Why Do Others Switch?
There are many reasons why people switch, for example:
- Being fed up of Windows
- The belief that all software should be free
- To widen knowledge of various Operating Systems
This is to just name a few, however it is hard to explain why so many people switch. Some people take the decision to only boot Linux using the entire hard drive. Whereas others prefer to
dual-boot their system, for example partition a 160GB hard drive into what the Operating Systems will see as 2 80GB hard drives, and install Linux on one, and Windows (XP/Vista) on the other.
Some people switch to Linux because the Windows machine that they are used to becomes riddled with viruses and other malware, so they decide to make a change.
Often this is when they ask somebody to fix it for them, so they just put Linux on there. However you may have other reasons to switch.
Are There Any Other Benefits?
Yes. Due to the nature of Linux and it's small user base, and the fact that it is open source (i.e. anybody can download & edit the code) it is far less vulnerable to viruses and security breaches, because when vulnerabilities are found usually somebody will fix it within a couple of days. Sometimes they're fixed within hours!.
The small (in comparison to Windows & OS X) installed user base helps in the few viruses that affect Linux computers. Therefore those who write viruses don't tend to write them for Linux, as it won't get the desired effect. This is one of the reasons why Linux servers are used as web servers (especially for online shops etc.).
