"I wonder what goes through the mind of the average person, when thinking about buying there next computer. Do they buy PCs because that is what they always have had, and it is what everyone they know has? Or is it a certain love for applications that aren't on macs. (surely not) Is it the salesmen in the stores, pushing pcs?"

Well, I would imagine that it is closely linked to the presence of a nice shiney Mac store. People just go to PC World/ Best Buy/ Comp USA and bu a computer. I bet that most people don't even consider a Mac. However in those towns where a nice new Mac store has opened up I bet Mac has a much greater market share amongst new PC purchases. It would be interesting to see some demographics on this.