I chose to install Ubuntu 7.04 a couple of weeks ago because:

- I couldn't run Office and another program without Windows crashing and the computer rebooting for some reason. This was particularly annoying when I wanted to copy and paste something from Firefox but simply couldn't. On Feisty, I can use any number of programs with OpenOffice at the same time without problems, even though I'm only running 512MB of RAM.

- Microsoft keeps adding validation to everything, as well as keeping a validation process running in the background which calls back every so often just to make sure your copy of Windows hasn't suddenly become illegal. At first I didn't mind but now it has gotten over the top and I don't want to support it any more.

- Security threats. Although I managed to keep Windows safe by using the firewall in my router and keeping up to date, I didn't want the risk to be there when I just want to browse the net. With Ubuntu updates for all your software come automatically if you install them using Synaptic which is a real time saver and the kernel is simply more secure and, if a security flaw is found, the community works together to fix it asap.

- And finally, I've used Windows since I was 5 years old and I simply got bored of it.

This post has been edited by Jewbacca: Jun 22 2007, 05:03 PM

I started using Linux sooo many years ago. It's always been a part of my life, thanks to my dad! I recently deleted my very last Windows partition because the only thing keeping me there was my iPod and my (admittedly ridiculous) love affair with iTunes.

I'm now using Amarok. And I've fallen in love with it! I keep falling in love with software!

Not sure if this reply counts, but started using Linux now and then for disk maintenance if Windows would have a bad day. It's great to have a live disk ready to solve troubles quick.

I started using Linux at the beginning of this year. I tried many different distros and eventually settled for Suse Linux. I have to say that Linux is much better than windows. I'd been using windows for years, but what finally made me switch was Vista. I read the technical specification for vista and realized that with all the DRM they were putting in it, they were turning windows from an Operating System into an Orwellian System. As a writer, my writing is very important to me, and I don't like the idea of Microsoft having control of my files - but that's exactly what you get if you use Vista. They can change their agreement at any time, and once you're locked into their proprietary formats then it's game over. I found it rather disturbing to learn that if they decided to lock out your copy of Microsoft Office (perhaps they think your copy has been pirated), it wouldn't just stop working, but all the files that had ever been created would stop working as well - so you couldn't just nip across to another system and use your files, they wouldn't work. Even worse they would be able to delete any file on your computer they wanted. Then there's the Trusted Computing Group they set up, with the purpose of putting chips into computers so that only trusted software will work. Well, I'll be damned if I let Microsoft decide what can run on my computer. Then there's part of the specification where every driver has to be designed separately and the solution kept secret - which reverses the current situation where many drivers are open, and often the devices will happily interface with generic drivers - that's just going to push prices up and it will be us (the consumer) that's got to pay for all the extra development. Then there's the overhead all the DRM and encryption Vista uses when it runs, the processing overhead for which I'm sure I won't be paying for. Not to mention the paranoid defenses that come with vista, that would shut down the system at the slightest sniff of an attack upon so called "Premium Content". Won't be long either until Microsoft are trying to claim the internet for themselves.

So Microsoft can swivel. Suse Linux is brilliant. I keep XP on a small partition and dual boot just in case I need it, but I hardly ever use it anymore. I think a lot of people shy away from Linux because the myth that it's hard to use still persists, but I found adapting to Linux rather easy.

Originally it was to develop websites in PERL for deployment on Unix based servers. Eventually though I moved to FreeBSD because of the ports system and then to OSX as the complete package including all the commerical applications like Dreamweaver, Photoshop, and Office on one platform with all the Unix goodness underneath. Great combo.

I had been planning on trying a live cd, but when windows crashed i went ahead and installed damn small linux. I like it alot better

For me, I look at Linux as my jump on to MacOS X. Now I can really pry Darwin up pretty nicely and I have also toyed with FreeBSD before my jump to MacOS X.

xboxrulz

It started to play my first Debian(1) box(2) 4 years ago, in the school. this is the history.

BEFORE LINUX
In my first 2 years of my professional career I was in the way of the hell: Loving Win9x. Yes, I came from the DOS to Win98. That's easy to me to remember those days and nights researching the hidden secrets of "the OS", my parents become to hate my habit of "trying to rebuild the wheel", and now I think that I lost many energies with Win9x, coding on Visual Basic or Foxpro. But only God knows why.

THE BEGINNING
6 years ago(3), my best teacher, "the old master" teaches a class about operating systems. This very minded man said: "Your life/mind/sense/feelings will change after this class". He talked about Win-sucks, Bill gay, Blue screens, and a large and well know etc(etcetera). And there I'm trying to keep me in the chair, with my feet ready to kick my own teacher...
"What are you trying to say, Windows is wonderful, there is nothing like Windows, just take a look at DOS..." was crying my soul.
But there is that guy writing 5 rare letters in the board: "L I N U X"(2) by Linuz Torvalds. And now winsucks becomes really sucking. After 30 minutes my mind can't believe that there is an OS with real multitasking, stability, no blue screens, no monthly scandisk/defrag/antivirus(4), free Word Processor, free Spreadsheets, free software at all!!!

CONCLUSION
I was convicted by experienced people and decided to use Linux because is simply better to me and my needs.

CONTEXT REFERENCES
(1) Debian woody 2 months before becomes stable.
(2) For some reason, I ever choose the hardest way to things. If you found some instructions to install Debian through Internet with 1.44 inches diskettes... YES!!! I've installed Debian that way, only takes 6 hours with 10kpbs.
(3) In 2001, Red hat was free, and some folks installed Staroffice(when was free) and MS Office together in Windows!!
(4) In 2003, at leats to me, antivirus was the unique word to refer: anti-spyware, anti-malware, anti.... every commercial word to make you feel insecure and preparing your jackets to spend some money in software downloads.

Blessings!

Like a year ago I felt an urge to learn how linux worked, and how to use it and stuff.

So at first I tried out a few distros like Ubuntu, Knoppix and Suse, but I didn't really liked any of them. Then I used Debian for a few months, but after some time I learned about Gentoo, gave it a try and haven't looked back since:p

Linux user since Feisty Fawn. So you might call me a bit of a newb, but I've really taken a liking to using Linux. It's on both my desktop and laptop right now, dual booting with Windows for the necessary programs of course.

What made me switch? Well, it's mostly because I was tired of having to keep up with all the antivirus software that Windows needed. Plus the actual scanning was just too much of a burden on the system, especially when I'm doing something else on it. Also, I'm an MIS major. You could say that it's in my blood.

Other factors: Vista's price. Too high.

It's just fascinating to see how much performance you can squeeze out of your box when you put a Linux kernel on it. And how much more stable it suddenly seems. I'm off to install Gentoo.