Yes I’m English, I used the word ‘gotten’ because I wanted to. I’m not entirely sure what your point is.

The word ‘gotten’, whilst not typically used much in English today, is still used widely in many regional dialects, I should know…I grew up in one of those areas where it’s used.

You are English? Why on earth are you using the “word” gotten?

Regarding the software situation I’ve actually now completely moved over to Mac versions of the software I used to run under Windows (either Mac versions, or different software entirely which does the same function).

However, if there are specific programs that you simply can’t live without then you can always use software such as Parallels or VMWare (which should be out soon for OSX) which will allow you to run a Windows virtual PC within OSX, the performance is simply phenomenal and quite often you forget that you’re actually running in a virtual PC since it feels like a ‘dedicated machine’.

As for the cost aspect, I seriously believe that most software that I buy (and I buy quite a lot) is actually cheaper for the Mac, I’m constantly amazed by the number of independent software developers who are selling great programs for 20-30 USD.

My sister fits that category. She was working for a dot.com which supplied her with a Mac portable. It went bust (like many dot.coms) and when the machine starting playing up, she replaced it with a Windows laptop. Part of that was, I think, because work supplied the Mac, rather than her choosing it herself. She never ‘bought into’ (with dollars) the Apple path.
If you are actually prepared to pay the premium for a Mac in the first place, its because you already think it is more valuable than the Windows. I see it sort of like the ‘luxury extras’ for cars. You either think they are worth the money or you don’t.
Personally, I’ve got a couple of small kids and a lot of preschool type PC games and simply don’t see that range of software available for a Mac, so I won’t even consider it.

It’ll be interesting to see how it works over here in the UK (since we won’t use Cingular), for example will the ‘random access voicemail’ still work?

the flash demo where you see how to use it, looks really remarkable. The easy navigation, the screen flipping, the graphic effects…

Saw it yesterday and had to blog about it immediately. I want to see and test it in real!!!! Want to have one!!!!!! :-)

Patrick