The first computer I ever owned as my own machine (as in, not shared by my parents, my brother, or any outside entity), was an iMac. With its blueberry-colored case, its attractive accessories, and its equally attractive "Platinum" interface, it was something I treasured (and something I didn't hesitate to show off to friends). From playing old school Jump Start games, to book reports and science presentations, I managed to do alot on that 233 mHz "original" iMac loaded with 4 GB of hard drive space and 64 mb of RAM.

Since that time, technical specs have increased in capacity, newer iMac models have come out, and sadly, I've had to retire that old iMac for a Windows PC loaded with XP Home. Why the switch to a Windows computer? A simple answer is that I could not afford to upgrade to a newer model. A more complicated answer would require a much longer post (which I have little time for). My financial situation hasn't been the greatest since that time, and the only computers available to my budget range were cheap, $400-$500 low end PC models.

I've stuck with the XP model all this time, and to be frank, it's not the best, but it's not as bad as some make it to be. Sure there are those viruses, spyware, adware, rootkits, and other minor nuisances. Simply minor, especially when I lost all of my project files to a virus despite Norton Anti-Virus. Minor indeed. Need I mention the popup ads that popped up everytime I opened my browser, or some other arbitrary application? Is a diatribe on the beautiful Fischer-Price interface of Windows XP even necessary? I didn't think so.

I do miss my old iMac. If the work I did didn't require more advanced technical specs, it would definitely be my primary computer. I thought of upgrading its processor to a G4, but what is $300 or more spent on upgrading an old iMac to buying a completely new Mac Mini? I don't currently have the financial resources to shell out money for a new Mac, nor can I easily sell this also aging PC.

Only time will tell what I'll end up with. Maybe, just maybe, I'll finally get my hands on an OS X machine.