BadVista.org: Stopping Microsoft Windows Vista

[serpentoffire]

http://badvista.fsf.org/logos/BadVista_no_littering.png


http://badvista.fsf.org/

Microsoft's new Windows Vista operating system is a giant step backward for your freedoms.
Usually, new software enables you to do more with your computer. Vista, though, is designed to restrict what you can do.
Vista enforces new forms of “Digital Rights Management (DRM)”. DRM is more accurately called Digital Restrictions Management, because it is a technology that Big Media and computer companies try to impose on us all, in order to have control over how our computers are used.
Technology security expert Bruce Schneier explains it most concisely (http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/02/drm_in_windows.html):
Windows Vista includes an array of “features” that you don't want. These features will make your computer less reliable and less secure. They'll make your computer less stable and run slower. They will cause technical support problems. They may even require you to upgrade some of your peripheral hardware and existing software. And these features won't do anything useful. In fact, they're working against you. They're digital rights management (DRM) features built into Vista at the behest of the entertainment industry—And you don't get to refuse them.
DRM gives power to Microsoft and Big Media.


They decide which programs you can and can't use on your computer
They decide which features of your computer or software you can use at any given moment
They force you to install new programs even when you don't want to (and, of course, pay for the privilege)
They restrict your access to certain programs and even to your own data files DRM is enforced by technological barriers. You try to do something, and your computer tells you that you can't. To make this effective, your computer has to be constantly monitoring what you are doing. This constant monitoring uses computing power and memory, and is a large part of the reason why Microsoft is telling you that you have to buy new and more powerful hardware in order to run Vista. They want you to buy new hardware not because you need it, but because your computer needs it in order to be more effective at restricting what you do.
Microsoft and other computer companies sometimes refer to these restrictions as “Trusted Computing.” Given that they are designed to make it so that your computer stops trusting you and starts trusting Microsoft, these restrictions are more appropriately called “Treacherous Computing”.
Even when you legally buy Vista, you don't own it.

Windows Vista, like previous versions of Windows, is proprietary software: leased to you under a license that severely restricts how you can use it, and without source code, so nobody but Microsoft can change it or even verify what it really does.
Microsoft says it best:
The software is licensed, not sold. This agreement only gives you some rights to use the software. Microsoft reserves all other rights. Unless applicable law gives you more rights despite this limitation, you may use the software only as expressly permitted in this agreement. In doing so, you must comply with any technical limitations in the software that only allow you to use it in certain ways.
To make it even more confusing, different versions of Vista have different licensing restrictions. You can read all of the licenses at http://www.microsoft.com/about/legal/useterms/default.aspx.
It's painful to read the licenses, and this is often why people don't object to them. But if we don't start objecting, we will lose valuable freedoms. Here are some of the ridiculous restrictions you will find in your reading:

If your copy of Vista came with the purchase of a new computer, that copy of Vista may only be legally used on that machine, forever.
If you bought Vista in a retail store and installed it on a machine you already owned, you have to completely delete it on that machine before you can install it on another machine.
You give Microsoft the right, through programs like Windows Defender, to delete programs from your system that it decides are spyware.
You consent to being spied upon by Microsoft, through the “Windows Genuine Advantage” system. This system tries to identify instances of copying that Microsoft thinks are illegitimate. Unfortunately, a recent study indicated that this system has already screwed up in over 500,000 cases. Free software like GNU/Linux does not require you to consent to these absurd licensing terms. It is called free software because you are free to make as many copies as you want, and to share it with as many friends as you want. Nobody will be monitoring your actions or falsely calling you a thief.
What you can do to help protect your freedom

There is a battle underway between those who value freedom, and corporations such as Microsoft who wish to profit by taking that freedom away. DRM and absurd licenses are at the heart of that battle. Please join us on the side of freedom by saying NO not just to Windows Vista and other DRM-enabled products, but to proprietary software in general. Instead, use non-DRM, “free” software such as the GNU/Linux operating system. You can get your work done while ensuring that your rights and freedoms will not be restricted now and into the future.
As more and more of our lives become digital, it is vital that we protect our digital freedoms just like we have always worked to protect our freedom of expression in print and speech.

[serpentoffire]

In this site the compatility list of several models of laptops with several distributions of Linux

http://www.linux-laptop.net/

[adzboarder]

Well done for putting this out to the masses, seems the pretty graphics and mac-a-like features are making people forget how to think straight. Microsoft Spyista will not be going on any PC of mine.

