Dektop Linux

Although there is a lack of Linux ports for some Mac OS X and
Microsoft Windows programs in domains such as desktop publishing and
professional audio, applications roughly equivalent to those available
for Mac and Windows are available for Linux.

Most Linux distributions provide a program for browsing a list of
thousands of free software applications that have already been tested
and configured for a specific distribution.

Many free software titles that are popular on Windows, such as Pidgin,
Mozilla Firefox, Openoffice.org, and GIMP, are available for Linux. A
growing amount of proprietary desktop software is also supported under
Linux, examples being Adobe Flash Player, Acrobat Reader, Matlab, Nero
Burning ROM, Opera, Google Picasa, RealPlayer, and Skype. In the field
of animation and visual effects, most high end software, such as
AutoDesk Maya, Softimage XSI and Apple Shake, is available for Linux,
Windows and/or Mac OS X. CrossOver is a proprietary solution based on
the open source Wine project that supports running older Windows
versions of Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop versions through CS2.
Microsoft Office 2007 and Adobe Photoshop CS3 are known not to work.

Besides the free Windows compatibility layer Wine, most distributions
offer Dual boot and X86 virtualization for running both Linux and
Windows on the same computer.

Linux's open nature allows distributed teams to localize Linux
distributions for use in locales where localizing proprietary systems
would not be cost-effective. For example the Sinhalese language
version of the Knoppix distribution was available for a long time
before Microsoft Windows XP was translated to Sinhalese. In this case
the Lanka Linux User Group played a major part in developing the
localized system by combining the knowledge of university professors,
linguists, and local developers.

The performance of Linux on the desktop has been a controversial
topic, with at least one key Linux kernel developer, Con Kolivas,
accusing the Linux community of favouring performance on servers. He
quit Linux development because he was frustrated with this lack of
focus on the desktop, and then gave a 'tell all' interview on the
topic.

Wikipedia.org

See also: Linux gaming

Jefrey wrote:
Although there is a lack of Linux ports for some Mac OS X and
Microsoft Windows programs in domains such as desktop publishing and
professional audio, applications roughly equivalent to those available
for Mac and Windows are available for Linux.

Open Office for one. And Picassa has an offering for Linux. It
incorporates its own version of Wine. And while Gimp is not as good as
Photoshop and their print module is defective when compared you do not
have to spend $800 (new copy) or $200 for each new upgrade and is good
enough and getting better.

Of course you do not get Visual Studio which I think is great or SQL
server which I also like but you can learn (takes some time) Net Beans,
Java and C++. These are more difficult to learn than Visual Basic but
Java is cross platform. There are just fewer book titles to choose from
to learn the stuff.
Most Linux distributions provide a program for browsing a list of
thousands of free software applications that have already been tested
and configured for a specific distribution.

Many free software titles that are popular on Windows, such as Pidgin,
Mozilla Firefox, Openoffice.org, and GIMP, are available for Linux. A
growing amount of proprietary desktop software is also supported under
Linux, examples being Adobe Flash Player, Acrobat Reader, Matlab, Nero
Burning ROM, Opera, Google Picasa, RealPlayer, and Skype. In the field
of animation and visual effects, most high end software, such as
AutoDesk Maya, Softimage XSI and Apple Shake, is available for Linux,
Windows and/or Mac OS X. CrossOver is a proprietary solution based on
the open source Wine project that supports running older Windows
versions of Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop versions through CS2.
Microsoft Office 2007 and Adobe Photoshop CS3 are known not to work.

Besides the free Windows compatibility layer Wine, most distributions
offer Dual boot and X86 virtualization for running both Linux and
Windows on the same computer.

Linux's open nature allows distributed teams to localize Linux
distributions for use in locales where localizing proprietary systems
would not be cost-effective. For example the Sinhalese language
version of the Knoppix distribution was available for a long time
before Microsoft Windows XP was translated to Sinhalese. In this case
the Lanka Linux User Group played a major part in developing the
localized system by combining the knowledge of university professors,
linguists, and local developers.

The performance of Linux on the desktop has been a controversial
topic, with at least one key Linux kernel developer, Con Kolivas,
accusing the Linux community of favouring performance on servers. He
quit Linux development because he was frustrated with this lack of
focus on the desktop, and then gave a 'tell all' interview on the
topic.

Wikipedia.org

See also: Linux gaming