> I know nothing about this stuff, so I'm just asking this in all > innocence. I'm intending to build a computer in the next six months. > Is it possible to build a Mac, or will I need to buy one pre-built? I know people fiddle with mac, upgrade processors and such, but 'scratchbuilding' is not a mac thing to the same degree as in the wintel world. > Also, I need to use a 5-button optic scroll wheel mouse due to some > physical limitations. I use the two buttons on the sides to back- and > forward- page in Explorer. Is this possible in the Mac OS? And is > the right click menu functionality available in OS X? These are a > couple of the things that I actually like in the x86 world. I use a Kensignton 4 button trackball with scrollwheel with no problems on my mac. Right button, middle button, and chording functions are no problem. > And, to be honest, there are things about Explorer I actually like > over Netscape. Weird, I know, but go figure. Netscape can run on > x86, can Explorer be used on Mac? On the Mac, Safari blows both IE and Netscape out the door. I personally like Safari on the mac better than other browsers on Windows. That's just info for Lazarus. As for Mac v.s PC - if your happy in one world, you're not likely to move to the other unless you have to. I had to use a PC at work for a few years in the late 90's and was very grateful to get back to mac with the advent of OS X. I'd be happy to tell anyone why I prefer macs over wintel for pretty much any use you could name, offline. For someone who wants to write, blog, surf, and/or do personal accounting, spend the minimal necessary for a stable machine - any platform. You can get sub $800 maybe even sub $600 macs or wintels that have everything you need plus, because everything you need is available on _last_ year's middle of the line computer. Noam