It totally is FUD.

@Anonymous: You can disable the application cache and Aero. If you think it looks ugly and makes your computer circa 1999 run poorly, turn them off.

@Paul: Okay, well Safari is insecure. There, I made a barely substantiated statement. Happy?

@Matthew: Blaming Microsoft for including the protected video path in Vista simply isn't fair. It's not like they had any other choice if users wanted to watch Bluray or HD-DVD movies legally, something that Linux and OS X users will be missing out on.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Windows_Vista#Digital_Rights_Management

@David Austin: Your Dell account manager is a total moron. The only snag here is the processor, which if you really feel is absolutely necessary, you can select the cheapest processor and then purchase the 2.4GHz processor from a third party and have an official Dell technician install it for you (though if you're intelligent, you can install it yourself because as long as you don't botch it, it doesn't violate your warranty).

Here's the specs of a similar machine I just picked out for you:

2.2GHz Core 2 Duo

Same amount of memory

Same hard disk

Same optical drive capabilities

Same size display, with a 2 megapixel webcam

Same graphics chipset

Microsoft Windows Vista Business edition

Microsoft Office Professional 2007

Dell Wireless-N card

- and -

3 year warranty with accidental damage protection. Yes, you can intentionally drop this thing on concrete from 4 feet and Dell will fully cover it for 3 years from the shipping date.

Guess how much it cost? $2493. For reference, with only a 90 day support and 1 year warranty, your 2.4GHz Macbook Pro costs $2649. For a more direct comparison, a 2.2GHz Macbook Pro with the extended warranty costs $2573, but doesn't cover accidental damage.

And if you do what I suggested as far as buying the 2.4GHz separately, it'd be around $2770 with the processor from Newegg.com -- still a great deal if you consider that your 2.4GHz Macbook Pro with the extended warranty costs $2998 and doesn't cover accidental damage. Don't believe me on that? Directly from the fine print:

"b. Limitations The Plan does not cover: ... (ii) Damage to the Covered Equipment caused by accident, abuse, neglect, misuse"

Oh yeah, and you can install XP or Linux on it, or if you're adventurous, you could probably even install OS X, but why on earth would you want to do that?

http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/Installation_Guides