After playing a dual-wield melee character up to 30 and then restarting as a pure magic user and getting him up to level 19, I have to say that melee combat in heavy armor certainly seems to be the path of least resistance. I'm playing on Expert difficulty in both games, but the the dual-wield melee guy just tears ass and obliterates foes in an instant, while my Mage barely does any damage with his spells and gets rocked hard in most combat situations.
With that said, I am having more fun with the Mage (focused on Destruction and Restoration magic), since it makes me be resourceful and provides much more of a challenge, but it's too bad that magic seems to be so weak in this game. Maybe once I get my Master-level spells it will change? Also, the in-combat mana regeneration rate is way too slow. Assuming item effects stack, I have +250% mana regeneration speed, but it's still way too slow.