Walt Mossberg provides his “annual spring buyer’s guide to desktop PCs.” It includes this:
So, if you desperately need a new Windows PC, be prepared to be underwhelmed and to be frustrated by incompatible software and hardware. And if you’re not desperate, you might wait another six months or so for the software and hardware to catch up — and for Microsoft to issue some bug fixes.
Or you could buy a Mac instead. I still believe the best desktop computer on the market for mainstream, nontechnical consumers is the Apple iMac. It has gorgeous hardware and superior built-in software. Its operating system, Mac OS X, includes most of the key new features of Vista. And the iMac can even run Vista, along with its own operating system, if you need the occasional Windows program.
NewMexiKen runs Vista on my iMac — for the handful of Windows programs I choose not to give up, Vista’s lovely new version of Spider Solitaire among them.