"(and I won't even mention MS-Windows, what a joke)." Just in defense of Windows, which I happily use as both a developer and designer -- the latest versions (

"(and I won't even mention MS-Windows, what a joke)." Just in defense of Windows, which I happily use as both a developer and designer -- the latest versions (Windows 7 or 8) are pretty good at doing the two things you've described. If anything I have had many more problems diagnosing the Internet connections of friends' Macbooks. And with managing external monitors, Windows has a keyboard shortcut to easily switch, plus it remembers screen configurations. Example: I have external monitors at home and at work. At home my monitor is to the top-left of my laptop screen. At work it's directly to the right. Whenever I hook up the HDMI or Mini Displayport it remembers which is which and automatically switches for me. I would agree that Macbook Airs are great hardware, but the Windows ecosystem is catching up pretty fast too. Some of the new ultrabooks are really nice -- give them a shot at least.