During the last couple of years, more people have started to hear about Linux in one way or another. This is in a most indirect way helped by the incumbent of desktop OS king Microsoft with its Windows Vista release. Though very neat and full of eye-candy, Vista requires a very hefty hardware requirement to properly use all the features, such as a minimum of 1 GB RAM and top of the line graphics card. Many of the existing computers are not equipped with that sort of specification. In addition, most of the drivers working in the previous Windows XP don’t necessarily work in Vista. therefore, many people with non-Vista-ready computers are sticking with XP. Needless to say, even the Vista-ready computers are not necessarily able to run all features in Vista. To top it all, Microsoft planned to scrap Windows XP as soon as 2009 (though it has moved the schedule to be later than that).

Given the above situation, people are starting to look for alternatives, and this is where Linux come to the picture. Created in 1991 by Linus Torvalds, it has grown to just a toy for the technically adept engineers to a user-friendly desktop replacement. I have begun playing with Linux system in 1999 with Suse 6.1, and I am following the progress Linux system has made until now where I have installed Ubuntu 7.10 on my laptop and Fedora 8 on my old PC at home.


Here are some of the things I like about Linux (or should I say GNU/Linux):

1. There are many distributions to choose from. I think this is a strength rather than a weakness, since more variety provides many usefulness to many people with different tastes and needs.
2. Good community support. This is why I choose Ubuntu and Fedora over other distributors, due to their support availability in their respective forums.
3. Thousands of applications. Yes, many Linux applications are included in the distributions, and installation is easy with yum or apt commands via the internet.
4. Compatibility with old computers. Requirement for Linux is as old as Pentium II, or even lower. Even if you want to show the best eye-candy programs such as compiz and avant windows navigator, a 3-year-old IBM Thinkpad should be able to run it without any problems.
5. Compatibility with Windows programs. I know there are some file formats created by Windows programs that are not compatible in Linux, but there are many alternatives and other option such as saving it to a common format or totally migrate to its Open Source program in Windows. OpenOffice, Evolutions, Gimp, and Mozilla Firefox are some of the programs that will make Windows user to be able to do their daily tasks easily in Linux.
6. Many PCs & Laptops come with Linux. Dell and Asus have launched their Linux version of PCs and laptops last year, followed by Everex and many other PC manufacturers. Asus EeePC has been sold like peanuts. In the server side, HP and IBM has since sold their servers compatible with RedHat Linux system.
7. To top it all, it is free as in free beer during Oktoberfest.

Why don’t you give Linux a try? The big wave is coming and you certainly don’t wanna miss it!