Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I bought a $200 copy of Windows XP to run on my new iMac with an Intel CPU -- my kids have been agitating for years for a PC to play PC games on. The day before the box from Amazon arrived I'd set up the new iMac and loaded the OS and got everything set up, so the comparison between the elegant and refined Mac OS and MS's XP was stark. Very stark. There's really no comparing the two systems -- the Mac is beautiful and functional, Windows reminds me of a line from a Tom Clancy novel, when the young sailor boards a Soviet submarine and is astounded at how primitive the technology is and exclaims "MEGA-KLUDGE TO THE MAX!" That's how I felt. Windows is a mess, a second-rate rip off of the Mac OS. Once I'd prepped my iMac to load XP I was shocked to see an ANSI screen as Windows loaded itself -- ANSI? Like 1980s computing ANSI?! Help! The iMac installation was BEAUTIFUL and elegant, absolutely seamless with NO SLOP or rough edges. Windows is pathetic. I'm irritated that it cost so much and gives me so little. I cannot believe that people would choose Windows over the Mac OS -- incomprehensible! I remember using Windows 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 and 3.11 back in the day. And not being impressed. Windows XP is STILL clunky and it STILL feels rickety. Is this really the best OS they can come up with? OK, my kids can now play PC games and I can run Quicken on the PC side of things if I want to -- other than that, I'd say save your money and buy a Mac. Windows is a cheap imitation of the Mac. And overpriced, I must say. A couple weeks later: if you enjoy puzzles and nonlinear thinking and interfaces, then this product may be exactly what you've always wished for.