> You already have enough info on how to run your win apps. But if folks
> knew what your essential apps are, perhaps they could offer suggestions
> for native OSX substitutes that would be adequate.
Thanks all for the feedback.
I was telling Dwayne, Ian, and ravi off list that I tried Linux briefly. I used MS Virtual PC. I wasn't happy with the performance of my computer. So I ended up removing Linux and Virtual PC.
I'm currently crunching large databases. I use Win software (Stata, RATS, Matlab, Gauss, and occassionaly R and Mathematica). There are Linux and Mac versions of all this, but there's an awful amount of sunk capital (human and cash) in the Win versions that I'd hate to give up. That's why, if I buy the Mac, I envision my launching them from Win, not OS X. OS X I'd use for basic text processing, browsing, e-mailing, photos, etc.
One other thing -- the data input from one key provider is through an Excel ad-in that sucks the data off the web. I cannot but use Excel, which I've always liked, by the way. No other spreadsheet matches it.
Conclusion: I can't dump Win altogether and having two OSs on a PC didn't leave me happy.
I've been very dependent on my desktop. I have a laptop that kind of works for me, a Lenovo Thinkpad. But I need to be careful with it. It is not always stable -- running several demanding applications at once overwhelms it. I'd like to do more work from the laptop. I have a colleague who does something not so different from what I do, and he claims to be happy with his little new Mac.
I will be making up my mind soon.
Thanks all.