And again: DO NOT TELL PEOPLE WHY THEY SHOULD SWITCH TO LINUX ON FORUMS!
This is bound to failure.
Most people lost countless hours and data trying to get a grasp of Windows already.
Most people are scared of going through such pain again.
Most people develop bad Windows induced behaviour like mechanically clicking on dialog boxes buttons without ever reading them
Most people unload the pain of using the pricey Windows environment on a friendly stupid geek that will lose countless hours of his time to fix their PC for free, or install pirated apps on their PC for them. I know, I was one myself.

There is no point in telling people to switch, as long as there's a stupid geek with too much time on his hands around.
You can try to switch the people around you. I couldn't believe the speed at which the PC around me went down to not working at all as soon as I stopped supporting all these people.
No more of my precious time lost.
And it's very easy to make them switch, I know, I've gone through this.
These people will always come back to you if they can't find someone else to take advantage of.
When they come to me, their Windows not working at all (like locking at Windows login), I say to them: "Windows is too hard to me, I can't repair it, but I can install Linux for you". I've heard all kind of hilarious stupid answers, but the best was : "but Linux is hard, I can't make it work" (they never used Linux even once BTW). To what I love to answer: "then go on using your easy Windows".

But trying to switch people on forums is useless, really. I understand people new to Linux and overwhelmed by its power and its ease want to share it to everyone, we've all gone through this.
Later, you will realize it was useless. To each his own.

First off I am not IT. I do video work. I have used computers a very long time and neither I have I have engaged in ad homonim attacks and called you clueless. Sorry I am not an elitist. Just so you know I do video production and Legal video presentation. I have also been using a computer since 1979 and started with a TRS-80 color computer and moved on to a 2e and than an Apple Lisa.

But trojans were specifically designed and had their orgins in UNIX based systems.

The term 'Trojan horse' was first applied to computer software by computer pioneer Ken Thompson in his 1983 ACM Turing Award lecture. Thompson noted that it is possible to add code to the UNIX "login" command that would accept either the intended encrypted password or a particular known password, allowing a back door into the system with the latter password. He named this invention the "Trojan horse." Furthermore, Thompson argued, the C compiler itself could be modified to automatically generate the rogue code, to make detecting the modification even harder. Because the compiler is itself a program generated from a compiler, the Trojan horse could also be automatically installed in a new compiler program, without any detectable modification to the source of the new compiler.^[1]

It is also the same vector that could be used for a sucessful virus as well as buffer overflow issues. Now before you bite my head off and start playing with semantics I know a Trojan Horse does not just spread itself and therefor not a virus unless it is a trojan horse virus but a trojan horse is still a major security risk one that can enable full command of a system through a remote host or even able to dump a text file at a root level. the viruses I posted there were viruses they were mostly harmless in nature but they were still viruses a virus does not have to be. I am sorry but I am going to have to sorly disagree with you about UNIX and Linux being virus immune and security free. But feel free to believe what you want.

Ookaze, just wondering what kind of background do you have that you can spout off superiority like that. through the course of my job I have dealt with people who built the PARC system from the ground up in the 70's. I can't recite word for word what hey would say but they seem to believe that Linux especially has a lot of vectors that would enable the spread of viruses. However I guess the people who actually invented the GUI wouldn't be ableto understand command line or GUI UNIX/Linux. But ehh I guess I am going to have to specifically spell out virus, worms trojan horse on a nontechnical website discussing the security risks of thinking they have an immune system because you know most people who buy a computer really want to know that the thing that is screwing with their computer is a virus or someting else they don't fully understand.

I used to work there, and I just checked their website to be sure the prices are still what I remember (which they are).  They charge $199, not $299, for diagnostic + virus and spyware removal, and $249 for the same on-site.  And it's not per hour, it's per service.

Advanced Diagnostic, Repair & Prevention (diagnostic, cleaning, virus/spyware removal, OS repair, software updates, 2 single title software installs, optimization)

This extensive diagnosis will explain most crashes, lockups, unusual slowness, or internet problems. Includes software repair, virus and spyware removal, and physical cleaning. Optimization lets you enjoy faster computer speed and better performance; security and privacy software keeps your computer protected. Security software is included.

Learn More

• $349
• $299
• -

Just to clarify my 2hr charge I mentioned was just thrown out there. I actually charge by the hour regardless if it takes a fraction of an hour. So if I actually work 1.5 or more hours then I charge 2.

I also, usually pick up and deliver the computer back to the person. This is not counted in the hours worked as I just don't care much. So, I don't think I ripping people off.

Lastly, I also throw in free goodies when I'm done. I have corporate version of Symantec that I always put on for people who have nothing and then I also put on spybot. Then I of course give them a detail of what I found and how to not let it happen again. Of course this only means I get less return calls because they should know how to keep it from happening again, but, as history has proven I usually see them back again in a year.

That includes buying antivirus and antispyware software and having them install it.  You said "virus and spyware removal" which technically is only $130 in-store, since the diagnostic is $69.  I used to sell and do this stuff, I know how much it costs.

 no biggie. I only posted what I saw and it is also what superchunk did. Irregardless it is still pricey and my point is that 70 isnot that high.

Linux may be easy to use but I'd argue that Windows is easier to use, especially for computer novices.  And while Linux may be fast I'm sure the time saved by some people is spent trying to track down linux drivers for new (and even old) hardware only to find out the company hasn't made any yet or trying to get a particular Windows program to run under Wine and encountering problems that Windows users never had.  It's basically changing one set of problems in Windows for another set in Linux that can be even more time consuming.

I agree with what you say, but it's not Linux's fault. They just get less support... Unless you are saying there are more problems than just those (and there are, but those are the main ones), otherwise you just proved that Linux (or Ubuntu in particular) is just nearly as easy to use as Windows right now if it's in the same position:

Anyway, to get to Game_boy's list:

Longer battery life when used on laptop as opposed to Vista (since Ubuntu uses less RAM)

EDIT:

I haven't used Ubuntu for long but, perhaps what I like a lot about it is that, if a certain program is in the respository, you can just go to the terminal and type  sudo apt-get install <program-name>   and to update  sudo apt-get update, or when upgrade  sudo apt-get upgrade. (provided that you have Internet connection, which is a pain to setup for wireless device...) 

Actually tiachopvutru, you don't even need to do that. There's a graphical program for searching through packages and an automatic updater that tells you when upgrades are available and installs them using the apt-get functions.

So you don't need to use the terminal or manually check for updates anymore.

And wireless internet is practically the same as Windows: it detects your network, you enter key and encryption type and it connects every time you start up.