Running Vista on a Mac, do the drivers for USB ports and everything else work as if they would on a PC box? The reason I ask is because there is certain Windows based software I must use for my job, and it requires uploading and downloading data to other equipment. I've been using a USB to serial port adapter to connect to the machines that only have a serial port.
I'm actually very interested in getting a MacBook, but this concern keeps me from considering it seriously.
I have limited experience with this, but in Boot Camp, support for USB devices should be identical to any other Windows box. In Parallels or VMWare, it's a little more complicated, because the virtualization software has to mediate between two OSes that are each trying to "own" the same device; sometimes you have to prompt the virtual machine to connect to a device that would otherwise be "plug and play."
I can only think of two ways to be sure it'll work on the Mac. One is to contact the software vendor and ask if they know of any conflicts between their software and virtualization software. Some vendors that don't support Macs recommend that they run a Windows virtual machine, and actively support that. The other option is to borrow or rent a Mac and try it. Ideally with someone who knows the virtualization software well, but I've had good luck finding answers online.