[carlosponti]

I have 6 machines in my house

1 my primary desktop - linux

2 wifes primary desktop - dualboot xp and linux

3 Primary laptop - linux

4 & 5 outdated laptops both linux

6 wifes work pc that is xp only is actually owned by the company she works for.


and at work i have a xp machine but i VM linux and have a second pc on my desk i rarely boot into that has linux just for playing around with when i get time.

[geese]

Single boot, Laptop and two of my three work computers.
I still have a windows desktop at home for games and yes it does have a virus, but it is a mere annoyance and not on any network.

[Sweet Spot]

Tossed my previous main PC away about 3 weeks ago due to something in it frying. Electrical storm killed a lot of people's stuff that week. It was Windows free for the 2 years prior to that, though it initially started off as a dual boot, until I realized that I was never booting into XP, except for my wife, and that too was rare because she had her old cruddy laptop.

2. Wifes Laptop was running Win ME (OMG I KNOW !) until I performed minor surgery and put XP on it. To be honest, XP was always ok with me sans daily adware/spyware sweeps. I know how to operate an OS, so security was never an issue. I tried installing Ubuntu on her laptop as well as several other distros, but none took.

3. A friend gave us her 5 year old Dell laptop, which she claimed would just shut down for no reason. So after playing with the adapter cord for a bit, getting the position right, I saved her photographic work to my external HD, and installed a working version of Mint on it. Works very well. No dual boot. Though, it hardly ever gets used because :

4. We just bought a Macbook Pro. To be honest, ... I like the Linux distro's I've been using a lot better than OS X for my daily chores and workflow. I feel as if OS X makes the user work for IT, rather than the OS working for the user. I feel confined to the parameters which have been set, and this has made me LOATHE iTunes. My workflow is SO much smoother in Ubuntu ! And this is why I just :

5. Built a new PC made for Linux.

Don't get me wrong, OS X has its advantages (well, it had better, because the only OTHER monopoly on the OS market is Windows) in terms of very polished programs, and I'll be taking advantage of that in the form of Aperture 2, Logic, Garage Band and the new mobile.me thing etc.. But as far as efficiency on the desktop goes, hands down.. Linux.

Doug

[ozar]

Just a single Linux boot, here.

[Manchunian]

I'm very surprised how few dual Windows/Linux boots there are thus far. I was expecting the majority of people to have dual boots, not the minority.

[Sweet Spot]

Originally Posted by Manchunian

I'm very surprised how few dual Windows/Linux boots there are thus far. I was expecting the majority of people to have dual boots, not the minority.

I bet if the question were phrased differently, such as :

"How many hard core gamers" etc.. I mean, aside from gaming and programming for Windows, what real need is there to actually run Windows ? Once a person sees the huge benefits of not being trapped by a single OS and doing things the Win way, it's a no brainer IMO. It was for me, anyway, and I was using Windows for years and years.

There's ONE program I can't run on Linux and doesn't work with WINE, which is Paltalk. But aside from that... It's all golden like Little Jimmy Norton. (happy birfday btw buddy)

[elija]

Originally Posted by Manchunian

I'm very surprised how few dual Windows/Linux boots there are thus far. I was expecting the majority of people to have dual boots, not the minority.

Well so far it is mainly those who have tried Linux and stuck with it who have replied... but it is kind of gratifying to see the ratio

[Manchunian]

what real need is there to actually run Windows ?

This is actually the point of this poll. Normal everyday people who bought their computer with Windows pre-installed have discovered for themselves that Linux is more than capable of replacing Windows. By putting this 'in print' we have something to back-up our claims to newbies, who are often lost and bewildered by something new, that Linux isn't complicated,that it is better than Windows, and that it is worth the effort to learn. I myself, although computer literate, am no techie - and I'm certainly not a geek. I'm a simple man who needs a computer to work with. There must be hundreds of people on this site alone who, like me, discovered that Linux is so good that Windows isn't necessary. I hope this poll will give us something to help get this message across.

[Sweet Spot]

Originally Posted by Manchunian

. I myself, although computer literate, am no techie - and I'm certainly not a geek.

You have seen your avatar, no ?

[gruven]

I have been running exclusive linux boxes for years, and just recently, went to all linux on my desktop and my wife's laptop. I tried out Vista when it came out, and when I had enough of it, I just deleted the partition.

I now run a mixture of Linux variants in my house. Gentoo is running on my desktop (has been for years, but just recently took over all the real estate because I like to test other os's and various distros) and my wife's laptop. My garage computer is running Ubuntu, simply because in the heat of the garage, I think gentoo would kill it.

Now I just try out different os's in my virtual machines.