I would recommend an iMac. The new ones are awesome machines: fast, easy to use, and downright cool. Older ones are good too, and available pretty cheaply. I still use a 333mhz iMac G3 for everything and it works really well (keep in mind the megahertz gap, which makes comparing PC speeds and Mac speed using only megahertz ridiculously impossible). Considering also that the "i" in "iMac" stands for Internet, it's a pretty good surfing machine. And word processing's not a problem on any computer, but the iMac covers that base as well with the preinstalled AppleWorks (a good program, in my opinion) and the new Microsoft Word X that is getting such good reviews. The iMacs have a ton of disk space and loads of goodies for new computer users to go crazy with.

Sorry the reply to this post came so late, but I hope it helps. I am an avid Mac user and highly recommend all Apple machines, but especially iMacs for newbies. They're great!

-useless"Trust me, they're awesome!"ness