I'm sure you're familiar with the iconic "Hello, I'm a Mac" ad campaign. Now, a contrasts Mac and PC users based on a variety of social and cultural comparisons. But, such comparisons beg the question of which came first--the chicken or the egg. In other words, do cultural forces drive a choice in OS platform, or does a choice in OS platform lead to certain social conclusions.

Since many seem to identify with their choice of OS as much or more than they identify with their religious faith, let's examine religion as a base of comparison. If someone were conducting a survey and asked what your religion is, you might respond Christian, or Muslim, or Jewish, or atheist, or whatever. However, odds are quite high that you had nothing to do with selecting your religion, and even if you did that selection was affected by your religious upbringing and established cultural norms.

Put another way, almost every child is indoctrinated into the faith of one or both of their parents virtually from birth. Whether it is based on a firm conviction in a chosen faith on the part of the parent, and a desire to convey that faith to the child, or based on a parent simply passing along whatever religious traditions they themselves were raised to follow, that is just the way religion is propagated for the most part. Christian parents raise Christian children. Jewish parents raise Jewish children. Muslim parents raise Muslim children.

Even if a person eventually chooses to take a look at what the world has to offer and choose a different spiritual path, or simply abandon religious faith altogether, there is still a familial and cultural indoctrination that takes place first. It is difficult, if not impossible, to be completely objective in choosing a faith after that because other faiths will be viewed and judged through that lens. Even a complete rejection of the religion one was raised in is a reflection of having been indoctrinated into that religion in the first place.

So, let's bring this back to PCs. Were your parents ? Odds are fair that if you grew up using a PC or a Mac, that is the OS platform you are most comfortable with, and the software that you are most familiar with, so obviously you are more likely to stick with that platform when it comes time to get your own computer. By the same token, choosing to go against the grain and get a different OS platform is still a reflection of your experience with the OS platform you were "raised on".