lendaddy - if you want to go mac - you'll just have to do it - it will never be totally seamless... and it will always have a learning curve. But it will be a computer that works.
I have been using Parallels for about 2 years - mostly to get access to some stuff at work, where everyone but the art dept (me) is on Windows machines. I have liked it because it has been very stable. I don't pay much attention to size - I have huge drives and a ton of memory. It seems plenty fast for the small amount that I use it. I got an i7 mac last winter - with snow leopard, and it has worked great on it - haven't had the time to go to lion yet.
However - Domestic Calico - neat - I'll take you up on that 