I frankly find that a little hard to subscribe to.
It is true that a lot of PC (WinLin) users upgrade frequentlybecause it is as easy as switching a piece of hardware, but it seems to me that this is a function of the fact that you actually can, whereas with a Mac, an upgrade would likely mean you had to buy a new machine, seeing as how a Mac is deliberately built to be non- user-upgradeable.
If you e-x-e-r-c-i-s-e
** a little foresight when you plan a build, a good setup can last you a long time.
I guess a mac would need regular upgrades too, to run all the latest software. Heck,
I hear you need to buy a whole new Mac ( if you are using one of the older PowerPC units) to run the latest OSX, whereas a regular WinLin PC would only require upgradation of a few core components to run the latest Windows or Linux versions.
I guess you can grasp the cost implications of that.
We must also not forget that a lot of PC users (I mean WinLin people, since Mac Pros are essentially PC's anyway) are compulsive upgraders, and must have the latest greatest thing available, regardless of cost.
My system, for instance, is about 2 years old, and is capable of running anything you can throw at it, and that includes a lot of the "recent programs" you refer to in your post above, and it does this with no trouble whatever. Indeed the only thing I need to change is my motherboard, to open a path to the later C2D and 2Q CPU's (I have no intention of going Nehalem until the prices get a little less insane).
Therefore I cannot subscribe to your view, and conclude that it is largely a myth propogated by the same crowds that spawn the whole "Macs are greater" debates.
As of now, a Mac is the same as a PC, only running Apple stamped components and Apple's OS. And it is not user-upgradeable, at least not with the same ease as a regular (WinLin) PC, so the point is moot anyway.
Sorry for the diatribe, just my opinion.
**This word is being censored, for heaven's sakes -- come on, a little of this can actually be some good, even for geeks...
I didn't realise the people on this forum were so averse to it