I made the transition from Amiga to PC because I had to for work, and because I saw PC hardware getting better and better for cheaper. At that time it was DOS and Windows 3.1, and I went to 95, 98, NT4, then 2000, and have not gone to XP. However, I have tinkered with several versions of Linux, especially when required for work I've done, but it didn't become my primary OS mostly because of the time it was taking to adapt and relearn everything about how to run my computer. Also, it didn't offer me any tools I couldn't live without. I wanted to be able to run 3D Studio Max, various Adobe apps, Windows games, etc.
Even so, I generally hate Windows and Microsoft. There are tons of reasons to make the switch to another OS, whether Linux/Unix/BSD or BeOS or something else.
First of all, the operating systems based on the NT kernel are not rock solid and stable. They are merely more stable than the 9x kernel operating systems... which isn't saying much at all.
Some reasons not to use Windows:
BLOAT - Why waste hard drive space and memory on lines and lines of useless code, or, worse yet, malicious code like spyware? You don't know what's in the code because it's not open source, and judging by the way many M$ apps run there's a lot of crap in there.
SECURITY HOLES - My buddy ThePull finds new security holes in M$ code all the time, as I'm sure many slashdotters do.
VIRII - Windows is obviously the most popular arena for viral experimentation, not to mention the virus-like spyware apps that manage to evade legal action thus far. I recently ran Ad-Aware on a friend's Dell because it was barely functioning and it found over 118 instances on his drive. After removal, it was suddenly functional again. I'm sure that if he could run a platform that doesn't have any spyware problems and could run the same apps, he would.
LICENSING - M$ licensing schemes are unrealistic and expensive for everyone from home users to businesses. Why buy some massive site license for a crappy OS when there are plenty of free operating systems?
IGNORANCE - A growing trend in mainstream, commercial software development is ignorance of the demands and needs of the users who know actually know what they're doing in favor of redesigning software so the least computer literate people can use it. M$ is definitely the "leader" in this area. "Take away all those bothersome controls to customize everything, and put a happy cartoon dog on the screen as a user interface for the masses. Customize? That sounds dangerous to me."
STABILITY - Do most Windows users find Windows to be stable? Since when? I can't think of a single friend or family member that has used Windows and not been frustrated by something idiotic that the operating system did at some point. Hell, I can BSoD NT by opening a bad font!
I'm sure slashdotters can come up with a myriad of other reasons not to use Windows if you can help it.
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I made the transition from Amiga to PC because I had to for work, and because I saw PC hardware getting better and better for cheaper. At that time it was DOS and Windows 3.1, and I went to 95, 98, NT4, then 2000, and have not gone to XP. However, I have tinkered with several versions of Linux, especially when required for work I've done, but it didn't become my primary OS mostly because of the time it was taking to adapt and relearn everything about how to run my computer. Also, it didn't offer me any tools I couldn't live without. I wanted to be able to run 3D Studio Max, various Adobe apps, Windows games, etc.
Even so, I generally hate Windows and Microsoft. There are tons of reasons to make the switch to another OS, whether Linux/Unix/BSD or BeOS or something else.
First of all, the operating systems based on the NT kernel are not rock solid and stable. They are merely more stable than the 9x kernel operating systems... which isn't saying much at all.
Some reasons not to use Windows:
BLOAT - Why waste hard drive space and memory on lines and lines of useless code, or, worse yet, malicious code like spyware? You don't know what's in the code because it's not open source, and judging by the way many M$ apps run there's a lot of crap in there.
SECURITY HOLES - My buddy ThePull finds new security holes in M$ code all the time, as I'm sure many slashdotters do.
VIRII - Windows is obviously the most popular arena for viral experimentation, not to mention the virus-like spyware apps that manage to evade legal action thus far. I recently ran Ad-Aware on a friend's Dell because it was barely functioning and it found over 118 instances on his drive. After removal, it was suddenly functional again. I'm sure that if he could run a platform that doesn't have any spyware problems and could run the same apps, he would.
LICENSING - M$ licensing schemes are unrealistic and expensive for everyone from home users to businesses. Why buy some massive site license for a crappy OS when there are plenty of free operating systems?
IGNORANCE - A growing trend in mainstream, commercial software development is ignorance of the demands and needs of the users who know actually know what they're doing in favor of redesigning software so the least computer literate people can use it. M$ is definitely the "leader" in this area. "Take away all those bothersome controls to customize everything, and put a happy cartoon dog on the screen as a user interface for the masses. Customize? That sounds dangerous to me."
STABILITY - Do most Windows users find Windows to be stable? Since when? I can't think of a single friend or family member that has used Windows and not been frustrated by something idiotic that the operating system did at some point. Hell, I can BSoD NT by opening a bad font!
I'm sure slashdotters can come up with a myriad of other reasons not to use Windows if you can help it.