I don't try to convert any of my buddies to GNU/Linux, but I just stopped offering Windows support to friends and relatives who ask me because I'm a geek.
I just pretend that I don't know anything about windows, since I'm not a user anymore. Sometimes it's enough to get their attention and to get them interested in trying GNU/Linux.

You know what? I'm going to try :)
Thanks for the links and the information. I'm probably not going to use it very much, but having an option to Vista and XP is very welcome.

-twesterm edit-

Whoops, this was the post that broke everything, now I wish I knew what the other said >_>

You typed that in a bizarre browser or linux text editor didn't you? 

1)  I agree.  Linux is harder to infect.

2)  Actually, it should be the opposite.  An XP box should be slowest in the first month when it's still building its prefetch.  You have very odd experiences.  Only severe drive fragmentation could explain them.  Luckily a journalling file system usually saves Linux from this necessity.

3)  I like comparing things to their equivalent.  Not doing that is like saying Linux has a better IM client than Windows in Pidgin by comparing Pidgin to Windows Messenger.  Well of course it'll seem better, but it's more accurate to compare Linux's Pidgin to Window's Pidgin and Trillian.

4)  Unless you buy the parts yourself.  ^_^

5)  I've never been too impressed with GIMP.  That comes from years of Photoshop experience though so I know that I'm biased.

6)  I didn't say there isn't enough control.  There is plenty.  On most modern installers you have total control of just about every package you install.  Thanks to this I can turn most of it off.  I'm not the kind of user that needs 50 packages installed by default.

7)  It's getting to that point.  SuSE had some funky problems with VLC.  You'd think everything VLC needs would be in the VLC repository but no, that would be too logical. ><

Overall I really like Linux.  It's fun to play with and really useful for a lot of things.  I just can't fully recommend it as a desktop OS when I find myself switching back to Windows all the time because there are things I just can't do in it.

Edit:  And you broke the thread.

Wow and I thought this thread would just end up being bikering between pro-linux people and Anti-linux people.

Nice to see Killergran is going to give it a shot. :)

-twesterm edit-

you broke the forums!  Make your post again

1. Not entirely true. Trojans still get on the system, but they are coded to run under Windows enviroment. In effect you can help spread them with P2P programs ands stuff. @WoW, you must have an anti virus. The reference is without. Or you don't do much internet stuff outside of simple browsing.

2. Can be faster than Windows. Depending on the application and if it takes advantage of the gui. I prefer Konqourer.

3. WAY SO TRUE. Windows gui is DLL coded while Linux is an additional layer. You can customize Windows, but only by hacking the DLL. Like Window Blinds...

5. WoW makes a good point.I can't stand The Gimp. I prefer Paint.net.

6. I'm sorry you are very wrong on this. After using a handful of the larger name Linux distros. this is incorrect. It's not that it's harder to use, but the mind frame about it's usage is not all that similiar to Windows. Similiar when I had people try OSX. Great OS, but it's different and that's a problem. It requires either adjustment or forgetting how Windows works.

partition structure is un-intuitive.  It's good in design, but most people don't want unusual partitions. It's gotta be simple.(i'm not using Ubunut 8).

The final problem with this is that I find many Linux distros to be teh hardcore use. uuuh like the continue archaic use of bash or terminal. I can't believe when things go really wrong.

7.  yes and no. I found numerous problems prior using the installer. It's not intuitive. There way to much without good orginization. Installers aren't hard to use.

I run Zone Alarm and Nod32 for my firewall/AV solution.  Nod32 is good at what it does and has a small memory footprint.

I think OSX handles applications the best I've seen so far.  Windows has the trouble of irregular installations (ones that put files in odd places outside of program files) and Linux is lacking the 1 click installer that Windows/OSX can get.

Well, for what it is worth:
I have been windows-free (at home and in my own office) for around six years now. I still have to use windows quite a lot when I do work on client premises though. At this point, MS would have to provide something truly epic to entice me back.

Linux is always going to be something you love or hate - simply because it requires a very different approach to the Windows one. The choice is also very dependent on what you do with your PC. I am a programmer by trade and an amateur musician by night - so my usage is probably quite different to someone that just surfs the 'net, and plays games.

For my purposes, Linux is just so much better.
For a PC gamer, Windows is just so much better.

Aside from this, I am surprised that nobody had mentioned WINE on this thread yet.

Ubuntu releases pretty major revisions once every six months or so. I used it about a year ago up until.... three months ago? The Package Installer was probably the greatest thing I had ever used. It's really been streamlined a lot.

By no means are you required to try it, but why poop on a thread? For reals.

I recommend Ubuntu to people, though not if you're a gamer. If you're a gamer you can run games, but it does take hoop-jumping.

I'll be putting Ubuntu back on my laptop once I get a desktop with some decent horsepower to play games on.