Quote Originally Posted by kexodusc
Well, I suppose I'll be stuck with Windows as long as systems keep coming pre-loaded with them. But I'll only use it as a last resort from now on.
My previous and current job use Linux - And my laptop has OSX on it too which I use occasionally. So I'm not a Linux newbit. But I've never had to install, configure and try to make it do everything my other OS's have done. Live and learn I guess. The key is to not get frustrated.
Don't laugh - you'll all by singing songs about me when I've vanquished the evil MS empire once and for all...
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I've fooled around with Linux at least three times in the last five years and abandoned it in each case. The first version I tried was a hackers delight: lots of text file configuration, etc. Subsequent versions were a lot better but still and administrator's nightmare, especially security; (geez, talk about Windows). But in the end I abandoned them too because of lack of applications compatible with what I had been using, and necessarily continued to used, that require Windows.

So what's the selection of apps like today? For a start, what's fully interoperable with MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint? Is there a Linux/OSX equivalent to my X-over Pro and BassBox Pro programs?

More importantly, can these OS run Microsoft .NET based Web and client applications? (Where I work, developers are tending to program more and more in .NET since it cuts develpment effort in half versus Java.)

Nevertheless if I were to go for a dedicated media server, I'd give serious consideration to a Mac.