Oh yes i'm happy with linux. I chose the Fedora route (FC5, 6). It's going to be just fine.
Regarding different linux distros, I think it's mainly a matter of what one can get used to in the first place. What bothers me the most about windows is the permanent risk, or believed risk of virus attacks, requiring purchase of extra software which does miraculous things, such as reminding me that it needs to be renewed, and then crashes when I finally get my credit card and say yes. (the poor software must have been starving for money).
Now I have one old pc running only FC5, another, newer one, runs on FC6, and an HP which runs both linux and XP "home edition". I need it for things like Visual C++ but also because a relatively new scanner can't be brought to life in linux (not yet anyways).
No matter if it's linux or windows, it takes a lot of fiddling with this mixed system, using samba, printer share, and all this stuff. Now, with all the new things in Fedora 6 (certainly as well in all the other distros) I get more and more excited about the media capabilities that begin to be possible in Linux.
I just made a "power point" presentation with Open Office that actually works flawlessly when using windows power point. Or, for instance, TV on one window, and software development on another on the same machine, flipping by changing the panel. (I don't know why windows developers never got to that point: multiple virtual desktops. It's been with Linux for more than 5 years.) I can watch a DVD in the kitchen on a small wide screen (19", took a bit of hacking) attached to a Linux box, xine makes it possible. I'm getting ambitious now, want to get into streaming audio: Play on one PC and use all speakers in the house. It's getting there.
Admitted, as a user I have been into unix and then linux since bronce age, so it's not surprising that i like the manual setups in obscure configuration files. But I must say - I love if things can be set up in a decent GUI. I'm not afraid to be dumbed down, as it is in the end still possible to look at the readable configuration files, with at least the chance of making things right. Here I notice that the better the functionality of linux becomes, the more complex screwups are possible, just as with the windows "wizards" that seem so smart but can bring people to the edge if they mess up. That is already also happening in Linux.

I came across an old article that is very funny and still very true:
The dumbing-down of programming, by Ellen Ullman. http://archive.salon.com/21st/featur...12feature.html

I live without it-have for several years. Games? I find enough 3d games to entertain me for what little gaming I do. Video and photos-yep, word processing-yep. When I have to work with a windows server at work I usually wind up installing sfu or cygwin on it so that I can actually use it.

For hard core gaming? Get a game system-they are designed for that kind of gaming. Will windows play more games easier? Sure it will-but for a hard core gamer how stable is it? I'll stick with Linux thanks.

Seems I can't get away from either Windows or Linux. Only got my 1st computer 3 years ago, at the age of 58, and since then I've been regularly using one or the other or dual-booting with XP Pro , and a variety of distro's (Slackware, Mandriva, Fedora Core, and now Zenwalk). Most of the software I have on Windows is Open Source, either MSYS + MinGW or Cygwin, GNU Emacs, etc, etc. I will NOT be upgrading(?) to Vista, so in the near future I might become totally Linux.

Can one live without Windoze....well just ask yourself that question next time you're waiting while your machine reboots after a crash!

Myself I am very new to the world of Linux and yes it can be challenging but I think in the end it will be well worth the effort. Besides that it's fun learning a new OS!

Thanks to the Fedora team and all contributing folks for making it as painless as possible!

I went all day yesterday without booting into Windows. No sign of withdrawal symptoms. Must be true what they all say about me - I've been a slacker all my life.
Registered Linux User number 439919

I think the end is nigh for Windows. I can feel the urge building up to go totally absolutely GNU/Linux.

Windows sucks.

I've been totally windowless for 6 years now with my only regret being that it wasn't 7 years.

ya windows sucks
been using linux on all my pcs with no problem i only boot windows on qemu to experiment it
was able to install warcraft on (Wine)linux last year
that was good it even runs better than in windows to me gaming would have been more advanced if it was using linux as based os
developers tend to stick to the stupid directx technology that forces you to buy new cards with every release!!!
anyway should see some few games popping out on linux in the coming years!!!

With Slackware I think I was trying to run before I could walk, so I've changed to Ubuntu 6.06 LTS. Will be back to Slack in the future. Still not got rid of Windows.

Regretted chickening out on Slackware - reinstalled. Think I'll keep Windows XP too, for a bit of variety.

I'm buying a Dell n-series if I can. So no more windows for me if I can help it. WINE might not love me, but I'm ready to trick it into playing my games that don't seem supported at the moment...

I live without windows and love ever minute of it. What really get my goat is the constant cavetching done by the newbies on forms lie LQ about how linux and windows don't coincide peacefully on the same network. My understanding is that wit alitle hard work and ther correct temperament, you can learn any Operating system if you just approach it from the standpoint of learning Linux day by day< oh and buy usin administration guis like webmin, yast and all of the rest of them out there.

I think that it depends on what you're looking for. you don't need a computer to play games, nor need games to live. computers should be used primarily for productivity, and linux excels at that. sure, there are some things work catching up on- i.e., open office, but the truth if even then most people don't need the extra bells and whistles.)
It's all up to what you want to get out of it

Slackware is a little more difficult to learn from the beginning, but becomes much easier once you start using it.

For several years after I started using Slack as my main OS, I maintained a Windows partition on my machine. Then one day I needed the space and was reluctant to delete it, but upon thinking about it, I honestly could not remember the last time I'd booted into Windows. So, off it went, never to return. Just like a set of training wheels on a child's bicycle...

I've got the Ultima Online 2d client working perfectly with WINE, aside from that my gaming is almost completly limited to Knights and Wesnoth, the only thing I actually use my wife's XP system for is Playing Anarchy Online after she goes to sleep. For my videos, music, chat, office apps & emmulation for old games I get much better results and stability from Linux. I'm just giving up on ATI after finding out that the Radeon 7000 card I just installed isn't supported by the binary drivers and I get better performance out of the MX4000 I replaced with it.