@Mr. Pinguin - What I was mostly referring to was the useful lifespan as far as compatibility with new software etc. While in my experience PC's tend to become obsolete and less usable with newer software within a few years, in general my experience is that you can keep using a Mac, and be reasonably sure that it'll be compatible with newer software and reasonably usable for a few years longer. The PowerMac G4 I got when I started college back in 2000, was my main computer for the next 6 years or so, and it wasn't until the last year or so of that time that I really started to feel like I needed to upgrade (things started not being compatible or running too slowly to be usable etc). The tower is still technically working (has a few issues, like one of the firewire ports doesn't work anymore), and I'm currently running Ubuntu on it.

I will admit though it does seem like that "useful lifespan" is shrinking some in recent years, but it does still seem to be a little longer than it is with Windows.

I'm assuming the "logic board" issues were with iBook G3's? I had one of the ones that was plagued by that problem and I agree it was pretty annoying, but Apple happily replaced the logic board every time it broke for three years, despite my not having bought applecare for it (it was a known problem, and they extended the warrenty for said problem for three years after purchase).

In my experience, and from talking to friends with PC laptops, laptops just generally have a higher failure rate than desktops. And certainly any manufacturer does have problems with production runs or models. I've only had a problem with one Mac Laptop (the above mentioned iBook). My MacBook Pro has been running great for the last 2 years, without a single problem. My wifes iBook G4, was bought in 2004, and is still running just fine (a bit slowly but that's because it doesn't have much RAM and she doesn't really want to bother upgrading since she's planning on getting a new laptop at the end of the summer anyway when her grad school classes start). It stopped working for a while but that was due to spilling water on it, (the strange thing was that it was out of commission for like a year or so, but we didn't throw it away for whatever reason. One day I decided just to see what would happen if I plugged it in and hit the power button. Suddenly it booted up just fine. Very odd, but was certainly nice for her!

Hmm, well I don't know the generation times for Windows OSs and the comparable development cycle for Mac OS, but I've always thought they were pretty similar. Beyond that, I can't imagine what software would force one to upgrade sooner using a windows based machine..? Or is there greater backwards compatibility/older hardware support among Mac program developers? I don't know anything about that.

If we're talking about games, or other hardware-intensive applications, which are produced/released alot faster and scaled higher for PCs.. Well that would be a false dichotomy since Windows users have the choice to upgrade *if* they want access to the latest super fancy graphics and direct X particle shader widgetry.. And since Windows machines normally come with hardware at least as fast as a similarly priced Mac, I don't see why they'd need to upgrade any sooner if they only wanted to play an older generation Civilization game or Blizzard product.

I normally consider 3-4 years a good run for my primary PC, and I've always managed at least that long (and after that I can pass it on to my dad, or keep it as a backup for another few years).

Anyway, I don't know the iBook models involved with the various logic board issues I've encountered/heard of, but I don't recall anyone receiving a free replacement (except for with the keyboard issue I mentioned above my sister).

In fact, now that I think of it, I think we may've had something similar happen to our fancy new quad core Mac (desktop) at work. It's not a machine that I normally use, and I know that this was covered by a service plan.. but it was gone for over a month due to shipping/repair time.

Anyway, there's not much sense in listing anecdotes, but my list of Mac-problem encounters is long (as is my Windows-PC list). The point is simply that I think Apple does not produce more reliable machines, (and I'd say they're even worse than some of the many Windows based competitors).

Also, since there's at least one other ASUS fan out there, I have to mention that my laptop came with a complete hardware replacement guarantee for 2yrs, 1yr accidental damage replacement guarantee, and a nice 30day no-dead-pixel guaratee. All free. Hopefully I'll never have to test all that though. :)

I have both PC and IMac. I was PC only for decades when finally I got fed up with the viruses and decided to get an IMac only for email and pulled my PC off line.
One of the down sides is that as game design such as Empire Total War, start using Web interfaces I cannot play the game. Very annoying, but on the other hand it helps me cut down on wasted time.

I am not a big fan of the Mac as I absolutely hate the lack of cut and paste as a smooth operation and drop down menus for file management and the like. Control C and Control V are so last century.

Windows on the laptop, linux (fedora) on the old desktop