I first tried Linux a few years ago, not because I was completely against Windows or anything like that, but just because I had some free time on my hands. I started off with Mandrake 9.0 which was very user friendly and Windows-like. After reading through a bunch of message boards and learning which distros are good for what, I soon realized my current distro was great for Linux noobs. So then I decided to try something a little more advanced like Slackware which I knew had a steep learning curve.

Since then I've been using Slackware as my main OS and couldn't be happier. Of course somethings are a pain in the ass to configure, but that;s Slack for you. If it ain't hard, then you won't learn anything from it.

That's my story, I basically started to learn Linux because I was bored.

I haven't switched, I mean I dual boot and use linux almost exclusively at work, but I basically started it because I can't stand programming in windows. I just prefer coding in linux 10 fold... of course I didn't know I would at the time but I knew I hated it in windows so gave it a shot just to see why everyone liked it. Now I like it for tons of reasons, but my main reasons for trying it was to get programming on it. That's MY story.

The question seems to be : "What made you Switch from Microsoft Windows to Linux " ?
This seems to suppose that there are only three kinds of people : Microsoft People, Linux people, and switching people.
This is not completely true. There are people being neither Crosoft neither Linux people.
In my real life, I started with a Unix-Like project.
Then, I added PC-DOS on IBM-PC. I loved the principle of personal computers at reasonable cost. Now I am fanatic of free ms-dos-like operating systems. I have to cope with Crosoft because they are sold as part of the home computers you buy in most supermarkets today. And, in professional world, workstations are now mostly Crosoft-Based.
Of course, my main pleasure is Unix systems. There are a lot of Unix Operating systems, depending on the platform : Sun-OS, HP-UX, AIX. And SCO on Inter X86 platforms. All of these softwares costed a lot, because they were multi-task/Multi-user operating systems for a lot of users on huge machines.
Now Linux comes, and most of its distros have a free version. So, for me it's a Unix system looking last most of the other standard ones, and it's my preferred version because I can put it on my home computers for free.
However, I must say, I never swithced. I always was a Unix man, ms-dos looked like a Unix command line system, and Linux looks like a powerful and free Unix system with graphics and telecoms.
Isn't this nice ? A fully Linux fanatic since sevarl years, who never had to switch to Linux ?
Regards
Yordan

for me, originally, my friend was recommending me to look into Linux when I was making plans to start a webhosting company (never happened). Then the further I looked into the hole, the more I learned that it's one of the best operating systems in the world. I soon also learned the evil side of Micro$oft. Now, here I am, running Linux on my desktop and laptop. SuSE Linux to be exact.

xboxrulz

I am also a guy who never needed to switch from Microsoft Windows to Linux, because I switched from Linux to Windows a year ago, why ? Because of my Information Technology Exams which I passed a week ago, in my country everything is windows, windows, windows. I was/am a user of Amiga OS and looking forward for getting a hardware to use Morph OS, from Amiga OS I switched straight to Linux and was using it for a long time and of course still am using with joy. I only knew that windows exist and some friends has it, in school I was made to use them.. (this was the year 2001) One year ago, when I installed XP I had a lot of problems with it (Speed, stupid GUI, Viruses, Spy-ware, stupid Programs having different GUIs, A lot of commercial software), but with time I got used to it and learned office and all the stuff "how to use it" even optimized it to work for me, so now I don't have any problems with it, no viruses, no spy-ware, I did not format it since 2005 November and the speed is still great.. after my exams I am planning to make another site on how to optimize windows XP for yourself and how to use it that you wouldn't have any problems.

Switching to Linux improved my productivity but the real reason I switched was I didn't like the direction Microsoft was taking. You weren't in control of your machine, you were limited to what you could control, and it was dumbified to a point that if you did want to do something you couldn't. Now a lot of their resources go towards preventing piracy, etc. These things they introduce can and sometimes do break your system, yet all the mistakes Microsoft does, it still manages to maintain their loyal users.

I remember when Microsoft asked how Windows was productive for you, and remember this should not include programs that are not part of the Operating System, but many people liked talking about Office, etc. I answered with "it is not productive at all", Wordpad, Notepad, Paint... what do you expect, you can only do basic things with them and that's not productive at all nor is it going to make you successful, you really need the arsenal of programs to do what you want. Windows is only to help you control your computer, it should not take over it, nor should it try to do other things that aren't considered part of an operating system.

It's also quite costly especially since Windows just kept slapping a coat of paint over the top of it and selling it like a new version, if you want to believe that it's built from scratch, then obviously changing the kernel and still maintaining the same old files isn't much of a change, there was little improvement and minor optimisation but it could have done more. It continues to support obsolete devices that no longer exist or would not even run on modern computers now, especially when Windows forces you to use modern hardware.

