Quote Originally Posted by Southern Breeze
An external hard drive is something you should consider also. I save a copy of my work to one daily and after losing my last computer to lightning I'm very glad I had it. Also, keeping it disconnected when your not using it. That way it's safe if something happens to your PC.
This bears repeating. No matter what kind of computer you get, make sure you back up your stuff, whether to an external hard disk, tape drive, CD-R, DVD-R, whatever.

There are two kinds of people in the world - those who've lost data to a crash, and those who will lose data to a crash. Backing up your stuff will minimize your losses.

I'm sitting here in front of four different screens with five computers running at once - one Windows box, two Macs, and two Sun boxes. My AlphaStation is currently hors de combat thanks to a CPU failure.

If you're a general home user, I'd recommend a Mac. If you've got one or two applications that you run infrequently that require Windows, a Mac can still run them via Boot Camp, Crossover, or Virtual PC.

If you're a gamer, go for a Wintel box (I include AMD and other "Intel-style" CISC processors in that category.) If you're a real estate agent, there are too many requirements for Windows apps (like the goshdarned MLS software) that simply aren't supported on anything but Windows.

But whatever you decide, get an external HD or something, and back up your stuff religiously.