As someone who started off using a DOS machine, and then dabbled in early versions of Windows, it baffles me to see people dissing the Mac OS. I can certainly understand the Unix users' complaints, since I wholeheartedly admit that Unix and Unix variants offer more flexible file management as well as better system stability. But seeing Windows users putting down the Mac OS is ludicrous, since it's no secret that Microsoft based Windows on the Mac OS!

Granted that Apple and it's idiotic management decisions hurt the Mac OS in the recent past, and that the Mac OS has not significantly improved since version 8. However, with the advent of Mac OS X, this is all poised to change. Based on a FreeBSD foundation, it promises to be a true contender to Windows as well as more powerful systems such as Unix and its variants, as long as the management at Apple keeps up their recent improvements in key decisions on the direction of the company.

You may hate Steve Jobs, but he has generally done a good job in bringing the Macintosh back from the downward spiral of the late nineties. When the modern Mac OS, with its power of FreeBSD, the features you would expect from a high-end operating system (such as true multitasking and protected memory), and its eye-catching and graphically rich GUI are coupled with the award-winning hardware design of the recent iMac and G4 models, you are confronted with a computer that is a truly beautiful and powerful tool that empowers ANY user, whether geek or newbie, to manifest their creative energy with ease.