Linux diehard hesitating at the brink

Hi everyone. Ever since Apple announced its switch to Unix, I've been curious-tempted to give it a try. I'm now shopping around for a new laptop, and I was ready to "take the plunge to Mac" this weekend but I just learned from a co-worker that, in his experience, true???

Without support for its Unix stuff, I find OSX *much* less attractive relative to Linux. I know that not everyone finds this to be a big deal, but it is for me. Huge... You see, I like Linux a lot. The lack of adequate tech support is about the only gripe I have with it. It really gets to me some times. But if Apple doesn't offer something a whole lot better on *Unix* support, then it is not worth it to me to change. (I have no particular interest in the snazzy graphics, Aqua, iMovies, iTunes, iChat, Front Row, and all that Mac-ish stuff.)

If this word-of-mouth report about Apple's lack of support for Unix is true, I find it shocking, considering that Apple makes such a big deal of the fact that there's "Unix under the hood". It borders on fraudulent advertising. (Then again, I've also heard it said that Apple brags about Unix only in tiny geek-oriented venues, but keeps it carefully hidden from "The Base", so maybe my perception of Mac's "Unix pride" is only an illusion, an artifact of my geekitude, and "Unix shame" would more closely describe Apple's actual behavior.)

TIA!

K.

-- NOTE: In my address everything before the first period is backwards; and the last period, and everything after it, should be discarded.