They are not really any easier to learn, just a little harder to mess up. I've sat people down in front of them and they had to have just as much helping as the rest but with the OS locked down pretty tight by default its harder to screw things up or mistype a web site address and get hit with malware.
The hardware is more $ and has some issues despite all the mac fans putting perfect reviews into places like consumer reports its not the quality they claim.