In addition to a lot of the other comments about some of the barriers to adoption that Linux still has and basic apathy towards the security concerns with Windows, I'll give my own reason for staying proficient with Windows: businesses still run Windows (at least on the desktops).
When I was in school they had Apple computers and software and we learned how to operate them because that's the exposure we had. Near graduation I started figuring out that a lot of the want ads had requirements for knowing Windows and MS Office instead of the Apple/Mac computers that I was used to. When I got to college, they had Unix servers but they had Windows on the desktops, so I switched. My experience so far in the business world has been in a predominantly Windows environment, and I'm still seeing more want ads requiring familiarity with MS Outlook and Office vs Open Office and Thunderbird. If I wanted to get the types of jobs that I wanted (making enough money to keep a roof over the head and food on the table for the family), I needed to be familiar with Windows because that's what the office would provide for me to work with.
I view it as adapting to the environment, much the same as learning the local language. The difference in dialects and terms between the USA west coast and USA east coast style of talking is like the difference between Windows Home and Pro - they're primarily the same and you can still get the point across while learning the local dialect. I imagine that switching back to Macs would be like moving to England. The basic words are the same, but the dialect is substantially different and some words are used in entirely different ways. Yeah, I could probably get around without killing myself, but there would probably be a few awkward social gaffes in the process. Switching to Linux used to be like trying to learn Chinese or Japanese without a tutor, but it has become easier - like switching from English to Spanish. Spanish may be arguably simpler and more structured than English with fewer exceptions to the exceptions to the rules, but it is still going to take a while to become fluent even if you are lucky enough to have a tutor. Linux is much the same way. It may be simpler in some ways and fewer security holes, but it still requires a substantial knowledge of all aspects of computers.
It just didn't make much sense to speak one "language" at work and a totally different one at home, at least as the primary languages. Around my area there has been an influx of Spanish-speaking imigrants and a corresponding shift in the community towards valuing those people who are bilingual in English/Spanish. In essence, Spanish is gaining in "market share", and it makes sense to learn it as a secondary language. I keep Linux installed on a computer at home and I've tried a few different distros and even set up an Apache/PHP/MySQL server to "learn the language". But until Linux gains an equal market share with Windows and businesses become "bilingual" in terms of desktop OS's, I'm not going to suggest that anyone else in the household needs to learn it.
Unrated Version: Frontal nudity via an online mod (Yes, I know it shipped with the game, but it is not activated without manual editing/moving of the files.)
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In addition to a lot of the other comments about some of the barriers to adoption that Linux still has and basic apathy towards the security concerns with Windows, I'll give my own reason for staying proficient with Windows: businesses still run Windows (at least on the desktops).
When I was in school they had Apple computers and software and we learned how to operate them because that's the exposure we had. Near graduation I started figuring out that a lot of the want ads had requirements for knowing Windows and MS Office instead of the Apple/Mac computers that I was used to. When I got to college, they had Unix servers but they had Windows on the desktops, so I switched. My experience so far in the business world has been in a predominantly Windows environment, and I'm still seeing more want ads requiring familiarity with MS Outlook and Office vs Open Office and Thunderbird. If I wanted to get the types of jobs that I wanted (making enough money to keep a roof over the head and food on the table for the family), I needed to be familiar with Windows because that's what the office would provide for me to work with.
I view it as adapting to the environment, much the same as learning the local language. The difference in dialects and terms between the USA west coast and USA east coast style of talking is like the difference between Windows Home and Pro - they're primarily the same and you can still get the point across while learning the local dialect. I imagine that switching back to Macs would be like moving to England. The basic words are the same, but the dialect is substantially different and some words are used in entirely different ways. Yeah, I could probably get around without killing myself, but there would probably be a few awkward social gaffes in the process. Switching to Linux used to be like trying to learn Chinese or Japanese without a tutor, but it has become easier - like switching from English to Spanish. Spanish may be arguably simpler and more structured than English with fewer exceptions to the exceptions to the rules, but it is still going to take a while to become fluent even if you are lucky enough to have a tutor. Linux is much the same way. It may be simpler in some ways and fewer security holes, but it still requires a substantial knowledge of all aspects of computers.
It just didn't make much sense to speak one "language" at work and a totally different one at home, at least as the primary languages. Around my area there has been an influx of Spanish-speaking imigrants and a corresponding shift in the community towards valuing those people who are bilingual in English/Spanish. In essence, Spanish is gaining in "market share", and it makes sense to learn it as a secondary language. I keep Linux installed on a computer at home and I've tried a few different distros and even set up an Apache/PHP/MySQL server to "learn the language". But until Linux gains an equal market share with Windows and businesses become "bilingual" in terms of desktop OS's, I'm not going to suggest that anyone else in the household needs to learn it.This is already happening in one way at least.
Wal-Mart Version: Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (PC)
Unrated Version: Frontal nudity via an online mod (Yes, I know it shipped with the game, but it is not activated without manual editing/moving of the files.)