Fair enough. You’re absolutely right about the “trying” OS X thing - if I hadn’t been given a Mac at work, I don’t *think* I would have bought one on my own. It wasn’t until I used it for a couple of weeks that I realized how perfect it was for me. The most (only) regrettable part of quitting that job was having to give the PowerBook back, something that I quickly rectified by buying myself a MacBook Pro.

If I gave the impression that my comments were directed to you specifically I apologize as that wasn’t my intent. I was generalizing to a great extent about the overall MS bashing which tends to push a button or two.

That isn’t to say that I believe that Microsoft is the end all be all either. I have tried various distro’s of Linux but never really liked it. I would like to try OS/X but unless I was ever to be given a Mac laptop much like you were with the Powerbook.

I suppose I should address a couple of things that you mentioned, not so much as rebuttals but at least to expand on my initial (brief) comment.

Yes, I am primarily an Apple user. After many years using Windows - from 3.11 to NT 4, I switched to Linux (Slackware). For the first two straight years of using slack, I stuck to the command line only - no X, no graphical interface at all. Then I started to use WindowMaker on top of X. Somewhere around the time XP came out, I was basically forced to start using Windows again (for work related stuff, though I still used Linux for running servers etc). About 2 years ago I was given a PowerBook at work - and I haven’t looked back since. I’ve spent considerably more time using both Windows and Linux than I have OS X, yet OS X quickly became my favorite. It’s simply a matter of personal choice. I don’t (strongly) advocate one OS over the other - I think that every person is different and should use what best suits their needs.

For example - I don’t own an iPod. I don’t buy music on iTunes. My MacBook pro is connected to a Logitech mouse, a Linksys/Cisco router, a ViewSonic LCD and some no-name speakers. I use a Microsoft Natural Keyboard. I buy most of my music online via eMusic - no DRM, just MP3s. The rest I download from etree or archive.org - usually in flac or shn (both DRM free) format. My absolute favorite band (Gov’t Mule) sells every one of their live shows via their web site in MP3 and flac (and I spend way too much on those too).

I just don’t purchase anything (music-wise) that’s DRM restricted. If I could buy MP3s from the Apple Store or Amazon (in Canada you can’t, which I’m guessing you know as a Canadian) I’d consider it. And at least Apple got DRM right - generally, the files play fine. You try the nightmare of using/playing Plays4Sure files and you’ll understand what I mean (I had a Creative Labs mp3/media player that in theory supported Plays4Sure via Rhapsody2Go - which I had an account with when I lived in the US). I spent more time trying to get the music to play than I did listening to it.

So all of that leads to this - my comment really wasn’t intended as that of an anti-Mircosoft-pro-OSX-fanboy. I certainly never said that OS X/Apple were blameless when it comes to DRM. But Linux is. And at least Apple is taking _some_ strides in pushing music in a DRM-free format.

btw - the logitech mic/headset and background noise - it’s not that bad.