As accurately predicted by me, actually arstechnica, but by me as well since I read their post and then wrote the below post. I may
consider a MacMini if it has some manifestation of a media center on it. I mean, it's unix - you could do cool shit like cron tivo jobs - instead of using the annoying gui. Actually, you could totally reinvent the interface with difficult to use, cryptic commands. But once you know them...you're that much closer to being l33t, right?
Anyways, I'll reiterate what I've said. OSX running on Intel is the best thing sicne sliced bread. Apples to Apples performance with Windows-based machines is getting better. and better, and better. Now, before I antagonize all the gamers, and anyone that likes Windows for some reason, I'll just say that this is all subjective. What bugs me about hardware and software reviews is that they always take a very singular point of view [unless it's a GOOD review], and present it as objective. THIS is better. In reality, there were users that were totally fine with Windows ME, thanks very much. Same goes for Linux, BSD, or anything else. Use what you want for whatever reason. The beauty of technology is that you can pick and choose. As a serial early adopter, I get stung all the time.
Only one rule - whatever you run, do yourself a favor and back it up. Better yet, backup to 2 distinct locations, one of which is offsite. You'll thank me when you recover the baby pics, old tax returns, and mpgs of you singing 'The Humpty Dance' at karoke. And can't we all agree that the fact that you did that AND got it on video is far more important than your OS or hardware of choice could ever be?
"Life moves pretty fast, if you don't stop and look around once in awhile - you could miss it."
-Ferris
But the point of this was the Apple announcement. I only have one thing to say about them - they are brilliant. Whatever you think about the actual stuff introduced. or things discussed, it's marketing nirvava. The buzz and anticipation around these things are tangible, insanely valuable marketing capital. Good on ya. Keep selling me something I bought 3 years ago but is no longer the freshness. I'll shell out the dough, I'm defenseless.