Why do I use Windows (XP and 2000)? Easy, it does everything I want it to do, it's fast, it's stable, it's robust, it's well supported and there hasn't been a single annoyance that I couldn't overcome. Activation you say? Yes... that is perhaps the greatest annoyance of them all, but not to worry, XP Corporate and Devilsown make everything right again.
Now, I'm sure the first argument I get will be regarding security, so let me address that now. There is no one silver bullet for PC security, there are infact two... common sense and a router. Common sense is the most important one, those who give their email addresses to IDIOT friends who have a habit of forwarding emails with every goddamn virus known to man attached somewhere in the chain to it, common sense not to visit disreputable sites outside a Virtual PC and finally, common sense not to leave file sharing open with 5 administrative accounts that aren't password protected.
Continuing the security argument, next comes my best defense... the router. Now, how can a router help? Quite easily... it can only expose one machine at a time to the internet making the rest invulnerable to direct outside attacks. But it still leaves one system open, right? Yes... it does and that would be my script kiddie booby trap. A nice little 450Mhz Presario with Win2k installed, all file sharing open, no password under the administrative account, filled with every damn virus I could get my hands on and containing a Windows Address Book full of every spammer's and enemies' email address I could come across. The system also has various other exploits wide open and no service packs or other security updates installed, to prevent it from seeing or transmitting any of it's goodies to the real systems it is kept on a different workgroup. It usually gets knocked down every couple weeks after which I do a 4 minute restore of a ghost image and re-bait the trap for another asshole.
Next, do I like Microsoft? Of course not... I don't like any company for that matter. They all use scumball tactics to get ahead, after all, their business is money, not morals. Bearing that in mind, I'm also not loyal to any companies... I'll use their product as long as I'm happy with it, but once I become significantly dis-satisfied, I'll dump them for the competition faster than they can say "good riddance!". In the end, it's the product I go for... not the company like many other users who have practically established the "Church of Gates."
And finally, do I know or care about Windows alternatives such as Linux, Unix and Mac OS? Of course, I follow all news on all tech fronts very closely and I am working to learn all of the alternate OSes as well as I know Windows. If they should end up surpassing my prefered version of Windows in the areas I feel that they need work on, then I would explore the possibility of switching to them, but for the time being, I use what suits me the most at the moment, and that's Win2k and WinXP.
PS: For those wondering just what exactly I do, it's a little bit of everything... graphics work, mostly web design and web programming, a little bit of video editing and finally, gaming.)
