Background: I've been using different flavors of GNU/Linux since 1999, but switched to Mac OS X in 2004 because I fell for the "Apple experience" and felt like I was spending too much time tinkering with drivers and so forth, while Mac OS X "just works". I've just switched my main work machine back to GNU/Linux (Ubuntu with Xmonad).

Hardware: I've bought quite a lot of machines from Apple (also for my business and family members) and while there have been some problems too, the experience has been great. Apple makes durable products, with metal and glass where their competitors use plastic. The durability of the casing should be a factor when buying a laptop, especially if you're going to be using it professionally. Can anyone recommend a similar product from one of Apple's competitors? I'd like to make the switch on the hardware level as well, but not at the cost of quality, durability and design.

Software: it just works, so you don't have to spend any time on configuration and customization. The operating system itself is quite nice to work with. I don't have any complaints there, although new users will probably need some time to get used to the idiosyncrasies. GNU/Linux has some practical advantages as a software developer, like better package management through things like pacman and apt-get, but you'll find that Mac OS X is quite adequate as a platform. The developer community on Mac OS X is quite productive when it comes to making tools, Mac-related screencast and blog posts, so you'll find a healthy ecosystem as a developer. A lot of games and professional applications that don't natively run on GNU/Linux are also available on Mac.

Some of the reasons I'm moving away from Mac OS X, however, are the lock-in, DRM and the closed mentality of the company. They suck developers into a closed ecosystem, by luring them in with the large audience they control on their mobile platform. The word "control" is chosen on purpose here, because that is what it feels like as an Apple user (less so on the desktop, but the non-mobile stuff is moving into that direction too, with the App Store).

So why am I switching back to GNU/Linux?

- I wanted to try a tiling window manager (I'm very happy with XMonad so far),

- my needs have changed (I hardly use GUI applications anymore; apart from browsers),

- I'm unhappy with the focus on the mobile platform and the influence it has on the desktop platform (e.g. App Store),

- I don't like how Apple restricts developers and recently started charging for XCode (pragmatically this isn't really a major issue, but it bugs me nonetheless),

- I find some of their business practices quite unpleasant (e.g. how they deal with warranty in certain situations and the well publicized App Store shenanigans),

- I don't want to be locked in anymore,

- I prefer the GNU/Linux philosophy of openness and being able to tinker with the software I run on my computer,

- et cetera.

I'm very ambiguous towards Apple. I think they make great products, but I dislike the closed environment and some of the business decisions they have made. I've felt like that for a couple of years now, but the otherwise pleasant experience has kept me from switching until recently. If you don't mind supporting the company I would recommend buying an Apple laptop, because you can always install a GNU/Linux distribution if you're disappointed with Mac OS X. Ethics and philosophy aside, they have the best offering for regular consumers and most professional users. As a developer it depends on your preferences, but since Mac hardware can run all popular operating systems it won't be a bad investment if only for the quality of the hardware.

Personally, I'm not planning on buying any new desktop computers from Apple, but next time I'm in the market for a laptop I might still buy a Mac (running GNU/Linux) if I can't find a PC laptop with the same physical and esthetic quality.