Both VirtualPC (for MacOS and MacOS X) and VMWare (for Linux) (I mention both, just in case) are excellent products. I doubt you would have any problems using either of them.

Okay, bumping this thread to the top as I've done more research.

I'm leaning more strongly toward an OS X PowerMac, so I've been doing more research on the various sticking points. A lot of my pain comes down to my cursed Ericsson T39 phone. If I'd gotten one of those PalmPilot phones, this wouldn't be a problem. But it is.

My cel phone speaks SyncML, for which the only synchronization solution today works with Outlook on Windows. (There are numerous SyncML libraries out there, including one in Java, but nothing that's integrated into PIM software.) Now, there are two ways to talk to the phone: serial or Bluetooth. To do either on the PowerMac, you have to have a USB adapter. So, then the issue is how to rig this all the way through to VirtualPC. According to the vendor's web site, you can choose USB devices to "unplug" from the Mac and then plug into the VirtualPC.

The current question: USB serial or USB Bluetooth? I'd prefer Bluetooth for its speed, but good luck finding a Bluetooth device with drivers for both Windows and OS X. The nifty D-Link gizmo that Apple is promoting has no Windows drivers. Okay, so that means I have to go serial, right? There are a bunch of USB serial port adapters although the coolest one seems to be this one from USBgear, which also has PS/2 ports so I can use my Kinesis keyboard.

The other thought I've been pondering is perhaps getting (yet another) new cel phone. The required features for me are global GSM, some kind of PIM functionality with synchronization, and light weight. The reason I didn't get the Kyocera or Handspring phones in the first place is that they're monsters. The T39 is only 86 grams. A Handspring Trio is nearly twice that: 147 grams.

What about the Samung I300? Ok, it's no lightweight, but I like it.

Calvin

Just browsing random searches and thought i'd make a couple comments on this one.

Overall my preference would be Linux. For the office suite I think Star Office would suit just fine. And just recently I have found a great alternative to M$ Outlook. Redhat 7.3 comes with Evolution. Looks and feels like Outlook, has more features, integrates with M$ Exchange server and i'm pretty sure it can import all sorts of thins including contacts/calander.

I noticed also you said you were using EAC to encode/rip mp3's. I used to use that and had problems here and there similar to yours. I switched to dbpoweramp and am loving it. I use the LAME codec and have had no problems at all. Anyone else have any input to the comparison to these 2 encoders/rippers?

Well, as long as you bumped the thread, here's what I ended up doing.

Work: I'm getting a new PC, but it's going to be running WinXP and Linux-on-VMware, as I'm doing now. I'm just not satisfied with the other solutions for my needs at work.

At home, however, I've just taken delivery of a shiny new PowerMac.

My needs in each location are sufficiently different that I've decided to split things in half. Also, this gives me the PowerMac to play with over time, rather than trying to migrate everything at once. Two years from now, my situation will, no doubt, be different than it is today, and I might convert everything to Apple gear.

Oh, and to further confuse myself, I'm getting Apple-brand flat-screen monitors for both new computers. The educational discount makes them much better than anything else I can get.

Which display did you get?

I'm getting 23" Apple HD Cinema Displays for both the Dell and Apple machines. Luckily, us academics get a below-market price. The first monitor has already arrived and it's just astonishingly beautiful. The second monitor, strangely, isn't here yet. I tend to upgrade monitors much less frequently than I upgrade computers, so I can rationalize to myself (and my research budget) that I'll be keeping these for a while...

mmm 23" Apple HD Cinema Displays.....