Price aside, there are other factors in the Mac vs. Windows debate. Among them: Windows computers are perpetual targets for spyware and viruses. Macs are targeted, too, but not to the same degree. The Mac O and Apple computers both come from the same company. While Macs aren!t trouble free, you!re less li"ely to e#perience as many une#plainable crashes and incompatibilities as you might on a Windows P$. Apple has earned top scores from P$ World readers in reliability and service. ee %&aptop 'uying Tips, Part (,% for more detail The Mac O ) &eopard is a clever, nimble operating system and a pleasure to use.Windows *ista is a behemoth. While not the demon it!s often made out to be, it ain!t theMac O, either. Apple laptops have thoughtful design touches, such as "eyboards that illuminate automatically in dim lighting. There are many more laptop choices in the Windows world, and at a greater variety of price points. There are still plenty of software applications available for Windows only. +,ou can run Windows on Macs, of course, using Apple!s 'oot camp, which is included in Mac O ) &eopard, or a third-party virtuali.ation program such as Parallels /es"top for Mac +about 012 online3. Who Are the Best Laptop Makers? 'efore sorting through the endless array of laptop models, ta"e into account two things: Which manufacturers consistently get good mar"s for the most reliable products4 And which bac" up their products with the best service and support4 Reliability. 5n our survey of over 16,666 readers, published in /ecember 7668, only Apple and &enovo rated better-than-average for %overall satisfaction with reliability.% 9eliability measures include whether there were problems with the laptop right out ofthe bo# or if failed components caused glitches later on. :,5, Averatec was the only vendor to rate worse-than-average in all four of our reliability measures. 5n $onsumer 9eports! ;une 7662 issue +subscription re