1ghz of macintosh power will run laps around 1ghz of pc power. you can't rely on cross platform numbers because they are not a fair comparison (which is why you don't buy a 10ghz radio shack special for $200). if you've ever dealt with car aurio, a jensen 1000w rms will never touch the continuous power and purity of a precision power 250w rms. same deal.
mac's run more efficiently than windoze, and yes, more stable. tiger enhances this, and my startup time is now 5 seconds with a great deal more efficient allocation of resources as i do hard math (video processing while surfing and downloading a dvd-r for ex).
the only limitation with macs in comparison to pc's is the lack of developers in the pool. pc users have a larger variety of software options, but they also have to deal with the perils of this. there is no spyware, adware, or virii that will infect your mac. none. programs are all self-contained, eliminating the need for an uninstaller and "shared" resources that are scattered all over your c: drive. while we may have fewer options, we take a safer and cleaner course.
i'm not saying pc's are trash, because they're not - but if you want to do anything multimedia related you owe yourself the favor of checking out what a mac can do. i mean shit, take a real hard look back at the evolution of windows. gates jacked the idea of a mouse and clickable windows from jobs and co. and each windows revision looks more and more like a mac. xp looks like aqua 9.2. wait for the next release, i bet you'll see a dock, widgets, and a mac-style organization scheme that eliminates the endless clutter of your system drive. screw partitions, bill, keep a clean house and you won't need a sloppy foundation.
