Linux - The Transition

I'm slowly trying to move over to using Linux exclusively.

Windows has been great but I'm not sure about the direction in which it is headed. Security issues plague the OS since it's the most widespread OS out there. I'm not exactly sure why Microsoft hasn't made Windows more robust by now.

Having become very familiar with Linux over the past few years, I've found that most applications that I use are either available on Linux or have very good alternatives that run on Linux.

Two noteable exceptions would be Adobe Photoshop and Cakewalk (a MIDI composing program). I have yet to find suitable alternatives in Linux.

So, right now, all of my web development platform is Linux-based and I have one workstation that dual boots into Linux and Windows XP.

As a long-time Linux user, I want to tempt you to complete the transition but I know that graphics people have a hard time doing so for the very reasons you just mentioned.

I would suggest GIMP for graphics and Reaper for your music stuff. GIMP is a mature software by now but Reaper is still in its early stages of development so I don't know if you would find those alternatives viable or not.

Come to the dark side!

Eh, I've been a Mac user for a while, now, and I don't miss Windows in the least.

If you're primarily looking to ditch Windows, put in a little extra money and go with a Mac for your graphics and music stuff.

All Adobe software is availabe on the Mac and Logic is the way to go - even industry standard - when it comes to music projects.

The other thing is that Mac OSX is BSD under the hood so a lot of your Linux-type stuff will run on a Mac.

You could also use VMWare to run Linux on a Mac in a pinch.

Why not give OS/2 a shot? Nothing like the classics, baby