You can't explain the comeback of the Mac if you cling to the assumption that Microsoft products are cheaper and better for getting "real work" done. (rendered here as "tool for a specific task" vs. "leisure".)<p>You can get a Mac desktop for $600 and a laptop for $1000-2000, and the prices are going down every year. These aren't cheapo versions of Apple's more expensive offerings, either, they're the real deal, with better hardware design than pretty much any PC laptop. And they run Windows.<p>How cheap do people expect a computer to be?
There's a total opportunity here for a third operating system to make a desktop play - but no one seems to be interested in doing one.<p>Ubuntu? Window of opportunity has passed & Canonical doesn't seem interested in desktop market.<p>Chrome OS? Awesome as a browser+netbook, but a bit limited for some people's tastes.<p>Really, if a company like Google had been able to produce a true and full operating system, with Ubuntu/Linux extensibility and the beauty of Mac OS/ChromeOS, they could have come up with a winner ... but it hasn't happened yet.
It's because of VMware Fusion and Parallels. Simple.<p>My next system will probably be a Mac primarily running Windows 7 or 8 where I'm currently the most invested. The ability to have both in the same box justifies the extra cost of a Mac to me. My older XP music production system is actually a VMware Fusion virtual machine running on an older MacBook and used mostly for the XP apps.<p>Both integrate flawlessly on my home network where I use TeamViewer to access them from what is currently my main Windows machine.
I think it's because a MacBook is a high quality device, and you can install other OSes on relatively pain free.<p>Also OSX covers the bases well, both for regular users and developers. One noteworthy group that are left out are the gamers.
For the first time in forever I have a Mac as my primary work computer. (Granted with Windows on VM for a few things) I converted from Wintel at home back to Mac about 3 years ago, and I was a relatively later adopter.
I would bet the success of the iphone and ipad play into this as well.<p>FWIW: I'm a developer and after being on a Macbook Pro with a Retina display for over a year I can't imagine working on anything else.