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If all you do is web browsing, email, social networking etc, a Desktop PC, Laptop PC, Mac, Macbook, or Netbook (both Windows and Linux) will do the job. The only real difference is price point and hardware (more on this later). They are all equally capable. Windows is more susceptible to viruses etc out of the box, but properly setup it can be made secure.
If you need your computer for a wide variety of tasks, especially if you like gaming, a windows PC is the only option. Some laptops are "good enough" for gaming but they're not ideal.
If you need your computer for multimedia tasks such as video editing, image editing and music creation, the Mac is very strong, with a very wide application base. A Windows PC is as capable and slightly cheaper, but the more varied hardware base can cause stability issues. A Linux PC doesn't cut it because of its zero application base, although it is great for doing all the above on the cheap.
If you're going to use your computer for work, contrary to what Itpro says, a Windows PC, a Linux PC and a Mac will all get the job done, with one caveat. Many businesses have proprietary/Windows only software. Do your research.
With regards to hardware, they're all, in principal, EXACTLY the same. Mac switched over to Intel x86 hardware years ago. Mac gains much of its stability from it's very narrow subset of hardware support. Overall, Linux has the best "out of the box" hardware support (no discs or drivers needed), which is where much of its stability comes from. On the other hand, Windows has the widest overall hardware support.
With regards to netbooks, I find them infinitely useful. You can fly anywhere in the world, hand luggage only, with it neatly tucked away in a rucksack. They have extremely long battery life too (I think the newest Linux based EEE gets 12 hours or so with the Windows version a little behind). They're no good for any real work, but perfect for keeping in touch with the office.
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