The problem with PCs is the hardware isn't standard. Windows is being run on various hardware configurations by various manufacturers. So you get driver issues etc. My wireless kept dropping out/freezing on my work laptop until I found a new driver on the Lenovo website--otherwise it's been flawless and hasn't frozen/crashed otherwise in the 7 or so months I've been using it.
OSX is only being ran on machines made by Apple who made the OS. So you get pretty much no driver issues unless you add components yourself.
Overall, most of the machines I've had XP on pretty much never crash. But I've a few that had issues, granted a lot of it was trojans, virus and spyware which is more prevalent on windows since hackers focus on attacking that OS more.
I'm pretty happy with XP personally, haven't tried Windows 7 yet as I now only have work PCs and our IT department won't switch for a long time (universities are very slow to switch operating systems).
OSX is nice as well, but I tend to get frustrated using friends Macs as it's a learning curve--which is another reason I haven't made the switch. I'm working constantly and just don't have the time or patience for the learning curve. So if I switched it would have to be on a personal computer for non-work use--and again that gets nixed since they won't put out a $500-700 lower spec laptop that I'd buy for such purposes.
But in any case, all the loyalty and hostility always makes me chuckle. It's computer hardware and operating systems for godsake! Use what you like and don't worry about what other people use.
