have to buy it. And even when you do, you don't get Frontpage (a great web-designing program that comes with Office XP), Access (my favourite database-designing software that seems to be even better than Filemaker Pro. Even if someone says Filemaker Pro is better, don't forget that it's written for Windows too.), and other cool business softare. I've also heard about a program called Visio, which makes business diagrams (and yes, it's made by Microsoft). And what about Microsoft Money? From what I've heard, it's a better program than Quicken (which, by the way, is also available for Windows).
Look, I'm not trying to bash Apple or Macs in general. I'm just saying that you can't truly hate everything that's come out of Microsoft. No one can. They've made many fine products, and I'd like everyone to acknowledge that. And remember, I'm saying this as a natural-born Mac user.
And I'm really sorry if I offended anyone.
