I have used Linux (Red Hat w/ KDE) and open source apps for the last several years for home and my engineering job. I have found the OS to be a behemoth to maintain; software installations are extremely variable, open source apps are esoteric, often buggy, poorly documented, and fickle (OpenOffice excepted). My PC hardware features have never worked simultaneously on any one OS installation.

If Linux, with it's accompanying open source apps, represents the best the community can do, then Steve Jobs is right in not wasting the effort to support the project. As far as I am concerned desktop Linux ain't there yet, even with an experience Linux administrator.

My next home computer will be a Mac.

I am not at all surprised, Apple has always been the worst major company in the PC/OS market when it comes to opening it's products to outsiders.

I would like to also point out that the MAC has not been terribly successful since Job's returned, the IPOD has, and that is why they are enjoying the boon in market growth.

Frankly I made the switch for a few years back for my personal computer use. OS X offered much of what I have wanted from an OS for some time. I have professionally supported most of the OS's out there and found all to be lacking (and frankly a lot of work to maintain if you are truly using your PC to the hilt.) I setup my wife's law firm on a Mac (and she hates PC's...considers them an unfriendly, necessary evil....although her end product documents using the tool turn out great.) She has few complaints or questions and I have little to do other than regular maintenance. What a nice change that has been from the Windows platforms she has worked on. Ironically the other lawyers that share her office encounter issues weekly...but they aren't on a Mac.

Open source, are you kidding....a PC is a tool, not a hobby for most people and any tool that demands more than its share of attention just to run correctly (Both Windows and Linux fit this description) truly aren't tools worth having.

As for versatility, you should see what my 5 boys can accomplish on their two iMac's. My twelve year old son is working 2 to 3 hours per day to pay off the debt for his new MacBook which he uses to work on a number of his projects including editing his video clips of various activities from Wakeboarding to his newly formed band (oh yeah Garageband would be another use.) It's so nice to see my kids use a computer for something besides games and web chatting. The ability to create original content is a skill that will help them throughout the rest of their lives.

They have had access to fully loaded Windows PC's all there lives (afterall it's been my hobby and livelihood for most of life). They are all skilled at managing the technology and are usually called on to help out at school at the computer labs because I taught them technical self sufficiency. My older ones even used to run Cat 5 from the 110 blocks before wireless. But they never leveraged a Windows PC like they leverage the Mac's (and they were so resistant to the purchase of the first one...now they only use the PC's for an occasional game or if all of the other Mac's are taken.)

Personally, I am just so relieved to get home and work on the Mac rather than the Windows PC I use at work (and I've heard this from others with a Mac as well). Additionally it's so nice not to have to spend my time to keeping it running or up-to-date (like Windows and Linux) and just using it as an elegant, easy to use tool.

It matters in terms of DRM restrcitons, service and support. All which suck with Apple.