Apple may finally have given someone like me a reason to own a Macintosh again. They've decided to begin including in future Macs a technology tentatively called "Boot Camp" that allows users of Intel-based Macintosh systems the ability to dual boot between Windows XP  and OS  X.   I haven't tried it yet, but it actually looks pretty elegant and not terribly difficult.

For those who spend 95% of their time in Windows XP but have an occasional need to do something "Mac-like" it would be useful to be able to run both in a single box... even if it DOES carry an Apple-sized price tag. My job includes Windows and Macintosh support and administration (among other things). I spend the majority of my time on the Windows side, but there is an occasional need to do things with OS  X (and no, Mac fans, that's not because OS X needs less care and feeding - it's because we have only 4 Macs being used daily and 1200+ Windows PCs).

On the home front, I don't use OS  X for anything. When I have a need for a UNIX-like OS, I use Linux. If I needed something "Macintosh" I would run one of the OS 8 or OS 9 capable Mac emulators and run it there - but I haven't needed anything like that in, well, years.

You might want to have a look at Boot Camp on Apple's web site.

Interestingly, I read an article a while back by a psychologist who said that Apple displayed all the signs of a company that was about to embrace Windows as its operating system of choice. The article explained that some of the signs were a switch to the Intel CPU, the arrangement with Microsoft to keep developing products for the Mac, and open public statements that they wouldn't stop anyone from running Windows on Apple hardware. It postulated that one of the next steps was for Apple to provide an official way to load Windows on Mac hardware. Then offering Windows as an option at Mac purchase time. Then perhaps Windows-only systems. Then announcing the end of OS X.