I am about to purchase a new laptop to replace my current one which I have had for a while now. I was considering getting a MacBook. I have never used a Mac before but I have heard great things about it. Any opinions?

Awesome machines.

They cost more to purchase, BUT, they are completely loaded with softeware and being UNIX (or Linux?) based Operating System, are more secure. My Girlfriend has been a mac user for years and swears by them... From what I have seen of mac's, they are very reliable. Lots of Mac users here at the Trap17 and rarely a problem that they post about...

OS X is 0% Linux kernel. It used Darwin, which was based on the BSD kernel.

I personally don't like the interface stylings(tons of windows rather than one large one, fitts law menubar, useless GUI effects), but it's good for people that don't really know what they're doing and need some sort of a backup behind them to fall back on if they screw up on the internet(you can run a Windows without a backup and be perfectly secure if you set it up properly and follow common sense). It's also a good choice for those in the music industry and graphics industries. You probably will like it, though.

OS X is my favorite os because of its looks. the functionality of it is amazing, and i comes with all that software that for windows would cost a fortune. it has so many useful programs that no matter what you do, there is a program for you. another plus is you dont really need virus software which can save you money. also, macs can run windows coded programs through bootcamp, which is a huge plus in my book.

I've never really seen much of a mac run, but from what I have seen, they are very fast and very reliable. If it wasn't for compatibility issues I would be running a mac right now. The only downside I see to using a mac is that alot of programs are not built for them so you need some sort of emulator to run them which slows it down. Other than that, I love macs, very good machines.