“Judging by the questions I get, many would-be buyers are considering a Macintosh for the first time,” Edward C. Baig reports for USA Today

“Consider this column a primer on switching to the Mac,” Baig reports.

• Why are Macs special? Windows users tolerate their computers to get stuff done. The Mac crowd enjoys its machines… Mac hardware is beautifully designed… The underlying software is polished, robust and secure… Apple’s computers to date have been immune from the scourge of viruses and malware that have long plagued Windows.

• Is there a learning curve? Sure, but it’s not as steep as you might think.

• Aren’t Macs pricier? Well, you won’t find sub-$400 bargains. The cheapest Mac, the 6.5-inch-square Mac Mini starts at $599 — without monitor, keyboard or mouse. Among consumer desktops, the iMac line starts at $1,199 (and goes way up from there). It’s sold with a 20- or 24-inch screen. Apple sells a more expensive Pro line of desktops, but they’re beyond the scope of the typical home user. Among notebooks, entry-level MacBooks have 13.3-inch displays and cost $1,099 on up; they’re terrific consumer or student notebooks. The MacBook Pro comes in 15- and 17-inch versions and starts at $1,999. It has superior graphics, among other enhancements. You get a lot of bang for the buck across all the machines.

Baig reports, “Apple owners heap lavish praise on Macs for good reason. These are solid and elegant computers that are well worth your consideration.”

More in the full article here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "citymark" for the heads up.]

MacDailyNews Take: Match any WIndows PC box assembler’s product to an Apple Mac as equally as you can and you’ll see that Macs are very competitive on price, often beating OS-limited offerings from HP, Dell, etc. – plus only OS-unlimited Macs can run Mac OS X and Mac-only apps such as those in the iLife suite along with Linux and Windows applications.

We can’t ship junk. There are thresholds we can’t cross because of who we are. The difference is, we don’t offer stripped-down, lousy products. – Apple CEO Steve Jobs, August 7, 2007