I am buying a new PC soon, probably one with an IBM Quad Core processor and the pressure is on from all around me to get Vista for it, but I just want to stick to my licensed copy of XP Pro. I am a bit concerned that these new processor systems might not work with XP and I have got to do a bit more research on it, but what I am saying is, do you think that in a year or so you might not be able to even buy hardware that works with the older 2000 and XP editions of windows? Will Microsoft and IBM/AMD et al start to gang up on us and enforce vista?

Any ideas or thoughts on that would be appreciated...

[serpentoffire]

I am buying a new PC soon, probably one with an IBM Quad Core processor and the pressure is on from all around me to get Vista for it, but I just want to stick to my licensed copy of XP Pro.


To support a quadcore you need the Windows 2003/2008 Server or SuSE Linux/Red Hat Enterprise version to support Simmetrical Multi Processing (SMP). You could use Slackware to have a SMP compiled kernel:

http://www.slackware.com/


I am a bit concerned that these new processor systems might not work with XP and I have got to do a bit more research on it, but what I am saying is, do you think that in a year or so you might not be able to even buy hardware that works with the older 2000 and XP editions of windows?


XP and 2000 was only monoprocessor. I suggest you to install linux and use Xen or VMware to run XP/2000 in emulation mode.

http://www.vmware.com/products/server/

The Xen virtual machine monitor was recently merged into the upcoming 2.6.23 Linux kernel.


Will Microsoft and IBM/AMD et al start to gang up on us and enforce vista?

Any ideas or thoughts on that would be appreciated...

IBM surelly supports massively Linux on xSeries and pSeries. Intel does the same with Itanium 2 processors.

Windows is good for hardware vendors because in each release requires even the double of CPU power and of memory. To supply the same services and several unuseful new functions.

[serpentoffire]

Slackware uses the 2.6.21.5 kernel bringing you advanced performance
features such as journaling filesystems, SCSI and ATA RAID volume support,
SATA support, Software RAID, LVM (the Logical Volume Manager, and
encrypted filesystems. Kernel support for X DRI (the Direct Rendering
Interface) brings high-speed hardware accelerated 3D graphics to Linux.
We have switched from the older one-piece X11 Window System to the newest
modular X11 from X.Org, which should be simpler to maintain and will
likely speed up development of new features for X (such as translucent
windows and a few other things that are on the horizon).

There are two kinds of kernels in Slackware -- the huge kernels, which
contain support for just about every driver in the Linux kernel. These are
primarily intended to be used for installation, but there's no real reason
that you couldn't continue to run them after you have installed. The
other type of kernel is the generic kernel, in which nearly every driver
is built as a module. To use a generic kernel you'll need to build an
initrd to load your filesystem module and possibly your drive controller
or other drivers needed at boot time, configure LILO to load the initrd at
boot, and reinstall LILO. See the docs in /boot after installing for more
information. Slackware's Linux kernels come in both SMP and non-SMP types
now. The SMP kernel supports multiple processors, multi-core CPUs,
HyperThreading, and about every other optimization available. In our own
testing this kernel has proven to be fast, stable, and reliable. We
recommend using the SMP kernel even on single processor machines if it
will run on them.

From the beginning, Slackware has offered a stable and secure Linux
distribution for UNIX veterans as well as an easy-to-use system for
beginners. Slackware includes everything you'll need to run a powerful
server or workstation. Each Slackware package follows the setup and
installation instructions from its author(s) as closely as possible,
offering you the most stable and easily expandable setup.

Here are some of the advanced features of Slackware 12.0:

- Runs the 2.6.21.5 version of the Linux kernel from ftp.kernel.org.
Also included is a kernel patched with Speakup to support speech
synthesizers providing access to Linux for the visually impaired
community. The 2.6.x kernel series has matured into a stable
kernel, and provides reliable performance for your desktop or
your production server.

- System binaries are linked with the GNU C Library, version 2.5.
This version of glibc also has excellent compatibility with
existing binaries.

- X11 7.2.0. This is the X.Org Foundation's modular X Window System.
You will notice many more X package than before, and it's probably
best to install them all. There's been much activity in the X
development world, and the improvements here in terms of performance
and hardware support are sure to be only the beginning.

