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I bought her the MacBook on launch day, May 16, 2006, at one of Apple's two Bethesda, Md., retail stores. The computer came configured with a 2GHz Intel Core Duo processor, 512MB of RAM (which I upgraded to 1GB), 64MB dedicated integrated graphics memory, 60GB hard drive, DVD burner, 802.11b/g wireless and Bluetooth. She does lots of video editing, which was getting increasingly difficult because of the puny hard disk, system RAM and graphics memory.

My daughter also had some interest in Windows Vista because of certain applications not available for Mac OS X. We went to Fashion Valley Mall in San Diego looking at a new MacBook or a pink VAIO VGN-CR290EAP. The VAIO would mean a switch from the Mac. The mall has Apple and Sony Style stores.

Based on value for hardware, the Sony VAIO handily beat the MacBook.

MacBook specs:
13.3-inch glossy display, 1280 x 800 resolution
2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor
1GB of RAM
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 (64MB, shared up to 144MB)
120GB hard drive
Dual-layer DVD burner
Integrated WebCam
802.11 a/b/g/n
Bluetooth
Two USB ports; one FireWire
Mac OS X 10.5 "Leopard"
White
$1,299

VAIO VGN-CR290EAP specs:
14.1-inch glossy display, 1280 x 800 resolution
2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor
2GB of RAM
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 (128MB, shared up to 358MB)
200GB hard drive
Dual-layer DVD burner
Integrated WebCam
802.11 a/b/g/n
Bluetooth
Three USB ports; one FireWire
Windows Vista Home Premium
Cosmopolitan pink
$1.319.99

Before Apple switched to Intel processors, this kind of Mac to Windows PC comparison would have been difficult. Oh, how have times changed. While the two computers use the same basic hardware architecture, for an extra $21, the VAIO comes with twice the system and video memory and 80GB more storage capacity. The VAIO's extras appealed to my sense of value; my daughter liked the computer's appearance more than the white MacBook.

Something else: Sony would give up to $319 credit for a trade-in on the MacBook. However, a friend offered $500, removing the trade-in value from consideration.

Initially, my daughter had been thinking about sticking with the Mac and dual-booting Mac OS X and Windows Vista. But the MacBook's hard drive wasn't big enough for her needs or my budget. I was willing to spend $1,400 with tax but no more for this early and ridiculously expensive Christmas present. The preconfigured 120GB would be as much as she could expect from the MacBook.

One 13-year-old girl is by no means a scientific study of Mac OS X compared with Windows Vista. But her thinking is revealing, nevertheless. At no time while evaluating the two platforms did my daughter mention Apple's Leopard as a consideration. She would miss iLife applications but reasoned that iTunes would be enough if necessary. She also worried that "young people think Macs are cool." But how many of her friends would have a pink laptop? I let her make the decision on which computer, with little influence.

Six months earlier, I would have interceded. The Windows Vista experience was broken and Leopard promised so much. But now: Vista delivers a darn good experience, and Leopard isn't such a cool cat after all. Between Leopard and Vista, I would pick Windows.

My daughter chose neither. She ended up with the pink VAIO because she liked the laptop's appearance more than the MacBook; she recognized the better value for base hardware; and she didn't see any huge benefit to Leopard over Vista. Operating system was not much of a consideration at all.

Still, she recognizes that security attacks besiege Windows more than Mac OS X. While I did some basic setup on the VAIO, my daughter used the MacBook to get some new HTML code for her MySpace page. She was concerned about malware pop-ups on many of the sites offering free MySpace layouts. After changing the layout, my daughter boasted that she also had removed the sponsored links from her new MySpace page. I didn't tell her that some of these links pose security problems, so I was surprised.

As for VAIO setup, I took responsibility for e-mail and data migration. My daughter had used Apple's .Mac for mail but would add an @live.com account, too. I considered using Outlook for both e-mail accounts. Instead, I opted for the Windows Live Mail client. I hadn't used the software since beta days a year ago and was uncertain about what to expect. Damn, Windows Live Mail impresses. The user interface is surprisingly clean, base features are robust and there is support for Microsoft's proprietary Hotmail protocol and IMAP (which .Mac offers). If not for Exchange Server, I would dump Outlook and switch to Windows Live Hotmail.