The really new horse in the race is Linux. Linux has matured greatly. It is easier to install and certainly easier to use than one would expect given its roots as a effort by programmers to build a free operating systems.

A steady movement to high speed internet connectivity is finally prompting many people in update their old computer systems. The FCC recently reported that broadband or high speed internet usage increased by 38% last year. This surge has led many to consider upgrading their computers.

The computer landscape has changed a lot in the last five years.

There really are three main choices when you go to buy a new computer, Windows, Macintosh, and Linux.
Windows XP along with other varieties of Windows continues to dominate the market.

However, the Linux and Macintosh worlds have transformed themselves over the last few years. This actually means that depending on what you plan to do with your computer, you now have some very viable choices that are no longer as risky as they might have been five years ago.

The OS X operating system which comes standard with all new Macintoshes is based on an Open Source kernel which means that it is just the opposite of the closed system that the Macintosh used to be famous for in the early nineties. The core of the operating system is open to everyone to examine. On top of that, often the same memory, hard drives, monitors, scanners, cameras, video cameras, printers, and keyboards that work on your Windows PC now often also work on a Macintosh. Macintoshes run on processors developed by Motorola and IBM.

The really new horse in the race is Linux. Linux has matured greatly. It is easier to install and certainly easier to use than one would expect given its roots as a effort by programmers to build a free operating systems. Linux actually runs on just about every processor family, though the most current distributions seem to be for Intel processors which of course power all of the Windows machines.

I use Windows XP Professional, Mac OS X, and SUSE Linux all on a regular basis. Strangely enough I like them all and believe that each OS has its strengths and weaknesses.

Depending on what you want to, there are lots of titles available for all three platforms. You just will not find the Macintosh and Linux titles in your typical bricks and mortar stores. Though if you live near a major metropolitan area you can often find a very good selection of Macintosh titles in the Apple Stores. The selection is comparable to what you can find for Windows here in the Valley. For years most people buying Macintosh software have been buying from mail order houses.

More software than I will ever use came with my Linux distribution. The mail package doesn't have the complete complete polish that you might see in a Windows or the Macintosh program but it is very close. The office suite which came with my Linux is very usable and has more features than I need. You certainly cannot beat the price since it was included in the $80 price for the operating system.

The Macintosh platform offers many of the same commercial titles as the Windows platform, MS Office, Adobe Photoshop, and Macromind Dreamweaver for example. For these products with the exception of Microsoft products which are more expensive expect to pay similar prices to what you pay for your PC. There are often Open Source equivalents for many of these packages, but this is probably the biggest current weakness of Linux. The commercial packages that many users have come to depend on just are not there yet with few exceptions.

If there is lots of software for the Macintosh, there is an overwhelming amount of PCs. One reason I recently bought my Dell system was because there is no software on OS X which allows you to upload maps to a GPS (Global Positioning System). If you have a specific piece of software that you use lots and it is only available on a Windows PC, sticking with Windows is a good plan. It is hard for many software houses to justify writing software for multiple operating systems.

Sticking with Windows will likely serve you well since, a modern Windows PC running XP Professional with proper additional protection for the internet is a very good machine for many people, and it cost at a reasonable price.

With Windows you do end spending more time worrying about security than you would on a Linux or Macintosh system but it is certainly manageable. There are some design reasons why Linux and Macintosh systems are more secure from viruses and worms, but there are plenty of things you can do to make your Windows machines more secure. You might even want to try the new browser FireFox www.mozilla.org . The neat thing is that it runs on all platforms and seems to building a good reputation for security. It even has a calendar that allows you to pass information to users on other platforms.

If you have the spirit for a little adventure, give Linux a try. It will run on most Intel hardware. The Linux distribution which I tried came with almost all the productivity software that I need and the whole software package was under $80 including e-mail and phone support to get me going.

Why even consider Macintosh or Linux when Windows is in the majority. Well for one reason, learning something new is good, even if you are in your mid-fifties like me.

Learning new things also creates a flexible work force which just might attract some new employers to the Roanoke Valley.

BBC Report quoting FCC statistics

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