While I am an avid windows user, in my job I also support Mac users. Whenever someone points to a limitation of Mac OS

("like whole categories of software that only run in Windows" or gaming or "only seven models from one manufacturer ")

the response is always a shrug.. and "I never need those things any way".

While it appears that Mac users only use their OS, Windows users run applications on their machines.

I see the difference this way:

When you sit down in front of a Mac it says I can do these specific tasks, which one do you want me to do? And if what you want to do is not one of those tasks you are out of luck.

In Windows, I tell the machine I want to do this and if it can't do it I can add some software or hardware or tweak something here or there and make it do what i want.

A Ferrari is a more complicated and harder to drive than a Ford Escort, that does not make the Escort a better car, just easier for novices to drive.

My 2cents.

Taking the automotive analogy to the extreme, PCs (Macs and Windows and Linux machines) are now entering the phase where the components are now almost identical. This leads to the situation where manufacturers have several models at various price points in their product lines and the only way to differentiate them from the competition is by the bells and whistles you offer.

So Dell, HP, Sony, et al. sell the PC equivalent of Chevys, Fords, Hondas, Toyotas, and Nissans. They also sell Cadilacs, Lincolns, Acuras, Lexuses (Lexi?), and Infinitis.

Apple is more like BMW or Mercedes - their selling point (really) is their design and the statement they make (I have a BMW). The top-of-the-line models (e.g. BMW 8-series) are competitve spec-wise with competitors' products, but the low-end models (3-series, C Class) are significantly overpriced for their specs, but have bells and whistles and styling that attract a certain segment of the market. You'll never capture a large market segment, but you will be able to operate with a higher margin on the market you do have.

The PC market is a little more homogeneous - the CPU (the engine) is basically the same for everyone now. So styling as a way to differentiate your product is paramount. Because Apple's big difference is the OS, they need to play it up as much as they can and put all the bells and whistles on it that they can.

>>Apple is more like BMW or Mercedes

But a BMW or Mercedes that'll only drive to Los Angeles, Chicago, or Detroit. Nowhere else.