Game boy you can install Mac OSX on most PCs. If you don't feel like pirating you can actually buy leopard and than download a few fixed kext files. This is assuming you have a SSE3 Intel based computer of course.
I use OSX and Windows and Ubuntu for different things but of them all OSX is the slowest one were Ubuntu is the fastest. Even on the Mac Pro I still use Windows XP it cruises on that machine. There are very things on a Mac that I prefer to do in the Mac OSX enviroment the big one being color correction in Final Cut Pro.
OSX will offer you some familiar features to Linux through the terminal but the OS is really closed but it does allow the use of freeware from Linux and you can even run WINE(though why you would do it in OSX versus Linux is beyond me.
If you just want a simple machine that can do more out of the box than a Mac may be a good choice. It comes with a very productive audio/video suite that puts most linux programs to shame in the ease of use department and can do almost everything the most advanced video editing programs can do to boot.
There are better programs out there than you will get for a mac on the PC stuff like Avid and Scenerist and I prefer Sonar X64 to Logic 8(aka studio). I prefer MS OFFICE on the windows machine but I also like Open Office which can also run on a Mac so you aren't doing document heavy work it is great.

Advantages over linux include legal DVD support, More polished programs, Cleaner look(though the ancient folder Icon has to go I do like the folder previews in windows better). Less clutter and simplier upgrades due to the closed natures of Macs. The ability to use Itunes(and a non bastardized version of it). The ability to use several prosumer level programs for a realtively cheap price.

Disadvantages include more Kernal Panics, Slower for most things(except MP3 encoding in Itunes). It lacks advanced codec suport that Windows has(really only matters for stuff like .mkv and .ogg and several types of .avi files). I know you are computer literate enough but many mac users think that there are no uninstallers in a Mac so they just delete the files they see in there application folder but often times there is a clutter of useless and sometimes conflicting .kext files that are left behind because programs like adobe master suite do infact have an uninstaller. The inability to hold down both the right button and left button at the same time on a mouse (but this only matters for cewrtain games where it makes you move forward and only if you use the trackpad on the notebook at that)

ALos wait for the second gemeration of a new macbook pro the first one seems to have the highest number of failures(last time around it was Seagate HDs and before it was logic boards or even an unresponsive keyboard. The good thing is apple is pretty decent about their warranties.

He's a professional software engineer. Not surprisingly, he frowns upon pirated software.  No way to get OSX legally except on a Mac.

I don't particularly like arguing with very pro-mac individuals however this is deceitful.  Apple is notorious for updates which are very much not backwards compatible and mandating a new system/OS be installed.  Saying that a Mac will "last longer" when updates significantly limit its lifespan is misleading and while you can argue that you don't need to update, at that point you're sacrificing part of the Mac advantage which is the ever evolving software.

I also believe that it's very misleading to say that Macs last longer overall.  I've had my current desktop machine for 7 years now and it runs perfectly.  This is not due to magic or Windows machines running more smoothly or lack of use.  In fact, it dualboots XP and F7, and I get a lot of use out of it.  However, I also take very good care of it.  I take time to clean it and dust it out with a can of air periodically, I don't sit it directly on the floor or carpet...etc.  Simple things like those can drastically improve the life of any computer.

Fair enough.

+1.

And I'm a Mac user. Apple's OS upgrade cycle is obnoxious and the inability to swap hardware parts can actually lead to a shorter life span in some regards.

If you don't do anything beyond word processing or web browsing, sure, Macs last a long time. Just like a well cared for PC would. 

yes, if you have the money.

^and if you want one.

^
That'd be a no.

^

only if you're saying "no" to AWESOMENESS.

Features like Expose and Dashboard alone are enough to hook me. It has the eye candy that Microsoft wishes it had, yet behind it is a BSD foundation, so I think its the best of both worlds -- eye candy for the n00bs and gcc and all that linux terminal stuff for Coders.

And its not Microsoft, so apple FTW

We also have an HP laptop in the household, it's one of the newer ones with all the Vista upgrades and what not, and that thing gets hotter easier/faster, looses battery life faster with a weaker processor than my macbook, and just overall feels cheap really fast. I read somewhere that OS X generally runs faster than Vista--regardless of the hardware specs. It holds truth in my experience. 

Go here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udFiaxHm9GI

That's one of three videos that might help clear a few things out.