What caused you to consider using linux or other Open Source Software on your Computer?

[HopeHoops]

5. I go back a bit farther than you do, but machines get obsolete very quickly and Linux runs on them.

You can fire up an old 486 and get Linux up on it fairly easily. M$ keeps increasing the minimum specs just to keep selling new versions. That's not an Open Source problem. I have used Star Office for many years (Open Office now) and it is compatible in ways I never expected. I have more luck opening an old M$ Word file in Open Office than I do with the current M$ Word application. I use OO on Windows, Mac, and Linux and move files around between them seamlessly.

If you've got a box you are thinking of retiring, just download Ubuntu or something and give it a try. You'll love it. I've got an HP mini that came pre-loaded with Ubuntu and I never have to reboot the thing. It also has a solid state drive so the battery life is fucking forever. I run FireFox, and OO on it (main applications I use). It hardly weighs anything so it is a perfect bedside machine. Open it up and it is on and available - no wait like with a Windows box. Mac is only marginally faster at waking up and if you don't have an SD card for the Windows sync (mobsync), it takes a REALLY long time to restore a session.