Which is better, which do you use, which do you like better, and why?

Which is better? Well, that's subjective. But I would have to say Apple Computers are better. And I would go so far as to say that those who have tried both for a sufficient amount of time would opt for the Apple in most cases. Price, in the past, had prohibited it though. Thankfully, with the Mac mini, that's changed. I predict we'll see Apple's market share grow.

Why do I use it? Well, my parents had an old Windows machine and an old Apple when I was growing up. The Mac is the one that I liked better for it's intuitiveness, simplicity and sound. Apple's have had sound ever since the beginning. Even the Mac mini has a built in speaker.

Finally, I was a computer lab assitant at OU. The lab I worked had both Windows XP and 2000 machines as well as Apples. The Apples were incredibly user friendly as compared to the Windows machines.

http://www.apple.com/macmini

I've run PCs for 14 years, and Commodores for years before that, but I'm thinking about getting a Mac Mini, just so I can learn the platform.

windowphobe, you'll wish you had switched a long time ago. OS X (pronounced oh-es-ten) is awesome!

Commodores, geesh!

I'd love to switch, but the PC I built will only support Windows and Linux. However, I have an older motherboard, processor and RAM I will use to build a Linux system.

When I built my PC, I already had a copy of Windows XP, so I loaded it. The only way I'll buy a machine with Mac OS X is when I grduate college and get a $$$$ job, which I will. However, I've tended to lean more towards Linux, with its unbelieveable versatility and low cost.

I'm not very familiar at all with Linux. How is it as far as being compatible with Microsoft programs, games, hardware, etc?

Linux is compatible with older hardware since Linux developers write drivers for Linux operating systems such as Mandrake and SuSE. No software developed by Microsoft will work on Linux, however, Linux software such as office applications, graphic and video applications, including sound and photo editing, is free and relies on donations. Some high-end Linux apps do cost money, such as software developed by Sun Microsystems, but at a fraction of what Microsoft-based apps cost.

Linux, traditionally command-line interface, has released GUI's such as KDE and Gnome desktops, which has made Linux more user-friendly and increasingly popular. For advanced users, Linux program code is an open-source code, meaning you yourself can manipulate and modify Linux-based applications without getting in trouble.

SuSE Personal 9.1 is available for retail sale at CompUSA for $39.99, and SuSE Professional 9.1 is available for $89.99. Or, you can download the OS for free from the SuSE website, however, no technical support will be provided.

I used to have a commodor 64 when I was growing up. I learned how to program on that thing.