agreed time to bring the cock fight to an end,
I am going to try this, I have used alot of computers, with alot of OSs, from OS 8, from Window 95, and from Red Hat 8,
Trust me when i say this, SP2 does not crash more then OS X, (i have no comment on the original XP) but what make so many people complain is the spyware/adware/viruses, it really messes up windows, but MS antispy does a good job of getting ride of that, and some good antivirus software, plus some common sense is need. Also If you are getting OS X for stabilty, you will also get a stable OS as well, but you get limited customizing, that is its draw back, and to this day some websites do not support apples, also hardware/software is less, but some would say the stuff that makes it to OS X is better.
What really make a os more or less stable then the next is actually something that no one can predict, the user, some people cause XP to crash like nothing else (my dad) but the same person will just hums along under linux (trust me i was shocked). my friend she thinks she know alittle something about unix, but in her free time has managed to crash to 2 red hat boxes and one solaris (that is almost impossible if you were wondering), her roomate, has a mac family and break macs like nothing else, it great, she got a dell, and has been happier. Some people just tend toward an OS, if you capable enough they will all do you good. so enough on that.
all three of the OS listed above are capable of running the programs you need, it is up to you not break them.
(no flames please this is just my view, you have all posted your, and i have said nothing to retort)
as for the hardware, the new 700 has the GMA(i think), so graphic between a 12inch PB and the 700 is a wash, you won't be playing any real games on either, well not beyond warcraft 3.
the screen on the dell is nicer, but i am partial to the glossy kind, the PB screen is not bad, it is nice, and very few of either screen get dead pixels.
both company have decent tech support, apples may a bit better on the customer service side, but dell is more likely to allow you to upgrade parts, my friend does it all the time. apple is not really cool with it.
the PB makes much less noise the the dell, apple are more complete, they are created by the same people, so they seem a tighter package, but both are very quiet, the harddrive on the 700 is a bit noisey, but that is it.
the dells speakers are nicer, although that does not say much, but the PBs do really suck.
the dell is faster, much faster, nothing more that can be said, but in apples favor, there os is designed to run on ther hardware, so it is config'd the right was, and they seem fast
the PB gets bettery battery life on the standard battery, the dell has a "big battery" which turns the tables, but it sticks out of the back of the laptop.
the PB is great looking, cooler looking then the dell, but some people like the dell look
apple will be switching to intel in 2006, but windows is switching to 64 bit now, they will both have decent software support for a while, and are both equally obsolete
the keyboards are the same size (about), the PB's seems firmer, but nothing is really wrong with the dell's
slot load drives are really cool, but some of the are known to damage CDs
the PB is thinner, the dell over all size is smaller,
hope that helps
