In our household, we have and use extensively:
1 desktop PC with Win 8,
1 large portable PC with Win 8,
1 small notebook PC with Win 8,
1 large portable PC with Win 7,
1 desktop iMac with OS X 10.8.4
1 notebook iPro with OS X 10.7 ? (I don't have the version handy).
3 iPhones
1 Samsung phone
1 iPad
All machines are used extensively. Both desktops are used professionally and the two PC notebooks are used to carry on our business during travel, with backup support from the iPhones and iPads.
The main use to which we have put these machines professionally are:
picture editing
video editing
e-mail
website maintenance
wordprocessing
bookkeeping
social-networking
We do not use the machines for gaming of any kind. (Nor are our children allowed to do so.)
In almost every category, the PC beats the Mac.
As far as image editing is concerned, the quality of what is produced is comparable between platforms, but the means of achieving it is more difficult on the Mac. The reason is that the software on the Mac is just not as intuitive as it is on the PC. Now, I am not saying that you can't do the same things, but I am saying that it takes longer to find out how. An important sub-element of this is the ability to maintain a database of your pictures and videos. This is a hideous process on the Mac, wherein one can create a compost heap of old, no longer wanted first images, without the slightest idea of their presence, their location, or how to get rid of them. Some advanced Mac users can clean their databases; many, can't. Even Apple support is clueless about most problems.
Which brings me to Apple support. These people are some of the friendliest, most helpful customer service agents I have ever met. They actually live in the States and speak English -- for the most part. They are patient and caring. But out of the half-dozen problems I have needed their assistance with, only once did they provide a solution. Ultimately, it ended up in the other cases with myself finding the solution or workaround and providing it to Apple.
Now MS support is not bad either nor is it perfect. Their agents are out-sourced, but communicate clearly, carefully and without the impatience and haughty tone one usually experiences when speaking to non-Americans. And hey have been in general more helpful. Over the years, I have needed to get MS help about ten times. Only twice did they fail to provide a solution, and I had to discover the solution in the end. That's a lot better batting average than Apple.
Moreover, my problems with Apple were not in the esoteric domain. They were mainly everyday issues brought up by my wife (who is the primary Mac user): questions related to screen images, grabbing stills, transitions, etc. The PC problems were definitely esoteric.
Both operating systems experienced complete User database corruption, in which the solution was to create a new user and bring over the user files (docs, images, etc) from the now corrupt user.
E-mail and social networking were equally easy on both platforms.
Integration with iPhones and computers were equally smooth on both platforms. Contacts and appointments flow both directions without problems -- kudoes to both companies. By the way, don't try to play that game with Galaxies: (Google will not directly integrate with Outlook, for example, and has no intention to so so.)
Home networking works with both platforms, but get Apple involved from the start if you are trying to get Mac and PC to talk to one another. This is the area they were helpful in. Somewhat.
Bookkeeping. I use Quicken. As of last year, the Quicken product for Apple was rotten. I helped install it for some clients and vowed to never even try it on our family's machine. Perhaps they have improved their product.
Communication between the Mac and peripherals varied. It took us a year to get it so that the Mac could readily switch between single-side and double-sided printing on either our Canon laser or HP inkjet. The interface is persistently confusing, even now, with options virtually hidden -- Apple support was never helpful there and I had to find all the solutions. Apple even told me the problem was unresolvable until I came up with a solution, which I now believe is part of their script.
As for mice and mousepads, all members of the household were taken by the little mousepad that Apple supplies but quickly abandoned it and returned to the two button mouse I set up. Mac navigation, as envisioned by Apple, sucks -- fortunately most of the problems are easily remedied. Some, however, are not. For example: the hidden query. Mac applications can and do lockup. And I mean really lockup. On a PC, virtually all lockups can be resolved by Ctrl-Alt-Del. There is no real equivalent on the Mac; and the reason is that there are things that happen in the background which don't appear on the screen. On a PC, the situation might resolve a hidden "save to" query that can be found using Alt-Tab (or whatever your choice of flavor); on the Mac you don't know what is locking up iPhoto (for example), you only know it won't close and it can't even be closed using the "Force Quit" option (that is NOT friendly).
Internet usage. The PC just seems faster to me, but that may be because of how my wife uses her Mac: She will have a dozen tabs open, all being constantly refreshed. However, neither Firefox nor Safari have the universality of IE. Don't get me wrong: there are websites that don't work in IE. However, more websites behave better in IE than in either Firefox or Safari. Firefox, though, runs a close second. Safari is definitely third. Stay away from the Google browser or you will find you can't maintain a website or access your bank or ... ? If you get a Mac, use both Firefox and Safari and one will almost certainly work where the other one won't. This is essential if you are using a third-party blogging site.
General misbehavior: the PC has behaved better for us than the Mac, with fewer lockups and error messages, and those error messages we get on the PC are always more easily resolved. I admit that may be because of how I maintain both machines; but nonetheless that is what we have experienced.
We don't have a good Mac netbook, so using the PC for travel is always our choice, but not a reflection on the qualities of the current MacBooks. My guess is that what we experienced on the desktops is what we would experience on the portables.
Now, after all of this, yes, I lean toward a PC, but for most simple usage issues, I doubt you would go wrong with a MacBook. I think the learning curve on the PC would be easier, but the Apple people will give you good help (with a service contract). I think you will feel more powerful using a PC because it is easier to move into larger problem solving issues with the PC (how to put something into slow motion for 20 seconds of frames, for example) and it will definitely be cheaper. MS gives great free products with their systems for image handling.
Good luck,
Michael