A few months ago, I switched from Windows XP to Linux. Here’s a list of why, so if you’re fed up with Microsoft, pay attention.
Linux is free: Both free as in speech and free as in beer. You pay nothing to get it, and you can freely distribute it.
Linux is open source: Linux, and the majority of software available for it, is open source. You can modify the code however you want, or compile it specifically for your system so it runs faster.
Linux is stable: Don’t get me wrong, Windows XP is pretty stable compared to previous versions of Windows. I rarely saw the horrid blue screen of death (BSOD) when I last had Windows installed, but how many Windows systems have you seen that you could run for months or years without rebooting and not see any slowdown?
Linux has similar applications to many of the ones you’ve used in Windows: There are Linux programs for web browsing, instant messaging, email, photo editing, audio & video editing, you name it! You can even open your Microsoft Office format documents with OpenOffice. Much of the Windows software that doesn’t have a Linux equivalent, you can run through Wine (the windows emulator). I play the MMORPG “Guild Wars” through a gaming-specialized version of Wine called Cedega, and it runs beautifully.
Software installation and updating is simple: All software installs and updates are done through one central program, depending on which distribution you use. You select what software packages you want to install, and they are automatically downloaded, along with any prerequisite packages. When any software installed on your system has an update available, that same software management program will notify you and perform the update for you.
Linux is hard to infect: There are very few viruses and spyware in Linux. Spyware is rare due to the open source nature. Viruses are rare because they would need root user priveledges in order to install themselves. The root account is not necessary to use day-to-day, so the main user accounts have limited privledges.
Linux is fast and stays fast: Linux is built without much of the bloat that is included in Windows, so it runs faster. Windows tends to slow down the longer you’ve had it installed. This is often due to spyware, viruses, and hard drive fragmentation.
Linux hard drive partitions don’t need defragmenting: Data is purposefully packed loosely on a Linux partition. This means when files are resized, the new data can be placed next to the old data on the hard drive, instead of wherever the next empty space is. When new files are created, they are put in a large section of contiguous free space, instead of the earliest open spaces.
Linux is not reliant on its graphical interface: Almost anything you can do graphically in Linux, you can do with the command line, and vice-versa.
Linux is customizable: You can change everything about the appearance of Linux. There are 3 popular Window Managers, and many others. The Window Manager is what gives the desktop and program windows their appearance and behavior.
Linux supports more hardware than Windows: With Windows, drivers for older hardware are left out of newer operating systems, and older drivers are incompatable with new systems. Linux doesn’t have this limitation. Most of the drivers are written by end-users.
Linux is easy to install: Linux is on par with Windows on ease-of-installation.
You’ve waited long enough. Check out http://www.ubuntu.com for an easy to install Linux. You can even try it out before you install it.
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