- Installs gcc-4.1.2 as the default C, C++, Objective-C,
Fortran-77/95, and Ada 95 compiler.

- Support for fully encrypted network connections with OpenSSL,
OpenSSH, OpenVPN, and GnuPG.

- Apache (httpd) 2.2.4 web server with Dynamic Shared Object
support, SSL, and PHP 5.2.3.

- PCMCIA, CardBus, USB, IEE1394 (FireWire) and ACPI support. This
makes Slackware a great operating system for your laptop.

- The udev dynamic device management system for Linux 2.6.x.
This locates and configures most hardware automatically as it
is added (or removed) from the system, and creates the access
nodes in /dev. It also loads the kernel modules required by
sound cards and other hardware at boot time.

- New development tools, including Perl 5.8.8, Python 2.5.1,
Ruby 1.8.6, Subversion 1.4.4, git-1.5.2.2, mercurial-0.9.4,
graphical tools like Qt designer and KDevelop, and much more.

- Updated versions of the Slackware package management tools make it
easy to add, remove, upgrade, and make your own Slackware packages.
Package tracking makes it easy to upgrade from Slackware 11.0 to
Slackware 12.0 (see CHANGES_AND_HINTS.TXT). The slackpkg tool in
/extra can also help update from an older version of Slackware to
a newer one, and keep your Slackware system up to date. In
addition, the slacktrack utility (in extra/) will help you build
and maintain your own packages.

- Web browsers galore! Includes KDE's Konqueror 3.5.7,
SeaMonkey 1.1.2 (this is the replacement for the Mozilla
Suite), and the immensely popular Firefox 2.0.0.4, as well as
the Thunderbird 2.0.0.4 email and news client with advanced
junk mail filtering.

- The complete K Desktop Environment (KDE) version 3.5.7, including
the KOffice productivity suite, networking tools, GUI development
with KDevelop, multimedia tools (including the amazing Amarok
music player), the Konqueror web browser and file manager, dozens
of games and utilities, international language support, and more.

- A collection of GTK+ based applications including pidgin-2.0.2,
gimp-2.2.15, gkrellm-2.2.10, gxine-0.5.11, xchat-2.8.2, xsane-0.994,
and pan-0.131.

- Large repository of extra software packages compiled and ready to
run. This includes various window managers, the Java(TM) 2 Software
Development Kit Standard Edition, libsafe (buffer overflow protection
for additional security), ISDN support, additional 802.11 drivers,
and much more (see the /extra directory).

- Many more improved and upgraded packages than we can list here. For
a complete list of core packages in Slackware 12.0, see this file:

ftp://ftp.slackware.com/pub/slackware/slackware-12.0/PACKAGES.TXT

[adzboarder]

Cheers Serpent, I struggled to understand the majority of that, so in short does all this mean that if I want to run a powerful multi-processor machine then do I have to get Vista or an alternative is all this other complicated Linux/slackware stuff that I have never heard of.

You see, the problem here is that all of this is too complicated and most people give up and buy whatever Microsoft says that they need.

Thats a shitter if XP wont run on the PC i'm eyeing up :mad:

[serpentoffire]

Cheers Serpent, I struggled to understand the majority of that, so in short does all this mean that if I want to run a powerful multi-processor machine then do I have to get Vista or an alternative is all this other complicated Linux/slackware stuff that I have never heard of.

You see, the problem here is that all of this is too complicated and most people give up and buy whatever Microsoft says that they need.

Thats a shitter if XP wont run on the PC i'm eyeing up :mad:

The diffused low knowledge of ICT technologies is the reason that will allow Microsoft to fuck the whole world with their shitty-spyware products.

[adzboarder]

According to the nerds in my office, Windows XP will run on dual and quad core machines. The only limitation is with ram, you can only have up to 3gbs only!

Shit, only 3GB?

I currently have 512mb, so as far as I am concerned it's an upgrade.

Any information to the contrary?

[bario]

Isn't it a bit counter-productive to promote Slackware to people who have never been near a linux install disk before; Ubuntu will do everything you can do with Slackware, but will be about 3000 times more straight forward.

For those who don't know much about linux, there are numerous different distributions all based on the same initial source code but tailored to the audience they were created for. Ubuntu is targeted at new linux users where Slackware aimed at more advanced users.

[serpentoffire]

Isn't it a bit counter-productive to promote Slackware to people who have never been near a linux install disk before; Ubuntu will do everything you can do with Slackware, but will be about 3000 times more straight forward.

