Thanks, everyone!

I've been dual-booting Ubuntu and Windows XP on my elderly Dell computer for nearly three years now, and virtually all my computer-related activities can now be carried out without Windows - photography, accounts, email, correspondence, genealogy, music engraving, website maintenance are all handled with Open-Source software.

Which leaves Band-in-a-box high and dry on a Windows island! Although it runs after a fashion under Wine or VirtualBox in the Ubuntu environment, the sound output is jittery - I'm obviously asking too much of old hardware. I've worked round the problem by moving BIAB to an (also) aged laptop, which is dedicated to BIAB, and gets the job done, although a little slow at (re)generation.

I'm drawn towards the iMac by my use of the iPad for jazz charts (and BIAB-generated MP3s for practice purposes), for the Apple reputation as being good for photography, and by its elegant looks and small desktop footprint.

My plan would be to migrate my activities to the Mac environment while maintaining triple-boot capacity (Mac-OS/Windows/Ubuntu) to manage the transition. I haven't looked at running Ubuntu in VirtualBox on the Mac - that would simplify the changeover, allowing a switch between Mac and Ubuntu applications without the need to re-boot. Now that I know I can run BIAB in a virtual Windows environment, I can go ahead.

I'll just have to wait for the bank account to fill up again after Christmas...

Michael