Macs are also less flexible than a PC, especially in a large corporate environment, and if you need maximum performance from your Microsoft apps, a Mac won't give it to you.

People for whom the Apple gestalt--the , really--is important buy Macs, if they can afford them. People who buy Windows machines want something different: value, functionality, flexibility, performance, and choice. I think I placed those in the right order.

Put another way: A Dell laptop is expected to be a workhorse. A MacBook is a show horse by comparison. Nothing wrong with either of them, but when Dell starts trying to build show horse computers the company seems to have lost its way.

Fashion and style is not part of the Dell "brand promise" to its customers. They expect a computer that weights a certain amount, gets the best battery life possible, seems small for what it does, is fast, and whose pricing makes sense. They also want options, especially power options, which Apple most certainly doesn't offer.

Some will say there is no reason why Dell shouldn't make a pass at becoming the Manolo Blahnik of the Windows world. I think it's better to become a better Dell and leave computers-as-fashion-statements to those who already do them best.