I want to begin by saying that I am a Microsoft Certified VB programmer and use Microsoft products on a daily basis in my work. I am intimately familiar with Microsoft's various Operating Systems, Exchange Server, SQL Server, and many others. What I am about to say is not to be taken to diminish in any way the huge advances that Microsoft has made in the computer industry. Microsoft sets the standard with such products as MS Word, MS Access, and MS Excel to be sure, but I can say with utter certainty that I will never again buy another Windows based PC.
Several events have lead me to this inexorable conclusion. The first is that I purchased a MacBook a few months ago when they became available with the Intel chip. I did this because it would be possible for me to run Windows XP on the MacBook thereby allowing me to use the one system to utilize the fantastic design applications available for Macs without losing the ability to use Access, SQL server management consoles, and other tools in the Microsoft environment. Admittedly, I was skeptical at first, but I must say that I very quickly fell in love with OS X Leopard, the Operating System with which my Macbook shipped. I found myself using Windows XP less and less. I became intoxicated by the freedom to surf with near impunity, without regard for viruses, browser hijackers, or other types of mal-ware. I was amazed that when I did run into problems with the XP installation I was running on my Mac, they were simply erased by going to a previous "snapshot" using the Parallels utility that allowed me to run Windows from within OS X. I have tried to use Microsoft's "System Restore" to correct problems on more than one occasion only to find that the virus had managed to penetrate the backup and come back unaffected by the "restore". If Microsoft could employ a similar utility as that offered by Parallels snapshots, they would improve their reliability tenfold.
Secondly, I began seriously working with Ubuntu, which is a version of Linux that is quite user friendly, installs easily on most PCs, and feels a lot like Windows XP. It does require more command line work when installing some drivers and applications, but it is not nearly as vulnerable to viruses as Windows and there are tons of applications available that are amazingly powerful and absolutely free. Try looking at The Gimp for Adobe Photoshop-like performance and OpenOffice, an MS Office alternative, for a taste of what is out there.
The next factor in my conversion was that a close friend, a very computer savvy, very careful Windows XP user, managed to pick up a system crashing virus that caused her to lose a days use of her PC and incur a significant bill in the process of ridding the PC of the offending viruses. She complained to me of how careful she had been and how much of this she has seen in her office. She regaled me with tales of officemates with poisoned MSN Messenger applications, grindingly slow system speeds, bogus email attachments, endless pop-ups from ad ware, etc. It occurred to me that I don't even THINK about that stuff anymore. I can remember surfing on my XP machine with hyper-vigilance, I don't do that any more and I don't miss it.
Finally, I had to ship my MacBook back to Apple for a simple repair of a tiny crack that developed in the case which was covered under warantee. In order to work while it is away being repaired, I have had to use my old XP laptop and I am experiencing genuine separation anxiety. I miss the blissful disregard for the unseen pitfalls of the Internet. I can't wait for the MacBook's return.
I am not going to say that Linux or Mac users have nothing to fear whatsoever from malicious code because that would be irresponsible. What I am saying however is that either of these systems is more safe, secure, uses fewer resources, and ultimately costs MUCH less than a Windows machine. I will also say that I have personally seen kids render an XP machine useless in just minutes of unsupervised Internet use. I have a daughter that has repeatedly, and of course unintentionally, infected her XP laptop, even though the machine was "protected" with anti-virus software and spyware software. Over the course of a year I had to reinstall the OS three times and only then after she endured weeks of ever diminishing performance. She has now been using a Mac G4 running OS X for five months and it is as fast, reliable, and problem free as the day I set it up for her. She hasn't lost any of her files and I haven't wasted any more time formatting hard drives and reinstalling XP and its countless updates.
I have listened for years to Mac-heads, Linux-lovers and other geeks, nerds, dweebies, and dorks telling me how Windows was a bloated, unsecure, wildly expensive, and high maintenance operating system. I defended Microsoft tooth and nail. I fought back with such excuses as "there isn't much software available for those OS's", "Windows is targeted by hackers because of its popularity", and of course "Macs are way too expensive!" I foolishly raged against the socialist evils of "open source" computing. It is with sincere humility that I admit that I was wrong. I had drunk of the Kool-Aid as they say. I hope all you nerds have mercy on me. You were right. OK? There... Now leave me alone.
