I guess there's some truth to the saying about the people being hardest to convert becoming the fiercest evangelists. I'm now a very rabid Mac enthusiast, and there honestly are a ton of good reasons to be one right now. Don't take my word for it either - Consumer's Union, publishers of Consumer Reports, are also in agreement:
http://blogs.macobserver.com/userfriendly/2008/05/07/consumer-reports-gets-it-right-at-last/To be totally honest, I really do think that Mac has reached critical mass in terms of applications and ease of use, and have delivered a superior product. I think that if you sat down the average PC user and asked them what their common problems are, you'd get something like this:
"It crashes a lot. I have to reboot often."
"My data gets erased all the time. It's hard to make backups."
"Things don't work the way I expect. I don't understand the behavior of the PC."
"I can't find what I'm looking for."
"The computer doesn't have the software I really need - or it's some kind of pre-installed trial version and I have to pay more for it."
Apple has addressed all these issues with the stable Unix-based OS, Time Machine one-button backups and restores, maintaining intuitive user interface standards, Spotlight search integration with all files regardless of type (also integrated with Time Machine for searching DELETED items saved in your backups), and totally free iLife software that does 80% of what most home users care about (iPhoto, iTunes, iMovie, iDVD, Garageband)... how can Apple lose here? This isn't even counting the tight and clean ecosystem-like integration with the most popular mobile devices in the world (iPod and iPhone).
I suppose one argument against Macs is always going to be price. Well, frankly, you get what you pay for! People would never argue that it doesn't make sense to pay more for the advantages of an Audi versus a Kia, or for a BOSE sound system over a Wal-Mart brand. People I think are just used to the commoditization of computers and PC clone computer parts, and expect everything to be cheap and interchangeable, as if that somehow gives them "control" over their computer or something. This to me makes about as much sense as picking McDonald's over filet mignon for dinner - McDonald's is cheap and commoditized, sure, but it has a bad aftertaste and is extremely bad for you.
I truly believe the only things propping Microsoft up now are momentum and monopoly. They'll have to completely gut themselves and radically transform to get anywhere near where Apple is going.
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