[VT-Vincent]

One of the interesting things I've done over the last year or two is I've put more of an effort into using alternate operating systems for typical day-to-day use. I found the launch of Windows Vista/7 as well as Microsoft's general direction of their development to be a big disappointment and this motivated me to go in this direction. The primary OS I've focused my efforts on has been OS X. I use it at work, as the school district I work for is primarily comprised of Macs and I've used it home a bit. It is impressive to see how another platform is managed in such a large environment, but it's also interesting to see how much of what I use is actually cross platform.

For the most part, I've found that just about all of the applications I use are on both platforms. Even some of the lesser known applications like GoodSync have recently begun work on Mac-native ports. While I still use Windows as my primary OS, it's reassuring to see that there are real options and I'm not tied down to a single operating system. I think as things continue to develop with competition from Google and Apple we'll see alternate operating systems finally begin to gain ground.

So, what experiences have you guys had in your efforts to leave Windows, if any?