Hello,
The easy answer according to me: Macs are superior in quality of hardware, and design of the operating system. They work very well for me, and for the folks that I support, but they are just computers!
The better question is to ask your self what you want your computer to do. Do you want a nice all around computer to play music, to surf the web, to do your homework, and your banking? Macs will work fine with less headaches.
Do you need to run specialized software that deals with artwork and publishing? Macs.
Do you want to run games? Windoze. Do you want to work with specialized applications in industry to control machines (such as a machine shop), or specific cad applications? Windoze. Do you want to dance with the Devil and dare viral infection, and other OS related headaches? Windoze.
Windoze hands down is the most popular OS on Earth. But then again, using that arguement, there are more insects on the planet than human beings. Which would you rather be?
If you have intel hardware around, give Linux a try. If you are in a position that you need to buy a new computer, then go a few places and do some hands on stuff while thinking. It will boil down to personal choice, and how easy it is for you to do things.
Apple has a very very dedicated following. There is no question of brand loyalty there.
You might get dismayed walking into Best Buy or Circuit City, and not finding a lot of Mac products there. Do not despair; online warehouses MacMall, MacWarehouse, and CDW will be happy to take your order online, and you will not need to look for a parking spot. Data conversion issues? Macs will read Windoze disks, and there may be a conversion program available (Word Perfect 5.1 DOS converting into Appleworks).
Today's Macintosh is running OS X, and it is UNIX with a very nice smooth front end on it. OS X is not perfect, but it is stable, secure, and friendly. Don't believe me? Look at the Security forum here on DaniWeb and all the fun stuff that the Windows folks are dealing with. You will see some things here, but not nearly the sheer volume.
Hope this helps,
Christtian