I must say that I've always admired Linux, and diddled with it endlessly at various times.

When my kids were teenagers, I had a serious problem with the older one downloading music illegally. I was sure that the FBI would be at our doorstep. Every time he got on the computer, he would attract so much malware/spyware that the poor PC couldn't run under the burden of all the 'call home' features. I finally set up a recovery system so that when that PC got goobered up, I could push an F key and restore it to a nice clean, pristine condition, with only the apps he was supposed to use would run. This also allowed his Mom to use the computer. Each time I cleaned it off, his illicit music went with it. Eventually, after many repeats, he got the message, and viruses were very few after that. I'm fairly sure he moved his music business over to his buddy's house and used his computer.

Anyway, my daughter needed a computer that would do Microsoft Word and their presentation app for school reports. In order to keep her brother from sneaking into her room and screwing up her computer, I installed Linux as her operating system, with OpenOffice for all her app needs. OpenOffice produced MicroSatan compatible files, and it's all I used until LibreOffice got slightly better. She picked up how to use it right away, and was very happy with her very fast PC. I think she's something of a whiz kid with computers now - makes me, who worked in the industry for close to 40 years, look like an idjit.

I've never fully embraced Linux for desktop use, though. I could see it in an enterprise where the potential applications were limited. When I studied Unix many years ago, I was fully comfortable with building Icons and linking them to programs, but unless the Linux app does it for me using whatever tool, I don't have a lot of luck.

I may have to bite the bullet and really get down to business with Linux. I'm running Windows 8 on the most important computer in the house. It's our TV set, and it runs Microsoft Media Center. Media Center was discontinued after Win 7, but it runs on 8. It won't run on 10, dammit. It's better than Tivo for managing TV recordings. With a cheap TV tuner card, you can search through an online TV Guide, and choose which programs to record by title. It automatically omits recording reruns unless you tell it not to. It couldn't be easier to use, and I can't find a real equivalent anywhere. There is a Linux app that looks like it might work, but it would require a lot of maintenance. I might just throw in the towel and buy a real TiVo.