http://www.zdnet.com/article/why-switch-to-windows-10-or-a-mac-when-you-can-use-linux-mint-17-3-instead/?tag=nl.e539&s_cid=e539&ttag=e539&ftag=TRE17cfd61 I've been using Linux Mint since 2011. The only thing I "need" Windows for is Stamps.com software (to print postage from home), so I just run Windows XP in a Virtual Machine (using VirtualBox) and I can access my printer from inside that box. Pretty cool! But there's nothing special about Windows software, at least not to me, not anymore. Everything is AVAILABLE for Linux. It's different, but just as capable. I mean if you've used one MP3 ripper, DVD burning program, graphical word processor, or email client, you've used them all, right?
The features -- the software equivalents -- are all there. The only question is getting used to the SLIGHT differences. Well, I had to either A) spend a bunch of money to upgrade to Windows 7 from Windows XP and learn a bunch of new programs, or B) switch to Linux for free and learn a bunch of new programs. I figure B) is the smart choice.
At least there will never come a time when I have to give up EVERYTHING and "switch" again. All of the programs I use on a daily basis are open source and independently maintained, and run on ANY brand of Linux. So even if Linux Mint went out of business someday, I could still use Thunderbird, Libreoffice, Assunder CD ripper, Eclipse IDE, Google Android Studio, etc. on my new Linux installation.
Linux has so many advantages, too, that people seldom mention in these articles. It's hard to think of all the advantages, I guess! For example, it's been YEARS since I've had to start from a clean slate PC. Mind you, I've wiped my machine many times (by choice -- I prefer to start from scratch when upgrading to a new motherboard) but I easily copied over EVERYTHING from Firefox, Chrome, and Thunderbird (etc.) So all my plugins, settings, passwords, are instantly restored to a brand-new install of the latest Linux Mint. I just copy over the appropriate hidden folders in my Home folder. Imagine trying to do that in Windows! Impossible without expensive software. Also, small programs that normally involve a trip to the back alleys of the Internet are a simple, clean script on Linux. For example, a small command-line script youtube-dl will download any youtube video. No shady EXEs to install, no malware masquerading as free software. Or a program to remove the "embedded graphics" from inside your MP3s -- another small script. For every program you can't run on Linux, there are great, sometimes small, convenient programs on Linux that aren't available on Windows.