I'm quite happy with Linux, I can still do mostly what I would want to do, although there's some areas that is lacking, but I find that as an opportunity for me to improve those areas with software that suits my needs and would most likely suit others who'd feel the same.

To have a secure Windows machine, you have to rely on third party software, some which could cost you more. In the long run, I will continue to stick by Linux and it won't be long till it surpasses Windows in every way.

Cheers,

MC

I'm a dedicated Windows user at this point, but I don't like where Gates and co. are going with Vista. If XP is a resource hog, then Vista is setting itself up as the Godzilla of resource wasters.

That and the screen shots I've seen of the 3D desktop interface don't impress me much, if at all.

Anyway...if I ever get off my lazy butt and give Linux a shot - which I've been meaning to do for years but never quite actually do - it'll most likely be because Windows finally enrages me enough to make me go to Linux. i.e. I'd rather install and learn Linux than have to upgrade my computer (or buy a new one altogether) just to run a newer Windows OS.

Sarahs post inadvertently reminded me of another reason I had wanted to switch to linux back in the day. I had older systems kicking around that I wanted to make use of but newer windows were slow as crap on them. To resolve this issue I had hoped to throw linux onto them once I learned its basics on my main machine which is exactly what I did

I'm crazy about computers. I'd learn anything that is new to me and I find interesting. I first came in contact with *nix systems when I joined college and had to work on SunOS systems for a course. I really liked it since it was completely different and learnt a few shell commands. After the course also, I still kept using the same systems for personal work like browsing the net. But my real foray into Linux came with Mandrake 2 years ago when I bought my own computer in my dorm. Later on I switched to Slackware for a while, loved it (still do) and then shifted to Gentoo and have been using Gentoo ever since.

Now, even while using Slackware, Windows was my main OS, because there were so many things I needed in windows and installing similar applications with their dependencies and libraries was a bit of a pain in Linux. But, enter Gentoo ... and there have been times when I haven't booted into Windows for weeks.

I'll just state why I prefer Linux over windows .... No Antivirus needed, no firewall, no anti-spyware, no slowdown and system instantly accessible from anywhere in the campus via SSH, even from Windows systems. Also, sharing resources on the campus LAN is not a problem at all, since in Linux, firefox (once opened) doesn't slow down even if someone is copying stuff from your comp. It works just as it does normally.

I still use Windows for my project work (can't get F90 compiler in Linux) and for games. But to give credit where credit's due, Windows XP really has a lot of things in the right place. I mean, other than terrible security and poor performance, it has been designed with the utmost care to be as user-friendly as possible, maybe overdoing it a bit .

I started with Slackware 2 on a 486DX with 8MB of Ram upgraded at a later point to AMD P75 chip that made the machine a 133Mhz 486DX and upgraded to a whopping 20MB of Ram. (I still have this machine since it the last one still with a functioning 5.25" disk drive.

I did so because Linux was this uber leet thing for computer nerds and half the battle was getting it to actually install. And then as my dad said, "great you got it to install on the old computer, now what do you use it for?" I think I stared there with a blank face because I had no idea. And truth be told, unless you were running a server in those days, there wasn't a lot that Linux could do...

Well that was good because I designed web-pages in High School ten years ago and make a lot of money, you could charge $150 a page back then, and eventually I learned the basics of Perl programming, SQL thanks to MySQL and then on to PHP. When I got into college, I thought about CS, but quickly found out after a couple real programming courses that computers were more of a hobby, not a career choice for me.

Then I started doing consulting for a couple dot com start ups and got to reading about FreeBSD. Well I got both of those companies set up through Pair.com and got FreeBSD 3.4 to install on my then PII 450 with 256MB of Ram as a test server. About this time Apple made the switch to OS 10. 10.0 sucked, had a lot of problems like not being able to burn CD's and such so i waited. Then the Summer of 2002 I needed a new laptop, my Viao P233 was dying so I Ebayed and bought an iBook. I've been Apple ever since.

To me, Linux was a stepping stone between Dos/Windows to the Unix world. It's like cheap coffee to me. It's okay and till you get a hold of the good stuff (real Unix) and then it tastes like crap.

Anyhow, over the years programming and webpages (I still do a few, like the one for church and stuff) my interest in it wained quite a bit, but interest in 3D animation started to peak. That's how I landed my last job, I did a bunch of animation for our architecture students including setting up ScreamerNet and 3D Studio Max's network rendering cluster in the computer labs. One of the students went on to work for a small video production company and when I graduated they offered me a position based on his recomendation. They were all Macintosh and switching to OSX based machines and I knew the Unix background so.....

I went Linux->FreeBSD->OpenBSD->Mac OS -> nice paying job right of out college at a fun place to work -> lived at home for two years to save a butt load of money -> now on to Lawschool and what I really want to do for a career.

Funny now that I think about it...