Apple MacBook (black, Core 2 Duo 2.2 GHz, Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard)

Pros: good build quality, stable and secure OS

Cons: too few USB ports, and too close together

Summary: After twenty years of owning DOS and WinOS PCs, a dozen of those in Wintel I.T. sales and support, I defected to Mac rather than "upgrade" to Vista when my old notebook died. (I'm not in the PC biz anymore, so I figured it was as good a time as any.)

It was the right move, although the learning curve was a little steeper than I expected. Someone who is/was not as involved in the nuts and bolts of the OS might have an easier time of it, however, as there would be fewer WinOS habits to unlearn.

The MacBoook is a bit pricey, but well put together, and the assembly quality is better than the low-end PCs that I had been using of late. The slot-loading optical drive means no more gingerly operating a flimsy disc tray, and the magnetic lid is a nice touch. The keyboard has good tactile feedback, the screen is bright and clear, and the connections for USB, audio, etc. all fit securely.

Battery life is good, especially with some minor tweaking to the power management features. Boot-up and shut-down are fast, and OS X Leopard has so far been very stable. Being free of the need for conventional resource-sucking antivirus and spyware software has been a performance plus.

On the down side: Hard-wired connectivity isn't the greatest. There are only two USB ports, both located on the same side of the chassis, and too close together. Cables or devices that are only a little wider than the ports themselves won't fit simultaneously. iLife is an impressive suite of creativity tools, but I might have preferred to have iWork included instead, since the bulk of my work is more pedestrian spreadsheets and word processing. (Boring, I know. Most prospective Mac buyers might disagree with me.)

I bought the black Mac, but would probably recommend others get the white. The price difference for the black isn't cost effective, and the matte finish can get marked up with fingerprints easily.

If you're happy using Windows or have a lot invested in Windows softwawe, making "The Switch" might not be for you. If, however, you've considered moving to Mac and you need a notebook, the MacBook is a good way to do it.