Some day soon I'm going to get our insurance settlement cheque to recompense us for the burglary in October. We're both thinking of getting newer (faster, better) computers. Husband needs lots of memory and power and stuff to do his computer graphics. Me, I just want a reliable machine with good graphics to play some games (I admit it!) but mostly for internet and word processing stuff. Husband needs no advice - knows what he wants. Me, I'm feeling torn about whether to move from a PC to a Mac (probably specifically a Mac Mini). It will be able to boot up as Windows or as a Mac OS, so I don't have to sacrifice what I want to hang on to in terms of created stuff and favourite programs.

So the question for you techies out there - please, without descending to insulting each other (which seems to be the norm in other forums when PCs and Macs are under discussion), is there any impartial advice? Should I spend my money on a smart new PC or go wild and get the Mac? What are the pros and cons?   (I already know that there's less of a hard drive on the Mac Mini than I could get for less money on a PC, but it comes with a better graphics card than is standard on an assembled PC).