For those who don't know much about linux, there are numerous different distributions all based on the same initial source code but tailored to the audience they were created for. Ubuntu is targeted at new linux users where Slackware aimed at more advanced users.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Kernel

Ubuntu provides both SMP and non-SMP kernels for all supported architectures.

[serpentoffire]

According to the nerds in my office, Windows XP will run on dual and quad core machines. The only limitation is with ram, you can only have up to 3gbs only!

Shit, only 3GB?

I currently have 512mb, so as far as I am concerned it's an upgrade.

Any information to the contrary?

http://freepctech.com/pc/xp/xp00196.shtml

SMP in Windows XP
Operating systems also need to be written for SMP in order to use multiple processors. In the Windows XP family, only XP Professional supports SMP; XP Home does not. If you're a consumer with a dual-processor PC at home, you have to buy XP Professional. Windows XP Advanced Server also supports SMP.

In Microsoft's grand scheme, XP Professional is meant to replace Windows 2000, which supports SMP. In fact, XP Professional uses the same kernel as Windows 2000. XP Home is designed to replace Windows Me as the consumer OS, and Windows Me does not support SMP.

[adzboarder]

So that means I CAN run my windows XP pro on a quad core machine if I wanted to. Cool, no need for shista then woo-hoo!

[weston white]

Great info, I have a copy of Vista still sitting in its wrapper unopened from when it was first issued as a late upgrade with a system I purchased just before Vista officially came out... I am sticking with XP Pro and have even though about going back to Windows 95, rofl! heh.

[serpentoffire]

Great info, I have a copy of Vista still sitting in its wrapper unopened from when it was first issued as a late upgrade with a system I purchased just before Vista officially came out... I am sticking with XP Pro and have even though about going back to Windows 95, rofl! heh.

Here how to install correctly Windows Vista in its right hardware:

Vista install in 2 minutes - YouTube

[weston white]

Thats great, say anybody have BG's direct email, the only thing better then that vid is if everybody send him a link to that vid... perhaps then he will get it through is thick noggin!

[elirien]

Here how to install correctly Windows Vista in its right hardware:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVbf9tOGwno

LMAO :D

Returning to the topic. I would love to use Linux but my soundcard is still not supported by the Alsa project. So I have to wait a bit more to get rid off this junk. Will probably use WINE for my job applications.

Wonderful thread btw. Lets all get rid of this stupid thing.

[raffles]

The problem i have with linux is that it wont run any of the major games, thats the only thing stopping me UPGRADING to linux.

[mido]

I've helped two friends with their new Vista software and there's no way I want it so I'm sticking with XP. What we need is a program to zap the crap out of Vista when it's installed so we can use it (relatively) safe in the knowledge that big brother isn't out there logging our every move and the op system doesn't hold our hand with nearly everything we want to do. MS violates privacy.

[celtic isis]

http://badvista.fsf.org/logos/BadVista_no_littering.png


http://badvista.fsf.org/

Microsoft's new Windows Vista operating system is a giant step backward for your freedoms.
Usually, new software enables you to do more with your computer. Vista, though, is designed to restrict what you can do.
Vista enforces new forms of “Digital Rights Management (DRM)”. DRM is more accurately called Digital Restrictions Management, because it is a technology that Big Media and computer companies try to impose on us all, in order to have control over how our computers are used.
Technology security expert Bruce Schneier explains it most concisely (http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/02/drm_in_windows.html):
Windows Vista includes an array of “features” that you don't want. These features will make your computer less reliable and less secure. They'll make your computer less stable and run slower. They will cause technical support problems. They may even require you to upgrade some of your peripheral hardware and existing software. And these features won't do anything useful. In fact, they're working against you. They're digital rights management (DRM) features built into Vista at the behest of the entertainment industry—And you don't get to refuse them.
DRM gives power to Microsoft and Big Media.


