The ? I have is why linux over microsoft and what makes it better. or is this not true and microsoft is the best...

Choice and freedom. You have a greater choice and freedom of what software to run. Most/all software for linux uses open file formats so your docs can be used in the app of your choice. This forces software to compete on features and usability over being forced to upgrade because your friend/colleague did and his docs wont open in your apps. You are free from restrictive EULAs, you will no longer have to worry about "audits" that scare companies in to further dependence on MS licensing schemes. You could buy/dl one copy of a linux distro and install any number of times. This greatly reduces the cost of rolling out new systems either in work or home. Many MS advocates claim there is no support for linux, yea well have you ever gotten support from MS? You have to pay for that and some of the larger distros offer similar support options, if needed. Linux suffers much less from virii than MS. It is much more secure. If bugs are found they are normally squashed in hours or days, not months. Peer review at its best. Linux performs better on older hardware than Windows. This lengthens the time between system upgrades, saving you money. You just have to make some informed decisions when purchasing hardware. Linux does have decent support for the _most common_ hardware. Don't go out and buy the cheapest obscure hardware and hope it will work. This is prob the only weak point I can think of for linux, but its not that bad and its getting better.

LoL!! I think there is enough messages like this in the forum...

Two different tools for different purposes. You have to work from the top down when developing a server. 1) what do your users need 2) what software fulfills users needs 3) what OS runs software 4) what hardware works with OS 5) what can we afford Number 5 is the killer for microsoft. While almost all desktops are windows based due to the dominance of MSOffice (which frankly has no competition - star office, pleeeaaase), servers only need to support the necessary tasks. Want Exchange, W2K. Want Lotus, W2K / Linux Want Sendmail, W2K / Linux Want Qmail, Linux ETC........ Anyway, Linux and Windows run equall on any hardware platform. Difference being that with Linux you have to turn things on and with Windows you have to turn things off. Support: I find it funny the way people discuss this issue. Both are well supported (for free), it just seems easier to find answers to Windows troubles. Heck yeah Linux is less prone to viruses, the hackers are running it. Only the limited of vision and blindly loyal will declare one side better (all-inclusive) than the other. The two are different, for different purposes, to be used in different manners. Find the best tool and use it.

I agree with DWP. MS showed me their Content Management Server recently. It works amazingly well with Office XP. However, I could achieve the same objectives with Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP. They are all free. From the business point, they still like to use Office XP to prepare their documents, and then publish them with MS CMS. Hey, that is no all. You can turn your MS Exchange server to a Content Management Server too. There is no right or wrong answers to the question. So many factors affect our decision making.

Well its a qouestion of choice. I tought thath MS Windows is something special but it isn't. You can't compare Linux and Windows at all. It's twoo diferent things. I realised thath you can't learn a s--- from Windows because you can't see how is he working. He is full of bug's thath you can not see. Microsoft says go to our download page and get a new service pack. Man, they are earning from your misery. You can't see mistake they made.They made a new Office which is full of bug's so thath you must take a extra lessons to avoid them, so you need extra money, so you see... Linux is a legend, it makes as supreme. You are riding the computer with Linux.On the other hand Windows rides you. Get a point. My friends uses Windows and they get to some point of knowledge and taht's it. They are standing there and... You know what I mean. Freedom and deomocraty. P.S. Forgive me for my bad eanglish.I know it sucks.

Well i know no one hasn't replied in this one for a while. But anyway, I would go with Linux because what impressed me the most about it is the fact that u DON'T HAVE TO REBOOT, UNLIKE WINBLOWS, WHICH IT IS A MUST!!! I currently have 2K but planning to run REDHAT along with it. I'm a linux newbie and are now learning about linux. I know that the main downfall of linux is that it's somewhat more difficult to use than Windows. But it's just a matter of getting used to, so i would learn about it more and more.