It's not part of my intention here to get into religious wars. People take the question of whether to buy an Apple Macintosh or a Microsoft Windows machine with great fervor. Perhaps they should. This really may matter a great deal more than the question of which end to open an egg! Both Mac and Windows mobile computers work just fine with Wi-Fi!

Although Macs and Windows machines have some real differences, the truth is that as microcomputers they are really far more alike than they are different.
If you are already familiar with either the Mac or Windows, you should probably stick with what you know. It doesn't really make particular sense to use the occasion of buying a Wi-Fi laptop to switch operating systems.

Sticking with what you know is good advice, and probably settles the question for you. In case it doesn't, let me give you my impressions (which are sure to anger diehards in both camps):

• Macs are more elegantly designed and engineered than Windows machines.
• Macs cost a bit more.
• There are fewer options with Macs, which is good and bad: Buying is simpler, but you have less choice about what you buy.
• Mac OS X machines work seamlessly with Wi-Fi, without any need for software configuration (this isn't always true of Windows machines).
• Mac mice don't have a second button or a wheel, which is too darn bad (particularly the wheel). Apple, please take note: We like our mouse wheels! The good news: You can buy a two-button mouse with a wheel for your Apple from third-party manufacturers.
• Some software runs only on the Mac, and other software (actually, more of it) will run on Windows but not the Mac. While most of the standard stuff (such as Microsoft Word for the MAC OS or for Windows) runs perfectly fine on either OS, you should check to make sure that there isn't some specialized program you need to run that requires one OS or the other. (Windows emulators running on the Mac work reasonably well to run an occasional Windows program on the MAC, but you won't happy with this if you need to run a lot of Windows programs.)

Apple calls Wi-Fi "Airport" in its own material. In other words, what Apple calls Airport is just plain vanilla 802.11b. Apple's term for devices that support 802.11b and 802.11g Wi-Fi is "AirPort Extreme."

So, as always in life, the choice is yours: to Mac, or not to Mac, in other words, whether to Windows? Whichever you choose, I'm sure you'll enjoy using it with Wi-Fi.

Check to see if you are entitled to a student discount from Apple when Zpurchasing your Mac. You'll find more information about the Student Program at http://developer.apple.com/students/index.html/.

Buying a Mac with Wi-Fi

Supposedly, Henry Ford said in regard to his Model T, "Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black." (He is also supposed to have said, "History is bunk!" but that's a matter for another time.)

It's somewhat unfair to the Mac to say that you can only have it one way because it is possible to customize systems. But for the most part there is no real reason to customize a system, and at any given time there are really only a handful of systems to choose from. This is as much good news as bad news because it makes purchasing a Mac a much less daunting proposition than purchasing a Windows computer.

Feel free to mix and match your retail buying experience.

It makes sense to research your Mac on the Web, then order and pick it up at a store. On the other hand, if you like to have a "touch and feel" sense for things before you buy them, you can go to an Apple company store to play with the various systems that are available. (You can find an Apple retail store at www.apple.com/retail/.)
It's then up to you to decide whether it is more convenient to pick your Mac up at the store or have it delivered.

There's also not as wide a choice of vendor. You pretty much may as well buy your Mac directly from the Apple Corporation. Purchasing a system online via the Internet, over the telephone, or in one of Apple's stores all work equally well, so it's just a question of which is most convenient for you.