They decide which programs you can and can't use on your computer
They decide which features of your computer or software you can use at any given moment
They force you to install new programs even when you don't want to (and, of course, pay for the privilege)
They restrict your access to certain programs and even to your own data files DRM is enforced by technological barriers. You try to do something, and your computer tells you that you can't. To make this effective, your computer has to be constantly monitoring what you are doing. This constant monitoring uses computing power and memory, and is a large part of the reason why Microsoft is telling you that you have to buy new and more powerful hardware in order to run Vista. They want you to buy new hardware not because you need it, but because your computer needs it in order to be more effective at restricting what you do.
Microsoft and other computer companies sometimes refer to these restrictions as “Trusted Computing.” Given that they are designed to make it so that your computer stops trusting you and starts trusting Microsoft, these restrictions are more appropriately called “Treacherous Computing”.
Even when you legally buy Vista, you don't own it.

Windows Vista, like previous versions of Windows, is proprietary software: leased to you under a license that severely restricts how you can use it, and without source code, so nobody but Microsoft can change it or even verify what it really does.
Microsoft says it best:
The software is licensed, not sold. This agreement only gives you some rights to use the software. Microsoft reserves all other rights. Unless applicable law gives you more rights despite this limitation, you may use the software only as expressly permitted in this agreement. In doing so, you must comply with any technical limitations in the software that only allow you to use it in certain ways.
To make it even more confusing, different versions of Vista have different licensing restrictions. You can read all of the licenses at http://www.microsoft.com/about/legal/useterms/default.aspx.
It's painful to read the licenses, and this is often why people don't object to them. But if we don't start objecting, we will lose valuable freedoms. Here are some of the ridiculous restrictions you will find in your reading:

If your copy of Vista came with the purchase of a new computer, that copy of Vista may only be legally used on that machine, forever.
If you bought Vista in a retail store and installed it on a machine you already owned, you have to completely delete it on that machine before you can install it on another machine.
You give Microsoft the right, through programs like Windows Defender, to delete programs from your system that it decides are spyware.
You consent to being spied upon by Microsoft, through the “Windows Genuine Advantage” system. This system tries to identify instances of copying that Microsoft thinks are illegitimate. Unfortunately, a recent study indicated that this system has already screwed up in over 500,000 cases. Free software like GNU/Linux does not require you to consent to these absurd licensing terms. It is called free software because you are free to make as many copies as you want, and to share it with as many friends as you want. Nobody will be monitoring your actions or falsely calling you a thief.
What you can do to help protect your freedom

There is a battle underway between those who value freedom, and corporations such as Microsoft who wish to profit by taking that freedom away. DRM and absurd licenses are at the heart of that battle. Please join us on the side of freedom by saying NO not just to Windows Vista and other DRM-enabled products, but to proprietary software in general. Instead, use non-DRM, “free” software such as the GNU/Linux operating system. You can get your work done while ensuring that your rights and freedoms will not be restricted now and into the future.
As more and more of our lives become digital, it is vital that we protect our digital freedoms just like we have always worked to protect our freedom of expression in print and speech.


great post serpent of fire, thank you :)

totally agree, i have vista here on the laptop and i HATE it, everything is slower, it crashes and basically is rubbish.

Look they even managed to put a swastika in the logo, that says it all really. :eek:

http://aycu18.webshots.com/image/45617/2002705691620726946_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002705691620726946)

I forgot to say that the updates vista does drives me insane, it's freaky that it can like access the system like that...i don't know much about computers obviously lol

[dude111]

Excellent thread!

I think all the new OS's are garbage and i wouldnt trust them @ all!!

I dont even like XP very much,here is some disturbing info on XP

http://www.msfree.com/cached/www.hevanet.com/peace/microsoft.htm

My favourite os is: Win98se :)

98se is the BEST os ever in the windows realm :)

[motleyhoo]

I'm a Software Engineer and have been developing on the Windows platform for over 10 years now. I absolutely hate Vista, and most of all I hate MS's business model of soaking clients by forcing them to upgrade every so often. If you think it's expensive to upgrade at home, imagine how expensive it is for businesses with hundreds or thousands of PCs, including all of the retraining, network modifications, and changes to documentation and IT policies.

I started with Windows 3.0 way back in the day, and I have to say that XP Pro has been the most stable release. But anyone who thinks they can roll on forever with XP is mistaken. Either this year or next Microsoft will announce they will no longer support XP. That means you will not be able to get security patches as the viruses and spyware evolve. Then eventually they will come out with new media that requires programs incompatible with XP.

I actually want to get out of this field, and if I didn't need to use Windows for my career I would switch to Linux in a heartbeat.

