Personally, I was really hoping for a non-Mac based system as my next laptop. However, programming on Windows is still terrible, Linux is AFAIK still to hard, slow and unfriendly (the last time I used Ubuntu they were heading in the wrong direction as far as UI usability is concerned), and ChromeOS is not a real OS. So, with only two decent hardware choices (Chromebook and MacBook), I have to decide for a Mac due to superior software.
Agree that I've had enough of Linux on the desktop. Windows is hit-or-miss for development, depending on language. Programming in Windows in C# is great. C and Java seem fine too. Programming Ruby on Rails in Windows is a tricky minefield, where things mostly work right until you hit a gem that doesn't build or run the same or something, or the 3 different pseudo-linuxes that you need are different in subtle ways.
What really turns me off from it, though, is the way Windows 8 is evolving, the small selection of really nice hardware, and the updating. Even now, there are still like 30 different apps and OS subsystems that all have their own update infrastructure and all want to update themselves on their own timeline, with assorted random app restart and system reboot demands. That's the main thing that I was really hoping Chrome OS could get me away from, but Mac OS may be worth a try - I haven't really used it in years.
When Ubuntu's new dekstop system came out a few years ago (when I last used Linux - I think it was named Unity), it really slowed down my rythm. Part of it was that it generally slowed down the system (but maybe the hardware was a little too old/slow for it anyways), part of it was that it was unintuitive and thus slowed down my workflow. Mac doesn't do that - multitouch really helps here, though, so the comparision might be unfair (since multitouch requires really good hardware touchpad first).
