Um...Post #1 _IS_ an ad-hominem attack. It berates Mac afficianados as “DUmmies” etc. with no basis for the accusation save vague implications of threads where YOU (the one who does _not_ own a Mac and has no experience with Apple customer service nor Apple’s unique design choices) were the one spewing slanderous invective sans facts.
I’ve had Macs, Windows, Solaris, Linux, and *BSD systems (at home, work is a different matter). I like my Macs because there are a lot of tools I can get for my field, but need my Windows machine for development work since all of our clients run Windows. Linux is fun for tinkering and I treat those machines like a sandbox.
Of all of them, my Mac hardware has held up the best to abuse. It was worth the $$$ for me. My Windows systems have all been stable, but the OEM hardware has not been great (failed motherboards, power supplies, hard drives). Factoring those replacements over the lifetime would increase the cost of my Windows machines to 1.5x the price of my Macs. YMMV.
I do find it odd that someone with no experience with Macs thinks he knows everything about them. Seems more DU like than anything: speak with a sense of authority on something you know nothing about.
If I had to choose one, I’d keep my Mac and get Bootcamp to run Win XP for work.