1st: I would have to agree with what Asolo and Asylum said about the IMac..... for a "regular user" there is nothing better, "it" just works....Or maybe go to Sears Roebuck and get one of their brand new Linux PC's at less than $200(US) BUT......Right at $200(US) Go to: pricewatch(dot)com and click on "Computers PC no OS" since you: >>>> "I do not game, I do not download music, I do not want to watch movies or TV on my computer, I am the only user, only computer in house, I want a desk top." Pick out one of the systems that are less than $170 and increase the installed RAM to 2GB....I would at the least get one with a CDR/RW, but there are always USB CD/DVD drives if you want to stick with the lowest possible price. Now that you have the PC, get a copy of PCLinuxOS, LinuxMint, SimplyMepis7.0, ZenWalk, or VectorLinux or DreamLinux and do the install........If the CD doesn't have all the software you are looking for/want/need, LOL, check out the distro's repository...More than you'll ever know what to do with, and if that's still not enough, there is more than you could possibly imagine available on the WWW. A repository is where a distro maintains all of their compiled specifically to run with that distro software. (Yes geekers I know, but that's the simplest way I know to say it) Your new PC w/Linux will run extremely fast, much faster and with more stability and "robustness" than any MSWin version on the same hardware. Run the OS in RAM and all your MSWin-fan friends will be amazed and jealous of the lightening speed your "budget PC" will outperform their super whiz bang with all the high dollar bells and whistles, maybe even astounded when you offer them a FREE AND LEGAL copy to try on their own machine. Oh yeah, and you don't have to pay the MS or the Apple tax for your Operating System either...And, Linux requires much less high dollar hardware, and I can say this from personal experience.... There is never any need for "Security" software... no scanners, no "Anti-Virus", no registry mechanics, no de-frags, no nothing.....This thing has been running for just a few weeks now w/o being powered down or ever disconnected from the WWW. It is currently running 3 browsers/14windows/44 tabs (I just counted). I have gone as long as 10 months w/o ever shutting down or rebooting or disconnecting from the WWW, and other than an outgoing firewall, I run ABSOLUTELY ZERO "security" software The Linux "learning curve" is, quite honestly, a vastly overblown issue mainly bandied about by people who either: A) sell PC's and know that there is a lot more commission to be made on a $200 OS installed on a high hardware requirement PC than on a "naked" hard-drive PC w/o no need for unnecessary hardware "upgrades" B) that have no idea what they are talking about, or C) can only figure things out when somebody is there to step by step them through virtually every click... If you can figure out "Vista" you can figure out almost any Linux. SimplyMepis7.0 is a 4 click install that your Grandma could figure out how to install, run, modify, and download/install to. But some folks swear that the others mentioned above are just as easy an install, I just prefer SM7 Get a few LiveCD's and try them out, and install the one (or ones) that you like best.... But if you don't mind spending the money, for "Joe and Jane User", an IMac is pretty hard to beat. AMD Sempron 3000+ Computer System; SATA DDR2 PCI-e -MBoard; 2GB DDR-2 Dual Channel RAM; 40Gb Hard Drive; CDr/RW DRIVE; DeltaChrome 3D 256MB Shared Video; 6-Channel Audio; 10/100 Ethernet (LAN); MIDTOWER CASE Assembled & Tested! $210 (US) or, $230 to my door in 3 business days... But then again, there is that $0.1325 per CD for burning an ISO image of each Linux distro you might want to try.....Or you can order them from the vendors advertising on DistroWatch.com for real cheap...like you can get maybe almost 100 complete operating systems and all the included software for the price of JUST ONE COPY OF MSVista! Oh yeah....BTW.... with a Linux OS you are free to copy, modify, trade, sell, give away, install on 3256 separate machines. Ever actually read the MSXP/Vista EULA? You don't actually even own the contents of discs you just paid $200 for. And with Linux you can add/delete/change hardware devices at will and unlike with an MS OS, you won't have to buy a new OS whenever the MS decides that you have made too many changes and need to buy a new OS, as in MSWorld your clicking on "I agree" you agreed to give MS the right to determine the hardware changes make your old PC a new PC,and therefore to disable your system in in its entirety. And your new (or old) PC won't be "phoning home" everyday to report to MS what your software and hardware configuration was yesterday, is today, or what it is tomorrow. Go to your friendly local Barnes and Noble, or Borders bookstore and get a copy of one of the Linux mags, I would suggest "LinuxFormat" and get the multiple OS DVD with the mag and try whatever versions are on the DVD..or CD.... And while you're there, get a copy of "Knoppix Hacks" you get Knoppix5.1.1 with the book. Knioppix, never leave home without it...no kidding... Don't pay any attention to anyone telling you you need even more memory, a big video card or any such bull.....Unless you insist on getting a "MSVista" PC, in which case you need a minimum of 2GB RAM, and a pretty good video card would help too....And don't fall for all ANY talk about buying "Vista Home Basic", if you want a "Vista" that actually works at a speed you can tolerate (with enough hardware resources) you gotta "upgrade" for a whole lot more $$$. And for a whole less than what a free Linux distro will get you, except for a whole lot more money? HAGD! Here is a link that might be useful: OS 's for a new PC

