i can have poser5, max 4 and photoshop7 running without any probelms at all... but you cant buy my pc in a store. i can run several instances of vb6, have frontpage open and logged onto a sever... dozens of browser windows and so on, run max and photshop... and still not have any issues... if you have a problem running multiple applications you cant generalize it by blamming your pc.. blame yourself and the crap you may have jammed into your reg OR the fact that you are expecting TOO MUCH from your poor processor... which is exactly why people buy macs... its too bad there is too much costomizability with pc's because then everyone thinks their computer should be able to do what another computer can do without understanding the variables between systems. macs are cookie cutter machines.. made for a narrow margin of user based on a graphics platform. pc's are based on an individual need formed around a general theme.