[smiley]

When people buy computers, they usually don't think much about what OS they want. They use whats on the computer when they buy it.

That is one major factor as to why people use Windows. The thing is they don't choose Windows, they're stuck with it. I would say that more than half of the people who buy computers today don't even know what Linux is, and those who do probably never saw it in action, never had the chance to compare it to Windows.

I know that when I installed my first Linux system (Redhat 7.2) I was quite impressed with it.
First of all, I didn't even expect a graphical interface (I was total newbie.) just hoped for it.

I've been using Mandrake 9.0 for a couple of months now and I'm really happy with it.

It seems that we really need to get the word about linux out there.

If hardware manufacturers only make drivers for windows it could be a hurdle. Also how well will wine do. If wine can continue to improve, people who use the computer mainly for games and music and stuff will switch. But windows has great marketing, and Linux does not.

Yes, hardware is a problem. That is why IMHO, we need computer manufacturers to make computers 100% (hardware wise) compatible with linux and make linux pre-loaded on them. Then the newbies wouldn't have any problems with their hardware.

Also, a little note about linux software. From my experiences it is usually pretty buggy but I'm fine with that because it doesn't have all that corporate bullshit associated with it. I'm not into programming, but I like the feeling that if I wanted to I could always check the insides of a program. Also, I don't need to wait for the next major release which could be in a year - new releases a released monthly, weekly and sometimes even daily. Also people often compare software for windows to software written for linux. In my eyes, that is quite an unfair debate - for a fair comparison try comparing FREE windows software with linux software (usually free) and see who wins. There is some good freeware for windows but you just can't compare that with the amount of freeware for linux.

Unfortunately, my first computer experience was with Windows (I never even knew linux existed), otherwise I wouldn't even bother learning Windows.