Online stereotypes as old as anyone can remember: web designers hate IE with a passion (with good reason), have to use Macs, and use bootleg copies of software if they can’t afford it (not to mention torrents usually equating to pirated software). I’m hoping the underpaid work cliche dies soon though!

Thanks to Andry for sending this in!

So, based on the brand preferences of 5,000 people, it seems Microsoft’s Laptop Hunter ads are working:
At least that’s the findings of a study done by BrandIndex, who asked 5,000 people whether or not they believe they get good value for their money from a PC or Mac.
Apple had its highest BrandIndex rating in late winter, according to Ad Age, with a score of 70 on a scale of -100 to 100 (zero means neutral). Apple today sits at a much lower rating of 12.4.
Microsoft sat near zero in early February to a value-perception score of 46.2 presently, noted the …read more

Juan over at The AfterMac asks “Is the Mac Not Invincible Anymore?” To be brutally honest, this is the kind of question that is misleading at best, and naively smug at worst.
The focus of Juan’s article is a Mac OS X trojan that allows its maker to secretly take control of a computer. Estimates place the number of infected Macs at around 20,000, as of last January 21.
To be fair, Juan’s question may have just been a figure of speech, based on the widely-held impression that Apple computers are safer and much more reliable than the PC. As someone who …read more

So Stephen Wildstrom decided to do some virtual window-shopping, kitting out an XPS M1530 and a MacBook Pro with similar specs. And—que horror!—the Dell was $600 cheaper!
Yes, the MacBook is considerably better looking and it comes with a really nifty assortment of software. But for that $675 difference, you can buy yourself a copy of Microsoft Office Home & Student, a copy of Adobe Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements, and have plenty left over for a nice netbook.