OK, here's a link for all you die-hard PC users: from none other than AnandTech, the hard-core PC geeks' home. A Month with a Mac: A Die-Hard PC User's Perspective is a review by a longtime PC user who spent a month using a G5. The reviewer does a good job of writing a well-balanced, realistic and objective review of OS X and Apple hardware. It has some valid complaints (hardware cost, safari performance, lack of games) but is generally quite positive, and points out a number of things OS X does better. (memory use/caching, drag-and-drop, expose!)

The article sums up the experience with the position that while OS X is "a very strong platform," it is a tough sell, due to some missing pieces; games, missing applications (like Blackberry support), and price. I must agree on the price issue: a $3000 desktop is awfully expensive, especially when compared to what you can get in the x86 world. However, I would offer an alternative suggestion: instead of buying a $3000 G5, buy a ($1600-$2800) PowerBook or even an ($1000-$1500) iBook instead - while there's definitely a premium on desktops, Apple laptops (their biggest selling computers) are much more price competitive. For fun, try pricing a PowerBook and a similarly outfitted Dell (Latitude) Laptop - you'll find that the PowerBook is actually cheaper. Compare the $2000 15-inch PowerBook vs a comparably equipped Latitude D800 - it's $208 more with XP Home, $268 with XP Pro, and is 2 pounds heavier.