KDE 4, distributors, and bleeding-edge software

Second, you've changed the conversation to be "if I want to buy a new computer, what should I buy?", but I'm talking about choosing a Linux distribution. That may involve buying a new computer, but it might also just mean something to install on the computer you already have.

For the record I'm not sure I agree with your assertion about "bang for the buck"; Macs cost quite a few more bucks than you can get an equivalently-powered system running Linux for. Whether that justifies the extra bang you get depends on all sorts of factors which are wildly different for different people. Linux desktop technology has come far enough, now, that its "bang" is equivalent to, and even bigger than, Macs for at least some purposes.