Having previously owned Windows based products, I found switching over to Apple quite daunting, I've owned a couple of ipods, but nothing this serious. I've heard many arguments for and against apple systems, many commenting on their large price tag and apparent difficulty to use compared with windows, and having used both in a professional and personal manner, I prefer apple every time.

The styling speaks for itself, its a beautiful product and I don't need to say anymore. It's super fast and, after a week or two playing around, far easier and quicker to use than any other Microsoft system I know of. I have OSX Lion with my imac which, having used my fiancees mac book with OSX Snow Leopard, was a little different and took a while to switch onto but is an improvement. There are however a few glitches with certain pieces of software with Lion, such as with Microsoft Office and Autodesk products that I know of. A little time speaking to Apple or hunting online cures these problems with not too much hassle and its not too much of a major problem

I use my mac for animation, and am running beefy software as a result but the system copes with it no problem. I have upgraded my RAM by another 4GB and this works fine so no issues here. I would say that if you're not using it for graphics or running programmes which ask a lot from a system, like using it just for spreadsheets, email and casual browsing, don't bother. Get a PC for £300 - £500. You'll get exactly what you want. However, if you do need a cohesive and extremely competent system in a semi-professional to professional facility, then invest in one of these. It''l last you 10 years+ whereas you'll be lucky to scrape 4 from a PC.