That control went away maybe a decade ago and it's not that Apple machines were technically better than PCs if one looks at the percentages and not just the numbers. Today even some Mac addicts are complaining about Apple's more recent OS releases.Why use a hackintosh? The prime draw to apple products is that they are reliable and that is based almost entirely on the fact that they do not have to deal with the same breadth of hardware and software that windows does. That is why apple controls the hardware that goes into their machines - it allows them to ensure grater stability and fewer problems.Macs and PC use the same hardware, which is why you can make a "Hackentosh" by installing the Mac OS on a PC with the right hardware. I'm using an HP Elitebook with the Mac OS right now, and my desktop Mac at home is a 2008 Mac Pro with 8 cores that still runs the current Mac OS as well as any MS or Linux distro. So the Mac's product life is just as long, if not longer, and is as easy to fix as any PC.When Apple products break and you have to have "Genius" fix it. You need an appointment to do so. And their product life is only a couple of years, as opposed to MS XP which I loved and would still use if it had been killed off.
When I was using Linux with the Gnome 2 I never had problems, ever, when Linux moved to Gnome 3 I started seeing minor driver issues, with the latest LTS releases I started to experience freeze ups and other more irritating problems.
My point is not to dis or promote one over the other but to show that all systems can and do experience problems.