You'll find a lot of Mac-Lovers on this forum, and also the PC types, so this is likely to give you a variety of perspectives.
I'm die-hard Mac, using them since the first day of Mac in January 1984. I also use Windows PCs periodically, and used to use them quite a bit.
My main love about Macs is that they work, they just plain work. They don't crash as much. Their owners probably don't swear at them as much. Their assorted applications tend to share information more seamlessly, using the same user interface - that means a graphic from one application can likely be edited in another, copied over to a word processing document, moved to a presentation.....smoothly and seamlessly. When you get a new Application you can usually just load in the CD or click Download, click Install, and you're done. There's no new learning curve, because most applications are arranged the same way, commands in the same menus, windows and menus looking the same, etc. (SOME companies have ported stuff from a different environment to Mac without rewriting, and it'll be awkward on a Mac, but all the apps from the main companies work with the same Mac user interface).
The days of "Macs don't run as much software" are long gone; most if not all of the biggies (MS Office for example) are on both platforms, and files from one can easily be moved to the other (e.g. home to work and back). Of course there are specialized applications that run on only one or the other, but it doesn't sound like that's your need.
The flash issue with the iPad is not an issue with a Mac, not at all.
A Mac will do everything you want, probably do it more easily and more quickly than a Windows PC. BUT it comes at a price - Macs are more expensive. The least expensive way to get one is to go to apple.com, then store, then, on the bottom left, look for refurbished ones. Same warranty, you won't be able to tell them from new, but a few hundred $ less expensive. Might be a 6 month older model, might have been returned....all are thoroughly gone over and thoroughly warranted. Only once did I get a refurb that had an issue; it took one phone call and I had a new replacement overnight along with a free shipping label to send back the first one in the same box the other came in.
The Windows operating system is a copy of the Mac's - and I feel that Macs just do it better than the copy.
I'm sure you'll hear from the PC side too....and also, do search this forum for Mac and Windows and laptop and so forth; you'll find several lively discussions.