Is it yet possible to _really_ switch from Windows?

[Jason Spatafore]

Honestly, I am going to pure-Linux in March, when I am done with school.

A friend of mine recently had a motherboard go bad. Since the system used
WinXP Home (OEM), we were told we need to buy a new copy of Windows for the
new motherboard. I have spent a couple days trying to find the same exact
motherboard in hopes of "fooling" MS activation. Silly waste.

The example above is the reason why I have been against Microsoft since
WinXP's release. Yes, it's a great OS, but the licensing structure, cost,
and activation requirements are enough for me to leave it. I have been
running Windows 2000 for the past 3 years (with Suse Linux dual boot). The
reason I use Win2K is because I was told by MS that I could no longer
activate my WinXP product after I upgrade my video card and memory. Since
many games that were made for WinXP also run in Win2K, I have found Win2K as
an acceptable alternative. (Yes, I do have my Win2K license....had it for
quite awhile before XP. Ran XP for a year before my woes.)