Judging by your post it sounds like you have yet to learn your lesson about redundant backup. I hope you have your stuff on additional drives elsewhere.
I use Mozy for online backup.
As for the other folks comments about Macs lasting longer, how much longer are we talking? I'm trying to price this out.
Re what I use the computer for, I write, but I do a lot of graphic design, with the Adobe suite. I bought my laptop two years ago and it's run the memory-hungry Adobe stuff pretty well, but I'm finding it's taking forever to load and locks up more frequently.
I've tried a number of tuneup programs and registry cleaners, but ti doesn't seem to work to well.
First off, if you have a lot of bloatware on the computer ... remove it.
That falls into the category of software that usually comes pre-installed with the OS from the manufacturer (if you got the computer like that).
What I would recommend is uninstalling every such software apart from the drivers for devices.
Also ... removing things from the startup (except the antivirus) is recommended because if you have a ton of programs running in the background, they eat up RAM (something Adobe applications love in abundance).
The point with Windows is to have software that's efficient in what it does while having a minimal footprint on the system.
Bloatware ain't the way to go.
Toolbars (if you have them) should go.
Registry cleaner is only there to keep that part of the OS organized ... it really won't do that much performance-wise (though it's recommended to do it overall if the program in question is one that won't mess it up).
First off ... how much RAM do you have to begin with and what are your overall specs?
What kind of Antivirus software are you using (if you use it to begin with).
If you want to cleanup your system, use Ccleaner.
It can also tell you about programs that are starting up with the OS.
Generally speaking, everything apart from the antivirus can go (although make sure that some of the things on the startup aren't vital for some devices).
On topic ... I personally fail to see the justification in getting a Mac because of their overall cost, and the fact that most things I use on Windows simply won't run under a Mac ... but that's just me.
Mac's lasting longer?
That's open for a debate.
Hm ... let's see ... I have a 6 year old desktop which I reinstalled once after 4 years (some external file corruption that blurted in and messed up the OS ... a one time thing), and a 3 and a half year old laptop which I also reinstalled once after a number of years (because my old hdd failed after accidentally dropping the laptop to the floor twice 6 months earlier ... which I replaced and is working just fine of course).
In any event ... it depends on what you need more.
If you regularly clean out the air vents and maintain the OS as it should be maintained ... there is a very good chance that your computer will last close to 4 or 5 years.
Although, keep in mind that as time goes by, software changes and can become increasingly demanding on the system by itself.
