Believe what you want, even Apple has lowered their prices comparable to the PC. They had a great run while it lasted. Longhorn will probably doom them.
Good, they needed to. MS+Dell have set the standard for capability per dollar. But I would instantly recommend an Apple desktop over a Linux one, even knowing it cost more. Reliable, elegant, and lots of commercial off the shelf applications available.
They had a great run while it lasted. Longhorn will probably doom them.
Based on what, your personal dislike of them? They may not have people camping outside the stores like they did in 95, but there are a lot more people interested in the next new version of Windows than any other operating system in existence. You don't get 90+% of market by accident, and when the "Longhorn only" games and apps show up, there will be plenty of people willing to pay almost anything for them.