Nicholas Montgomery over at Appletell just doesn’t get it. In a blog post “10.5.2 makes strongest case for switchers to date,” he explains why this version of the Mac OS is so good that Windows users will have to switch. (Mac users have been making this case since, oh, OS8. Or earlier.)

“PC Mag has assumed that the main reason consumers haven’t switched to the Mac is the bugs in Leopard,” he starts. That’s not true. First of all, it was one PC Mag columnist expressing his opinion, it wasn’t the magazine itself having done testing or surveys.

More importantly, the column he mentioned just pointed out that there were some annoyances with Leopard, not that those bugs were the main reason Windows users haven’t switched. Ed Mendelson, the author of the PC Mag column, is smarter than that. Bugs in Leopard aren’t keeping Windows users from switching; we’ve been putting up with bugs and annoyances for years.

No, what Montgomery (and others) doesn’t get is that most Windows users don’t invest their hearts and souls in their computers. They view them as machines to do a task — write a letter, organize photos, browse the Web, play a game. Their lives aren’t attached to their equipment the way too many Mac users’ seem to be.

Windows users haven’t switched in large part because of price. Only Apple makes Macs. No competition means high prices. Econ 101.

Compare an HP Pavilion a6350z-series PC and a iMac. Both have 2.4GHz dual-core processors, 2 GB of RAM, 500-GB hard drives, 20-inch flat-panel monitors, and the basics (mouse, keyboard).

The HP sells for 749.99. The iMac sells for $1749. That’s an extra grand for the Mac — a 233 percent difference.

Granted, the Mac is better in many (if not most) ways. It comes with better software (Windows Movie Maker ain’t iMovie), a better operating system, and so on. But for most people those things are simply not worth paying 233 percent more for.

So Mac users can argue till they’re blue in the face that Macs are better. What they don’t seem to get is that it doesn’t matter. It’s not about quality, it’s about value. For most people, the added quality of a Mac isn’t worth an extra $1,000 or more.

I would rather drive a Porsche than a Toyota; I suspect a lot of other people would as well; Porsches provide a better driving experience is just about every way. But given the choice between a $20,000 Toyota and a $46,600 Porsche, I’d choose the Toyota.

That’s not to say that there’s anything wrong with the Porsche, just that I wouldn’t want to spend the extra money because I don’t think that the extras the Porsche provides are worth $26,600. (And because I don’t think my car defines me as a person.)

Other’s disagree; there are plenty of Porsches on the road. Some people buy them because they’re a status symbol; these people determine their self-worth through their cars. Other people buy them because the Porsche driving experience is worth the money to them.

But if Porsche owners went around bemoaning the fact that not everyone was spending the money on a Porsche, we’d think they were nuts. “Not everyone needs or wants a Porsche,” we’d say.

“But Porsches are better! They have better handling, better acceleration, they’re more comfortable, they have better resale value…”

All true. And all unimportant. Not everyone can spend the extra money, and not everyone thinks those extras are worth it.

Get it?