[pinkfreud]

here is some disturbing info on XP

http://www.msfree.com/cached/www.hevanet.com/peace/microsoft.htm



thanks dude. must read info indeed- i have xp, was never keen on getting vista and even windows 7. was interested in linux but i had it in my office and i ended up hating it- not too user friendly imo, at least when you start out- but again that's just me.

[strt]

LMAO :D

Returning to the topic. I would love to use Linux but my soundcard is still not supported by the Alsa project. So I have to wait a bit more to get rid off this junk. Will probably use WINE for my job applications.

Wonderful thread btw. Lets all get rid of this stupid thing.

Oss4 is very good alsa alternative. You should check if there is oss4 support for your sound card.

[elirien]

Oss4 is very good alsa alternative. You should check if there is oss4 support for your sound card.

Thanks man, but I couldn't find their website or wiki (at least not through google). I used ubuntu 8.10 in the meantime by dual-booting and alsa could use the card only in 44.1 khz mode (It's an emu 0404 usb).

In file copying jobs ubuntu "kicked windows out of the park" so to speak. Linux kicks butt performance-wise.

[flickflack]

Great info, I have a copy of Vista still sitting in its wrapper unopened from when it was first issued as a late upgrade with a system I purchased just before Vista officially came out... I am sticking with XP Pro and have even though about going back to Windows 95, rofl! heh.

With Win 95 and Win 98, there is a lot of memory leaks and such that basically need you to reboot the computer... a lot, sometimes. In the newest versions of Windows, this problem isn't such a big deal or no problem at all.

I actually want to switch from Windows Vista... But then I want to upgrade to the new MS OS; Windows 7. In Win 7, the programs from Microsoft that you don't want, you don't have to install. So you just install Win 7, and if there is some of the Windows programs you need, then you can install them later on. So I think Win 7 would be great in that regard.

[comma berenices]

My hubby desktop was running windows xp.He has just upgraded to vista and is having all sorts of problems installing software.

I did advise him not to upgrade after reading this thread,it would seem most of the software he wants to install is not compatable and does'nt have the drivers for vista,downloading updated drivers has not solved the problems.:(

[eyepod]

I am not a big fan of M$ products but I am forced to use them due to my job, however....

I have the new Windows 7 Release Candidate running on my old laptop as it ran Vista like a pig. I quite like it actually, certainly a big improvement over Vista, no driver or application issues, the installer is breeze compared to XP or Vista and can be run from within Windows itself as opposed to booting from DVD, it doesn't Blue Screen of Deatrh during install if you have over 3gb of memory etc. It's a big improvment in speed over Vista.

It's as fast as the old XP but with all the Vista bells and whistles and bit more. If you are cursing Vista for speed etc. you may want to try the Windows 7 Release Candidate - you can get it for free from Micro$oft and it will keep running until June 1st 2010 when it expires.

Windows 7 Release Candidate: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/download.aspx

[alexc]

In this site the compatility list of several models of laptops with several distributions of Linux

http://www.linux-laptop.net/

Yeah, because a system written with code stolen from Microsoft and Sun then cobbled together by European communists with an anti-capitalist agenda is SO much better.

[serpentoffire]

Yeah, because a system written with code stolen from Microsoft and Sun then cobbled together by European communists with an anti-capitalist agenda is SO much better.

The M$ code is uncompatible already with itself.

Linux is instead a clone of Berkley Unix System V. HP-UX, Sun Solaris, Apple MAC OpenBSD or AIX are sons of Unix but surelly Linux is their cousin on Intel x86, IA64 and x64 architectures.

Linux has a lot of distributions like Fedora, Red Hat, Novell Suse, Ubuntu, Mandrake, Debian and much more.

Linux is not a European phenomenom but it is widely supported in several countries. Red Hat and Novell are USA companies quoted on the NASDAQ. IBM is actually the best company that is supporting Linux in their xSeries and pSeries hardware architectures. Thank the acquisition by ORACLE, SUN is consolidating its position on Linux market.

M$ in the same time is loosing a lot of market mainly due to its fail in the launch of Windows Vista.

The granitic reliability of Open Office suite, bring Linux to be a strong competitor also in the laptop and desktop segment. Actually Linux is the most used in server side applications and web services hosting, mainly thank to CentOS.

Linux is freedom.

[smariot]

Then eventually they will come out with new media that requires programs incompatible with XP.
This already happened. DirectX 10 won't run on Windows XP, and as such, any new games or programs that use it won't either.