Should I make the switch from Windows to Linux?

There is no need to make a 100% all or nothing switch.

You can dual boot, run one OS in a VM, run Linux directly from a LiveCD, or simply use a whole other device (cheap $300 laptop).

Linux has the benefits of free, open, modifiable, etc, etc
Windows has the benefit of greater game choices, possibly more hardware support.

Since you seem to currently be in the Windows camp, try a Linux distro and see how you like it. Costs nothing to try.
 
Linux is great for many type of computer applications. Desktop home PCs isn't one of them. If you want something to work out of the box try Ubuntu or Linux Mint (which is based on Ubuntu). If you want to learn more about the linux try archlinux and if you are crazy try gentoo linux. For more information try sites like distrowatch


(before LInux fanboyism starts to drop, I warn that renaming and moving files isn't my only knowledge on the bash shell command)
 
"and if you are crazy try gentoo linux"

If you want to learn try Gentoo Linux; crazy people have LFS to play with.

I'd agree with what others have said - try it and see (a VM is the easiest way), using Fedora, SuSE, or Ubuntu (or try all three). My perspective is that it's great for developers, OK as a desktop, and rubbish as a gaming platform. So it all depends upon where you preferences lie.
 
I was a hardcore Windows 7 guy. Got into system building using Windows 7 as my native OS, and then got really into the overclocking competitions, which all obviously run Windows too. I had 95% of the advanced Windows features down, and yet I made the switch and run Linux on all five of my machines now. The distro on my daily computer is Mint KDE. On my other systems it's Xubuntu, Mint Cinnamon, and Kubuntu.

Why did I switch?

#1. Linux is far faster than Windows on any platform. For basic web browsing, email, and office use, I have a repurposed Athlon 3700+ processor and 2gb of memory... it was a family member's Windows XP desktop a decade ago, before it eventually was retired due to performance limitations. It runs with almost NO LAG using Xubuntu. My dual and quad-core processors fly like nobody's business using any distro.

#2. Security! There is a myth that LInux doesn't suffer viruses because of a lack of popularity. If you look at the OS market share in the US, about 13% of computers connected to the internet run Linux. If you extrapulate the number of Windows computers infected to apply to that Linux market share, it would still be a massive number. Yet, there really isn't any self-populating "virus" in the wild. Their security model was built for networking, unlike Windows, and is much more throughtful in its design. You can still accidently install malware, but it's not going to install itself and run a muck like in Windows.

#3. Personalization. If you don't love the Windows interface, your only options are to deal until the next version is released in five years, or to go back and install an outdated version like 7 or XP and hope they keep providing security updates in a timely fashion. With Linux, there are literally more than a hundred distros to choice from, and over a dozen graphic interfaces. You can pick the one that best fits your taste, and your system specs.

There is a learning curve, and it will be somewhat frustrating, no doubt. But if you pick something user-friendly to start like Kubuntu, Xubuntu, or Mint, it won't be all that bad. And in the end, the payoff is HUGE. I will never, ever go back.
 


Naah, LFS has (at least used to have) more organized (not necesseraly more detalled) documentation than Gentoo LInux. Aside from that, neither of them is created in order to be a stable desktop OS, rather than a Linux testing Lab...

 
Gentoo Linux is extremely well-documented and makes a very reliable desktop system. I can only think you haven't actually tried it. LFS is more work (and the documentation is not as good) but will produce a Linux system far faster than you can imagine. But it's a pig to keep it updated.
 


The last time I checked it was 3 years ago, so you probably have a point. But again, Gentoo for a newcomer isn't a great choice. Arch would be a much better starting point...
Aside from that, do you think that many people will start screaming from joy, when they will have to spend about 20 minutes just to update to the latest version of firefox?
 


You need a faster PC. You also need to investigate multitasking.
 


Νο, Ι just need to type faster terminal commands and edit the flags :)
 


Whats the point to do a global update to a system that is build so that you can specify excactly which part of source code you want to install in every single package? Why not then "pacman -Syu" or "apt-get upgrade"?

Again, my point is not that Gentoo isn't functional, but it is not for beginners or people that just want a desktop PC for basic computing...
 
tonyzet: gentoo portage is akin to using AUR for everything under archlinux.

gentoo uses 'ebuild' and archlinux uses 'pkgbuild'; they are very similar.
Basically they are customized bash scripts that compile and install the package. Once the ebuild is customized to your liking using "emerge --update @world" will continue to use the customized ebuild to compile latest software installed on your system.

to speed up compiling, use multitask option 'make -j'

Of course multithreading is not applicable to single core machines ...
 
I don't know why above poster would say that Linux is not good for home desktop use. I have been using it for three years now and love it. For home use you can find an application that does anything that you would normally do in Windows--surfing the web, office applications, media playback, etc. If you are switching from Windows, I would recommend XUbuntu, Linux Mint Cinnamon, or Linux Mint XFCE. They are all very similar to Windows in terms of look and feel.
 


Games. I never knew games on desktops was that important but apparently they are. I always thought that was what consoles were for. Either it's gained in popularity since I came back to Africa or I'm just an old fuddy duddy.

 


I agree but in theory one plays the games on their home PC, not the office or school one.