[antiRepublicrat]

FinalCut Pro: I'd be using Adobe Premier on my Windows box. Linux folks use Kino or other packages.

You said programs people want, you didn't say stuff that had no equivalent. If equivalents are allowed, then there's no reason not to buy a Mac, because equivalent software is out there. Hoever, Final Cut is considered far better than Premiere. It's why Adobe stopped making Premiere for the Mac.

Xgrid: This is a server product,

People don't buy servers? I was talking all markets. Besides, MS Cluster Server is barely catching up to what's normal in the industry. Xgrid goes beyond that and will harness the power of any desktop or server in your organization, including remote systems on the Internet.

Xsan: Another server product. I'd go with a linux box running iscsi-target

Xsan is a bit beyond that. It will create and manage a very large SAN. You normally get such software from companies like EMC and Cisco and pay big bucks.

emote Desktop: What? You can do that with a Windows server

Basic stuff. I use the Windows one all the time. Look at the Apple site to see what Apple's can do. To start with, they've rolled up system management and remote control of a user's session into Remote Desktop. It's also fully scripted and will automatically perform system updates and software installs, as well as do massive logging and reporting (quick software auditing). You can even observe any number of systems (including Linux and Windows) in action:

You need to get a bunch of different management software to do this on Windows or Linux.

OS X without worthwhile software is just eye candy.

There's a lot out there, thousands of titles from educational to pro apps.

My position is this: Apple sells overpriced consumer PC hardware and a markets it to the AOL crowd.

You haven't seen the comparisons? For features, a Mac tends to be the same cost or cheaper than a PC. They just don't sell in the ghetto PC AOL market.

[kittycatonline.com]

You need to get a bunch of different management software to do this on Windows or Linux.

Looks like something that an SNMP manangement package would do. You'll have to ask the folks at Apple, though, why they spend their time advertising iPods instead of their server products, which even I do agree look pretty darn good. And I think I know the answer; the iPods make money. Server products don't. So, although there may be some very talented folks there developing cool server stuff, the management is still more concerned about hyping an image of "Apple = dude hopping around with iPod earphones on" instead of "Apple = BSD ready for the enterprise". And that's why they will most likely never penetrate the enterprise; the general perception of Apple is that they are a toymaking company making toys, and Apple feeds right into that perception daily.