Why is the Macintosh a Celtic computer? you ask. Well, it does have a good Scots name. A number of folk have found the Macintosh and the Mac OS useful for working with Gaelic and other Celtic languages.
I admit freely that I am a devout Macintosh user and bigot. I started using computers back in the days of the Tandy TRS-80 and yes, even the Timex Sinclair. I've been using Windows, in various flavors, on a daily basis now for a few years. Now I support and teach users to use Windows and various Windows applications. (If you use or support Windows, I suggest you take a look at Windows Annoyances.) But though I suport Windows users and have helped test and develop multimedia CD-ROMs and applications that run under Windows, I prefer the Macintosh OS.
If you haven't taken a look at a Mac recently, you've probably taken a lot of silly myths about the Mac as truths. Mac OS X alone is worth buying a Mac for, but if you're not already one of the blessed users of the Celtic OS, a good reason to consider a Mac is that you will spend far less time constantly applying patches to fix security problems than you do for Windows, which frequently releases patches to "fix" security flaws that are inherent in the operating system. Mac OS X is more secure, right out of the box, than a completely patched Windows OS. And on the Mac, runing OS X, you don't have to constantly battle thousands of viruses, because there are no viruses for Mac OS X. None. Sure, you should still use and update anti-virus software, but Mac OS X is far more secure. You don't have to take my word for it, here's Walt Mossberg's explanation. Think of how much time you could save if you weren't always patching your computer, or dealing with viruses.
Why do I like the Mac so much you ask? First of all, because everything's easier on a Mac. I like the fact that the Mac OS puts the user first. The Mac OS is designed to adapt to the user, rather than the user having to adapt to the way the computer does things. I don't want to spend my time messing with .ini files, errant .dlls, and my config.sys file. If I'm not working productively, I'd rather be playing, or doing something that's not computer related. I don't want to modfiy a setting every time I install or remove a piece of software or add a device, or have to worry about whether an uninstall will break something vital in the Registry. The Mac OS was created with the assumption that computers should adjust to suit individual needs; a user shouldn't have to adapt to the computer, the computer should adapt to suit the user. I can do more, more easily, and more enjoyably on a Mac. Now, with FireWire and USB standard on the Mac, and the built in stability of Mac OS X, with a Mac interface on a UNIX kernal, things are even better.
Mac OS X really is Unix under the hood, but you don't have to even think about the Unix underpinnings, unless you want to. You have the beautiful, flexible, easy to use Aqua interface, so you don't have to use the Unix command line, unless you want to. You get FireWire, USB, Airport, a modern memory management system, support for an enormous variety of languages, including Unicode, open standards. And you get all the Unix stuff you'd ever want—including Perl, Apache, even Unix shell script support from Apple's own AppleScript. Plus, even with the new Unix based Mac OS X and the Apple default firewall, you still have a lot more security with a Mac than most other operating systems, including any flavor of Windows.
Don't forget the other Mac technologies, like Airport, iPod, the nifty portable FireWire fast MP3 player, holds ten to forty gigabytes worth of music (say, oh, 200 to 800 audio CDs), a perfect companion for the free iTunes, MP3 player, converter, and music library, iTools online services, and the new iPhoto, the incredibly easy to use iMovie 2, and iDVD 2, all of which make a Mac with OS X a genuine, already usable, digital hub. And all of these iLife applications are included with any Mac, at no charge (iDVD upgrades usually have to be purchased because it would take too long to download).Then there are the cross-platform Apple technologies, like QuickTime and the free QuickTime Streaming Server.
Most of the standard Windows applications are available in Mac versions, and they'll read Windows files just fine, thank you. That includes Microsoft's Office applications, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint (though you might want to take a look at Mac-only Keynote) as well as the Adobe family of products. Name it, and there's probably a Mac version. And if you've really gotta have Windows, you can, in it's own ghetto partition, via Bootcamp or a number of other solutions that let you run Windows native on Intel duo chips.
And last but not least, there's the appeal of Macintosh hardware design. Mac hardware lust, something that Macs have always incited, is a powerful force. If you want a laptop that substitutes for a desktop, the Intel Duos are fast, sexy, have great screens, and are designed to last. The lower priced cousins, the MacBook (think of them as "iMacs to go,") are really super for students, or for professionals who need a tough light weight Mac to take on quick road trips, and can't quite afford the totally amazing light Mac. This fast, durable, and sexy lap top has some pretty nifty wireless technology built in to it too.
Want all the digital editing and number-crunching power of a Mac desktop in a portable package? Get a MacBook Pro. These are screamingly fast, totally built to the max in terms of graphics, sound, hard drives, and RAM, and they crunch numbers like nobody's business, but they fit in a carry on.
Want to make life in the digital realm really simple? Get an Airport, and connect it to your phoneline, ISDN, DSL, or Ethernet LAN, and you've got wireless connectivity. Up to fifty users can share a single Airport, if they have a wireless card. BlueTooth and Rendezvous support are now standard on Macs, by the way.
The new desktop Dual Intel Mac Pro desktops are screamingly fast, dual processor, and reasonably priced, but my personal hardware lust is for the gorgeous new 24-inch iMac. Except of course, when I'm lusting after the Mac mini. The thing about the Mac mini is you can fit it in a backpack, and just plug in to a USB mouse and keyboard and monitor where ever you happen to be.
But hey, don't take my word for it; read the reviews of these independent tech pundits and consumer reviewers.
Apple has made enormous changes in its products, and in the way Apple does business. You can now buy a custom-built Mac online directly from Apple at the Apple Store, and have UPS deliver it to your door. Or, if you are an education customer, you can now get just-for-you-deals and products at the new Apple Education Store. Don't forget the more than twenty-five Apple retail stores.
Interested in the Mac as a development platform? I went to the 2001 Worldwide Apple Developer's Conference. You can see my notes here, but there are lots of more up to date sources on the net. I've linked a few of my Mac information sites here.
There are also a lot of great Macintosh developers, like Adobe, Macromedia, Quark, Filemaker, formerly Claris, and the innovative cross-platform E-Book tool creator, Night Kitchen. Don't forget Macintosh-only game developer Ambrosia Software. My favorite Ambrosia games are Apeiron and Escape Velocity. There's also an Escape Velocity official web site for fans and scenario creators. Escape Velocity is both a narrative based simulation and an arcade game; it reminds me a bit of the Merchanter SF novels by C. J. Cherryh.