Thought I'd chime in as a non-techie type who has used both. I did not even own a working computer until 2001, (late to the party), my first one was a Sony Vaio desktop P3 that I still have. I never had any serious issues w/ it, even though it had the worst OS, Windows ME. It would freeze up once in a while, but I just would shut it off and do the disc scan occasionally. I used it for web-surfing, (very fast), photo editing, (great free program on it), selling stuff on eBay, burning CDs, etc..
I probably do not demand much from a computer, compared to you guys.
I picked up a Mac G4 Powerbook in '04, (used), I really abused that thing and it lasted a long time. It was dropped more times than I can remember, (once really hard on cement), it was really impressive for a laptop. Beautiful screen and nicer interface, IMO. The screen finally died, (it is now my back-up hard drive), I got another used G4 Powerbook for x-mas this year.
There are some apps that work better and are easier on the PC, IMO, but overall I vastly prefer Macs now that I am accustomed to them. I also like Apple's total product line, (Ipods, etc..), and they will always work better together than mix & match w/ PCs.
I might put my old Vaio back in service just for the web and selling on eBay, (PCs are faster and better on the web, it seems), but for a traveling laptop I prefer Mac and airport.
As for the whole "elegant" deal, life is just too short not to use a Mac, IMO.
