Well, i changed to linux about 5 years ago.
The reason was that i was tired of Windows Antivirus, it makes my Pentium 3 really slow and the Windows XP works as a writing machine.
I also like the different things so i downloaded an Ubuntu image and installed it, it was about 5 years ago and they werent distributing bootable images. After Ubuntu i installed Debian, with this OS i learned a lot, i make my own web/ftp server and did some hacks on the kernel and other software.
Now i am using a Debian with Gnome desktop, using Firefox as web browser, OpenOffice, Eclipse as IDE, GNU C compiler and other open source software. Sometimes when i have time i also contribute developing this kind of soft.
I think that GNU/Linux is more a philosophy than software.
I recommend it everybody that is using Windows, dont scare!

I switched to linux becouse i love to be able to do what i want and i love the fact that its almost virus free...and its free
my favorite distro is openSuse...but mandriva and fedora is also good distros..i hate the fact that most people tend to think that linux is hard to install and you can't do anything with it becouse thats not true..I think openSuse,Mandrivas and Fedoras install i smooth as it can get and easy. And i can do everything i can do with a windows xp computer...play games with cedega and such


Edit: I have had linux for about 5 years now

This post has been edited by ZhuzKamill: Jul 9 2008, 10:09 AM

I just had to post here for the reason that I did NOT switch to linux.

1. Why can't you just use Windows? It is universal and most companies use it. A lot of companies couldn't give a s&%$ if you know linux or not. Windows is really easy to code, and, if you're a gamer like me, you can play a HUGE variety of games.

2. Linux is very hard to understand for noobies. I know Windows Xp very well and I can code very easily. With linux, I tried to do some commands after learning, and it was a very difficult concept to conceive.

3. Windows is very straightforward. Windows is fully explained and the user-interface is REALLY easy for someone who is new to a computer to get. Linux is really tough to setup things and programs are hard to execute sometimes.

4. DRIVERS! Most things that you buy for your computer today are for Windows Xp or Vista. On the package it says under system requirements that you must have a Windows Xp or Vista OS. Linux drivers are very hard to come by for things such as a capture card or wireless USB to connect to a network.

5. Looks. Most people say it looks better than Windows, but I highly disagree with that. Windows is EASY to customize it's looks. You can create your own look and release it for others to use. I love Windows and how my desktop looks. I don't care about making windows wobble, because to me, I think it's just dumb.

6. LASTLY, people say that it runs faster than Windows, however, this is not true all the time. Windows is very speedy on a lot of computers. Okay maybe not old ones, but with just a little clean up with a simple program every week, you have a fast computer.

**Edit**
1 more thing:

7. Viruses. I realize that Windows is the easiest OS to receive viruses, but if you aren't dumb and keep an anti-virus running and scanning, then you'll be fine. If you get a virus, they can be really easy to get rid of, unless you were stupid and downloaded a really hard virus.

This post has been edited by GMBlazed: Jul 10 2008, 06:58 PM

The £400 cost for a Windows licence is the main point that puts me off. Linux is... oh, free. Thats £400 I can spend on my PC to make it better. Then theres the software. MS Office - £300. OpenOffice - oh, free again. So, thats £700 of savings so far...



Linux isn't difficult. Even my mum finds Linux easier to use than Windows People are just reluctant to learn, and assume that because something is different, it is wrong. When people use Linux from the off, they find it much easier than Windows.



A graphical installer that does everything for you, and one central location for installing all your software. Much easier than Windows.



I have never needed to download a driver for any of my hardware on Linux, including USB and PCI wireless cards, three different portable music players, three printers, a graphics tablet and video capture cards. On Windows, each of those would have required a driver CD. Suddenly Linux makes a lot more sense with drivers than Windows.



Looks are entirely personal preference, but KDE, Gnome and Xfce are much easier to customise than Windows, and have a lot more options. Then there are central sites like KDE-Look which have loads of stuff to customise the look and feel with.



Linux is fast without a "simple program every week", and runs much faster on both my new PCs and my old ones than Windows does.



Linux is much less likely to get the virus in the first place, and prevention is better than cure.

Wow, i don't think i've ever seen someone praise Windows concerning viruses before. This is the first time i've seen someone give a reason on why they didn't pick Linux because of its viruses. And i wouldn't say that a person is stupid because they downloaded a strong virus. Not to say that anyone is stupid, but the one that downloaded the strong virus is equal to the one that downloaded a weak virus, because it is uncertain of the virus' strength until after getting warned by your virus-scanner.

When you pay for something, you place faith in the product that it'll perform well to fit your needs. If i were a consumer and purchased Windows, i would expect it to be on a level that is satisfying, without having to worry about problems that are known issues by the developers (or distributors) and that were caused by the system itself. And if any problems are found, i would expect the company selling the product to be able to help me solve the problem regardless of my knowledge in computers. Linux doesn't need to worry here, as it is shipped without warrenty. Interestingly enough, although it is shipped without warrenty, problems concerning the distro of Linux end up getting fixed; and in many cases, in good timely fashion.

...i tend to think of it like this... you have your supermarkets(microsoft and apple) and you have your cornershops(*nix bsd etc).... in your supermarkets you got a vast array of choice and options like ten different kinds of apples is similar to how many html editors they are, dealt to the masses, then you got your corner shop with the dedicated items that your shop knows you need people can get just what they need without coming out of the shope with a whole load of stuff they didnt go in there for (like i tunes & WMP etc) if you know what you want a corner shop is the easiest and quickest way to do it without the bombardment of choice. then again a supermarkets helped to make this world fat and lazy, could this be relaed to the way operating sysems make you act.....?

Well

I didnt know anything about linux, so I went googling nd stuff.
Saw allot of people using it, so I thought, why shouldnt I use it?

So I gave it a try, downloaded BackTrack2(live cd) and played around with it.
One thing I really liked was the speed, application started faster and so, and
it was very secure and almost virusfree!

But besides that, I cant run my favourite programs I used to use in WinXP, so that
was a little dissapointing, but I still use it to code php/python or crack wireless

Honestly i dont like linux before because i am lazy to read about it and i dont have interest of learning learn it.
I started using linux just last year, it is not because i am bored but i have to... since all the pc's in company i am working with are linux the kubuntu 6.04 version. Then from that i suddenly become interested to learn linux. It is because i realize that almost everything that I needed is in linux and also it is very stable compared to windows. I haven't yet encountered virus on my linux machine. Since then I become a fan of linux, I search ebooks and commands to be able to completely learn linux. I have tried different distributions like redhat, ubuntu studio, and kubuntu 7.10 which is the distribution that I use on my PC at home. And this is how i learn linux... it is because i have to learn it, and then later on it is because i WANT and INTERESTED to learn it!