Yes CAD, audio, word etc all covered. Same as PC's.
yes There is more than just the apps store. same as pcs.
very the same as a PC repair. Electronics fail so rarely its not even worth considering.
You'll go through about 4 pc's for the lifespan of one mac. And a whole lot less reinstalling of operating systems. My 9 year old mac has had about 3 clean installs mainly at major OS upgrade times.
My work PC has had 3 in 1 year and only deals with email and a few word docs and is professionally maintained. It crashes and freezes.
The mac is barley looked after, thrashed with video and graphics and internet and is only recently unable to keep up with modern web content. But its still working.
Mac minis suffer with their shared graphics memory. But for a couple of kids would be ideal.
There is no problem with kids being able to use both a Mac and a PC. Surely a major skills advantage! And they will never lose their homework with time machine. And their slide shows will be much better. Have you seen the wee PC girl on the telly – her slide show is pish!