I will never understand why people still install Windows. Home users have a little more sympathy from me, but I have zero sympathy for corporations that still use Windows. I don’t want to come across as an anything-but-microsoft guy, because I’m not, necessarily. I am, however, a big believer in the best tool for the job, and, for most things, Microsoft is not the best of breed.

Need an office suite? Many will tell you that Microsoft has reached ne plus ultra, but I think they’re confusing perfection with familiarity. There are several good alternatives available. Most are even cross–platform. OpenOffice.org is probably my favorite (due to familiarity 😉 as it is cross-platform, and reads MS Office formats reasonably well.

How about a web browser? Many use and swear by IE, but I’d be willing to wager they use it because it comes installed on every machine they buy. My problem with IE is its inherent insecurity and its poor support for web standards. If you’re into ad-supported/commercial browsers, there’s Opera. My personal favorite is Mozilla. It has a fast, secure, standards-compliant browser, and a virus-free email program with great junk mail controls.

Need a database server? You can have your pick.

Email servers? Plenty to choose from.

Web server? While there are many choices, the stand out best is Apache.

How about the operating system? Lots of choices here too.

And for those alternative operating systems, need a virus checker? You can find them…well…maybe over here…nope. You don’t need them! These OSes are not prone to viral infections. That’s not to say that it can’t or won’t happen, but it is orders of magnitude more difficult to write a virus for these systems due to their inherent, multi-user, segregated role model of operation.

Would a migration to Microsoft alternatives be easy? That depends on the sophistication of the user and, for companies, the size of the organization. Is it worth it? Ask Ernie Ball.