[gradjasan]

Apple is better at avoiding viruses. They have a much better firewall to protect you, and the fact that people don't use Apple as much as Microsoft means they are also less targeted.The downside of that is that since fewer use Apple, it can be harder to find technical support close to home (since most places don't have any kind of Apple technician on hand).You'll probably also find a lot more games with Microsoft. Based on what you've said, I'd go with the Microsoft and find a good antivirus program like McAfee.If you get Windows Vista on your laptop though, you are going to be rather annoyed for a while everytime you try to do something because the program keeps asking you to confirm that you want to do what you just told it to do. After a while you get used to it though.