The hard drive problem I described with my Sony computer was the result of a Seagate drive failing. Some, but not all, of the Sony all-in-one models I described had this particular Seagate drive, and it apparently had a problem with the firmware that caused the drive to "brick" [i.e., totally lock up] without warning after months of perfect performance. Although it wasn't a hardware problem, and could often be fixed by somehow re-flashing the firmware if it was taken out of the computer, it was not something the customer could do over the phone. They did a recall and replaced them with another brand that has worked fine so far. Fortunately, I got it fixed under warranty, and fortunately I had backed up the important file contents to another drive. But it's just another illustration of why you shouldn't wait to do a backup. Even new(er) computers can fail, and that even long-time, name brand manufacturers -- like Seagate -- can have big problems. While I was waiting to get the computer fixed, I used my laptop computer to do an Internet search about this drive problem. I found that there were a lot of people with other brands of computers who had bought this drive as an upgrade who had the same problem. Seagate apparently was willing to replace some drives under warranty, but not to un-brick the drives and send them back so people could recover their data. As you can imagine, there were a lot of unhappy people over this. I had only backed up critical files and documents, so for me it was a matter of reinstalling the operating system, all of my programs, and then the files I had backed up. People who trusted in the Seagate name and hadn't backed up critical files lost everything.

@dsg2015 -- I had the exact same choice 1-1/2 years ago. I did switch in the end and it has been an excellent decision for me. Our girls always touted Apple to us. I stubbornly stuck to PC and Android. Then we had to get DH an iMac for the accessible features -- he has low vision and it was recommended by the Lighthouse. So I had to learn to use it in order to adjust it for him. It's been excellent. So when my last PC started wearing down, I went to Apple. I like a desktop as I do a lot of photo editing. I got an iMac with a fusion drive which means it boots up super quickly and is very fast. It is, hands down, the best desktop ever. I did need to reorganize things and I do have my quibbles. But overall there is no comparison. Plus I don't need to keep spending money updating software and adding internet protection -- those are included! I did have an iPad in advance of the desktop and loved it. Didn't put much focus on the ability of those to synch up but it's come in very handy. So when I went to get a new phone at the end of '14 I took a hard look at the Iphone 6+ vs the Samsung. Everyone I spoke to with the 6+ loved it. I went for it. Like the desktop, it is by far the best phone I've every had. Easiest to use, 0 audio issues, almost no dropped calls. If I take photos with the phone they transfer over to the desktop library. So now I'm a convert. I still have a PC laptop that's been lightly used. It should have many good years as it's not used all that much. But when it goes, I'll get a Mac. Sure, Apple support varies from store to store. But it's worlds better than the nightmare overseas non-English, nonsense support I experienced in the past.

A 2014 computer should not have any problems updating to the current version of Mac OS. My 2011 macbook pro would if I would let it. However, you need to be aware that apple has completely changed the underlying file structure of Mac OS in recent updates, so be sure you really want to do this before going the extra mile to make it happen. Make certain any necessary software won't have trouble with the latest version.