So would I, but I dread the file transfer and learning curve, I'm busy enough.
Keep your pc, partition the drive, put ubuntu linux (free) and then install vm ware (not free but you can try it for free), and run xp as a virtual box inside linux. It really does eliminate the serious problems. It is like running windoze "inside" another computer. Try it. You will never go back, I promise.
I'm a loyal Mac user. If you, like most people I know, stick with the basic applications such as Outlook and Office, you'll see little change from regular Windows computing. If you have a yen for video editing or music composition, what's available on the Mac is far superior to what you find on PCs.
Sure things will look nicer and you won't get virii or spyware, but the learning curve really isn't that bad.
But don't take my word for it. Visit an Apple retail store and see for yourself. I think you'll wind up liking it a lot more than Windows.
RadioAstronomer, I know that in theory you're right. In practice, I don't think normal consumers are going to use anti-virus and anti-spyware software properly. I know that when I had a Windows machine and had that software, it was always coming up when I didn't want it to, and ruining my computer's performance.
Most people who use computers like to turn them off at night, so that the anti-everything software doesn't have time to run. And even if they don't think of it, the Energy Star(tm) auto-sleep modes will.
Sure, you can shut them off. You can do anything you want. But with my knowledge of typical computer users, I would not count on most people doing it.
And to be honest, I don't think people should have to be computer experts and security mavens to use a PC.
I know none of this seems like rocket science to you, and it's not, really, but there are plenty of people who are ill-prepared to maintain this stuff in the way it needs to be.
Those who aren't, really should get Macs.
And those who think it's all a big waste of time, which is far better spent on building things than trying to defend the perimeter, should get them too. I'm an expert user myself, and I could secure a PC if I wanted to, but why bother? I like the Mac a lot better, anyway.
I hope that perspective was of interest.
D