Windows 7 upgrade? No way... It is way too late for that!

Windows is in the news lately, in a big way. Windows 7 has been released. As I was one of the very disaffected users of Vista, which indeed prompted me to try Linux one more time, I had tried Linux on a number of occasions before, I did make the switch finally, now more than a year ago.

I had been a loyal Window user since the release of Windows 3 (1990) That is a long time ago. In fact having been a software developer since the late sixties I often found myself in the minority of Windows users in large software projects development. I wish I had made the switch sooner.

Was it hard to make the switch? Well, there were some issues but it was easier than I expected to address them and mostly not harder than switching between Windows versions, which at times could also have its small, or larger issues.

Since then I have felt much more secure, regarding my PC vulnerabilities to malicious attacks and about the integrity and recoverability of my data in case of software failure.

You will need less computing power to run Linux than to run Windows to achieve comparable (usually much better) performance. This will lengthen the life of your computer or allows you to put back in service a computer you were about to dispose of.

Linux will save you heaps and following a little adjustment effort will provide you with a superior experience and a superior performance

My experience also is that most software is available in Linux, either as a port, or there exists an alternative that is reasonably close to the Windows version. And again, most of it is free. In those rare cases where no Linux alternatives exists, it is usually possible to run Windows program under Linux via Wine application. If that fails it is possible to run a full Window under a virtual PC in Linux.

For someone who is not comfortable with trying the latest and best, that is someone who, under Windows, would wait for the first or second service pack, before switching version I would recommend to use the LTS (Long Term Support) version of a Linux distribution. A very solid, popular and easy distribution that I would recommend is Ubuntu.

If you want to try Linux but are afraid, here is a suggested strategy that minimizes the risks involved.

1.Download a Linux distribution that fits on a USB stick and run Linux from that, or even better, download a full ISO image of a Linux distribution, burn a CD with it and run Linux from the CD at first. This will not affect your Windows installation at all but may give you the taste for Linux.
2.Install Linux on a dual boot system. At any time you will be able to revert back to Windows if needed.
3.When you need the disk space, delete your Windows partition as you realize that you have not used it for many months, but don't forget to transfer all your old data to the Linux partition, and then add the newly freed disk space to your Linux partition.

More than anything, enjoy the freedom from Windows and the robustness of Linux.

My bet is that you will never look back, except with relief and you will have some spare cash to boot.